WASHINGTON, DC
(12-08-2004)

Yup, back in the Northeast; many reasons, but the weather is not one of them. It’s cold, damn cold. Anytime the temperature drops below 70 degrees, I become intolerable (actually, more intolerable). But I’ll get through it.

Washington DC, where a quarter of the population changes with every new administration, and where George Bush is threatening to spend his political capital. Who knows, maybe he’ll go broke and have to move out too. Besides, there are far too many barricades; parts of the city look like a fortress, everything but a moat.

In fact, there might never have been a DC, if not for a political deal. It seems that way back when, the North was in debt, so the Southern states agreed to bail out the Northern states, only if the capitol were moved further south from Philadelphia. And, that’s why we have Crawford Texas, er, Washington DC.

THE SMITHSONIAN

For Thanksgiving week the city was relatively empty, which means all the interesting places were not very crowded. I like that. The Smithsonian is incredible, and it’s free. Each building can easily occupy three days of perusal. The newest addition is the Air & Space Museum at Dulles Airport, a massive structure housing practically every type of flying machine imaginable, from bicycle driven gossamer wings to the moon Lander, the Concorde to the Enola Gay. It’s most impressive, and a great complement to the original Air & Space museum on the mall (which, by the way, is the most visited museum in the world. Ahead of the Louvre?)

The Smithsonian buildings have everything, from the history of computers to the Hope diamond; a replica of a Woolworth’s lunch counter to a history of transportation, trains included; from Dorothy’s red shoes to all the First Ladies. On and on it goes: art, science, government, pop culture, environment, etc, etc. It’s a BA degree in ‘fast forward’.

THE INTERNATIONAL SPY MUSEUM

This is the most curious museum of all. It contains all of the equipment used for spying, interactive exhibits, spies throughout history, the best spy cases, moles, and a thorough history of terrorism (both international and domestic) from the KKK to al Qaeda. (Even George Washington was a kidnapping target).

Spying is one of man’s earliest endeavors, dating back to the cave man. And what would Jesus do? Well, Numbers 13:1 says it all: The Lord said to Moses, “Send men to spy out the land of Canaan.” He should have included women too because Julia Child worked for the OSS, the forerunner of the CIA. Oh, and the museum also contains the James Bond Aston Martin car, with all the working parts. I had intended to spend only an hour there, but moving at a decent pace, it still took me over three hours. This new museum is now the talk of the town.

THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART

This building is awesome and impressive, too vast to describe its extensive and varied collections. Just go there. But, one curious fact struck me: In Giotto’s painting “Madonna and Child”, latter thirteenth century, the sleeve of the Virgin Mary has a border which contains Arabic inscriptions honoring Muslim rulers. And, according to the accompanying sign, this was a common practice of painters of that time. Doesn’t that seem quite incongruous for a European Christian painting, just a relatively short time following the Crusades? Perhaps the Europeans styled their art on Byzantine icons, and are paying tribute. Anyways, I learned this at closing time, but all the curators and docents had gone home. So does anyone have an answer? Lemme know.

WHAT’S AHEAD

Washington is too overwhelming to do in a mere four to five days. I merely scratched the surface. By the way, forget Georgetown. This quaint little suburb has now been overtaken by chain stores, with more on the way; A few local shops, but not worth the side trip. Washington is the main attraction, and well worth it.

So, from here, it’s on to NYC again, for Christmas, New Years and most of January (brrr!!). Then I head south, to warmer weather (I hope), but I have a sneaking suspicion that I’ll be arriving in New Orleans just about Mardi Gras time. Stay tuned.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS !!!