Portraits

On our walk this morning, we came across the smallest Airstream we have ever seen. Cute, isn't it?

We didn't get a chance to see the National Portrait Gallery when we visited the Smithsonian American Art Museum last Saturday, so we were happy to make another trip to DC to join Terri and Molly to see the portraits. We ran into a bit of a problem when we met them at 10:20 and found that the galleries don't open until 11:30 a.m. But never fear--we were in a prime shopping district. Ken found a nice Tervis Tumbler with lid at Bed, Bath, and Beyond. Molly found some school clothes at the Loft.

Capitol BikeShare has stations throughout the city.

Entrance to Chinatown

Vaquero statue greets visitors at the entrance to the galleries.

The portraits are an eclectic collection. Many are standard oil portraits of historic figures, including presidents and generals as well as activists and inventors. Others are more unusual, like a collection of snapshots made by famous people of their friends and other posed photographs. One was of John Lennon, Yoko Ono, and Andy Warhol. Some are statues, like this study of Civil War decision making.

Some of the portraits have very elaborate frames, like this one of General (and later President) U. S. Grant.

We saw one man taking his little son around to show him the historic figures that had fought for the abolition of slavery and civil rights. The building itself is a great architectural experience. It started life as the home of the Patent Office, and Lincoln's second inaugural ball was held here. The Great Hall was once the largest room in America, originally designed to hold the miniature models required of patent applicants.

When we got home we played a round of Ingenious before dinner. Ken won, basically leaving the rest of us in the dust.

We took our evening walk around the neighborhood. This time Terri and Molly led us to the elementary school. It was still light enough we could admire the architecture of the mix of homes, some updated and many quite original.

For dinner, Molly grilled the brats and her ear of corn (gives it that smoky flavor). Terri boiled the rest of the corn and made some tiny potatoes with onions and a
delicious edamame salad (made without the steak and cucumber). For dessert later, while we were watching What Not to Wear on TV, she brought out some yummy chocolate from Trader Joe's.