A decade ago I used to go for business regularly to the “Swamp” (that may
be drained). I never cared about this
city since it was run down, dirty, with lots of street people and graffiti; but
it has cleaned its act and more appealing. I returned to see the new
Afro-American and Native American Museums.
This blog follows the walks to and from the hotel to the sites mentioned
above. Hotels are numerous in D.C. and, for contrast, the lobbies of the Henley Park
and the Marriott Marquis are below, the former from the late 1890’s and the latter
contemporary. I prefer the quaint old
one to the new one – with open space with a huge sculpture whose meaning is
only known to the creator.
Leaving the
safety of the hotel’s lobby one encounters various monuments to personages of
the past such as the one of Samuel Gompers (1850-1924) who founded the American
Federation of Labor (AFL) to improve the working conditions of the working
class. Ironically he opposed European and Chinese immigration because it
lowered wages and were not easily assimilated…have things changed? And by the homeless making this monument a
home, Samuel’s dream of achieving an American standard of living that provided
adequate food, shelter and money still remains a dream.
Down the
street is Ford’s Theater where Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in 1865 by John
Wilkes Booth, who plotted the attack not far down the street at the boarding
house of Mary Surrat. Booth was killed
while being captured but the investigation of the plot involved Mary Surrat who
was convicted and hung. The house located in Chinatown is listed as a National
Historic Place and is now a Chinese Restaurant.
Passing by
the Capital Grill, a place where the politicians and lobbyists determine the
future of the nation I crossed Constitution Avenue and entered the mall where a
TV crew was getting ready to videotape an alternative news report. Notice the
complex set-up of lighting
and audio gear and signal transmitter all powered
by small battery; not long ago this required a van and a larger crew; now two
people can do it all with hand-carried equipment.
Arriving at the newly opened National Museum of African
American History and Culture I found that I needed to have a pass to
enter. But I was lucky; one of the
attendants in the line had extra passes and I got in. Entering into the lobby I
was greeted by a hanging of so called art work. I wondered what is this doing
here and though this was misplaced and really belonged in the National Air and
Space Museum since it resembles more a Klingon spacecraft.
The graphic arts were also
represented by very colorful and attractive sculptures and paintings from
artists that I never knew about but of great talent. There are lots of interactive
exhibits and the various styles of music created by the Afro-American artist.
The building itself is an architectural mixture of styles
that in my opinion was not well coordinated.
The building exterior is basically of straight lines while internally is
mostly curved in design. I found that the lay-out of the floors was difficult
to follow since the exhibits were randomly located and hard to walk thru
without missing some. This museum does not resemble in its layout the ones that
I am accustomed to from the other museums in the Mall.
The National
Museum of the American Indian is located at the other end of the Mall next to
the Capital with a totally different architectural style. It was easier to navigate thru the exhibits
than the museum previously visited and more in the style of the older Mall
museums. Below there are two images of the main entrance to the museum in two
renditions, both from the same image. The third image below is of the main
lobby taken from the upper floor.
This museum describes the history of the native Americans
from before the arrival of the Europeans to the present and emphasizes the
number of treaties that were made with the U.S. Government. Most of these
treaties were broken by the expansion of the western culture due to the search
for gold and more lands across the continent.
At the time there was a display of the Inca Road in South America. I did spent lots of time immersed in the
exhibits and forgot to take more photos.
Leaving the
American Indian Museum on my way back to the hotel I encountered a couple of chess players whose chessboard was
stolen. I saw the Cuba Libre restaurant
and decided to dine there. I pride
myself of being a connoisseur of the famous “Cuban Sandwich” and decided to try
one…well…close but not the real thing; for those you have to go to the
Versailles or La Carreta restaurants in Miami.
The restaurant bar area is supposed to be a copy of the famous
“Floridita Bar” in Havana.
After
dinner, I headed to my hotel and had to take a last photo of a striking facade
of
the Woodward and Lothrop Department Store opened in 1887 and known as Woodies
that closed in 1995. The external facades
are painted cast iron; this is the side fronting 7 Street NW that was
clear of obstructions since the other sides allowed for parking obscuring the
view. And for those interested, the
photo taken handheld with a 11-24 mm lens
at 18 mm, f 4 , 1/125 and ISO 8000; the
wonders of digital photography.
