Iceland (and some US)- Day 5: D.C. - June 21,2021

My husband K got up at 7 and was suitably quiet. I pulled his pillow over on me again to block out that dratted light coming around the curtain. I finally got up at 8:30. Breakfast was the usual bagel, juice and fruit.

K had researched what was open for us to visit today. He made reservations for the National Gallery of Art for 1:45. That left time in the morning. The National Building Museum had an exhibit that sounded like it would interest us and it did not require a reservation to be made ahead of time. Since the museum didn't open until 11 a.m., we could take our time. That also meant that we would not be riding the Metro during peak time, which would save us money.

We left the hotel at 10:25 and walked down the street to the NoMa-Gallaudet U Metro station across the street from the ATF entrance. I'd remembered to pack our Metro cards before we left home. We come often enough to DC, that the plastic Metro card is worth hanging onto. When we scanned them at the turnstiles, one still had $6 and the other $10. That meant that we wouldn't have to load more money onto them.

By 10:32, we were up the escalator and waiting on the platform for the train. The Red line toward Shady Grove arrived two minutes later. When we boarded, I noted with satisfaction that the train was practically empty. That had not been the case during previous visits. Very soon, we were riding below ground and at 10:38, we got out at Judiciary Square. I took the opportunity to take this photo. You just don't see the stations this empty during the day.

When we went through the turnstiles here, I saw that the trip had cost us $2 each. We rode the escalator up to the street level and had time to kill. The subway station is below the plaza housing the National Law Enforcement Memorial. The fountain portion was being worked on. The side arms with the names of the fallen law enforcement officers offered the only shade this hot morning. So, I wandered down one and back up the other. Both featured lions and quotes: "It is not how these officers died that made them heroes. It is how they lived"- Vivian Eney, survivor; "In valor there is hope"- Tacitus; "The wicked flee when no man pursueth but the righteous are bold as a lion."- Proverbs 28:1   The final one was probably from the dedication and I found it to be a bit over the top: "Carved on these walls is the story of America of a continuing quest to preserve both democracy and decency and to protect a national treasure that we call the American Dream."- President George Bush  But, that could just be me.

At both ends of the plaza, there was a box with a plexiglass top. Only one of the boxes had what was supposed to be there- a list of the names and their locations in the memorial.

The whole time we were in the plaza, there were precious few other people and very few cars went by. You could really tell how Covid-19 had affected traffic, both pedestrian and vehicular.

Shortly before 11, we thought that we might as well go across the street to the museum. We discovered that not only was it closed, but it wouldn't be opening at all today, because it is closed on Mondays. K had failed to notice that in his research.

It was decided that we'd walk down to the National Archives. It was a hot walk and we tried to stay on the shady side of the streets. We passed the national offices of AARP, which are in a pretty cool looking building.

We passed various restaurants, some of which were closed for the foreseeable future. We saw that Hill Country Barbecue Market, which J had taken us to on a previous visit, was one that was open.

Soon, we were at the back of the Archives. We went across the back of it, taking a look at the statues and whatnot as we went. We reached the front on Constitution Avenue at 11:20.

We found out that you needed a time ticket here, too. We could have gone on the phone and gotten one, but they won't let backpacks come in. A guy, who was waiting on his family to come out, offered to watch it for us, but we saw no reason to necessarily believe him or to go through the trouble. We sat down on a raised stone wall and started looking at options. We already knew that the American History Museum was out of tickets for the month. I couldn't find any other Smithsonian museum that was open.

Finally, I pointed out that the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden across the street was open. K agreed to go and suggested we go to Hill Country about when it opened at noon and have a leisurely lunch there.

I love sculpture gardens. Unfortunately, we did not have nearly enough time, once we got over there at 11:36. Here are some of the cool pieces we saw.

Typewriter Eraser, Scale X by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen

Orphée by Marc Chagall

Graft by Roxy Paine

House I by Roy Lichtenstein (has an optical illusion- the corner is either coming toward you or going away from you)

Cheval Rouge by Alexander Calder

I really wasn't ready to leave, but K said that we could come back after the museum itself. As we left, I got this great shot of the fountain with the National Archives behind it.

We had to stop by the Archives on our way, because K discovered he'd lost his mask and needed to see if it was on the ground there. Luckily, it was, although I had two spares in my purse.

 

As we walked up 7th Street NW, the people collecting for Special Olympics, whom we'd seen on the way down the street, were still there. On the way down the street, they had commented on K's Orioles hat. I figured that they had not asked for money, as they thought we were from out of town. This time they just said hello as we went by.

I had a chance to admire some really cool architecture in the area.

That center building is just a facade in front of stairs and an open air area.

At Hill Country Barbecue Market at 12:08, we found the receptionist surrounded by plexiglass. She asked, if we had a reservation, even though the place was obviously empty. She told us to just put our stuff where we wanted to sit and then to go to order our food. All of the tables had signs on them that they were sanitized for our protection. I chose one that was over in the corner, so as to stay away from foot traffic.

In the past, you would have gone right up to the counter where a carver was working. Now, there was plexiglass all along that area and no one was working it. Instead, there were people who were preparing sandwiches and trays with utensils and such. I ordered a BBQ Beef Combo for $14.95 and K ordered the Pork Combo for $13.95, with the idea that we would split the meals and have double the tastings. The meat was in little tubs and the rolls were prepackaged. I also got pickles, which were prepackaged, too. Then, we made our way over to the sides counter, where I got cole slaw and K got mashed sweet potatoes. Then, it was around the corner to the cashier, where we each ordered a Diet Coke for $3, which came in Mason jars, which was quite fitting. We were told that we could come back for free refills.Since we wanted to make the meal leisurely, so as to enjoy the air conditioning and kill time before the art museum, we ordered desserts. I got a chocolate chip cookie for $2.25 and K got a bourbon pecan pie for $4.

When we got back to the table, we saw that there were water glasses there waiting for us. As we put our sandwiches together, K remarked on the tables that had been shoved together in the middle of the room. We saw that they were putting out things for a large party. As we started in on our delicious meal, a large group of kids came in. They seemed too young for seniors and too old for sixth graders. It was obviously a field trip of some ilk. They put out pitchers of water and soda for them and put the food in large bowls family style. It seemed like a good way to feed a bunch of kids at once.

It was nice eating in all that air conditioning! Before we got to desserts, I got refills on the sodas. My cookie was good, but K's pecan pie was just adorable. He said it was good, but it was seriously tiny.

Hill Country keeps its decor simple and its bar stocked.

The restrooms were downstairs. I saw an elevator, but wasn't convinced I was allowed to use it. So, I made my way painfully down the stairs. There was another dining room down there with a bar and space for a band. I did decide that the elevator was the only reasonable way to get back upstairs.

We finally headed back out into the heat at 1:25, well after the kids had left. This time we were asked for money for the Special Olympics, but we declined. 

With all the nonsense about people wanting their Confederate memorials left up, I was very happy to see a memorial to the Grand Army of the Republic.

We reached the National Gallery of Art at 1:40 and they let us in, even though we were 5 minutes early. K set off the sensor in the screening machine and they had to go through his bag. I picked up maps and watched as others joined him in the line to have their bags searched. Soon, we were on our way.

The first exhibit area had an exhibit of early American furniture and paintings. While that was great, the best part of it was the two posters that explained the difference between the Queen Anne and Chippendale styles.

Next, we found ourselves in the sculpture collection. The two statues below really struck me. The Reading Girl by Magni just looks so sweet and lifelike. They aren't quite sure who did Veiled Bust (or Veiled Nun), but I am always blown away, when a sculptor can make rock look like thin fabric.

We then went upstairs to the many little galleries. As I discussed with a female guard, there's just no logical way to proceed through those. K and I split up, as we are wont to do. Sometimes, one or the other of us would find the other to point out some painting of note. And the Gallery has plenty of those.

Cupid with the Wheel of Fortune by Titian

The Small Cowper Madonna by Raphael

Saint Catherine by Lotto (my patron saint!)

Giuliano de' Medici by Botticelli ( I've always thought it looks like his head is on backwards!)

They let you see both sides of Da Vinci's Ginevra de' Benci. And they let you take photos, which used to be verboten.

Then, there were these two that I've always liked.

Edward VI as a Child by Hans Holbein the Younger

Lot and His Daughters by Dürer

We went through a room with a large fountain and beautiful orchids. We were soon in the rotunda, which K did not recognize. I've always like the statue of Mercury there, as well as the dome.

It had become obvious that we were never going to reach the East Wing of the museum. The museum would be closing at 4 and we had to hustle around to see more of the well-known paintings that we knew were there. For example, there was Renoir's charming  A Girl with a Watering Can and The Boating Party by Cassatt.

I didn't remember ever seeing the small paintings and studies by Seurat before and really wished I'd had more time to study them.

We hurried back down to the ground floor to look at the shop. I found some postcards that I wanted, but not others. I found a couple of pins, too. K got in the long line at a register, while I finished looking around. I noticed that the line at the other register was shorter, as they started announcing the museum was closing and that people had to complete their purchases. Just two registers was not going to accomplish that quickly. But, we managed to exit the building at 4:08, which wasn't too bad.
Sadly, we discovered that the sculpture garden had also closed. Why? It's not like people are going to steal them. Plus, if guards are the problem, well, we saw none when we were there earlier.

So, we headed back to Judiciary Square. We managed to avoid the Special Olympics collectors, who were still out there. Along the way, I enjoyed more architectural items. For example, in the first photo below, this is one giant facade, but they managed to individualize for each "building". In the second, I like that they managed to preserve the townhouses (or "rowhouses", as they were called, when I was growing up), even if they put the other building smack dab up against their backs. No yards there.

We reached Judiciary at 4:37. The Red train heading for Glenmount arrived at 4:40. Even though we were now in the time considered prime time, and thus more costly, the train was not crowded. We were off at NOMA at 4:40 and the trip had cost us $2.25 each. So, both Metro cards would be going home with money still on them.

We were back in the room at 4:50 and I checked the Weather Channel app. It was 91, with a heat index of 99. I totally believed it. I was in for the night, so I checked- I'd gone 11,064 steps for a total of 3.8 miles.

K headed out before 6:30 to go to Harris Teeter, a  grocery on First St. NE, to get dinner. He walked and was back at 6:50. He got me a Bistro Bowl of Spinach Dijon Salad for $3.79, a 20 ounce Coke Zero for $1.99, and a slice of Fudge Cake for $2.99. He got himself a Bistro Bowl of Cranberry Walnut Salad for $3.79 and a box wine called Liberty Creek Cabernet for $3.99. He decided we needed more bananas, which were a crazy $0.65 a pound. It was a good meal.

We spent the rest of the evening on luggage. I had a few items that needed to be transferred to my big suitcase and I had to make sure all the things that were to be left at our daughter J's apartment were either in my smaller suitcase, or one of the bags I had. I also emptied the water bottles we'd been using and put that sort of thing in the soft cooler we'd brought. K had not brought a smaller suitcase. So, he had to do a bit more juggling.