Washington DC (Part B)

After our visit to the various war memorials we decided it would be fun to check out the Smithsonian. It was a decent walk from our resting spot in the park, but what the heck, we could use some exercise!

The sun was warm but a nice breeze was constant company on our walk. We really have been exceedingly lucky with the weather on our trip. Thanks to liberal applications of sunscreen we have also managed to escape having our pasty-white skin turn a painful shade of crimson.

Anyway, we strolled along Independence Avenue to 12th Street SW where the Smithsonian Castle stood (it's a beautiful building and grounds) surrounded by museums, galleries and flowers.





The plants near the main entrance were beautifully arranged and, though I enjoy plants, I don't recall ever seeing one with white leaves before. Variegated leaves of green and white, but never a plant where some leaves are white while others are green. It was beautiful with its orange blossoms.



Inside it was cool and quiet. We found a little room off of the main gallery to explore, regroup and rest. There were so many things to look at it was difficult to determine where to start. So naturally I started with the ceiling.



The ceiling was magnificent. Really something you'd expect to see in the Louvre or Buckingham Palace. I guess it IS a castle, and as castles go having an ornate ceiling isn't that unusual, right? I'm not a castle expert so I wouldn't know.



Making our way through displays we came across this:



American Idol has a display inside the Smithsonian. Really? I guess I shouldn't have been surprised by this - many of the more popular stops along our various tours were only popular because they were featured in a movie or television show.

From the Smithsonian complex we decided that we'd seen enough and it was time to head back to Arlington VA for dinner and a good nights sleep.

The subway picks up just down from where we were so we hopped on the train not realizing it was rush hour. The Smithsonian stop, apparently, isn't a big commuter stop but as the train progressed through the city we found ourselves surrounded by people, many of whom didn't look too thrilled to be there.



At one stop I watched an older woman enter the train and upon finding all seats occupied braced herself against the train wall for the ride. She stood, several rows ahead of where Meg and I were, through two stops.

Two stops where people continued to push onto the already overfilled train.

At the third stop, which may have been a connecting station from the amount of people that exited, a seat across the train opened up.

Several of the standing passengers gave way to this woman so she could make her way to the bench.

That's when someone began loudly yelling 'Move! Excuse ME! Move!' as he plowed his not inconsiderable bulk through the train making a bee-line for that empty seat.

He made it before the woman and plopped down with an exasperated sigh.

The woman was gracious and just shrugged her shoulders, laughed and went back to her standing position.

That man was so absorbed in his own desire to sit he didn't even notice why people were trying to block him from accessing that seat.

He sat there for the duration of our ride, in his little orb of self involvement, angry and alone on a train full of people.

I stood, watching, as several people judged this man for taking that seat - while they were seated comfortably. They shot him angry looks and muttered disapproval rather than offer up their own seat. The opportunity to perform an act of kindness was eclipsed by the opportunity to judge someone else for doing what they determined to be wrong.



Sometimes we need to take off our own blinders and not just see, but look, at those around us. We need to take the time to not just hear, but listen to ourselves and others. We spend way too much time on this planet with strangers to not take the 5 or 10 seconds required to exchange pleasantries or even quick smiles.

Everyone on that train had a frown on their face and the realization that I have spent a good portion of my 34 years doing the same thing made me sad.

The elderly lady exited at the next station no worse for wear while we continued on our way to Pentagon City. We had dinner at California Pizza Kitchen and took dessert back to our room.

The next morning we made our way through Arlington National Cemetery but that's another post for another day. I think I hear breakfast being made downstairs and we need to get on the road to Music City USA....