America’s New Museum on the Mall

As soon as I heard that the National Museum of African American History & Culture was opening I went to their website assuming it existed and would be open too.  It was.

Featured was a timed-ticket sign up to visit the museum. They were offering the first batch of passes ever offered to the general public. I couldn’t resist. So I chose a date, number of tickets, and pushed enter. I signed up on September 18th, the Sunday one week prior to the new museum’s official Saturday public opening, September 24, 2016.

Jumping to November, I went with the earliest entrance the Tuesday of Thanksgiving week. 10AM. I asked for the maximum amount of tickets, four. And quick as that a Monday-to-Wednesday round-trip adventure was born.

Gino and I did the NY-DC loop, my friend Stephen met us on the Mall, at the museum. Barry, my friend who we visited while in DC, had seen the museum in preview. His ticket came back to the Big Apple and is in my possession.  A souvenir.

 

Kudos to the huge achievement of this museum. As architecture it’s eye catching, as history it’s heart grabbing. Ultimately I felt emboldened and grateful that the greater story of our nation is being told and that to no small end will this foundational museum encourage more.

The great Gwen Ifll introduced the museum to us on the PBS Newshour: WATCH HERE

There is no shortage of the spectacular in DC. The National Art Gallery’s East Wing, I. M. Pei’s recently polished gem, added a dreamy high note to the end of the day. What ranked truly delicious? The Dubuffets, Calders, Hoffmans, and Thiebauds.

The following morning began with a visit to the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial.  “Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope.”

I once saw his papers at an exhibit at Sotheby’s. I went twice, actually. Among the many aspects to him as a man he was a thoughtful man who achieved articulation the old fashioned way. His papers had hand written changes all over them. He was a particular and contemplative guy – alive in his time. He had forethought and temperament and circumstance and luck. I was thrilled to include a visit to his memorial during this trip.

And one final photo of the Capital building, sans scaffolding, at the end of our day on the Mall.

Driving back in traffic on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving was a bit trying, but hardly worth not having made the trip to visit the museum and DC in the first place. Adding to the monumentality of DC was sharing time with friends. Barry, who toured us through his Dupont Circle neighborhood and landmark home, Stephen who joined for the museum portion before heading by train to his folks in Baltimore, and Cheryl, for sharing time with us in Reston before we headed north. Hat’s off to Gino, who did all the long distance driving. His patience behind the wheel is just one of his many virtues.