Maria's Visit

What a fun weekend! Having a friend in town is always the best way (for me) to get out and see the local sights in my own city that I pass by (and ignore) every day. DC really has so much to offer and it reminded me to enjoy it while I can. We started out on Saturday at Eastern Market, a cool flea market with everything from homemade sea glass jewelry to colorful shawls from Ecuador to Indian curry hummus. We walked around, picked up spinach crepes from a street vendor for lunch, got 10 minute chair massages, and really just had a lot of fun people watching.

(here we are at Eastern Market)



Then we went to the Anacostia Museum in time for a 30 minute guided tour on the history of the area. The museum, part of the Smithsonian Institution, is located in the neighborhood of Anacostia. This museum is supposed to be for African American history and culture. According to their website, it's there to "explore American history, society, and creative expression from an African American perspective." I had never been there before so both of us were really looking forward to it.

(Maria in front of the museum)


(the cool sculpture up close)

(I'm getting pretty good at getting pics without using the self timer)

(well, most of the time... Blair Witch Project?)


What a disappointment. The museum is so small you can practically see the whole thing when you step in the front door! And although we really enjoyed the tour of the current exhibit, East of the River: Continuity and Change (which taught us about an area of Anacostia from it's Native American roots to the present day) there was nothing else there. I have never been to a museum that small. And then that fact that it is located in Anacostia, about 20 minutes from the other Smithsonian museums - deep in Anacostia- instead of on the Mall. Being so far from the other museums means it loses any foot traffic. And then it's located in Anacostia, a neighborhood short on restaurants and shopping but high in crime. When we pulled up to park, we saw this sign:

:(


It made me think that the Smithsonian Institution doesn't really value African American culture very much, but I just learned today that they are actually in the pre-building phase of such a museum. It won't open til 2015, but at least someone recognized the need. Better late than never, right? After the museum we swung by the White House, bought some chips to eat with the Indian hummus I had picked up, and went home to relax.


(the White House looking beautiful, but yellow)

(why didn't someone tell me my shirt was untucked?)


Later on that night we headed out to a cool party. We didn't get there til 1 a.m! It was in some sort of art gallery space. It was fun.





When we left the party, Maria was hungry so at 3am we stopped at Wilson's to get some soul food. We didn't get to sleep til 6! Very long day.

(at Wilson's and not looking so cute at 4 a.m.)

On Sunday, we tried to meet a friend at her church but we got a late start (I am way too old to stay up til 6) and then got lost so we went out for brunch instead. Her church is near Eastern Market, so she and her daughter (the one I babysat a couple of weeks ago) joined us after we ate. We walked around there for awhile, long enough for me to buy one of the Ecuadorian scarves, but it was so much colder today so we didn't last long. Being inside a warm museum seemed like a better idea so we squeezed in a quick trip to the National Portrait Gallery before I had to take Maria to the airport.


Very fun weekend! And now I must clean my house, do bills and create cards for the swap!!!!