Two Days in Our Nation's Capital
Although the kiddies may not now appreciate it, they have an auntie who lives right across the street from the National Zoo. Whereas some families might plan an entire vacation around a visit to the zoo, it is so old hat to the kiddies that in the two times we stopped by the zoo this weekend, once to go to the bathroom and once to buy snow cones, they had no real interest in seeing the animals. They were much more intrigued by the elevator and luxurious accommodations provided in their aunt's studio apartment. However, we did not arrange this trip to visit the zoo, we were going with Auntie Erin to see The Luncheon of the Boating Party at the Phillips and the muppets at the Museum of American History.
The Phillips Collection
Although I am not in any sense of the word "knowledgeable" about art, I do love that painting because every one in it looks a little drunk, and it's nice to see that one of the Masters could appreciate and capture a good party. The painting itself did not disappoint. The help at the Phillips however, was snooty, to put it mildly. The weenie at the ticket counter immediately informed me that 2 tickets would be $24, even though the Phillips is free on weekdays. He was charging us for the special exhibit, without even asking if we wanted to see it. When I informed him that we didn't, he gave a huge sigh, roll of the eyes, and more than one dramatic gesture towards the jar where "Contributions are appreciated."
The rant in my head? "Look pally, you work at the ticket counter. These are not your paintings. If you had the means to purchase one or the talent to produce one or even the knowledge to stand in one of the rooms, chances are you would not be the ticket guy at the front desk. How about you lose the attitude and maybe after work head to the barber and have that doofus hair attended to."
What I said? "...."
We finally had to ask for directions to the Renoir, but on the way we got to see a Mondrian, a Monet, a Van Gogh, and a Degas, all artists that Aislinn has learned about in school. When I told her she could tell her art teacher all about them in the fall, she told me the art teacher wasn't coming back. Of course he's not.
Although the kiddies were reasonably quiet and did not make any gesture of any kind that would have remotely suggested that they were about to lunge for one of the paintings, all of the gallery workers kept giving them the hairy eyeball.
The rant in my head? "If children are not welcome here, they should be barred at the door. Since they are allowed in for free, I must assume that the Phillips family wants them to be included so maybe instead of waiting for them to do something to make you roll your eyes you could just shoot them a little smile. Not to mention the fact that Marty is doing everything within his power to keep from breaking into one of his patented stomping singalongs."
What I said? "...."
Eventually the kiddies couldn't stand one more minute of life in a hands-off building so we retrieved our shabby stroller from the coat check and left. I would recommend the Phillips because it is a collection in every fine meaning of the word and really quite stunning to see. However, I would advise that you anticipate a lot of attitude from the staff if you decide to stroll through with kiddies in tow.
The National Museum of American History
Throughout my tortured and tragic childhood, I was forced to visit the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, Arlington Cemetary, not to mention all the museums of the Smithsonian, etc., etc., every spring and summer with whatever relatives were in town for a visit. My favorite museum was always American History, although every time I went there I was afraid I would get lost for good and have to go sleep one of the displays. I guess that now, 30 years later, the Smithsonian has decided to do something about the continued loss of tourists within the building so they are closing down for a year or more on Labor Day.
But before they decided to close they put up a Muppet display. We love Muppets, so after a quick (and much criticized) lunch at Dupont Circle we headed down to the mall. The Muppet display was in fact, a Muppet display, very little action or explanation, but the kiddies loved it anyway and were responding to the museum with a lot more enthusiasm than they had managed for the art gallery.
Almost everything else in the Museum is already closed, except for the one other thing we really wanted to see: Julia Child's kitchen. It is awesome. The walls are covered with peg board and all of her cooking tools are hung on hardware store hooks. That kitchen is all about the cooking (so if you are in DC in the next 3 weeks, go see it!).
My mother's new computer has arrived and the keyboard is much smaller and I have recently accidentally erased all but 2 letters of this post. When I attempted to recover it, I got half of it back, and now I am too frustrated and tired to continue. There is so much more to tell (after all, we continued on to Maryland after DC) so I promise I will return soon. Tune in tomorrow when I describe how we cheated death on the Woodley Park Metro elevator.
The Phillips Collection
Although I am not in any sense of the word "knowledgeable" about art, I do love that painting because every one in it looks a little drunk, and it's nice to see that one of the Masters could appreciate and capture a good party. The painting itself did not disappoint. The help at the Phillips however, was snooty, to put it mildly. The weenie at the ticket counter immediately informed me that 2 tickets would be $24, even though the Phillips is free on weekdays. He was charging us for the special exhibit, without even asking if we wanted to see it. When I informed him that we didn't, he gave a huge sigh, roll of the eyes, and more than one dramatic gesture towards the jar where "Contributions are appreciated."
The rant in my head? "Look pally, you work at the ticket counter. These are not your paintings. If you had the means to purchase one or the talent to produce one or even the knowledge to stand in one of the rooms, chances are you would not be the ticket guy at the front desk. How about you lose the attitude and maybe after work head to the barber and have that doofus hair attended to."
What I said? "...."
We finally had to ask for directions to the Renoir, but on the way we got to see a Mondrian, a Monet, a Van Gogh, and a Degas, all artists that Aislinn has learned about in school. When I told her she could tell her art teacher all about them in the fall, she told me the art teacher wasn't coming back. Of course he's not.
Although the kiddies were reasonably quiet and did not make any gesture of any kind that would have remotely suggested that they were about to lunge for one of the paintings, all of the gallery workers kept giving them the hairy eyeball.
The rant in my head? "If children are not welcome here, they should be barred at the door. Since they are allowed in for free, I must assume that the Phillips family wants them to be included so maybe instead of waiting for them to do something to make you roll your eyes you could just shoot them a little smile. Not to mention the fact that Marty is doing everything within his power to keep from breaking into one of his patented stomping singalongs."
What I said? "...."
Eventually the kiddies couldn't stand one more minute of life in a hands-off building so we retrieved our shabby stroller from the coat check and left. I would recommend the Phillips because it is a collection in every fine meaning of the word and really quite stunning to see. However, I would advise that you anticipate a lot of attitude from the staff if you decide to stroll through with kiddies in tow.
The National Museum of American History
Throughout my tortured and tragic childhood, I was forced to visit the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, Arlington Cemetary, not to mention all the museums of the Smithsonian, etc., etc., every spring and summer with whatever relatives were in town for a visit. My favorite museum was always American History, although every time I went there I was afraid I would get lost for good and have to go sleep one of the displays. I guess that now, 30 years later, the Smithsonian has decided to do something about the continued loss of tourists within the building so they are closing down for a year or more on Labor Day.
But before they decided to close they put up a Muppet display. We love Muppets, so after a quick (and much criticized) lunch at Dupont Circle we headed down to the mall. The Muppet display was in fact, a Muppet display, very little action or explanation, but the kiddies loved it anyway and were responding to the museum with a lot more enthusiasm than they had managed for the art gallery.
Almost everything else in the Museum is already closed, except for the one other thing we really wanted to see: Julia Child's kitchen. It is awesome. The walls are covered with peg board and all of her cooking tools are hung on hardware store hooks. That kitchen is all about the cooking (so if you are in DC in the next 3 weeks, go see it!).
My mother's new computer has arrived and the keyboard is much smaller and I have recently accidentally erased all but 2 letters of this post. When I attempted to recover it, I got half of it back, and now I am too frustrated and tired to continue. There is so much more to tell (after all, we continued on to Maryland after DC) so I promise I will return soon. Tune in tomorrow when I describe how we cheated death on the Woodley Park Metro elevator.
posted by Shannon at 11:03 PM
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