Title: March 29, 2023 - Washington DC
Hike Info : Description : : Background
Type: Tourist
Distance: 1.7 miles walking
After yesterday, I had a good sleep. When I got up about 7:20, I had more time to read and rest. Then there is finishing up the laundry-Sherri actually trusts me to do the drying. She gets up at 9:30 or so. I then take a shower.
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| Museum of Natural History - Sloth |
We do not have anything on the books for today. Sherri would like to go to Mt Vernon. While we can get tickets to tour the grounds, there is none available to tour the inside of the mansion. We will decide what to do. Still no same-day tickets for the Holocaust Museum.
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| The happy couple and Gary and Sherri |
Obviously, we are not quick off the mark this morning. Our departure is around noon. We take the same route as yesterday: NoMa to Metro Central to Smithsonian. This dumps us out in front of the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.
In the Natural History Museum, we are overwhelmed, like in most of the other Smithsonians we have visited. We go through the sections on Mammals, Bones, Fossils, Human Origins, Insects, and Oceans. All of them have our interest to one degree or another. In the insects, there is an enclosure where they have living butterflies fluttering around-and not small ones. This is an extra pay area-we are a bit tired from looking at other exhibits. The mammals had species from all continents except Europe and Asia and Antartica. Fascinating. Of course, there are schools there. And then under oceans there were fish and turtle skeletons, along with replicas of mammals.
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| Mammal Hall |
But the most interesting was the human origins. Going in, I am more thinking that evolution is pretty close to a proven theory. But how these exhibits in the David Koch area presented it, some of the proofs seem a bit flimsy. Such as they were showing a picture of a broken bone with a couple of small scratches on it. The video noted that these scratches were made by humans and their tools. So that proved the type of capabilities humans had during that period of time. To me, those scratches could have been made by anything. There was also a segment showing some sharp rocks. It seems like the Sierra is littered with rocks about that size with the same level of sharpness. So the presentation left me with a bit of skepticism about their methods.
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| Information from an elephant? Because an elephant never forgets |
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| Us resting on the Mall |
After 2+ hours, we exit the museum to have lunch on the Mall. We enjoy the sunshine and the breeze and the pleasantness. Neither of us are in a big rush to resume our discoveries. But after a half an hour, we are off. Sherri had wanted to visit a “strip” garden. The sign says it is a Pollinator Garden. This narrow area has two walkways which connect Madison with Constitution Avenues. Lots of flowers, even some Sherri has planted. She is in her element. Me? I am content to be assigned a place on a bench and read. She mosey’s along and enjoys the colors.
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| Wild White Indigo |
We then go next “door” to the National Gallery of Art's Sculpture Garden. I will admit, most of these I am not interested in. I have a tendency to mock these types of sculptures. Such as this orange steel work. Not sure what it is to represent. It sort of looks like the type of thing of mine which got rejected in metal shop. The rabbit thinker is more my cup of tea-it is interesting and amuses me for a little while. Since Sherri has not had the chance to sit, we find a bench to rest.
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| Bath Pink Dianthuath |
A revisit to the National Gallery of Art is the last thing on our agenda today. We look through the art on another wing.I will say, these masterpieces are worthy of study. It is unfortunate that I do not have the understanding to really appreciate these paintings. Then again I still enjoy them on my terms. One thing I wonder about is Andrew Mellon. The book I am reading, The Forgotten, mentioned Mellon as buying art from Russia. These funds helped to prop up the Stalin government. The book noted that the National Gallery of Art was Mellon’s creation. I wondered as I see his name as donating various works if some of them came from Russia
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| Citrone Corabell |
We manage to stay and stay in awe of the works we see until closing time. We had to ask for directions as we got lost in the maze of rooms. When we exit, we head for the last venue of the day: Ben’s Chili Bowl on H St.. We walk up to H St on 7th. Sherri sees a couple of restaurants which might be of interest: Cocina Mexiana and Carmine’s Italian. These may be investigated if we have time. But today, we are on a mission. We caught the X2 bus on H St, went past the Vrbo place which canceled on us and got off on 8th NE. Then it is a two block walk to Ben’s.
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| Alexander Calder's Cheval Rouge |
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| Donkey as a thinker |
Ben’s son greets us and explains a bit of its history. He then goes through the menu with us. We settle on the Half Smoke. This is sausage on a bun with chili poured over it, with cheese and onions. When it gets served, it tastes really good. Evidently we got in just in time. About 30 kids came in with their chaperone. They are excited, but polite. We finish up our meal-and my chocolate milkshake and head out.
We walk three blocks north and pick up the D4 bus. We and one other lady are the only ones on it. A fast ride to 1st ST NE and a two block walk to our room. A good day, one which we needed after yesterday's long day. We got back about 6:45. All which we do is collapse and enjoy the rest of the evening.
Background
Trip Advisor:
Ben’s Chili Bowl: My wife had read that Ben’s was a place which you needed to eat at if you are visiting DC. It may have been that we were tired, or hungry, but I think the food was really good. We had their signature dish-the half-smoked. The half-smoke is a simple meal: a dog smothered in chili with fries on the side. To me, it hit the spot and was excellent.
To make it better, the guy at the counter who took our order? It was Ben’s son. We enjoyed talking with him, finding out a bit more about DC and his experience-he has spent time in Los Angeles.While we were there, a high school group came in. The staff served the 30 people efficiently and with hospitality. Would I come back here again? Yes!
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