Museum of American Indian

The American Indian Museum started out as an optional visit, but we had extra time on Monday after the Capitol Tour and were able to go after all.  The museum is very modern, but allows the traditional styles of the various tribes exhibits to shine through.  Jim and Phyllis were not as interested in the museum as we were.  We all decided that this might have been a result of the fact that Native Culture is not a presence in Ohio as it is in our part of the country.  We could have spent much more time  and I would go back to visit again. 
I had read  line about the restaurant in the museum.  It was named one of the top museum restaurants in the US.  The food is all based on native foods and recipes.  There were eight stations reflecting the different tribal regions.  Each of the regions had interesting dishes.  I was intriqued by the salmon dinner from Northwest, but we all ended up with Indian Tacos.  Since we eat those every now and then we weren't being all that adventurous.

The Capitol Building

We had tickets to tour the Capitol Building on Monday.  We also had passes to visit the House and Senate Galleries but they were not in session, so all we got to see was the main part of the Capitol.  The tour was very interesting but sort of rushed.  You are given head sets and the tour guide talks to you through them.  The Rotunda is beautiful with tiles on the dome and sculptures all though the Capitol.  There are also sculptures from each state representing what the state feels is its essence or a noted citizen.  I especially liked the astronaut from Colorado and King Kamehameha for Hawaii.
My complaint is that we were not allowed enough time to look at the architecture and art.  It is pretty much an in and out tour.  But I am glad we were able to go.
I almost forgot the story about Ray and the coffee.  When we were about done looking at the exhibits and were going to leave Ray insisted that we had to have a cup of coffee. I was blowing him off when I finally realized that it was important to him to do this.  We sat down next to a couple visiting from Australia who were doing the quick tour.  So now Ray has had his coffee in the Nations Capitol Cafeteria.

Our trip to Washington DC, the Air and Space Museum

Last week we went to Washington D C with our friends Jim and Phyllis Lipp.  We had a lot of fun and a couple of adventures.  I am going to start writing about them now as I go through the pictures I took last week.  We went to a lot of museums, memorials, Arlington Cemetery, the White House, Capitol and Fed.  By the time we hit Friday afternoon, we were TIRED, not a little tired, all caps tired.  But we had seen everything we set out to see when we planned the trip and a couple of extra places as well.  
There are actually two locations for the Air and Space Museum.  The one I visited is on the Mall and is home to the Wright Brothers plane and to the Spirit of St. Louis.  The other location is Udvar-Hazy at Dulles Air Port.  Ray and Jim went out to see that one day.  After visiting the one on the Mall, Phyllis and I were not of a mind to look at anymore airplanes. 
The museum is huge and the fact that it has such important pieces of  history like the Spirit of St. Louis is amazing.  The planes look like they would fly away today.  Personally I was more impressed with the yellow stagger wing Beechcraft or Amelia Earhart's plane.  I guess that is an indicator of where my interests go. 
We stayed out in Sterling Virginia and rode the Metro into DC each day.  By the end of the week we were getting pretty good at it.  We could sit and stare into space like a native.  I think it is a coping mechanism for being smashed into small spaces with strangers. 
I really like visiting DC, the people were all nice, but that old phrase pops up.  I would not want to live there.  It is expensive.  Even out in the suburban communities it appears that more people live in apartments than they do in single family homes.  The single family homes we saw for the most part were enormous and even the smaller ones sell for amounts that stop you cold.  A house like our would sell for well over a million dollars.  What do ordinary people do?  I would say they rent apartments that aren't all that cheap either. 
Our friends oldest daughter and her family live there and they love it. So it must be just me that finds the charm elusive.
The other choice seems to be live far out and really have a long commute.  We went to Leesburg Virginia one evening for dinner and I really liked it there, but still expensive by this old woman's standards.  Now that I have this off my chest, I will talk more about the cool stuff as I continue to post.

The Artist at work

I bought Andrea a paint book today.  She has been having a grand time, and not painting too badly for a three year old either.  Andrea really likes Belle, she is such a princess fan.  However, I see the start of fascination with horses too.  When I was a child I was obsessed with horses.  It was my greatest regret of my childhood that our father never saw fit to buy us a horse.  When you are six, economics never comes into play.