Globe Corner Blogs

Julia Child's Kitchen at the Smithsonian - photo by Cecilia

I count 39 museums and galleries in the Washington DC’s Official Visitor’s Guide, and I read that the Smithsonian alone has 19 separate museums. It is my last day here, and I have only one afternoon to see something of this city. When I was in DC two years ago, we visited the Mall, the White House, the Natural History Museum, and walked Constitution Avenue. With the “basics” covered on this rainy afternoon, the obvious selection was a museum. I just had to choose from those 39+ options. Looking at the map in the city’s visitors guide, I discover the National Museum of American History (one of the Smithsonian’s museums), and I decide to visit when I  read that Julia Child’s kitchen and Kermit the Frog are there.

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View from where MLK delivered the "I Have a Dream" speech

The Reflecting Pool was frozen over last week when I visited Washington DC, my first time back since moving away three years ago. The trees lining the center aisle of the mall were stripped of their leaves. The tourists, spouting cloudy breath in all languages, were heavily bundled against the cold. None of this was new, though: when I lived there the Washington Monument was my point of reference while walking through the city, and I had many times stood at the feet of Abraham Lincoln, trying to comprehend it all.

It’s hard to wrap your head around all the history that is behind the building of these monuments and all the history that took place around them. I stood on the tile carved to inform visitors that it was the spot where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stood to deliver his “I Have a Dream” speech. How difficult it was that bitter afternoon to stand there being bustled about by fellow tourists and imagine a steamy August day in DC, 1963.

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Theodore Roosevelt's Birthplace --photo by Lisa

If you happen to find yourself wandering around Union Square in New York City with an extra hour to spare, might I suggest popping into the Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site for an informative tour.  One-hundred-fifty years ago (and one month, his birthday was on October 26th), Theodore Roosevelt was born in a beautiful townhouse at 28 East 20th Street. Apparently, I missed the Birthday Block Party this year, but they still had commemorative Theodore Roosevelt Birthday mugs for sale in the gift shop.

The current house is a reconstruction and was built by the Woman’s Roosevelt Memorial Association in 1923 as a memorial for our 26th President. There is a really interesting gallery of Roosevelt memorabilia showcasing his toys, political cartoons, campaign buttons and the hat that he wore in the Spanish-American War.  Guided tours are offered almost every hour and are preceded by a short film about Roosevelt’s youth.  All of this for only three dollars!

(The Blue Guide to New York was a great source for finding interesting smaller museums to see in New York City so I could escape the cold weather!)

State By State: A Panoramic Portrait of America

I have never known the correct word for someone who lives in Massachusetts and I have never really bothered to find the official name. Is it Massachusian… Massachusettite? The only thing I have ever heard was not very flattering and is something usually yelled at people driving on the Mass Pike.  When asked, I usually start to trip over the word and then just say, “I live in Boston, but I will always be a Washingtonian at heart.”

Yesterday, I was checking out a book new to our shelves: State by State: A Panoramic Portrait of America. It is a compilation of 50 writers writing about 50 states with the lofty goal of “explaining America to Americans.” Inspired by the WPA American Guide series of the Federal Writers’ Project in the 1930s, the editors of this project commissioned 50 writers, cartoonists, a cook, and a musician to write an essay about their home or adopted home state. (Washington DC is covered in the afterword.) The list of contributers is impressive and includes Dave Eggers (Illinois), Ha  Jin (Georgia), Susan Orlean (Ohio), Anthony Bourdain (New Jersey), and Carrie Brownstein (Washington State).

Each essay is preceeded by some general information about the state (which is great for trivia nights at the pub), such as the state’s capital, nickname, official flower, geographic center, and what to call the residents. That is where I discovered the answer to my question, and now I can say with some confidence that “I am a Bay Stater!”.

Dubrovnik Bradt Guide

I have been in Dubrovnik for almost a week and have successfully sunk into a daily pattern. I have a lot of free time as I only have four hours of class a day, giving me plenty of time to explore every nook and cranny of the old town. The old town of Dubrovnik is actually quite small, and I have spent many summers exploring it, so I feel very much at home and have become a familiar face. Every summer it seems like not much has changed from the last.

People are still strolling or strutting down the main street enjoying ice cream. The cafes are jammed with locals and tourists reading the newspapers, gossiping, and nursing their coffees. Others are just hanging out watching the spectacle. After a while all of the nights start to seem the same, so I am always happy when I stumble upon a new place.

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