Blue Crabs and Presidents

Went down to the Potomac River today, had a beer in a bar on a pier with a plastic coconut palm in the corner - the sort of place that would look cool after a few more, and you could dream you were in the Carribbean. The breeze was nice, and the sailing boats slid past quietly, but the aeroplanes taking off from Reagan Airport were not so quiet, nor was the fly past by Marine One (The Presidents Helicopter). Nice beer though.

Then we walked up to the Fish Market, tucked in by the freeway bridges, diverted momentarily by the $24.99 Philips Restaurant all-you-can-eat-seafood-buffet. Tempting .... but thought we should look further along.

The Fish market loomed, like fairground stalls, seling seafood not candy floss. Never seen so much fish and shellfish. The Chesapeake Bay Blue crabs were piled one on top of another, waving at us as we walked past. Waiting to be freshly boiled to order. $14 for a dozen small, lobster also $14, shrimp the size of sausages. A free sample show us how to eat freshly boiled crab, but I eat half a pound of shrimp by the river with my fingers dripping,

Just the other side of the freeway bridges is the Jefferson Memorial, commemorating a great man, his statue stands looking across to the White House, in a Pantheon like colonnaded building - like a lot of buildings in Washington, in the Imperial style of the Romans. He wrote the Declaration of Independence "We hold these truths to be self evident...", and opened up the West commissioning the Lewis & Clarke Expedition. 

Our own expedition returns to the Fish Market, and we buy a dozen crab for this evening, with Sauvignon Blanc and Ceasar Salad. A meal fit for a President.

Day at the Museum: The Smithsonian

At school the Physics teacher Mr Mathews had the boys come up one at a time, and put our head next to the big metallic dome, and everyone laughed when the spark jumped from the dome to the head of the boy, making him jump back.  The original Van de Graaf generator, made by Mr Van de Graaf himself is on display in the Smithsonian Museum of American History; so is the robot suit worn by the actor who played C3PO in Star Wars, Dorothy's red shoes, Lincoln's top hat, and the original Star Spangled Banner.  It is a huge flag, 34 foot by 40 foot.

All American!

Then there is the exhibition "Communities in a Changing Nation", telling the story of America's communities, the promise of freedom, the expansion west, immigration, and slavery.  The war about free trade against the British in 1812 (when the president's house was burnt by the British - actually someone from Rostrevor in NI did it - and it had to be repainted white to cover the burn marks!).

The whole exhibition culminates in a photographic exhibition on the Inauguration Day - smiley happy faces all round.  Norman told us that African American's were crying in the streets on that day.  Is it that,  as Martin Luther King said we " .... will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! Free at Last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"?

A replica 19th Century poster catches my eye - 

"Natives of the soil! 

Arise!  

The watchword of Native Americans! 

Repel the influx of Foreign influence".  

But it is not about the American Native (Indians), but about those already arrived but who were against further immigration.

In fact only one Native American features in this exhibition - a Shawnee Chief who fought for the British in the war of 1812. 

May 21, 2009

Ok, so I haven't really been doing the Blog.  I have been too busy working to a deadline,writing something about the Ordnance Survey.  

Government are about to split it into two, and are redefining what its public task should be.

My work has also begun on the Smithsonian.  They have had similar problems as OS.   They began to operate too commercially, and this raised a howl of protests.  Their recent deal with Hollywood in the new movie: "Night at the Museum - Smithsonian" has been welcomed, but some thought it has damaged the national asset.

Sun has been out these last few days, and it is warming up! 

Arrival in Washington DC

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After 2 days of muggy humidity, Sunday dawned in DC, weather glorious. Arrived safely by train from Boston - a totally different world! Imperial DC.

Went for a lovely walk along the canal in Georgetown. They were hauling a canal boat along the Chesapeake and Ohio canal in Georgetown and then had it pulled by Mules: the people were dressed in 19th Century clothes. It was very pretty.

We then walked over the Key Bridge where Emma and I watched the fireworks on July 4th, then down along the Potomac to Arlington Bridge, then back across the Potomac to the Lincoln Memorial, and up 23rd street past Hilary Clinton's office.

Lovely temperature. The Presidents Helicopter flies overhead regularly, very low. DC is a very subdued city, it has a quiet but but very subtle sense of power.

All Aboard!

The Fat Controller just walked past, complete with a peaked, black cap.  He is a train conductor, and its 7.45 a.m., we're waiting at Boston's South Station for the 8.20 am train to Washington DC, arriving 4.23 p.m..   

Red hats also walk past, with their trolley, looking for people who want their luggage taken to the train.  A little oddly, one has a wheelchair on his.  His hat is at a an angle, pushed back from his forehead. 

This is nearly rush hour, as commuter trains disgorge their passengers, there is a sense of order and calmness about the way they move from train to subway.  This is nothing like the rush at Victoria.

Another red hat goes by, a larger, younger man, in shorts, with his hat off to the side at a very jaunty angle - a rebel without a cause?  

The electronic arrivals / departures board makes a sound like the old mechanical boards used to (prior to LED displays), but this sound is false - it is coming from the speakers - creating a sense of the traditional american station, just as the conductor and red hats create a traditional look and feel. 

Will the conductor say "All Aboard!", as we board the Amtrak Regional 171 to Washington DC, calling at Providence Rhode Island, New York Penn Station, Newark, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington Union Station.  The train hoots, and the level crossing clangs.  All Aboard!

The Boston Barber Bard of Beacon Hill and the Bartered Bride

The barber on Beacon Hill quoted from the poem "How shall I love Thee?" as he cut my hair.  He spoke also rather philosophically about the Azores, where his grandparents were from, about God, and life - he was a bit of a philosopher.  I got a little uncomfortable once or twice as he admired and complemented my hair.  It was slightly worrying, as he said "if you look good, I look good", speaking Portuguese, as he cut my hair, sat in his small, wood paneled barbers, with memorabilia from the Titanic hanging on the walls.  "John's Hairstyling Shop" .  It was a different experience from the usual.

That evening we get free tickets to Cutlers Majestic Theatre in Boston for the Opera, "The Bartered Bride" by the Czech composer Bedrich Smetana; a story of love, an arranged marriage, greed, contracts, the circus, and a bashful bear.  Set in Spillville, Iowa in 1934 during the depression, magically transported from Czechoslovakia in the 19th Century, and translated to English.  A happy ending, and a great circus sequence in the middle.