I Went to the (National) Mall LAST Week.

Sometimes, when you’ve lived someplace for too long,  you start to take it for granted.  I, for one, do not take full advantage of living in DC.  After reacquainting myself with certain parts of DC while S and V were in town, I decided I’d take another stab at it.  Last weekend I went back to the Mall to hit up some museums.  Hey, maybe it’s a bit touristy, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth it ((right??)).  And I have to start somewhere….

I started with the Hirshhorn because we hadn’t quite gotten through it the week before.  Even if we had, I would have had very little recollection of it since my cold had me on autopilot.  I made my way though the Strange Bodies exhibition.  There was this one installation (I forget the name/artist), where a was women looking outside her window and a large, bright light was shining in from the other side.  The was a bedroom set-up with a small, ugly, flimsy-looking bed and depressing wallpaper.  It exuded a feeling of loneliness and or feeling lost in the world…as if she didn’t know her way.  I related to that feelings (Quarter-life crisis, maybe?  A totally different post, I know).

Next was the The Museum of the American Indian.  Nice building.  Slightly disappointing, but not unworthy of a visit.   One of my complaints is that the exhibits seemed disjointed and  I wanted a narrative.  I think, history geek that I am, I wanted to know more about their history and didn’t quite find was I was looking for.   I did enjoy the Fritz Scholder:  Indian/Not Indian exhibit.  I can’t say I know anything about art, but I was drawn to the way he used color and how the paintings evoked a connection with the subject matter.   One of the more interesting parts of my visit here was the Mitsitam Cafe.  The idea is that they serve various Native American dishes from various regions.  I haven’t eaten there (yet), but the WaPo seems to think there are more hits than misses.

My next stop was the east building of the National Gallery of Art.  I found the Pompeii exhibit to be too crowded.  With the exception of the ten minute video (which I enjoyed), I walked through without stopping.  Down on their basement level, the modern art was much more interesting.  In the area between the east and west buildings, they have an espresso and gelato cafe.  You can be sure I stopped there.

Afterthought:  For some reason, this post doesn’t feel like me.  BUT I wrote it and will post it.

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