Day 21: Reflections

Booster, Justine and I started our day early attempting to get in to the US Capitol building. Turns out, they aren't open on Sundays so we instead walked over to the US Botanical Garden which according to green thumbed Justine is the best in the world. I believe her. It was beautiful, surprising, very educational, and they were doing a lot to promote green initiatives. I'll let her blog go into more detail about it as she knows way more than I do on this particular subject. I'm catching up as our geeky interests ozmoze into each other's, but for now she's the master and I am but a student.

We then walked over to the Smithsonian's Air and Space museum which is famous for having many examples or replicas of actual space ships, satellites, airplanes of historical importance and your choice of freeze dried ice cream.

I had been there when I was fifteen and felt that while some of the vehicles were new (like Space Ship One- very cool) the displays hadn't changed in 20 years. One of the most amazing things about Washington DC is that all of the museums are free. We paid for next to nothing to get into world class exhibits. I fear that the Air and Space museum may be the down side to that policy. A refresher on some of the science displays is in order and I hope they get the funding to do it. There were several of the Smithsonians that were closed for renovation so I'm hoping this one is on the list.

After the celebration of mankind's accomplishments, we went to the flip side: the Holocaust Museum. I have mixed emotions about the subject and its museum treatment. Growing up a secular Jew who attended Hebrew School in my youth, the Holocaust was beaten into my head in place of learning about faith, spirituality, or the bible. Instead of learning about the High Holy days, I learned about all of the ways that my people have been victimized, marginalized, tortured, murdered, and the attempts to drive us from existence. The subject of the genocide attempted by the Nazi regime has left me numb. I visited a concentration camp in Germany a decade ago, cried for a while and then moved on. This isn't the reality of the modern Jew. I don't experience this level of bigotry in my life and while I feel guilty for feeling this way about the subject and trauma inflicted on millions of my people, I'm just tired of it. My brain can't process this stuff anymore. I choose to see the goodness in people and I'm much happier for it.

That said, the museum itself is very well done and I'm glad it's there. The history especially at the beginning of Adolf's rise to power and the day to day events that transpired thereafter are very well illustrated. It is a very fitting tribute to those who lost their lives, homes and villages and really helps us to examine ourselves in it's context. Perhaps the most moving part was the exhibit on modern day genocides, especially what's going on in Darfur right now and I hope that someone in power experiences it the way they intend and does something to stop it. We really haven't seemed to have learned the lessons of the 1940s.

Reflecting on the museum, we drove around town with no particular direction in mind and then found some food after our first choice for soul food was closed.

Ben's Chili Bowl is a DC institution and we got there just as they were locking up. They had a few hot dogs on the grill remaining and we had them prepared house style with mustard, onions, and lots of chili. They were a little dried out as they had been sitting on the grill for a bit before we got there, but the chili was great. The atmosphere was even better and we ate them reclining on the trusty Carolla out front. tired, spent, and full we retired to Booster's house for a good night's sleep.

Day 21: Reflections

Washington, United States