I will tell you this, Waste reader. I no longer feel at all dorky when I pause in the middle of the street to take a picture like an absolute bonehead tourist. A younger version of myself would be too cool for this school, but middle-aged me figures that the people looking at me and thinking that I am lame will never have any effect whatsoever on my life. And someday one of them might appreciate such a photograph, not even realizing that they looked at the photographer stopping in the middle of the crosswalk and judged him harshly.
After meeting up with Sandra on the streets of D.C., we walked over to the W Hotel where Sandra has made a reservation for lunch at POV. It is great to have friends living in the cities you visit, but it is even better if they are the type of friend who makes reservations at the hippest places in town.
Sandra makes an appearance on the Waste. As you can see, POV is a rooftop bar and restaurant. Wait until you see the view.
The view from our table at POV. That would be the White House, my friends. Home to the person generally considered to be the most powerful on our planet. It is kind of cool to eat lunch and look to your left and note that you are looking down on the White House.
Lunch has arrived. Two BLT's and a boygah.
Did you need more proof? There sits Barbie's BLT with the White House in the background.
At the other end of POV one sees this view of the Washington Monument. It has not gotten cold enough yet for the leaves to truly change color. These colors do not please me.
We have adjusted the exposure to the sky, not the foreground, and the contrast pleases me. Fellow photography enthusiasts should note that what you get from the clouds is far better than what you get from trees whose colors displease.
After lunch, Barbie presents the W Hotel's lobby lounge.
Sandra has planned our day. First up, hitting a small portion of the Smithsonian. Time to descend into the Metro.
I first came to D.C. as a child, around the age of ten or so, when this subway system had recently opened. It was clean and beautiful then, and I found it completely majestic. More than thirty years later, it remains one of the cleaner, nicer subway systems around. If I had never been to Copenhagen with its subway that literally makes you shield your eyes from its glistening shine, I would consider D.C.'s Metro the best I have seen.
The blur of motion. I love it.
If you are annoyed at all the Washington Monument pictures, I recommend you find a similarly shaped object and sit atop it.
Maybe not today and maybe not tomorrow but someday I am going to collect every picture that I have ever taken of an obelisk, and the picture above is going to be one of the best.
The Smithsonian
National Museum of American History.
A wall in the exhibit devoted entirely to First Ladies. There are gowns and letters and all sorts of historical First Lady objects here. This all begs the question... what to do when there is a First Mister? Does he get added to this gallery or does sexism prevail and he get his own exhibit over by the Men's Room?
The television set used by Julia Childs. I am a bit cynical regarding her importance, but I suppose there are those who could accurately argue that without Julia Childs there would be no pictures of gourmet food on the Waste, at least within America. And if she made the Waste a better place, then I suppose she deserves to not be a victim of my cynicism.
Barbie poses with Carol Burnett's homage to the
Gone With The Wind curtain dress. It would have meant more to her to pose next to the the actual dress, and not the parody of it, but that was not an option.
Would you be disappointed to see that Dorothy's ruby slippers from
The Wizard of Oz feature no rubies, only red sequins?
An original Kermit. This must be the most photographed puppet on the planet. I could not even get close enough to read if this is
the orignal or what. And I suppose I should apologize immediately to all my friends who were offended by my use of the word
puppet. I am sorry. Kermit is more than a puppet, I know. He is a puppet with marionette hands and feet, making him a muppet.
This colossal George Washington statue is, well, horrible. To look at it from the front is to see a very poor approximation of classical Greek sculpture. The artist has also given him a physique that borders on embarrassing. Barbie and I were both mildly repulsed by this statue. That said, I like the way it looks in near silhouette.
I liked this sculpture in front of the museum very much, but did not take the time to snap a picture of the plaque. That is my tip to you when you are travelling; take pictures of plaques and menus. The information in those pictures pays off at a later time.
Next stop, the Smithsonian's
Museum of Natural History.
The Hope Diamond. They have it on a rotating base with the light levels always changing, so that you can see the blue in it change based on the amount of light passing through the gem. I cannot pretend to understand just how large 45.52 carats is, but it is big. This diamond has a long history, being cut and recut, passed from royalty to aristocracy, being stolen and then sold, and eventually finding its way to America where it was eventually donated to the Smithsonian.
Fun with a crystal ball. (More likely glass.)
Upside down Barbie face.
There is not a Museum of Natural History in the world without a stuffed elephant.
Instead of spending more time in the wonderful museums of the Smithsonian, we decided to walk through the National Mall and take a look at the setup for tomorrow's rally.
There she is. If you right-click-open-in-new window, you just might be able to see the stage. Both Barbie and I found ourselves feeling a great deal of excitement just being there. Seeing the National Mall ready to go for tomorrow was almost euphoric.
The stage itself is way down there, close to the end of the mall where the Capitol Building sits. Around a city block from the stage are two screen & speaker setups, and a city block from there sits another two screen & speaker setups. It looks like people as far as three city blocks, the length of maybe three football fields, will be able to see what is happening on that stage.
A little closer now. We have no idea how close we will be able to get tomorrow...
...so we got as close as we possibly can today. We wandered around with other excited people, taking pictures and smiling, while they tested every microphone on that stage. There is absolutely a feeling of brotherhood and friendship between everyone who has come for the rally.
Proof that we were there. Unfortunately we had to look directly into the sun to get this shot.
Here is a shot from the side of the stage. I have to tell you that the mood of everyone around here is euphoric. People are excited. Something truly great might happen tomorrow. The question is... how many people are going to show up?
As long as we are here, we might as well walk over to the Capitol Building.
Architecturally, I love that building. Emotionally, I would like to think of the amazing laws that have been passed there. Cynically, I think of it as a place where ridiculous politicians make stupid statements in an effort to pander to slivers of their constituencies.
One of those trick panoramas; the view facing the Capitol Building and the view facing away from the Capitol, facing the Washington Monument.
A good shirt. On the back it notes, "I am a little afraid of spiders."
Sunset behind the Washington Monument. Add this to obelisk greatest hits tape.
After wearing out our feet, we hopped on the Metro and headed to Virginia to check out Sandra's apartment in Pentagon City. I confess that it still strikes me as novel to be able to go to another state within minutes.
When it came time for dinner, Sandra had a restaurant in mind for which she had a Groupon. We do not do Groupon at home, though we have a few friends who do. Instead of explaining Groupon, let mer just share this; using Groupon, Sandra bought a $50 gift certificate to Zengo, an Asian-Latin fusion restaurant, for $25.
We took the Metro over to the restaurant, and soon realized that we were on the same street where we ate last night. In fact, this restaurant is probably thirty feet away from the Chinatown gateway that you saw yesterday in black & white. You also saw it with no people around. Friday night there is a swarm of activity around here. It feels like we are in the hippest place in town.
The upstairs dining room at Zengo. Hip, modern, loud and buzzing with activity. I have a hunch that there is a long list of young guys who bring every first date here.
The food was simply spectacular. The combination of Asian flavors with Latin dishes and Latin flavors with Asian dishes was perfect. I will not bother telling you after every picture that the dish was great. It was. This was a fantastic meal. Consider it praised, and below will be the menu description for each item.
Peking Duck Daikon Tacos; duck confit, curried apple, orange-coriander sauce, sliced cucumber taco wrap.
Thai Chicken Empanadas; chile poblano, Oaxaca cheese, mango curry salsa.
Unagi Mango Masago; eel, avocado, tempura flake, kabayaki.
Yuzu-Butter Poached Lobster Tacos; miso black bean puree, avocado, flour tortilla, chile de arbol salsa.
Charred Tuna Wonton Tacos; sushi rice, mango salsa, guacamole.
That, my friends, completes the first course.
Braised Beef Short Ribs; Oaxaca cheese mashed potato, huitlacoche-shiitake, dragon sauce.
Pan Roasted Scallops; Okinawa sweet potato, black garlic mojo, hibiscus-ponzu oranges, lemon oil.
Chipotle-Miso Glazd Black Cod; Daikon radish, asparagus, lemon-togarashi aioli.
And that, my friends, concludes the second course. Did we need dessert? No. But then we heard about the churros with dark chocolate sauce and...
Indulgence.
This concludes our meal.
Washington D.C. Candid, October 2010. (Featuring Barbara Howard and Sandra.)
Walking back to the hotel after bidding adieu to Sandra at the Metro escalator, Barbie spotted this rat. Let us not bother with a politician-related comment.
The Grand Hyatt Washington Atrium, filled not with people here for the rally but with people here for a Howard University reunion.
Yours truly, handling the Waste at the end of the day. I included this picture to shine a spotlight on the fact that my feet still have noticeable tan lines from their European summer. Or should I say summers. I tell you that after wearing the same sandals under the Mediterranean sun for two summers in a row, my feet may never lose that stripe.
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