Day Three: June 6, Sunday
Well, our 12 hour day of sight-seeing proved too much and today truly became our day of rest…we slept and then slept some more. We had a short devotional and by the time we were ready to head out, it was past noon. The forecast was for storms so we decided to do indoor attractions just to be safe.
First stop: The Smithsonian Institution Building. It looks like a castle and is the information center for all their museums (smart tourists have gone there first--but hey, we're learning.) A funny Ben Stiller video introduces you to an overview of what you can expect to see. Armed now with enough information to be dangerous we set off.
Second stop: It started to rain so we ducked into the first building that looked promising. Turned out we were in the Hirshhorn Museum --translation: modern art gallery. Ugh. The one museum I thought I could miss without depriving myself. Well, when in Rome (and it's raining) you might as well check it out. One favorite exhibit was a white-walled room with pieces of red and blue yarn stretched from ceiling to floor. Even though it looked kinda dumb, on closer exploration the strands made things look dimensional--like you expected to see your reflection looking back at you. Awesome. One I-don't-like-this-at-all moment came when we entered a black room which you entered slowly to allow your eyes to acclimate. Turns out this red wall starts to appear and it changes perspectives as you move. Problem is we got completely discombobulated in the room and couldn't figure our way out. After bumping into a wall…oops bad exhibit participants…we finally made our way out. No wonder they had a worker standing outside the entrance--not to guard the artwork but to rescue hopelessly lost souls from the dark abyss that is modern art. I must admit, the vast majority of art I didn't quite "get"--lets face it, even an artistically challenged person like me can paint a canvas one solid color without messing it up--oh well. One whole gallery was the works of a French artist, Yves Klein, who in my humble opinion is highly overrated. Come on, sea sponges drenched in blue paint are not particularly artistic if you ask me. Rheid and I had a great time at the museum even though we giggled and shook our heads through most of it.
Third stop: Our next attraction was the most visited Smithsonian, The National Air and Space Museum. Wow. We were there several hours and still didn't finish seeing the top floor. How they got so many airplanes and spacecraft in there is amazing. The Wilbur and Orville Wright room was very cool. And then as you progressed through time ending at the space modules, you really got an appreciation for how far we have come technologically. It took some pretty hardy individuals (translation: crazy) to fly in some of those aircraft. Not enough money in this world would get me into a space module--can you say claustrophobia? Yikes.
It was an amazing day full of wonders. Seeing the pictures taken of the sun and the planetary system, I could feel the hand of God in his creations. There is order in the universe and we are not here by chance. We are blessed.
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