More Outdoor Monuments in DC — Matin Luther King Jr, The Great War (AKA WWI), and the Korean War Memorials

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Wednesday, October 1 — We were not surprised to hear that the federal shutdown happened. Some of the yacht club members had told us that few agencies would actually shut down today; that many had squirreled away some funds to keep operating — at least for a little while — in case the shut down occurred. We found out that the museums would be open for a few more days, so we hadn’t needed to force ourselves to go to the Natural History Museum and Hirshhorn Museum yesterday, after all.

Our plan for today had been to finish seeing the outdoor monuments, but we were tired and needed to take care of some “life chores.” We decided to take the day off of sightseeing. After Keith and Christi finished school, all three of us washed the boat. We don’t think we’ve washed the whole boat with soap and a brush since Panama! It has rained enough – and hard enough – that it just hasn’t been necessary. In Baltimore, we’d had some air pollution settle on the boat, but that had been easily rinsed away with just the hose. But here in DC, under the flight path of Reagan International airport, we had a layer of jet fuel building up on the deck. And jet fuel didn’t rinse away — it needed to be scrubbed with a brush and hand wiped off with rags. 

After boat washing, we went to lunch at a restaurant called Kinfolk, which was right near us on The Wharf (where the police car often sat).

It was southern food, and we hadn’t gone in earlier because we were dubious that they could accommodate Christi’s food allergy. But they actually had a lot of pepper-free choices, and the food was incredible. We wished we’d eaten there sooner!

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The National Museum of Natural History in Washington DC – Part 4: Fossils, Mammals and the Hirshhorn Museum of Art

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continued… We moved on to the exhibit that Eric really wanted to see, Fossils. It covered 600-million years of history, and it was quite large. Eric was really interested and keenly read each and every display. Christi was ambivalent and half-heartedly read the displays that caught her attention. Keith was grossed out by skeletons and didn’t even want to be in the room. Keith constantly asked if we could leave yet and was frustrated when Eric kept saying no.

Since it was believed that life on Earth began in the ocean, it wasn’t surprising that the display on ocean creatures was large. Like in the Ocean Hall, they explained the evolution of many specific types of species. Scientists believed that in the early days of Earth, the world was very hot. Species evolved from simple organisms like algae and plankton into all kinds of complex species. The evolution helped them to adapt to their surroundings better, as well as to changes in their surroundings — either the species changed locations for one reason or another (ie to find food) or there was an environmental change (ie a salinity change). Some species left the water for land.

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The National Museum of Natural History in Washington DC – Part 3: Gems and Ocean Hall

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continued… After crystals, we moved on to gems. Gems were mineral crystals that grew naturally within the earth that have been cut and polished. The crystal room had had quite a few people in it compared to the other rooms we’d been in, and the gem room was jam packed. There were so many people that it was hard to get a good look at the objects on display. There were several extraordinarily large gems featured, including a literal crystal ball.

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The National Museum of Natural History in Washington DC – Part 2: The Moon, The Earth, Rocks, Minerals, Ore and Crystals

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continued…Next we moved on to an exhibit on the moon. According to the signs, analysis of the rocks brought back by the NASA lunar missions have helped scientists to unlock the moon’s history. Scientists believed that when Earth was very young, it was hit by an object the size of Mars. The impact vaporized massive amounts of rock from both celestial bodies and the moon formed from that vapor. When the moon first formed, it had volcanoes. Craters left by large meteorites hitting the moon became oceans of magma. The moon was actively volcanic for almost a billion years. Like Earth, meteorites still frequently hit the moon, but without an atmosphere to burn them up, the intact meteorites do more damage to the surface.

The moon exhibit was followed by an exhibit on Earth’s geology. There was a model showing that inner Earth was layered and how it formed this way. Another sign explained that plate tectonics caused the surface of Earth to regularly change. A series of signs talked about earthquakes, and there was a scale that measured how much of an earthquake someone made when they jumped.

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The National Museum of Natural History in Washington DC – Part 1: Getting There and Meteorites

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Tuesday, Sept 30 — After we finished school in the morning, we ventured farther east up The Wharf than we’d been before to have lunch at Gordon Ramsey Fish & Chips, conveniently located across the way from Gordon Ramsey Hell’s Kitchen. Due to her allergy, Christi generally can’t eat at restaurants where the food is prepped prior to cooking, so we were dubious that she could eat there. But much to our surprise, they prepared the food upon ordering, and making the fish and chips without pepper was not a problem for them. The food was really good. No wonder he’s a celebrity!

We’ve seen a lot of these cute little birds around DC, but they usually fly away the moment we pull out the camera. After more than a week of trying, we finally got a photo!

After lunch, we caught the free shuttle to the National Mall. We took a slightly different route into the grassy area, taking the walkway at the Smithsonian Castle instead of our usual route along the walkway at the Arts & Industries Museum. This walkway was even prettier than the Arts & Industries walkway, with a large grass area, walking paths and benches.

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