Final Trip to DC

Last Saturday, I make one last trip to DC in order to come closer to going through my checklist that I posted earlier. I'm really poor right now so thank God almost everything was free. I started at the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens and Marsh. They cultivate water lilies, lotuses, and stuff. I wish the weather was better but what an exotic collection of plants! As a Buddhist, of course, lotuses have a very special place in my heart. They also had those big-ass Victorian water lilies. There's a nice boardwalk going into the marsh area - I suddenly thought that I was on the set of Apocalypse Now. I saw a crane in the distance just standing around. I waited patiently to see it fly, but that didn't happen. It was too for away for me to even scare it into flying.

I then made it to the Library of Congress. Of course, with the terror threat level at orange, it was a pain in the ass getting there. I watched one of the checkpoints while I was waiting for the light to change. Apparently, the only cars they were checking were SUVs and cars driven by anyone remotely Arab looking. No comment. The Library was gorgeous. If you haven't gone, I strongly urge you to do so the next time you're in DC.

I then went to the Corcoran Art Gallery. I don't know how it ended up on my list. Ironically, it was the only place I went to that charged admission and it was the worst stop on my trip. For such a big museum, they didn't have much on display. Most of the exhibits were traveling shows. I don't know what's going there - most of the permanent collection was closed or stowed away and what they did have kinda sucked. American Impressionism? come on! Other than that, there were a bunch of second rate Dutch/Flemish paintings - No Rembrandt, no Reuben, no Vander whats-his-face.

I made a trip out to the National Cathedral but it was closed. I walked around the perimeter in the cold rain and I came upon the Bishop's Garden. I've really been into gardens recently and I've come to realize that DC has lots of them. And now, onto the FDR Memorial. When FDR first opened, everyone who went told me how amazing it was amazing. I first went there with some friend about 23 years ago. It's a very involving memorial that demands a certain amount of time and thought in order to appreciate it. It was pretty late and my friends wouldn't let me finish it. I vowed to come back to it and give it my full attention. It's wonderfully organic in structure and subtle yet quite poignant. Quite a contrast to the bombastic monstrosity that is the WWII memorial.

I had to answer one question before I left DC for good. Does the WWII Memorial break up the continuity of the Mall? When I went to memorial, it didn't obstruct any view from there, so I knew that I would have to see from the Lincoln Memorial in order to get a definitive answer. Lo and behold, the architects were smart enough to integrate it into the Mall and not superimpose it. I think all the complaints were politically motivated. I don't care for the monument itself but I can't agree with the biggest point of criticism it's been getting.

On my way down, I felt compelled to go to the Korean War Memorial. Another wonderful memorial. I often think about the war. Although I'm a pacifist and generally against war, I don't know how I feel about this one. I know that if the US didn't intervene, my life would be drastically different. I haven't resolved this one, probably never will.

When I was about to leave, I was too hungry to wait until I arrived in Baltimore so I went to search out this great pasta place in Adams Morgan - only to find it closed for vacation. I ended up going to a Mexican place right around the corner. After that filling meal, I got in my car and got lost - something I love doing. It's a great way to find new and unexpected places. You just have to make sure that you're nowhere near a bad neighborhood. I found a nice Italian park straight out of Hadrianople, the MEridian Hill Park. I found this gorgeous mansion built by Pope, the great architect of museums, mansions, and masonic temple(random). After I had my share of fun, I headed back to Baltimore.