Leaving Washington DC

I flew home today after United Airlines finally figured out which gate and which plane they were going to use for my flight., The airlines are still recovering from the hurricane. During my week in DC, I saw the east coast deal with a hurricane and an earthquake. I experienced many interesting museums. I was struck by the intelligence exhibited in the art, history and science museums along the National Mall. This intelligence contrasts with the single issue ideologues we hear from in Congress. I tried to get into the White House to talk to the president without success. Maybe next time.

National Museum of the American Indian

The National Museum of the American Indian includes exhibits from various indigenous communities throughout the Americas. The building exterior is limestone and was designed by a team of native architects.

National Gallery of Art East

Today I visited the National Gallery of Art East Building. The East Building is newer than the West Building and has more open space and less gallery space. I saw Dali's The Sacrament of the Last Supper.

New Martin Luther King Memorial

Today I visited the new Martin Luther King memorial which opened this week southwest of the National Mall. The formal dedication, which was scheduled for Sunday, August 28, the 48th anniversary of the "I Have a Dream" speech was postponed because of the hurricane. The memorial includes quotes from Dr. King engraved in stone.

Irene Moves through Washington DC

Hurricane Irene, one of the worst hurricanes to hit the east coast in twenty years, moved through Washington DC Saturday night. Most of the damage was in coastal areas and later in New England. Washington experienced about 24 hours of rain and some moderately strong wind gusts and some power outages.

Newseum

On Friday August 26, I visited the Newseum--a museum honoring journalism and free speech. It was the only museum which I visited in Washington which had an admission charge. It has numerous theaters and interactive exhibits plus many historical front pages in digital format. It even has a theater showing television comedians such as Jon Stewart delivering political commentary. They have a replica of the ATS 1 satellite which was used for the first live global TV broadcast in the 1960's. They also have a theater showing Pulitzer prize winning photographers talking about their work. I visited the studio where ABC's "This Week" is recorded every Sunday morning. Check out their website at http://newseum.org

National Gallery of Art

On August 24, I visited the National Gallery of Art West Building--my first visit. I was impressed with the diversity of the art work. I had feared it would be all American landscapes. I saw the only Leonard da Vinci painting in North America --Ginerva de Benci c. 1474. I enjoyed the Italian, French, and Spanish galleries as well as the Dutch and Flemish galleries especially the Rembrandts. I was especially interested in Samuel F. B. Morse's Gallery of the Louvre depicting himself and several other people in the foreground and reduced versions of some of the masterpieces from the Louvre in the background. I have been researching Morse's role in the development of the telegraph for my technology book. I was interested to find out more about his art career. I also visited the Chester Dale Exhibit which included several Picasso works including Still Life.

Washington DC Trip

I decided to visit Washington DC for the first time since the Eisenhower administration. I expected to see some changes from my last visit, but did not anticipate the largest earthquake that the east coast had experienced in years or the worst hurricane. I landed at Dulles about 1.5 hours after the 5.8 earthquake which shook Virginia. For many people on the east coast, this was the first earthquake they had ever experienced. All government workers were sent home at around 3 p.m. and the result was traffic gridlock. It took two hours to go the 20 miles from Dulles to my hotel on the Super Shuttle. The driver said that it was the wost traffic he had ever seen. The next day all DC schools were closed for inspections,. Newspaper headlines read "Shaken and Stirred". There was damage to the Washington Monument and the National Cathedral.

My Travels

This site chronicles my recent travels.