Day 1
It was great to come back to D.C. in the fall and stay at The Mayflower Hotel. So many galleries to see and there never seems to be enough time, not to mention the amount of walking that is done.
After settling in we had a wonderful dinner at the Daily Grille with a delicious chicken pot pie that was nothing like Mrs. Smiths!
Day 1 Timeline
This is the route we took the day we started our journey.
Day 2
We took a short walk to the Cathedral of Saint Matthew the Apostle to see the architecture and we were not disappointed.
The next stop was the exhibit at the Freer Gallery of Art to see the exhibit Hokusai: Mad About Painting.
Our third stop of the day was at the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) where we saw an exhibit on Illuminating Design: The Decoration and Technology of E. F. Caldwell and Co.
Day 2 Timeline
Day 3
We experienced a major slowdown on the Metro after they pulled out of service 60% of the cars as a result of a car derailing last week. After they starting running again, our first stop was the Smithsonian “Castle.” It was quite a treat just seeing the only gallery that was open to the public.
Upon exiting the Castle we had our typical lunch of ice cream and then wondered into The Hirshorn Gardens.
While there we discovered the Enid A. Haupt gardens that were lovely and walked around taking in the surroundings.
We then proceeded to go to the National Air and Space Museum which turned out to be closed on Tuesdays! Erggg! But we then opted to go to the National Archives but now you needed a reservation to see the exhibit! Erggg again! Alas, if left us no choice but to start our return trip back to the Mayflower where our beverage of choice (rum for Barbara and bourbon for Jay) awaited.
On the way back to our hotel we walked through the National Gallery of Art – Sculpture Garden as witnessed some ‘amazing’ works of ‘art.’
Day 3 Timeline
Day 4
Our first stop was the Renwick Gallery to see the main exhibit, Janet Echelman’s 1.8 Renwick. Not worth climbing the stairs to the second floor to see it but it did allow us to see other works of art since our last visit back in 2019.
Seth Gould made this amazing metal box (Coffer) and the video that shows how it was created is mind boggling.
The Craftsman Series: Shovels was made up of 1000’s of pennies. Note the detail of each square as it contains the image of President Lincoln.
After Renwick we ventured on to the highlight of the entire week, the African American Museum. The amount of effort in planning, designing, funding and getting ALL the objects on display is beyond belief. Read more here.
The next stop was the World War One Memorial which was made public in April 2021. A moving tribute, long overdue, to those who fought in the “war to end all wars.”
Doing a Google search I discovered another WWI memorial located in Kansas City, MO, that has quite a bit more information than the one in D.C.
Day 4 Timeline
Day 5
On our final day of sightseeing, our first stop was the National Portrait Gallery (NPG.). It not only does it contain all the portraits of all of the presidents but also sculptures in marble and paintings from centuries past.
This gallery again requires more than one day or a least a break for lunch. One item of particular interest was a recreation of the NPG by artist David Beck. Look at the video of him building a scale model of the NPG.
To end the day we went to the top of the Washington Monument for our 3:30 reservation. Had a great conversation with a ranger from the National Park Service.
Day 5 Timeline
Day 6
We started with our complimentary breakfast at Edgar’s Bar and Kitchen in lieu of having access to the Marriott Concierge Lounge because of staffing shortage. Great filling meals every morning but the coffee sucked. I only visited a single Starbucks during the entire trip.
Our trip back home started at 10am with a LYFT driver for the 15 minute ride to Union Station. After arriving early we boarded the train for our 11:08 departure but with the train needing a new engine (some concern there) we took off for the very relaxing and productive trip back home with an ETA of 530.
