Art, Air, Natural History, and Space

Jun 7

The trailer park has a shuttle to the train station, which we have taken every time we venture out to see the sights. The store in the park lets you buy a “SmarTrip” card that you use for the bus and the trains. Randy and I slowly figured out our route using the map the store also provides.

We went to the Smithsonian National Art Museum, the Smithsonian Natural History Museum, and the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum. Another kind of hot day but we were mostly inside except the line to the museums. We enjoyed all of them. Again, click to enlarge the photos below and read the continuation of the captions.

First, the art museum:

(To enlarge the picture and see continued captions, click on it. To see the continued caption on your phone, click on the small dot in the lower right hand corner.)

Descending to the train station.

While waiting for the train, we look for "our" mockingbird across the way, always perched at the top of one of these telephone poles.

There he is, singing away.

View from my seat on the train. What would we do without our phones? Actually meet each other's eyes and maybe smile?? (Actually, a few of us did.)

The National Museum of Art

In the first stairwell we saw this statue which reminded us of Cori. She has a version in her apartment.

These pillars were immense! Strange to see such huge ones inside a building.

Decorations everywhere you look--even a heating duct.

Some paintings and friezes have bright, bright colors. I love a nativity, especially with curious cows.

The Pieta has become a very meaningful image for me.

Our tour guide told us this museum had a Leonardo De Vinci that was "bigger than the Mona Lisa and you don't have to fight a crowd to see it." Sure enough!

Beautiful fountains and gardens in the rotundas.

It is kind of like old age, somehow.

It became kind of a theme to notice the art that depicted cows. :)

Peter on the sea of Galilee is another meaningful image for me.

These grapes were translucent. Good one for gardener Randy to pose by.

A huge painting of Daniel in the lion's den.

Yes, cows again.

Saw this across the room and wondered if it was a Jan Steen. Grandma Kok told me her mother used to say, "Like a Jan Steen (pronounced Yawn Stain)" when a room was messy.

The Dutch masters did great clouds. I always wondered if that's why the Dutch settled in Grand Rapids. Michigan does have beautiful, piled up clouds.

Gotta have George, of course.

This reminded me of the Instagram account of a friend who posts photos of the dead ducks he's hunted.

Just thought this was an amazing intricate sculpture.

I noticed several paintings by familiar artists that were not familiar paintings to me.

Isn't the lavendar color beautiful?

Gaugin did cows, too.

Then the Smithsonian Natural History Museum.

When we came out of the train station, there were many Navy servicemen gathered around the Navy Memorial. Turns out they were celebrating the Battle of the Midway (June 5).

The sign said this is "the elm that grew with America." I love trees!

The Museum of Natural History

Hey, Nemo lives here, too!

The iconic elephant.

Lots of dinosaur bones. Turns out Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook were in DC for a show this week (from the podcast, "The Rest is History"). I wonder if Tom checked out the dinosaurs.