First Day in DC

After eating breakfast at our B&B, Liz and I ventured out in search of a bus that would take us closer to the monuments. We hopped aboard a random bus, and eventually got off a block or so from the White House.s


Photo through the gates. In hindsight, I should have booked one of the tours as it would have been pretty neat to take a look inside.


From there, we walked over to the Washington Monument. We were meeting up with Jake, and decided to meet him at the base.


At the bottom, looking straight up.


We got a nice view of the Capitol from where we were standing. After we met up, we headed towards a sculpture garden to meet with Lisa and baby Cameron.


This is called House I, made of fabricated and painted aluminum, by Roy Lichtenstein.


Sideview of Typewriter Eraser, Scale X, made of painted stainless steel and fiberglass, by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje Van Bruggen.


It’s weird – I didn’t care for this piece, but couldn’t look away. Here’s another shot.


On our way to lunch, we passed the FBI building, which honestly didn’t look like much from the outside. Would have been nice to go in and take a look around the basement, though.

After lunch, we stopped over at the National Portrait Gallery. I had heard about a controversial film, and wanted to see if we could catch it before it got pulled by the museum.

It wasn’t there, unfortunately, but we did end up seeing the larger exhibit it was a part of: Hide and Seek.


This piece was, believe it or not, incredibly moving.

At first, I saw this pile of candy in the corner and thought to myself Ok, what is this bullshit? But then I went in a bit closer, and read the placard next to the pile:

Even as a minimalist, Felix Gonzalez-Torres also had a whimsical, humanistic side that showed the influence of pop art on his installations. In this “portrait” of his deceased partner, Ross Laycock, Gonzalez-Torres created a spill of candies that approximated Ross’s weight (175 lbs.) when he was healthy.

Viewers are invited to take away a candy until the mound gradually disappears; it is then replenished, and the cycle of life and death continues.

While Gonzalez-Torres wanted the viewer/participant to partake of the sweetness of his own relationship with ross, the candy spill also works as an act of communion. More darkly, the steadily diminishing pile of cheerfully wrapped candies shows the dissolution of the gay community as society ignored the AIDS epidemic.

I did reach down and take a piece of candy (even though it felt very weird to do so). This was actually quite a moving experience, and when I stepped back I had a stronger appreciation for the installation. This was probably one of my favorite moments inside an art museum in a long while.


A view of one of the Metro stops. The high ceilings made a pretty impressive backdrop, while we were waiting on a train. Reminded me of Paris, actually.


Later in the evening, all of us met up again at a local bar called The Reef.


We had a few drinks and a bit of food, and also met Jake’s friend Eugene (the two had previously met one another in Bolivia).

Fast forward a bit: Lisa and James took Cameron home, and Liz and I hung out with Eugene and Jake. We walked over to Eugene’s place where we drank some Jaeger, listened to Jake talk with his girlfriend in Bolivia via Skype. Eugene also knows her, and the three of them got into some fun and rowdy back and forth.


After a while, we all decided to head out again and went to a nearby hookah bar.


A quick flash of the interior. It was hard to see much of anything, due in small part to all the smoke but due in large part to the dark interior.

Man. I think the last time I smoked a hookah was back in 2004. September 9th, 2004 to be precise. Still tasty, and still fun.

Not long after this photo, Liz and I bowed out and headed home… tired and worn out after an incredibly long day.

This Post Has 1 Comment

  1. Did you love DC? I loved it so much when I went there a few years ago. I especially loved the metro! Love how the floor lights up to let you know a train is coming, and like London, they tell you how many minutes until the next train. Looks like you guys had a fun trip! Can’t wait to see your other adventures! : O ) Happy holidays!

    Marty J. Reply


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