Hillwood Museum and Gardens

This morning Diggory and I had the great pleasure of visiting Hillwood Museum and Gardens with our friend Christina.  I have to admit that our main impetus in making the sojourn was to see the temporary exhibition Pret-a-Papier: The Exquisite Art of Isabelle de Borchgrave before it closed, which it does, tomorrow, in fact, though since I had never visited Hillwood before, I thought it was just about high time.  I'm totally slapping myself for not visiting sooner.  I thought it was too far away and too hard to get to...but it's not...so go, you too.  

For those of you who know me, you know that I used to work for the Society of the Cincinnati, which maintains it's headquarters and museum at Anderson House, in Dupont Circle.  So the easiest way I, personally, can describe the grounds and mansion house at Hillwood is that it's like Anderson House, but even more fabulous.  Snicker, snicker.  (There's a handful of people who will catch this inside joke.)  As the former home of Marjorie Merriweather Post, who purchased the estate in 1955 and quickly decided that it would become a museum, the rooms and collections literally sparkle, filled with her collections of Russian imperial art and French furniture and other decorative arts.  Even the wallpaper is shiny and luminescent.  It's an absolute joy to see...and the plus side is that you can guide yourself with the handy 25-page brochure.  There are guided tours, but it's super convenient to go at your own (quicker) pace when you have a toddler tagging along.  In fact, Hillwood markets itself as a family friendly venue.  Before we visited, I browsed their website and was shocked/pleasantly surprised to find an entire page dedicated on how to visit with youngsters.  Among the most noteworthy amenities are stroller-friendly walking paths through the gardens, convenient parking on-site, frontal baby carriers available to borrow from the front desk (because strollers aren't allowed inside the mansion), complimentary coat and bag check, and a quiet room for nursing mothers.  Bravo!  Check out the calendar of events and look what's going on.  There's a preschool series of programs for children ages two through five, family fun days, garden days, concerts, and a variety of lectures and talks.

So, to sum things up, because I've decided to keep this one short...enjoy the images below...and imagine yourself immersed in splendor...and then visit yourself, you'll be glad you did.  Diggory is going to wake up from his nap at any moment...

Diggory, looking rather mischievous, posing for Christina.     

Admiring the very shiny displays of silver.  

The Japanese Garden is spectacular!  Plan on spending a good chunk of time just looking, pondering, and listening to the rush of water through the ponds and waterfalls.

A view inside the Adirondack Building, the main venue for the exhibition Pret-a-Papier.  Indeed, these garments are made of entirely of paper.  There were ten displayed in the mansion and the rest were on view here.  Absolutely awe-inspiring!

National Air and Space Museum (And Phillips Collection Repeat)

How is it already January 14th, and I'm already two weeks behind in posting new blog entries!?  So much for keeping up with my new year's resolutions!  Alas, let me try to recap our most recent museum adventures.

Two weeks ago we went to the Phillips Collection with our dear friend Julie.  We actually went here in April 2012 for one of our first blog reviews...and it's amazing to look back and see how much Diggory has grown!  His experiences in museums are now much more involved, and he's not so much just along for the ride anymore.  I usually have a moment of hesitation now before taking him to art museums because I don't want him to get bored and throw a fit, and I don't want him to break anything!  But, the Phillips isn't so large that it's hard to keep him entertained for the relatively short amount of time it takes to snake through the galleries, and there's certainly some very impressive and eye-catching art to see.  Practicing color, anyone?  

I won't go into all the details and logistics because you can get the info. in my earlier post, but we decided to forgo the stroller...and with two people available to carry Diggs when necessary, it worked out just fine and dandy.

Julie and Diggs outside the museum, posing with Xavier Veilhan's The Bear, 2010.

The exhibition Intersections: Xavier Veilhan, (IN)balance, on view until February 10, 2013, was a major hit with Diggory.  In fact, I think he would have spent hours in the gallery if we had let him.  It helps when there is a giant shiny, silver ball rolling back and forth on a teeter-totter like apparatus. (See photo below.)  That's all I'll say about this visit - that we had an awesome time, that's it's super fun to visit museums with a fellow art nerd and all around awesome friend, and that Diggory behaved himself and didn't touch anything.  

Julie and Diggs in the exhibition (IN)balance.

Our biggest adventure this past week was visiting the National Air and Space Museum (NASM) on the National Mall.  As one of the most visited museums in the whole wide world, I have to admit that I was a little intimidated.  And not just about taking my toddler there, but in how I would actually achieve covering such a huge museum in a blog entry without boring you all to death.  So, I won't go gallery by gallery (because there are a lot), and I won't describe the bathrooms (because there are a lot, all easy to find, stroller accessible, and all equipped with changing tables).  There are a bunch of hands-on activities and demonstrations for kids in the How Things Fly gallery on the first floor.  The Space Race, Milestones of Flight, and America by Air galleries are the multi-story spaces with the biggest, most totally awesome, airplanes, rockets, and spacecraft.  Diggory walked around aimlessly staring at the "sky," so make sure you're watching your kid so they don't walk straight into the bottom of the Apollo 11 Command Module.  (Oh, and apologies in advance for the blurry pictures.  I forgot my camera, so they're all compliments of my camera phone.)

Wandering the main entrance lobby and Milestones of Flight gallery.

Learning about stability and lift in the How Things Fly gallery.  It's always easier to fly an airplane if you stick your tongue out.

We went to the museum mostly to check out story time.  Yes, story time at the Air and Space Museum!  Yippee!  Here's the schedule.  They mostly do it on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, and the book usually changes every two weeks, which also means that the gallery in which the group meets also changes to fit with whatever the story book topic is that week.  Last week's book was Airport by Byron Barton, and, not surprisingly, it's also available in the museum's gift shop.  It's cute.  We bought it.  Story time was adorable...rainbow rug, airplane toys complete with fuel trucks and luggage carriers, activity and craft time, etc.  Diggory was generally more interested in running around the gallery looking at (and inside) the airplanes, but he did do a decent job of sitting still and paying attention.

Climbing the stairs to check out the inside of a passenger plane.  We went up and through and down and around about a dozen times.  Also, notice that the staircase handrails have two levels...one at the perfect height for small children.  Bravo, NASM!  And ALL the stairs in the whole museum are like this!

Playing with the toy airplanes before story time.

 

Momma brought limited edition Space Adventures goldfish crackers for snacks.  Gold star for me!

So many buttons inside a cockpit!  (Or as Diggory would say, "Wow, buttis!")

After story time, we climbed the stairs to the second floor and went in and out all the galleries.  (There are also escalators and elevators.)  We spent a lot of time inside the Skylab Orbital Workshop (in the Space Race gallery but accessible by stairs from the second floor) and played with the hands-on activities in the Pioneers of Flight gallery for longer than momma would have liked.

I was mostly getting really hungry.  So, in order to obtain a complete NASM experience, we ventured back downstairs to the food court for some good ol' McDonald's fries and chicken nuggets.  Yep, I am that mom.  (Well, don't judge, I also give him kale chips and a variety of what my mother endearingly calls "alternative food."  It's just that fries are just so yummy!)  

So, with our visit complete, we headed back to the metro (L'Enfant Station), which I should have mentioned is only two blocks away museum, and made the trek back home.  We had quite a busy morning!  Stay tuned for our next adventure!

Mount Vernon!

Yesterday, for what will likely be our last museum outing of the year, Diggory and I took Grandma Becky and Grandpa Doug to George Washington's Mount Vernon Estate, Museum and Gardens.  We decided to close out a year of awesome museumness with a big, colonial, and patriotic huzzah!  You'd probably guess, that due to the significance of the place and of the man in our nation's history, and given the size of the estate itself, that this would be one of the longer blog posts in my archive.  But, even visiting the site with an eye toward catching the most blog-worthy of aspects, I was struck by how straight-forward and smoothly our trip turned out to be.  Well done, Mount Vernon, well done.  I might not actually have that much to say, gasp!

Waiting with Grandma and Grandpa for the film.  Diggory thought the decorated Christmas trees and holiday decorations were, "Wooooowwww!"

So...let's get started.  We arrived slightly after 10am, and I was pleasantly surprised that there were a lot of parking spots left.  I good omen for the smaller crowds we encountered inside.  Once we purchased our tickets...ages five and under are free...we browsed the exhibits in the Ford Orientation Center before viewing the orientation film in the theater.  There are plenty of restroom facilities here and an information desk where you can find out what's happening all around the estate during the day.  After the 25 minute film..."some battle scenes may not be suitable for young children"...we ventured outside into the very blustery day toward the mansion.  We had timed tickets for a half hour later, so we strolled leisurely up the walk and then turned left up the handicap/stroller accessible path toward the Upper Garden. We encountered two presidentially-pardoned Thanksgiving turkeys.  Diggory was quite intrigued.  

Gobble, gobble, gobble.

It was pretty cold, but at least there's a good number of buildings to block the wind!

We cut through the Upper Garden just before the Lady Washington Gift Shop, and came up to the mansion from the northwest.  Even though it wasn't quite our time to stand in the queue for the mansion tour, there wasn't anyone else in line so we popped right in and only had to wait about ten minutes.  We parked the stroller between the Gardener's House and Servants' Hall...just don't forget to claim it when you come out of the tour on the complete opposite side of the mansion.  'Cause we did...and got almost all the way to the Old Tomb before we remembered!  Diggory was a pretty good sport on the tour...helped by the fact that he loves being carried around by his very tall Grandpa Doug.  Who wouldn't want the best view in the house?!  The third floor of the mansion is only open until January 6, 2013, so it was a special treat to visit this rarely-seen space.  

It was quite windy, with upward of 50 mph gusts!  The photo of Diggory and his grandparents didn't turn out well, at all.  :)  Here's a slightly better one of me, to prove I was actually there.  

After our mansion tour, we walked down the hill to the south and looked inside the Storehouse, Smokehouse, Paint Cellar, Wash House, and Coach House and then made it to Washington's Tomb before heading back up the hill around the Fruit Garden and Nursery and Lower Garden on the west side of the  grounds.  We skipped the Slave Memorial, Wharf, Pioneer Farm and Sixteen-sided Barn because, well, it was just too darn cold.  We did make a brief stop just past the Bowling Green to visit Aladdin the camel, on view through the holidays.  In 1787, George paid 18 shillings to have a camel brought to Mount Vernon for Christmas to entertain his guests...so it's totally historically accurate.  

Watch out, they spit.

We were glad to finally get back indoors when we reached the Donald W. Reynolds Museum and Education Center.  The museum houses spectacular items from the site's permanent collection and hosts temporary exhibitions.  (I got to be involved in one a few years back in my past life at museum collections manager at the Society of the Cincinnati, and it was such a privilege.)  Currently on view through August 11, 2013, Hoecakes and Hospitality explores how foods were prepared and presented in the 18th century at Mount Vernon.  I scored at least five recipe cards...a brilliant idea...and am very much looking forward to making the "ragoo of asparagus."

Even though our tummies were now grumbling (brilliant ploy to get visitors into the food court and restaurant, by the way), we took a not so quick spin through the Education Center.  Embarrassingly, even after all my visits to Mount Vernon for family trips or in a professional capacity, I had never walked through the Education Center.  Eek!  So, we finally went and it was so cool.  Lots and lots of interactive and eye-catching exhibits, generally organized chronologically through Washington's life.  There are dioramas, films, sounds, lights, and historical objects sprinkled here and there, including George's not-wooden lower jaw dentures.

Thoroughly starving by now, we were lucky enough to snag a table for four at the Mount Vernon Inn restaurant and had their famous peanut and chestnut soup and sandwiches.  Also, I should have mentioned that there are restrooms in various locations around the museum and education center, and near the food court and gift shop, but perhaps the most handy one is the handicap accessible restroom right next to the hostess stand.  It's big enough for a stroller and there's a counter just perfect for diaper changes.  Perhaps it's not meant for that, but I used it...and wiped it down, too.  So there.  You gotta do, what you gotta do.

It was way, way, way past bedtime by the time we left, so we sang about a million rounds of Old MacDonald's Farm to keep Diggory awake for the whole ride home.  We succeeded, and then he crashed out for a three hour nap.  And mommy got some shut eye, too.   

Grandma and Grandpa watching his every move.  :)

So, I think I'll call it quits until next year, which, really, is only next week anyway.  Diggory and I visited SEVENTY-TWO museums and cultural or historic sites this past year, and seeing as how we didn't actually tick off all of the places I wanted to go, I think we'll just have to renew our resolution for 2013, and go for it again.  What do you think?  Fifty-two museums in 2013?  I think, I can.  I think, I can.

Happy New Year!  And thanks for reading!  

The Intrigue of Historical Markers

It's been quite some time since I've posted.  I made a couple of cross-country trips over the past few weeks and had to finish my Christmas shopping, which, in my defense, takes a lot longer when you have a toddler in tow.  But, alas, I don't have any terribly concrete excuses for not keeping my goal of visiting one museum a week for a whole year.  I guess my biggest excuse is that I've already visited way more than 52!  I counted a few months ago, and I was already at 54.  So there.  I've dropped the ball a few times since then, going a week or more between postings.  But for goodness sake, I've been busy.  It's not that I don't think about visiting a museum or historic site, I just don't actually muster up the motivation to do it.  Today we did something different though.  And in my defense, all the other places I thought to visit today were closed.  So there.  

Instead of visiting a museum, Diggory and I went shopping.  I had a coupon, and I wanted to use it.  We found ourselves in Bailey's Crossroads, a neighborhood in Fairfax County, Virginia full of big box stores, car dealerships, and our trusty Trader Joe's.  I've stopped to read this particular historical marker before (see photo below), but today I thought I'd post a picture so all of you can see it too.  It's a total cheater's blog post, I know, but there's a special place in my heart for historical markers, and here's why.

On every family vacation taken in my youth, inevitably, my father would ask, "What did that sign say?"  He was usually referring to some historical marker.  And the tricky bit was that we were usually traveling at 65 mph.  No one can read that fast!  But, after some trial and error, I believe I became really good at surmising the gist of said marker with only a split second to actually read it.  And what I didn't actually read, I usually just made up.  But, ever since then, I've made it a point to read most markers I see.  I even pull over the car, back up, walk across the parking lot, etc.  It's amazing what you learn when you "stop and smell the...er...read the marker."  

For example, did you know that Bailey's Crossroads has a connection with the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus?!  I had a forehead-slapping, eye-rolling "duh" moment when I read the marker the first time and also realized that that's why the "Now Entering Bailey's Crossroads" signs have circus tents on them.  Turns out that Hachaliah Bailey purchased the northeast quadrant of land formed by Leesburg Pike and Columbia Pike in 1837, and his son, Lewis Bailey, who pioneered the canvas circus tent and owned a traveling menagerie, settled on the land in the 1840s.  Some sources say he needed a place to keep his exotic animals during the winter.  The land also included a large mansion house called "Moray," which burned down in 1942.  All that exists now is Moray Lane, which would have led directly to the house, but now cuts directly through the Crossroads Shopping Center parking lot.  It's entirely possible that the house once stood exactly where I had to stand to take this picture.  

I love imagining what the landscape of our neighborhoods once looked like "back in the day."  And I only hope that those who once lived here wouldn't be too disappointed that there's now an Old Navy in what would have been their backyard.  Maybe they'd be delighted that I could hear the laughter of children wafting up from the Glen Forest Elementary School playground too.  And I hope it might bring them comfort that there are still those of us willing to read the historical markers. 

Pentagon and Air Force Memorial

Yesterday morning, Diggory and I had the pleasure of touring the Pentagon with our friend Julie, who had kindly invited us to tag along with some extra passes she had.  We got up early and drove to the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City, where I've become accustomed to parking whenever I want to take the metro downtown.  The Pentagon metro station is only one stop away, so it's an easy commute.  Plus, the escalator out of the station shoots you out of the ground right in front of the visitor's entrance to the Pentagon.  You have to book tours in advance, and there's a whole list of things you can't bring with you (i.e. cameras, and hence, no pictures!), but the whole process seemed pretty straightforward.  And, always remember, if you follow the rules and are nice to the security personnel, they'll be nice to you, too.  It also helps to have a charming toddler with you!  I didn't take the stroller, and opted instead to wear Diggory in my backpack carrier.  It worked great and he was surprisingly well behaved on the hour long tour.  If you do take your stroller, the tour guides will gladly escort you via elevator.  

Once you get inside the Pentagon, you'll be directed to the tours waiting area before you check in at the tour window.  There are lots of chairs, restrooms (though no changing tables), and several displays (with interpretive panels!) about each of the military branches and the Department of Defense.  There's also a gift shop.  Yes, a gift shop.  Members of the military conduct the tours, and one of our tour guides was also a member of the Honor Guard, who conduct the ceremonies and funerals at Arlington National Cemetery, among other duties.  The tour route snakes through the five rings and the ten corridors of the Pentagon Building, a city in itself, with over 23,000 military and civilian personnel.  And it's very much an office building, but with a few perks...like its own floral shop, hair salon, Best Buy, food court, chocolate shop, jewelry store, luggage shop, toy store, etc.  Your tour guides will bombard you with random, though interesting, statistics, like...  Did you know that the Pentagon has six different zip codes?  And, did you know that the Pentagon has 691 drinking fountains?  

As you go along, you'll come upon display after display of historic photographs of foreign military campaigns, domestic assistance campaigns, like Hurricane Katrina, and military home life and families.  One of the more interesting installations were the historic reconstructions of the building and office space when the Pentagon was first constructed in the early 1940s and just before one of the more involved renovation projects in the early 1990s.  The most poignant moment, however, was definitely the brief visit to the memorial inside the building for the 184 people who lost their lives in the Pentagon and on board Flight 77 on September 11, 2001.  We did not visit the outdoor memorial, but I would very much like to see it one day.  Our last stop on the tour was in the main entrance lobby, where one of the three enormous and breathtaking September 11th Memorial Quilts and the Flag Quilt are displayed.  

After we completed the tour, we exited the building and got back on the metro.  Julie went off to work, and Diggory and I headed to the car.  Since we couldn't take pictures at the Pentagon, I knew just where to go to get a good photograph to document our trip.  The United States Air Force Memorial is just a short drive away, and up the hill on Columbia Pike overlooking the Pentagon.  There's onsite parking, bathrooms, and a small gift shop, but the best aspects of the memorial are, by far, the three stainless steel spires soaring skyward and the impressive views of the Washington, DC skyline, Arlington National Cemetery, and the Pentagon.  Our visit was short, but it was definitely worth it.

Diggory checking out the Washington, DC skyline from the Air Force Memorial.  Washington Monument on left, U.S. Capitol Building at center, Pentagon at right behind trees.

The three shining spires of the Air Force Memorial.  

  

Green Spring Gardens

Yesterday afternoon, Diggory and I joined our friend Christina at the manor house at Green Spring Gardens to view an oil painting and watercolor exhibition entitled Beauty in All Seasons.  One of the women from our painting class had many beautiful paintings in the show, and we wanted to see them!  I've got my eye on one or two if my husband needs some ideas for a Christmas gift.  The exhibition was presented in two rooms in the historic manor house, originally built by John Moss in 1784 and privately owned until 1970 when the current owners deeded the home to the Fairfax County Park Authority.  There are not formal tours on a daily basis, which is actually a good thing if you have a toddler, so you can browse the current exhibition and the first floor of the house at your own pace.  There's a gift shop too, and the attendant will gladly share her knowledge about the construction and history of the house.  There's a spacious restroom too (though no changing table). Pick up a calendar of events before you leave, as there is a variety of public programs and teas offered throughout the year.  

Diggory was pretty enthralled by the "open" sign, and I couldn't get him to look at the camera!

After we saw the exhibition, we walked through the gardens to the horticulture center.  There's a library, gift shop, exhibition space, public restrooms, and an information desk here, so make sure to pick up a map of the grounds.  The gardens fill 28-acres and there are paths that lead all over to more than twenty separate gardens including a children's garden, a greenhouse, a vegetable garden, a native plants garden, and two ponds filled with ducks and geese.  It's really lovely, and we'll definitely be back to explore more often...it literally took me three minutes to drive to Green Spring from my house, so I'm feeling extra guilty for not visiting until now. 

Diggory, what do ducks say? "Ack, ack, ack."

Christina checking out the photography exhibition in the horticulture center.

Quiet Respite

A few days ago, the day after the election, in fact, Diggory and I needed to get out of the house.  I was in a bit of a post-election funk and not in the mood to travel very far or battle for parking in downtown Washington, DC, so we got in the car and headed for Old Town Alexandria, hoping for some museum-going inspiration along the route.  If nothing else, I told myself I could just engage in some sort of retail therapy at Paper Source.  There could be absolutely nothing wrong with that, right?  Well, as it happened, I found an excellent parking space right next to the Torpedo Factory Art Center, and walked up the hill along King Street to the Alexandria Visitors Center at Ramsay House.  Located at the corner of King Street and North Fairfax Street, the Ramsay House is centrally located in the heart of lower Old Town Alexandria, and it is a worthwhile stop for even longtime Alexandria residents.  Though the current building is a reproduction of the original 1720s home built by Scottish merchant and city founder William Ramsay (the building burned down in the 1940s), it's still a nice resource for information and a quiet respite from the usual hustle and bustle.  Walk up the stone steps and approach the house from the garden...stop to take a few pictures of your adorable child, like I did.  

Once inside, pick up any number of brochures for area sights and attractions.  You might be surprised by what you didn't know or didn't remember was nearby.  For example, I picked up a brochure about the historic 1770s Christ Church, just a few blocks west of Ramsay House.  More on Christ Church below.  But, before we ventured out, we went downstairs to inspect the "facilities."  If you navigate the stairs or if you enter the building from the handicap accessible entrance off King Street, you'll find two large unisex restrooms.  Only the one to the left of the large flat screen television, and closest to the stairs, has a changing table.  Also, I supposed this is good information to have if you're just strolling down the street with your little one and need a restroom asap.  And speaking of restrooms, the parking ramp underneath city hall and Market Square (literally just across North Fairfax Street from Ramsay House) has men's and women's restrooms as well.  I am continually pleased with their cleanliness.  Just FYI.

So, off we went to Christ Church.  I needed a quiet and contemplative space anyway to lift my mood.  From Ramsay House, walk west on King Street and then turn right (north) onto Washington Street.  Walk one block, and then enter the Christ Church courtyard and cemetery through the archway in the brick wall.

Constructed between 1767 and 1773, the Georgian-style church has stood witness to countless important events in American history, from the American Revolution through the Civil War, and has hosted congregations including such notable persons as George Washington, Robert E. Lee, Winston Churchill, and Franklin Roosevelt.  It really is an amazing building, with an amazing history, and really worth the 20 minute (ish) tour, if you just open the door and step in.  The church still has an active congregation and three or four worship services every Sunday, but it's open for visitors and tours Monday through Saturday from 9:00am until 4:00pm, and on Sundays from 2:00pm to 4:00pm.  We were greeted by a very nice and knowledgeable older gentleman who showed us around the sanctuary and pointed out George Washington's pew and other highlights.  Afterward, we walked across the courtyard and into the modern administrative building to check out the gift shop.  Very cute, indeed, and I was almost tempted to purchase some watermelon rind pickles.  With my spirits lifted, we wandered back in the direction of the car...but I still stopped by Paper Source for some therapeutic and much-loved crafting goodies.