After an exhilarating day on Tuesday and a wonderfully sound sound sleep, it was now Wednesday. Woke up to meet Jim and Cecile before they made their way back to NC at Alexandria's Bread and Chocolate for breakfast. After filling our bellies, they hit the road and I hit the Mall again. Destination this morning? The National Museum of American History, a hodgepodge of artifacts from George Washington's revolutionary war uniform to Judy Garland's ruby slippers to trains to C-3PO. A little bit of everything encompassing the vast canvass of U.S. history.
The highlights for me? Seeing President Obama's name and likeness make the Wall of Presidents. Did I just type that? "President" Obama? Of course, the Revolutionary War exhibit was captivating. This particular exhibit was just about the same as in years past, but it was still quite the spectacle for me. The museum had been closed for I would guess about 2 years or so for renovations, the major one being a new home for the original Star-Spangled Banner. Sadly, no photos of the restored flag were allowed. I almost think the working display of historians repairing the flag was more intriguing than the finished display, but that's neither here nor there.
Another keen item on display was an original Abraham Lincoln top hat. Not just any old hat, but the hat he had with him that fateful night at Ford's Theatre. According to the placard, the hat was transferred from Mary Lincoln to the care of the Patent Office, which then gave it to the Smithsonian in 1867. There it lay in basement storage for fear of the excitement and pandemonium it could cause. Finally, in 1893 it saw the light of day for the Lincoln Memorial Association, and has been a Smithsonian treasure ever since. The museum had quite a bit of Lincoln information and displays as February 2009 is the 200th birthday of our 16th president.
From there, James and I made it to my all-time favorite stop in DC: The National Archives. The original documents of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights are on display in the rotunda. Awe-inspiring. Plenty of other historic documents are on display, such as a copy of the Magna Carta, the "great charter". The original from the year 1215 has long been since destroyed, and a rare few copies exist mainly in England with one in Australia and one in the U.S. The copy displayed in the Archives is from the year 1297. Per the ever-reliable (wink wink) Wikipedia, only one copy......(a 1297 copy with the royal seal of Edward I) is in private hands; it was held by the Brudenell family, earls of Cardigan, who had owned it for five centuries, before being sold to the Perot Foundation in 1984. This copy, having been on long-term loan to the US National Archives, was auctioned at Sotheby's New York on 18 December 2007; The Perot Foundation sold it in order to "have funds available for medical research, for improving public education and for assisting wounded soldiers and their families." It fetched US $21.3 million. It was bought by David Rubenstein of The Carlyle Group, who after the auction said, "I thought it was very important that the Magna Carta stay in the United States and I was concerned that the only copy in the United States might escape as a result of this auction." Rubenstein's copy is on permanent loan to the National Archives in Washington, DC.
Revolving exhibitions make their way through the galleries to make things interesting with each visit. This time, the 1783 Treaty of Paris finally declaring peace between the newly founded United States and England was on display. Wh-wh-wh-WHAT???? Cue up the colonial history nerd in me. This. Is. GREAT! Can you imagine? The original peacetime document? Unbelievable....
We stayed until the Archives closed. Then, famished for sustenance, we made our way to the Metro to hit the African-American neighborhood on U Street for some world famous Ben's Chili Bowl. Delicious chili, chili-cheeseburgers, chili dogs, chili cheese fries, chili half-smokes, the whole nine yards. So bad for you, but so so good. Sadly, when we got there, the line looked like this:
It wrapped out the door, around the corner, and all the way down the alley next to it! Oh man.... So, due to a scoop from none other than Kimberly, we hit the bar next door to Ben's called...Next Door. Ben's son runs it, I don't watch this particular television show but the winner of Hell's Kitchen cooks there, there is a smattering of microbrewed beer, and finally there's a taste of Ben's menu with chili and chili half-smokes. So, in a gluttonous and reckless abandon, James and I ordered up a chili half-smoke each with some beer, then hit the alleyway next door to Next Door and waited for a table at Ben's.
In the cold.
For an hour.
Dedication to chili, my friends. It was SO worth the wait. And the hour wait in between shivering in the cold offset the fact that we would eat two dinners on U Street tonight. Enjoy the sights and the food porn:
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