Day 5 of DC

Back on home turf. It is good to be back in Siouxland, but our visit to DC will for years be a rich experience in our family.

Pictures pending--I thought I'd take a moment to recap the final two days of our visit.

Saturday, June 6, was spent in and around the Mall, with a walk to the Jefferson Memorial later in the day.

I began the morning with a run. I've enjoyed running in D.C. It's certainly a different experience than running in Iowa. Not only is the scenery much different, but each block brings another corner, another stoplight to beat or direction to change, and a sidewalk to share with many other people (and dogs).

I made it a little past the Capitol that morning. The Mall was filled with people who had come for the Susan Komen Race for the Cure 5K run. There were thousands there. I don't know the route of the race, but it had to be shoulder to shoulder running for average to slow runners like myself. After thinking better of trying to jog through the masses, I turned back and ended up finishing my run criss-crossing through the blocks near our home for the week.

As a family, we headed up to the Mall a little before noon. We decided to start at the National Archives, where original copies of the Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights, and the Constitution are stored. Those are only a few of many millions (billions?) of documents stored there for posterity. The original documents are extremely faded. Sealed in a elaborate case to control light and atmosphere, the documents are for the most part illegible in the light of the display room. The bold, large print is still readable, along with the famous signature of John Hancock.

After the Archives, we went to satisfy our growling stomachs. We had done some reading before our trip and had heard about the Mitsitam Cafe in the National Museum of the American Indian.

The cafe serves a variety of native foods from all different parts of the Americas--including South America. I had steamed mussels from the the Pacific Northwest, turtle soup from the Northern Woodlands (East Coast, and a lima bean salad from Peru. The girls had fry-bread/Indian tacos from the Plains, and Leah had honey-cured duck and wild rice and honeycress salad from the Northern Woodlands. Leah said the duck was great--she apologized that she didn't share because it was so good. This was evidenced by the well picked over bones on her plate. When I sat down with the steamed mussels, the girls were intrigued with the shells, but that was countered by the strong, fishy smell that came from the bowl. Novelty wears out quickly, apparently.

From there we went to the Museum of Natural History. Leah wanted to see the Hope diamond. She is still disappointed that this wasn't the diamond I purchased for our engagement. The museum was packed with people. We were a little claustrophobic. It was a Saturday and school groups were replaced with families of all shapes and sizes. It was also the first day since Wednesday that we didn't have rain, so there were a lot of people out and about. The day was gorgeous. So, we didn't stay long. To be honest, it is my opinion the Field Museum in Chicago is better. Maybe we didn't stay long enough, but I had a little of the, "been there, done that," feeling.

Since we started a little later in the day and had a late lunch, we took a break by the fountain at the National Sculpture Gallery and then decided to make the long walk over the Jefferson Memorial. The memorial is a little out of the way from the other monuments, so we found it to be a little less crowded. There was a light breeze and temperature was in the low 70's so the walking was easy. Other than the meal at the Mitsitam the Jefferson Memorial was highlight of my day.

We finished the day with a short ride home on the Metro and fixed up a light supper in our apartment--omelettes with prosciutto and cheddar cheese with a side of garden peas. A good end to a great day.