Washington DC

DC gets a huge thumbs up from me.  A bunch of us carpooled to the closest Metro stop and made our way to a very dreary DC on Saturday morning.  My big need was to go to the National Gallery of Art.  This gallery was HUGE!  I started with the East building, with Goldsworthy and Serra, and then worked my way over to the West.  I really didn't realize how giant this was.  The tunnel connecting the buildings was filled with lights and water.  In the West building, there were Vermeers, VanGoghs, Monets, Cassats, Cezannes, Whistlers, and so much more.  I was amazed by the amount of Dutch paintings were present, which were all beautiful of course!  And there was a special exhibition of Dutch etchings and maps which were fantastic.  Also, a Robert Frank exhibit which was so applicable for me at this point.  As a photographer, Robert Frank documented life in America through some of the toughest decades.  His photography was seen as controversial, but all he did was document life across the country.  That was my goal in taking this job, to see different parts of the country and use it for a body of work that will hopefully get me ready/into grad school.  It really helped to re-center me...

I need constant reminders to stay on task :-P

The museum took a long time, and I was HUNGRY.  After a quick bite at the Ruby Tuesday's by Chinatown, I went to meet up with Megan's mom, Konnie, who happened to be in DC for a conference.  It was wonderful to see a friendly face, especially one I hadn't seen in years!  By this time it was raining, and the rest of the group was heading to check out the monuments.  Not wanting to miss this, I hurried to catch up with them.  The Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial were so impressive.  The new WWII memorial was gorgeous.  It was surreal how many names were on the Vietnam wall.  Everything definitely held up to its reputation.  By the time we got back to the Metro, we were like sad tired puppies.   My one regret, I guess, is that I didn't have many days there!  I need to still get to the National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian Museums (yes, I want to see them all) and the National Archives!  Jeez.  Too much for one city!  Hopefully when I'm here for phase 2 of training I'll get to go again.