Well, I jumped on the Metro and headed to the Smithsonian stop, jumped out and headed towards the Castle. The Castle isn't so much of a museum per se - it was the Institution's first home and is now the information center for all of the museums. Although I headed up the stairs, I did an about face and thought "why spend time in a visitor center just because it's a cool building?" Well, looking back, I should have at a minimum peeked in, but my logic at the time was that I only had an hour and a half before I had to catch the Metro to Foggy Bottom to meet Jimmy.
The Smithsonian Castle
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
After I left the Castle, I wandered east towards the Capitol Building, found myself in front of a cool cylindrical building, saw that it was the Hirshhorn Modern Art Museum and Sculpture Garden and had a feeling this would be interesting. Stepping in, I immediately knew I'd found a good place. It's not that anything in particular 'spoke' me, but I thoroughly enjoyed looking at all of the pieces and it just felt...good...in there. There were several pieces totally enthralled me and held my attention for quite a whole. And of course, there were a few that I had to say "hum. ok. I guess I just don't get that one." I think part of the appeal to me was that for the hour+ that I was there, it was relatively empty. I could contemplate any of the pieces w/o feeling crowded or pushed. I even had time to chat with some of the security guards, who were very friendly.
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
Hey, no pushing!
Come towards the light....
Always looking for hands and feet in art
I did say this was the Modern Art Museum
Luscious Marilyn Lips
Fame
I liked the effect of this
This one made me laugh!
Sculpture Garden
The Sculpture Garden is a part of the Hirshhorn. It was cold and just starting to rain, but again, it was relatively empty so I took my time enjoying the sculptures.
he walks to the beat of his own drum
weeeeeeee
not having as much fun as the others
this one was way cool...
just a Man Passing through a door...
I really liked it
Right across the Mall from the Hirshhorn was the National Archives. Perhaps I'll be able to go there next time.
One last look at the Capitol Building
Union Station
After lunch with Jimmy at George Washington University, I headed to Union Station. Wandered around there for 15 minutes or so, not very long because it's basically a shopping mall. It's still used as a major transportation point for trains, buses and the Metro so at least it's used for what it was intended for. The building is awesome - (going back to my fascination with architecture) it's considered one of the finest examples of the Beaux-Arts style. When it was built in 1907, it covered more ground than any other building in the United States and was the largest train station in the world.
Sentries watch over Union Station
In the main hall/terminal
http://www.aviewoncities.com/washington/unionstation.htm
National Postal Museum
This was one of the funnest museums that I went into. Many of you know that not only do I love rubber stamps, but I also like postage stamps. I don't collect them or anything, but I'll never put a plain old basic postage stamp on a letter unless I'm completely desperate...I'll always put a pretty/cute/funny postage stamp on my correspondence. Reading about the history of mail, the postal service and how much our zip code means was pretty interesting, too. Again, this museum wasn't crowded so I could spend as much time reading or not reading any of the information that caught my eye. There was even an exhibit about the Art of Cards and Letters. Plus at the end, there was this really cool souvenir postcard machine that postmarks the card from the National Postal Museum. Yup, I sent myself a postcard from here. Sorry Ash and Bee, didn't have your addresses with me so I couldn't send you one otherwise you know I would have!
Right next to Union Station was the National Postal Museum.
Wouldn't it be cool to play in there?
here's that postcard machine I mentioned
archives of postage stamps
The Museum used to be a functioning Post Office. The building served DC from 1914 through 1986.