A Two-fer

I don't have to tell you where we had brunch today.

After brunch we went into DC. I drove, thank you very much. Dennis directed me a different way than I would have gone, but he knows the city better than I do. We even found a parking space within a block of  our destination. I finally got to visit the National Museum of the American Indian. When we walked into the Potomac Atrium I immediately recalled the Guggenheim Museum in New York City. The outside is slightly reminiscent of the Guggenheim as well, but it does have an identity all its own. The water and landscaping of the grounds create a beautiful oasis not far from the Capitol building.

I'm not really sure what I expected, but the museum wasn't anything like I anticipated. It's very spare and spacious inside. There is lots of seating scattered throughout the building and odd niches like this one, which contains Toward the Sky: The Sacred Rain Arrow, a bronze sculpture created by Allan Houser in 1998. It stood in the Olympic Village of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

We spent the most time in Cerámica de los Ancestros: Central America’s Past Revealed. The exhibit of ancient ceramics from the Central American native cultures focuses on seven specific regions and highlights specific archeological sites in those regions. It was fascinating to see how the different cultures ebbed, flowed, interacted with each other, and either disappeared or survived.

The way the museum is designed is as much about contemplation and reflection as it is about seeing and learning.

As we walked back to the car we decided to stop at the United States Botanical Garden, which was literally across the street from where we'd parked, We just did a fairly quick walk through, and I do want to go back. But not during the summer. It's not really a place to go on a hot and humid July day.