Washington Wows

Even with a big trip planed for the fall, I started getting itchy feet, and a

Amtrak's Carolinian

quick check of the Smithsonian’s calendar turned up an exhibition of Cambodian bronzes and another of Korean pottery.  Great – I planned a long weekend in Washington. Although I live just 280 miles south of DC, I don’t want a car while I’m there, so, having more time than money, I took the train.

I can’t complain about the price, or, really, the comfort, but given how long the trip takes, Amtrak cannot count as a wow. Since the freight companies own the tracks, there are always delays, and this time we were an hour late each way – resulting in a thoroughly unimpressive average of around 40 mph!

Hotel rates in DC drop over the weekend, and I found a good deal on Travelocity for the Crystal City Marriott. While Crystal City is short on charm it’s super-convenient, with underground metro access from the hotels, and a branch of Jaleo, one of my favorite DC restaurants.

Surprisingly, the Marriott delivered my first “wow” experience of the trip: upgrading me, unasked, to an Executive Suite! Maybe they thought a solo woman traveler would take better care of their decorative glassware than the teenagers crowding the corridors. The bad news – after watching so You Think You Can Dance on  HDTV, I may have to upgrade my own TV…

The Great Hall at the Library of Congress, taken by DAVID ILIFF, see creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

I started my sightseeing at the Library of Congress, another “wow”, although I don’t usually like Victorian-era styles. Aside from the building, must sees were the Gutenberg Bible (one of only three surviving perfect vellum copies) and the recently-acquired Waldseemüller world map with the first reference to America (which I had read about in Toby Lester’s fascinating “The Fourth Part of the World”).

Unfortunately, I didn’t feel that the rest of the day – the National Museum of the American Indian, Alexandria, and a “monuments” cruise with the Potomac Riverboat Company, lived up to the same standard. You can’t see much of the monuments from the river – and how did DC wind up with such ugly bridges? Alexandria’s King Street seemed hopelessly touristy, but I did find it quieter a block south.

The Library of Congress was packed. Down the Mall by the Castle, both the Sackler and the Freer were oases of calm in comparison. I revisited the Peacock Room, admired the current selection of Japanese screens, and along with the pottery and bronzes I had come to see I took a docent’s tour of “In the Realm of the Buddha”.

Angkor Wat - as golden as it gets these days

Then I attended the lecture “Golden Towers: Reconstructing the Lost Ornamentation of Angkor”. I was just as surprised to learn that the stone walls and spires of Angkor had once gleamed golden in the sunshine, as I had been to find out that the severe white marble of Greece and Rome had once been brightly painted. Much imagination is required…

Not quite “wows”, but worthwhile: the Textile Museum and Dunbarton House. I lucked into free visits to both, with a shuttle bus between, as part of the Dupont-Kalorama Museum Walk. Pure serendipity – I had no idea this existed when I booked my train tickets. The Textile Museum featured fabrics from post-war Britain – I have to confess only a couple stirred any recognition, even though that’s when and where I grew up.

I ate well (maybe too well!) on this trip. Special mention to Kebob Palace, a wildly-popular hole-in-the-wall in Crystal City, the cafeteria in the American Indian museum – not cheap but good flavors, Nando’s Piri-Piri – deliciously spicy Portuguese chicken that I last enjoyed in Beirut, the duck confit at Bistro du Coin, and the Fontaine Caffe and Creperie in Alexandria. And a warning to avoid Jaleo’s Sunday all-you-can-eat paella special – the gazpacho was excellent but the paella best forgotten.