Tag: Washington DC

Happy Birthday Julia Child – August 15th

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“Find something you’re passionate about and keep tremendously interested in it.” – Julia Child

If you have been to the Washington DC area, you may know that the Smithsonian Institute is comprised of eleven museums and galleries on the National Mall plus six other museums and the National Zoo. All of them are free to visiting guests which really is amazing. The newest addition Museum of African American History requires a timed entry ticket due to popularity at peak times, but still no charge.

At the Museum of American History is one of the museums I saw when I was there last year. The museum has more than 1.8 million objects in its collection and more than three shelf-miles of archival collections. Many items of Popular Culture like Archie Bunker’s chair, Fonzie’s leather jacket, Kermit the Frog and Dorothy’s ruby slippers just to name a few.

The first exhibit we visited was the Food – Transforming the American Table 1950 – 2000. This is where you find Julia Child’s Kitchen. It is the starting point of the exhibit which covers almost 50 years of food and food trends. As a person who is interested in food it could have easily become a problem because you could spend hours in this one exhibit and there was so much ground to cover, and it was only our first museum. Good walking shoes are a must for multiple museum visits and a city like Washington.

There are a lot of interesting facts around the display like all of the cupboards and working surfaces were lowered due to her height. The whole room is a ‘view only’ as everything is authentic. All of the tools, equipment and appliances are arranged in exactly the way they were when Julia Child turned them over to the museum in 2001.

To celebrate her birthday I will end with this quote from Julia Child

“A party without cake is just a meeting” 

A Portrait’s view of American History

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I am a very proud Canadian and love my country. I do have to admit that I have seen much more of the United States than I have my own country. It is not intentional I suppose, I have had many opportunities through family and friends living in different cities and states, combined with my career in the travel industry has netted me out some amazing American experiences.

When we were planning our trip to Washington DC last year I made a list of things that were on my ‘to see and do’ list, and after that, whatever else we could fit in would be bonus items.

While we barely scratched the surface on the Smithsonian museums, we did get in 3 out of 18. Not a lot, and the one I wanted to get into (the newest one Museum (African American History) was still too new and still need a ticket to get in.

On the list was a visit to the National Portrait Gallery to see President and Michelle Obama’s portraits. Their portraits were unveiled as part of the 50th Anniversary of the Gallery. One the second floor is where all the portraits of all the presidents are on display. Outside of the White House it is the only place to house all the Presidents of the United States.

It is quite a large gallery and to be honest, I wasn’t overly interested in the ‘first’ Presidents, but more to the times in my life that were actually relevant. As you would expect there was a line to see President Obama’s portrait. It was interesting observing some of the folks in line to take their turn at taking a picture. Many of them were African American and wanted to take a selfie with both portraits. The Gallery had a record-breaking 2.3 million visitors in 2018, about a million more than in 2017. Many I am sure were there just to see The Obama portraits. You don’t have to be on the same side of the political aisle, but there is something to be said of the “first” person to do anything, let alone be the leader of the free world. I stood there when it was my turn and thought about that for a moment. Took my photo (NOT selfie) and then moved on.

Michelle Obama’s portrait hangs on the third floor. The exhibit is called 20th Century Americans . It took some time to find the room she was located in, but once there, again there was a line, mostly young women waiting for their moment.  The combination of people showcased was from a wide range of backgrounds—Jane Addams, Douglas MacArthur, Robert F. Kennedy, Sandra Day O’Connor and Michael Jackson, among others—tell the story of America’s 20th century through today. Michelle Obama’s portrait hangs on the third floor. Mrs. Obama’s portrait hung prominently in the centre of the room beside a unique painting of LL Cool J.

Mixing my love of tv and pop culture to this story, as I was staring at Mrs. Obama’s portrait I was drawn back to the series finale of Scandal just a month before my visit. If you remember, the show ends with Olivia Pope staring at her portrait in the Gallery. Knowing now that there isn’t a display for first ladies but only a hall for Presidents, one’s imagination is left to think – Did Olivia end up becoming President?

If you are planning a trip to DC, I would add the National Portrait Gallery to your list of museums to visit.

Today’s Front Page at the Newseum – June 9, 2018

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“[When I die], I will decidedly not be regretting missed opportunities for a good time. My regrets will be more along the lines of a sad list of people hurt, people let down, assets wasted, and advantages squandered.” – Anthony Bourdain

How many museums are actually in Washington DC one might want to know when planning a trip to this amazing city. Well, the simple answer is – a lot. The Smithsonian Institute is made up of 19 museums on its own, not to mention anything and every piece of history you can think of. The list can be found here if you are interested.

There is a museum that I remember hearing about when I first opened in DC back in 2008 that I remember being interested in, called The Newseum. The museum promotes, explains and defends free expression and the five freedoms of the First Amendment.

The museum had a lot of interesting displays, some permanent others temporary. Since it is a “news” museum, there were some wonderful exhibits that included a 9/11 Gallery, Pulitzer prize photograph gallery, inside today’s FBI, Berin Wall gallery and so much more.

The museum has great real estate value for a few key reasons. It faces Pennsylvania Avenue, which is nicknamed America’s Main street and is links the US Capital Building directly to the White House. it also happens to have the best view of the Capital Building. It also happens to be next door to the Canadian Embassy.

Before heading out to see the view of the Capital and Pennsylvania Avenue is a area called Today’s Front Page. It is a daily roundup of front page headlines from all 50 states and around the world.

On this day there were a few main headlines, but the one that was on almost every newspaper front page was the passing of Anthony Bourdain. The headlines were a take on his Parts Unknown, simply stating, “His Pain Unknown” and “Pains Unknown” to name a few.

A friend of mine made a comment about people’s reactions on social media when Robin Williams passed away that it wasn’t like we were his family or a friend, yet we are sad, and emotional because they passed away. Anthony Bourdain was iconic in the food world. He was open, and brutally honest about his demons and had a lot of thoughts on life that could apply to any one of us at any time.

I will miss him. I have about 7 episodes of Parts Unknown on my PVR. Keeping the ones that were closest to his heart to watch last. Almost there. His hometown of Queens New York.

“As you move through this life and this world, you change things slightly; you leave marks behind, however small. And in return, life–and travel–leaves marks on you. Most of the time, those marks–on your body or on your heart–are beautiful. Often, though, they hurt.” – Anthony Bourdain

I hope that the food is great up there.