Washington - the Smithsonian

Washington, capital of the USA. An Act of 1790 created the capital and it is not part of any state but includes historic Georgetown and Alexandria. It was laid out by architect l'Enfant. It was modelled on the Baroque style with avenues radiating from rectangles. The National Mall - a wide grassy area is bounded on one side by Constitution Ave. and on the other by Independence Ave. - it is here on both sides of the Mall that most of the museums are situated together with the Capitol buildings,

the Lincoln Memorial 

and the Washington Memorial.

It is a very beautiful if sterile city 

This morning, we awoke to pouring rain. It is the first rainfall we've seen since our arrival in the U. S. 

We took the shuttle to the Metro and boarded the train to the Smithsonian. 

The Institute resulted from the British scientist , Smithson leaving his wealth to an American nephew, who died childless and left his wealth to the US government to disseminate knowledge among men!!  All the museums are free of charge and welcome 30 million visitors annually. 

 

Alighting at the station, we sought advice as to where it was. I hadn't done my homework sufficiently as it appears it is made up of numerous buildings - all housing museums of different themes - American History, National History Museum, Afro American History, Air and Space Museum to name but a few. 

We commenced our visit with a call to the American History Museum. There were many exhibits including an exhition on American Presidents and First Ladies. The latter exhibition features the dresses worn by the all First Ladies at the Inauguration Balls. 

Jackie Kennedy's Inaugural Ball

        gown with her pearls

                           

  Hilary Clinton's Inaugural ball gown

 

        Michelle Obama's Inaugural

                      Ballgown 

I then visited the Star Spangled Banner exhibition, where the original Stars And Stripes Flag is on show. 

This was followed by a visit to the Food   Exhibition, which traced the change in American food patterns from the 1950s - the 2,000s. On exhibit was the famous cook Julia Child's kitchen. 

She was trained as a Cordon Bleu cook in France but on her return to the States, she gave cookery demonstrations on TV and is credited with introducing Americans to drinking wine with their meals as the French do. I'm not too sure that she succeeded as the Americans appear to prefer cocktails with their meals. 

The exhibition showed the contribution of emigrants to American cuisine and illustrated the change from home cooked dinners to TV dinners to the modern convenience take-aways. 

I was disappointed to find that there was no exhibition on the Suffragette movement but here and there, there were references to the: 

Was it ever thus? Our women in 1916    

    were treated in a similar manner

Afterwards,  CC went to the Air and Space Museum, while I went to The Nstional Art Gallery but I was disappointed to find the section on modern American paintings was under renovation. However, I did see many paintings by Sargent and Whistler.  The Air and Space Museum I'm reliably informed was a little dated! 

Tonight we intend to go to Kings Street - Old Town, Alexandria to sample the culinary delights the area is famous for. 

More tomorrow ........