Harpers Ferry Day Hike

2006-07-10.

This is Harpers Ferry, WV, the famous little historical town situated at “the confluence of the Shenandoah and Potomac” (as it is traditionally referred to), right on the borders of Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia. I and a few folks from church came for a day hike on Saturday, to check out the Split Rocks / Jefferson Rock trail and take in some of the history. (We actually lost the Loudoun Heights section of the trail, as it is rather well hidden along the road, so we ended up walking about 2.5 miles along the shoulder of US 340 back to Harpers Ferry from the Potomac crossing. But the rest of the hike from where it converged with the Appalachian Trail was great.)

Here’s me at Jefferson Rock, the very spot (though not the exact same rock) from which Thomas Jefferson took in the view of the river and valley. (The four red pillars are there to keep visitors from rocking the rock, as it has not been entirely stable on its perch through the centuries.)

There were Civil War reenactors there, too, camped out in tents by the rails between the Lower Town and Virginius Island. One of the best scenes of the day came when a group of Army personnel in fatigues (possibly with the Army band, who were playing that day) dropped in on the Union troops to talk history. Soldiers from the future!

We were not able to visit Harper House or John Brown’s fort. One day I will return to Harpers Ferry one day to linger a bit longer in the town and bask in its history. More photos here (a few of which will be highlighted in coming days in the photolog), and more on hiking in the Harpers Ferry area here.

STS-121: The Shuttle is Back in Action

2006-07-06.

The Space Shuttle Discovery lifted off successfully on the Fourth of July, and STS-121 is now underway. It’s still kind of annoying that so much mission time has to be devoted to boom-mounted camera tile checks and damage assessment backflips, all to compensate for a system which subjects the vehicle to a rain of debris on every launch. But in these twilight years of the aging shuttle program, safety must come first, especially after Challenger and Columbia.

I have Nasa TV open in Quicktime on my iBook so I can watch the mission live while I work on my PC. Right now, the Shuttle and the Space Station have docked and their hatches are now open to each other. In a few moments, millions of tiny astronauts will wriggle into the space station’s airlock, fertilizing it so that in nine months, a new baby space station will be born, continuing the magical dance of life in space.

Amy and Garden Court Chair Arm

2006-07-06.

(IMG_7321.JPG, uploaded by brownpau.)

East Garden Court, National Gallery of Art.

DC Fourth of July Fireworks 2006

2006-07-06.

First Street NW in front of the Capitol is not the best place in DC to watch Fourth of July fireworks, as Amy and I learned firsthand two nights ago. The crowd is thick and nasty, the road is hard, the variety show on the Capitol lawn never finishes on time, the fireworks are far and low over the horizon, inconsiderate people always stand up in front of those who are sitting to get a better view, and even if you remain sitting, people behind you will complain that you are in front of them no matter what you do. I normally enjoy being around tourists, but next time we stay in DC to watch the fireworks we will be avoiding this infested stupidity-magnet of a location, and go to the much better viewing spots around Constitution Gardens, as we did two years ago. (Also see the excellent vantage point I had last year from the Department of Labor roof deck.)

The good news is that full zoom and a six second exposure with the camera sitting on a tripod served me well once more, and all the people standing and milling around between the lens and the fireworks made for some interesting overlap effects, too:

More Fourth of July 2006 photos here.

Smithsonian Reynolds Center Reopening

2006-07-04.

It was definitely a Smithsonian weekend, spent almost exclusively at the newly reopened Reynolds Center (or Old Patent Office Building, as Washingtonians still prefer to call it). The museums are pure high-density art, three floors crammed with collections of all sorts, portraits and landscapes and genre paintings and sculptures and furniture and other works spanning all eras of American history. It took us a full museum day just to cover the better part of the “American Origins” collection and the Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition (with a lunch break at La Tasca for paella and embutido), then another day to cover the second floor American Art galleries and Presidential portraits. We’re still recovering from museum fatigue right now.

Opening Day had some fun stuff going on: newsboys in early 20th Century style garb around the block, yelling “EXTRA, ETXTRA!” while giving out museum opening pamphlets, a live American Gothic tableau overlooking the F Street entrance, free ice cream and popsicles at the G Street entrance, barbershop quartets, George and Martha Washington, and Charlie Chaplin. Amy and I even ran into Marilyn Monroe in the Great Hall, asking us if we had seen her Warhol portrait yet. I told her I had, and I had also enjoyed her 1953 calendar pinups. (The look I got in response didn’t exactly say “seven year itch.”)

Not all of the building is open yet; the central courtyard is still in progress, filled with a thick, intricate scaffolding which could itself be considered a veritable work of industrial art:

This is a museum worth coming back to again and again; there’s tons to see and learn, and each collection is worth hours of poring over. The Old Patent Office Building is right by Gallery Place/Chinatown on the Red Line. Within the building, the lines between National Portrait Gallery and Museum of American Art can be kind of blurred, especially on the second floor, so be ready to wander.

More photos from opening weekend here. Also see Eye Level (the Smithsonian’s official American Art Museum weblog), DCist, ReadExpress, and the WaPo museum page.

Fourth of July 2006 Long Weekend in DC

2006-07-01.

It’s the pre-Fourth of July long weekend (although I still need to go to work a bit on Monday), and DC is buzzing with things to do, beyond the standard museums and memorials and fireworks.

The Smithsonian’s new Reynolds Center (formerly the Old Patent Office Building), home to the American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery, reopens today after years of renovation work. Amy and I are on our way to the ribbon-cutting right now. Free ice cream!
The 2006 Folklife Festival is open on the National Mall, featuring Alberta and native basketry.
Superman Returns is out, and there’s no better way to watch it than in IMAX 3-frickin’-D at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum’s Udvar-Hazy Center. (The catch is that you need to drive there, because the shuttle bus schedule doesn’t accomodate the Superman showtimes: the first showing of the day ends just as the last shuttle is leaving to go back to the Mall.)
On the Fourth itself, the Independence Day parade starts 11:45 AM at Constitution Ave and 7th Street, which is right by the Archives.
The evening fireworks start just after 9pm; DC Pages has a map of prime fireworks viewing areas. Amy and I are going to try for the Capitol, since it’s closest to home.

What are you up to in your neighborhood for this 4th of July weekend? (Remember, Philippines, this is our “real” Independence Day, too.)

Update: Fireworks photos here.

Green Blueberry

2006-06-29.

It’s a green blueberry! That means it’s not ripe yet. Should I eat it?

Fallen Elm Cleaned Up

2006-06-29.

Passed by the White House while today. The fallen elm has been cleaned up, and the area taped off; I guess they’ll be putting a new tree in soon. Lots of Japanese people about, carrying little American and Japanese flags; turns out Koizumi is here, his last visit to DC as Prime Minister.

Two Weddings Last Weekend

2006-06-28.

Congratulations to two newlywed couples last weekend: Gordon and Kathie from First Baptist DC, and SadEyedArtist and Lhynard, whom I knew from my Baltimore days. To both couples, I wish an eternity of happiness. Here are a couple of photos of Gordon and Kathie just after tying the knot.

(Don’t let the wheelchair fool you, by the way; Gordon is fully independent, and a great guy to be around. He’s a deacon at our church, and a stand-up comedian to boot. He said his vows by himself, without the speech computer.)

Executive Elm Collapses (Bushes still intact)

2006-06-26.

Pull out a US $20 bill. Take a look at the picture of the White House. See that tree peeking in from the right, the 140 year old elm that’s been there since Andrew Johnson? Well, it’s gone. Yup. Fallen over, thanks to the soaker summer storms which have been hammering the Mid-Atlantic in recent days. Cleanup has started, but no word on whether the $20 bill will be needing another update.

[crossposted to Metafilter]

(bushelmatwhitehouse uploaded by biodieselnow)

(Also on Express.)

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