Capital Contrasts

By Eilene Lyon

Our destination at the end of the bike ride from Pittsburgh on the GAP and C&O trails was Washington, D.C. It’s probably been over 20 years since our last visit to our nation’s capital. On that earlier trip, we visited the Capitol building, Ford’s Theater, the Air & Space Museum, and later Mt. Vernon and other sites in Virginia.

At the top of my list for this visit was the Library of Congress (LOC). I had hoped to have a reason to do a bit of research there, but I did not come up with a plan. Therefore we had to obtain tickets online, queue up with the other tourists, and limit our visit to the public spaces. Just seeing the architecture is worthwhile.

The Jefferson Building is one of three that make up the Library of Congress.

While we did get to see the interior of the building, the crowds made the experience very un-library-like. We left after only 45 minutes. Fortunately, many books, manuscripts, photos, maps, and newspapers in the LOC have been digitized and can be found online. One collection is set aside in it’s own room: Thomas Jefferson’s personal library that formed the foundation for the LOC.

They did have a couple exhibits. One displayed some of their literary treasures: books, manuscripts, and illustrations. This was laid out much like ones I saw at the Huntington Library in California.

Next we visited the National Museum of the American Indian, which had been built but not yet opened on our last visit. We strolled through a small botanical garden on the way. This museum is a “do not miss” in my book, no ticket required. It seems to have escaped much of the Trump whitewashing found in other national historic sites. We spent several hours here.

Broken treaties are the focus of one exhibit, of which California and Pennsylvania caught my particular interest. Contemporary Native paintings filled another exhibit. This type of art form really did not exist until the 20^th century. Until they began brushing paint onto canvas, Indian art was usually seen as folk craft.

Pennsylvania founder William Penn negotiating a treaty with the Lenape in 1682.

California Native territories in 1848.

Native “craft”

Native “art”

We also spent a short time in the National Art Gallery on the Mall, then called it a day. We stayed at the Hilton Capitol Hill as it was close to the train station (we took Amtrak back to Pittsburgh) and within walking distance of the National Mall and various museums and memorials. We ate at the hotel our first night, but ventured out to a nearby Irish pub for our second dinner.

Van Gogh

Van Gogh

Monet

Bas relief sculpture of Robert Gould Shaw leading his Black Union regiment into the assault on Fort Wagner, July 23, 1863. Shaw was killed in the battle.

The next day’s agenda included the Washington Monument and the National Portrait gallery. The former required tickets, and getting them proved to be a bit tricky. But I prevailed and snagged two tickets for mid-afternoon. We grabbed a quick bite for lunch before heading to the monument. When our group was called to enter, we each had to pirouette for the park staff to be sure we weren’t inadvertently bringing any spotted lanternflies into the edifice.

As with the LOC, this ticketed site was a brief excursion. We visited each viewing portal and then a history exhibit the floor below. Because we’d been barred from getting near the White House (not that I had much interest), I did take the time to photograph the ballroom construction where the East Wing used to be.

The ballroom project.

Jefferson Memorial with the Potomac River in the background.

The National Mall

A rather ironic quote from the Father of Our Country in the Washington Monument history room.

Next we strode past the notorious reflecting pool “disaster area” on our way to the Lincoln Memorial, taking care not to be arrested for allegedly vandalizing the liner. It was a torpid afternoon, rather humid for us desert rats, so we stopped for ice cream before visiting the portrait gallery. Unfortunately, I have no photos from the gallery.

The erstwhile reflecting pool, now a national embarrassment.

The Lincoln Memorial

The great man himself, well, a likeness.

Most of our time there we spent in the Presidential Portrait gallery. All were paintings except for the two most recent presidents. Biden and Trump were represented by enlarged photographs on opposite sides of a free-standing wall. As I stood nearby, an older, stooped man, wearing a baseball cap and accompanied by a younger woman, gazed adoringly at one of the photos and loudly declared, “Greatest president, ever!” (I’ll let you guess which one he meant.)

Just past the presidents were portraits of people involved in the Civil Rights movement. One that stood out as being a bit different was a life-size painting, full of symbolism, of Henrietta Lacks. Lacks, unknowingly and without compensation, supplied the world of science with an immortal cell line used in medical research. A docent came up to explain the symbolism to me, as it was her favorite picture in the gallery.

We dined again at our hotel and the next morning walked the two blocks to the Amtrak station and spent the day wending our way through Pennsylvania (we switched trains in Philadelphia). I’d never been on an Amtrak ride before. It was pleasant, but I think I prefer biking and driving myself.