The drive to DC cuts through Baltimore, a city I have never been to. So I do the only natural thing: I do a drive-through (only because I didn't plan enough time to actually, you know, visit Charm City. Maybe someday ...).
The drive through downtown Baltimore is ... amazing. It's called the "Inner Harbor," and from the looks of things, it's a very well-kept area. Baltimore has the National Aquarium, which I've been told is an experience I'll need to partake of sometime, so I'm making a mental note. There's a ton of hotels and restaurants, shopping, boating, the works. Also visible are two relatively new sports venues - Oriole Park at Camden Yards (baseball), and M&T Bank Stadium (football). Camden Yards is considered the first of the new "retro" baseball stadiums that have opened the past 15 years or so, with right-field being backed up by a huge old warehouse. It looks amazing from the outside.
Baltimore is only about an hour north or Washington DC down I-75, but driving in the nation's capital is a bit trickier. Tamara had warned me about a few things: (1) Drive the speed limit! (2) Some roads literally go from two-way to one-way at certain times of the day (you think rush hour is bad where you live? Apparently, DC has you beat infinitely.). (3) Drive safely. I managed to find her place, but had to park about a half-mile away (which is fine).
After getting settled in, Tamara thought it would be cool to go to sightseeing in an area I'd never been before. That left a lot of options open, but the one she selected first was definitely a site I'd not only never seen, but didn't even know existed.
Quiz time! When you think "Washington, DC," what's the first thing you think of? (Please, keep it clean!) If you said "waterfalls," then you know more about the area than I do; turns out, there's an amazing collection of natural waterfalls just outside our capital!
Tamara took me to Great Falls Park, an 800-acre park located along the Potomac River, is one of the most spectacular natural landmarks in the Washington DC metropolitan area. There are three overlooks that provide access to view the Great Falls,.The falls cascade into 20 foot waterfalls displaying the steepest fall line rapids of any eastern river.
After walking around Philadelphia just a few days ago, this should have been easy, right? Well ... it was, but only because the park has a great trail network.
After a few hours at the falls, it was off to dinner, then monuments. When I was in DC in 2003, I saw many of the monuments, but missed a few. There have also been a few new ones constructed (shocker, I know). Saw the "regular" venues - Washington, Lincoln, FDR, Vietnam (my favorite!), Iwo Jima (second favorite!) and Korean. I also got the chance to see the World War II monument, which hadn't existed five years previously, and the opportunity to see the Albert Einstein memorial at the National Academy of Science (tucked away in DC's Foggy Bottom area). Tamara said it's one of her favorites; I wasn't even aware of it until now.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 2: My last day in DC, and Tamara and I trekked to the National Museum of the American Indian, where the final days of an amazing exhibit was on display: "Identity by Design: Tradition, Change, and Celebration in Native Women's Dresses." Our guide explained that dresses are more than simple articles of clothing for Native women - they are aesthetic expressions of culture and identity. Embodying messages about the life of the wearer, dresses offer Native women the opportunity to blend artistic tradition and bold innovation while preparing themselves, their families, and their communities to partake in the "dance of life."
The exhibit brought together some 55 dresses and more than 200 items from the Plains, Plateau, and Great Basin regions of the United States and Canada, and highlighted Native women's identity through traditional dress and its contemporary evolution. It also examined the individual, communal, and cultural identity of Native women, and explored how their highly developed artistic skills benefitted not only their families but also the entire community.
We were allowed to take photos in every area of the exhibit except the "Ghost Dance" section. This has much to do with the Massacre at Wounded Knee in late December 1890, and the Ghost Dance's role in what led to the killing of more than 150 Native Americans.
Many of the items on exhibit were never supposed to have been seen at all, as they were original items whose owners had been killed during the many battles between tribes and US troops in the 1800s, as the United States expanded its territory.
Added by Gaba in 2012: the exhibit is now viewable on-line
After the exhibit was completed, I was on the road again, heading south. Next stop: Wilmington, North Carolina, and the USS North Carolina battleship.
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