August 22, 2010: Washington - Southern Hospitality, The Black Squirrel, American Art Museum

Sunday morning we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast of banana and chocolate chip pancakes (this must be that famous southern hospitality!) on the screened-in verandah at the back of Quoc and Delores' house - it's a beautiful property, sloping down to the trees - it felt like another, cooler season entirely from Washington DC.

In the afternoon I unveiled my secret plan - we were to go to The Black Squirrel, a nearby pub that I had passed before when we were exploring the Adams Morgan area. And not only was it fun since it had the same name as Jenn's blog and it recounted the story of the importation of the Ontario squirrels to Washington DC, but it also had great food - a seriously delicious hamburger, a very bacony club sandwich - and they were wacky enough to include absinthe on their drinks list.

After dropping Jenn off at Union Station at the end of the afternoon, Mark and I stopped in at the American Art Museum and Portrait Gallery so that I could show him my favourites from my previous two visits.

Photo: Jenn at the Black Squirrel pub

August 21, 2010: Washington - The Zoo, National Cathedral, On To Virginia

On Saturday morning Jenn and I headed up for a walk around the National Zoo. I was hoping to finally see the orangutans out for a climb on their O-line, since the best time for observing them is 11:00 - 11:30. However, they were all inside the Great Ape House, fascinated by a zoo employee who was washing the floors outside their enclosure. However, the entire gorilla family was outside for the first time, enjoying the leaves and grass, and apparently waiting to be fed. We also enjoyed seeing elephant shrews (which really do look like tiny elephants, with their long, mobile snouts).

And on a sign near the entryway was an explanation for Washington's famous black squirrels, which I had never yet noticed in all my previous visits. In the early 1900s squirrels in the area were in danger of becoming extinct, because they'd been hunted down as pests (it was even possible to pay your taxes with squirrel pelts), so the National Zoo imported some squirrels from Ontario to boost the population. And, since black squirrels are common in Canada, the proportion of black to gray squirrel in Washington has been climbing ever since. All of which was particularly apt because Jenn's called her short story blog "The Black Squirrel", recalling her fascination with the (to her) unusual black squirrels in Toronto during her time at school.

In the afternoon Mark joined us for a trip to the National Cathedral. The behind-the-scenes tour that I'd been on previously wasn't available, but we still saw a great deal of the building. The light seemed even brighter than I remembered when I was there before - walls were lit in different colours from the reflected light of the stained glass windows all around. And, since it wasn't as hot as on my previous visit, we even managed to make a complete circuit around the building's grounds afterward.

In the evening Jenn and I took the Metro out to Virginia to meet up with Delores and Quoc. We picked up dinner at a Salvadorean chicken place (ridiculously cheap - $6.95 for a half chicken and two substantial servings of roasted plantain and rice with beans). Then we settled in for a mishmash of tv (North and South - kind of an Industrial Revolution era Pride & Prejudice mini-series) and YouTube videos (Jenn introduced us to the series of literal music videos, which hilariously describe everything outlandish taking place in 80s music videos, set to the original tune of the song).

Photos: an orangutan seems to be making friends; the gorillas outdoors (their lounging about poses oddly remind me of scenes from the low rises in 'The Wire'); a solitary gorilla; the exterior of the National Cathedral; an itty-bitty Mark and Jenn in front of the cathedral; the scene of Creation; the ceiling with glowing light; a reflection from the window on the floor; the famous Space window which includes a piece of moon rock (see the black dot?); a medical-themed window; an abstract modern window; more reflected light; an Arctic capital on a column; a view from the Bishop's Garden; me and Mark; me and Jenn in the cathedral grounds

August 20, 2010: Washington - Mount Vernon, The Kids, Midnight At Union Station

Today I took a bus tour to Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington. It wasn't going to be excessively hot, so it seemed like a reasonable day to visit his estate, which is mostly gardens and farms, along with the family's home, so it would be a day with a lot of walking around in the sun.

The bus picked us up at Arlington Cemetery and drove through downtown historic Alexandria along the way, where our tour guide pointed out various landmarks (childhood home of Robert E. Lee, Masonic Washington memorial tower). When we got to Mount Vernon, we were on our own for three hours before having to meet the bus again to return back to Arlington.

First stop was the visitor's center, which had a movie about George Washington's life. There was a young girl, maybe about 8 years old, sitting behind me who had not yet learned to appreciate dramatic pacing. The movie started with a scene of a battle camp, with men riding up on horseback and conferring. It really wasn't possible yet to tell who George Washington (you could tell they were setting us up for some sort of dramatic reveal). But every few minutes she would ask her parents "Is that George Washington?" "Is that George Washington?" "Which one is George Washington?" I'm sure they would have been happy to tell her, but they didn't know the answer any more than she did. After it was established who George Washington was, the scene switched to a dinner party. That's when she started asking " Is that Martha?" "Is that Martha?" "Which one is Martha?"

After the movie, which was suitably patriotic while emphasizing that George Washington preferred being a farmer to being a war leader or president of the country, I walked up to the mansion. Photographs weren't allowed inside, which was too bad, because there was one room with the most astoundingly electric color of green paint - apparently the copper pigment used at the time was very expensive, so the greener the better. At one point the tour led us past the bedroom where George died; a woman on the tour asked why the bedroom had been remodelled so much and the blood bedclothes removed. The tour guide looked utterly perplexed - Washington died after catching a cold, and it's hard to imagine that bloody bedclothes would have been involved. I think she had it mixed up with Lincoln's deathbed, but she was insistent that it wasn't how the room looked when she'd been at Mount Vernon years earlier.

From the house I went on to tour the gardens where there were fantastic old espaliered fruit trees and I saw artichokes growing for the first time (huge spiny plants!). Then down to the river's edge to read about Washington's fishing business (fish were very plentiful at the time) and to visit recreations of his farming techniques (he was an innovator in crop rotation and designed a custom barn for threshing wheat with horses. There was a limited amount of tobacco growing - Washington had been one of the first to replace this cash crop with wheat, which wasn't as hard on the soil. There were sheep, cows, mules, horses and chickens, many of them the same heritage varieties that Washington kept.

On the way out was a new theatre and exhibition area with a series of life-size models of Washington at various stages of life (created with the current forensic techniques). Also on display were his dentures. For some reason this seemed to be the penultimate artifact that the entire Mount Vernon complex was leading up to, perhaps because one of his actual teeth was part of it - it all felt a little like visiting a Catholic shrine to a saint.

In the evening Mark and I went downtown to the Landmark E Street Theatre to see "The Kids Are Alright". To a certain extent our choice was determined by which movie would end in time for us to get to Union Station before midnight, when my friend Jenn would be getting in on her bus from New York City (the movie I really wanted to see was "The Girl Who Played with Fire" but since Mark hadn't seen the first movie that seemed a bit unfair). Not a bad movie, although strangely packed with possible dramatic arcs (alcoholism! teenage misbehaviour!) that went nowhere - I appreciate a little non-Hollywood ambiguity, but this one didn't really tie up any loose ends at all.

Afterward we headed off to Union Station. It's a great building - really stunning architecture with lots of shops and restaurants, but unfortunately that's all closed up by midnight. However, the station wasn't creepy even though it was late and largely deserted and the bus came in on time. I was feeling like quite the Washington native, fitting in a quick movie before meeting a friend at the station, then shepherding everyone home on the Metro.

Photos: George Washington's mansion (note that what appears to be stone walls is actually wood, 'rusticated' to appear to be stone); the view from the back porch to the Potomac; the lower garden (only half!); a butterfly alights on an artichoke flower; one of the tulip poplars planted by George Washington; sheep of many colours; one of the few sheep interested in making friends with me; tiny tobacco field (having grown up in Ontario's tobacco-growing region, I taken a certain amount of pleasure in being able to recognize it); the octagonal wheat-threshing barn

August 19, 2010: Washington - Ford's Theatre, Dinner at Dino

Today I went downtown to Ford's Theatre, where there was a museum about the events leading up to Lincoln's assassination there. On display was the gun that John Wilkes Booth used to shoot him - it was floating in the middle of a lit case in a dark alcove, with the title "The Gun That Killed Abraham Lincoln" inscribed at the base. It seemed strangely venerated, with its dramatic lighting and titling.

The tour upstairs was somewhat limited - we really only got to go into the theatre, sit down, and listen to a recounting of the assassination by a Park Ranger. But it was nicely restored, and since I came up a bit later I was seated in the balcony, with a good view of the box that Lincoln was sitting in.

It's clear from all the evidence that John Wilkes Booth wanted to make a scene, and must have fully expected that he would be caught. He was a well-known actor at that theatre, so many in the audience thought it was part of the play when he jumped out of the president's box onto the stage after the shooting. I have to wonder if all the other people involved in the conspiracy (there were plans to kidnap/kill several other prominent figures) realized what a show Booth was going to put on - it would inevitably lead to the rest of them being found out.

Across the street is the small townhouse to which Lincoln was carried and in which he died the next morning - April 15, 1865 (how, in all my reading about Lincoln in the many exhibits about him in Washington, had I failed to notice until now that he died on April 15, which is my birthday?). There's a prominent sign at the entryway prohibiting firearms, which seems a bit ironic. There wasn't much to see inside (it's a small house), but there was a sign pointing out the original bedding, which showed dried stains of his blood (pretty faded by now).

For dinner we went up the street to Dino. We had heard good things about this Italian restaurant from Mark's co-workers, and it was DC Restaurant Week, in which Dino has a reputation for putting on extra niceties for all who attend (like good discounts on wine, extra free appetizers, etc). It was a good meal, but not as exciting as Ripple - the ingredients were good even if their preparation not the most imaginative (although prosciutto wrapped around peaches was great) and the service was a bit perfunctory. But it would be a bit obsessive if we only kept going back to Ripple every time we ate out, so I'm glad we tried something new.

Photos: the infamous gun; the signage about the gun, and the replica lead shot; the president's theatre box; the house across the street where Lincoln died (complete with 'no firearms' signage); the room where Lincoln died (and where it was finally impressed upon me that he died April 15, same day as my birthday)

August 18, 2010: Washington - Leonardo da Vinci, Pork Shoulder Roast

Today there was a free noon showing of a documentary about Leonardo da Vinci at the National Geographic Society. I'd already been to the exhibition, so went down just for the movie. The theatre was large and surprisingly full. The documentary was good - it covered the earlier part of his life, and focused on both his artwork and his mechanical inventions. A few of his designs were recreated (a hot air balloon, an armoured tank) and turned out to be quite serviceable, considering that he didn't get the opportunity to build or test most of his ideas.

And after the show it was back home to cook up the pork shoulder we bought at the farmer's market on Sunday. I had to hunt around a bit in order to round up all the ingredients (of course bay leaves would be the only thing sold out in the spice section at Safeway) but it turned out well in the end. And now we'll eat roast pork for leftovers the next few days!

August 17, 2010: Washington - Arlington Cemetery

Arlington Cemetery was my first venture across the Potomac into Virginia. I had re-read Connie Willis' "Lincoln's Dreams" to immerse myself in some Civil War trivia. The cemetery didn't look much like I'd imagined it from the descriptions (although the scene set there in the book takes place in a snowstorm in winter). It was bigger, with less sense of history - everything looked so new and well-maintained.

The only part that did seem a bit old and crumbling was Arlington House, the home of Robert E. Lee, leader of the Confederate army. They are in the midst of renovations to bring everything up to modern museum standards, so at the moment it's a bit tumble down. However, the view can't be beat - it's on top of a steep hill, with some fantastic old trees about.

The Kennedy grave sites were on the hill below: John F Kennedy, with some of his most famous speeches carved in stone along the perimeter of the plaza in front, Robert F. Kennedy, with one of his speeches carved in stone above a nice reflecting pool, and Ted Kennedy, with just a modest white cross (I would imagine there'll be plans to install something more momentous for him as well).

There was a huge amphitheater with the tomb of the Unknown Soldier. This was a surprisingly elaborate affair - roped-off areas for observers were filled with visitors who watched a military official march back and forth in front of it (with that eerie gait in which nothing seems to move except the feet).

On my way out I stopped in at the Women in Military Service for America Memorial. This was just outside the gates of Arlington, and was the only place to buy cold water. From the outside it looks like a typical archway of stone with some carvings and a fountain, but it turned out to be a very striking modern building, set in behind the stone with a glass ceiling roofing the space - I walked up to the top and was able to look inside to the roped-off area where a fancy reception was taking place.

I'd been interested in possibly visiting Mount Vernon, and while at Arlington discovered that the tour buses leaving from there were considerably cheaper than those at Union Station in downtown Washington. This bumps up the probability of visiting to much higher on the list.

Photos: rows of graves at Arlington; the massive pillars (and surprisingly stripey stone) of Robert E. Lee's house; tree behind Arlington House; grave marker of 2111 unidentified Civil War soldiers; JFK quote carved in stone; JFK and Jacqueline graves; Robert Kennedy's quote and pool; Ted Kennedy's grave; amphitheater; soldier at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier; grass refurbishment (in progress at left, completed at right); is it wrong that I've watched so much "True Blood" that a grave for Compton jumped out at me? the Challenger memorial (where oddly enough there's a need to have a sign to say "no coins" - there's no pool to toss them in!); exterior of Women in Military Service for America Memorial; interior of Women in Military Service Memorial

August 16, 2010: Washington - US Capitol

My visit to the US Capitol building was free, although it required reserving a couple of days in advance. I was hoping for something as fantastic as the Library of Congress, where the tour was engaging and the building and the exhibitions of its collections totally surpassed my expectations.

However, the US Capitol was a bit underwhelming. As usual it was hot and sunny outside. There was virtually no one in the plaza leading up to the Capitol, which was a bit surprising - in contrast, the steps of the Lincoln Memorial were swarming with people, and it wasn't much cooler the day I was there. Everyone was inside the visitor's center, which is actually underground (and air conditioned!).

The tour started with a long patriotic video about America, starting with the magnificence of being a democracy with freedom for all to hold different ideas yet still united as one country (E pluribus unum), followed by the price of freedom having been paid for by the blood of soldiers. Maybe it just strikes me as over the top since here in Canada we're an independent democracy too but didn't need to fight a war with England to end up that way - it may have taken a little longer but the price wasn't so steep.

For our tour we were all given earphones so that we could hear our tour guide - there were many other tours going on simultaneously, so it would have been easy to get lost in the shuffle. Our first stop was a hall which was formerly used for government purposes but now displays many statues (each state has donated two statues - they were originally all housed in the same hall but the combined weight was too great, so now they are dispersed throughout the building). During remodeling the floor of the hall was raised which changed the acoustics - you can now stand in one part of the hall, whisper, and be heard clearly in another part, as our tour guide demonstrated. Of course he had us take off our headphones so that we could actually hear the whisper projected by the hall's acoustics, rather than by electronics.

The acoustics demonstration was fun. Unfortunately, our guide forget to turn his transmitter back on, so from that point onward we didn't hear as much as we could have. We all gathered under the dome (remarkably high - the Statue of Liberty could stand under it with room to spare), admired the frieze (painted to resemble carved stone - pretty convincing) which depicted scenes from American history (the Wright brothers flying stood out the most for me), and that was it. The tour was over almost before it started.

There was an exhibition hall downstairs which I enjoyed, although we weren't allowed to take photographs (too bad - lots of fun models of the appearance of the Capitol and its surroundings throughout the years). The visitor's center did allow pictures, although it really only had a handful of sculptures - the most interesting being Helen Keller, a very golden king of Hawaii, and a large model of the Statue of Freedom that stands on top of the building.

Photos: the Capitol; interior of the dome; hall of statues with amazing acoustics; chandelier hanging from the dome over the hall of statues; model of the Statue of Freedom in the visitor's center; Kamehamehai, first king of Hawaii; braille and raised relief imagery on Helen Keller's statue base; the Statue of Freedom on top of the dome; view down the Mall; beautiful trees on the grounds of the Capitol