Lincoln Waffle Shop, Madame Tussauds Wax Museum and Metro

My husband was in heaven - a walk downtown, breakfast at the Lincoln Waffle House, a visit to the cheesy Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum, and a ride home on metro. Actually, he only liked the walk downtown and the ride home on metro - not the other touristy junk. But it was a great excuse to do something different this week. My first wax museum experience was Potters Wax Museum in St. Augustine Florida. I fell in love with history when I saw The wives of King Henry the Eighth. And Madame Tussaud’s on St. Pete Beach had a chamber of horrors and a Lincoln assassination display - he was still breathing. And then there was the museum at Gettysburg where the union soldier was not wax at all and scared us like heck when he started talking. Wax Museums were probably more of a hit before mass media came around. Now, it all seems very hoaky and cheap! This one was not very entertaining. For the most part there weren’t venues or displays - just the wax figures. And if you had to read the sign to recognize who it was...... It certainly wasn’t very busy - thank goodness I thought to ask for a resident discount. It would have been even smarter to get tickets on line. But we didn’t - and felt like suckers for the day. Afterwards we walked to Mcphearson Station and took the metro home. We ended up walking about the same distance we normally do each day. I’ll have to think of some other dopey - or more interesting - things to do. After all, we have a great selection to choose from. 

PBS American Experience - The Presidents

Whenever I read a book, it is typically historical or biographical. I've always been a fan of history, and declared it as my major in college until I decided I would need to get a job after I graduated. So I switched to nursing, and never looked back. But even to this day I still enjoy hearing about the life stories of interesting people. In spite of the political climate - especially in this town - the presidents fit that bill. PBS is rebroadcasting six of the president's stories in August. So we got them all in the queue and started watching the first one about Kennedy and have gotten as far a Carter. I was too young to really understand a lot of what was happening in the 60's, but vividly recall the black and white news casts and images. After college I became more in tune with world events. But now, when I hear the stories about national and world events and relive - again - the action of the time, one thing is clear. Don't we ever learn from the past? It hardly matters who was in office. I keep hearing the same words and speeches by different parties and leaders. Maybe because we are watching all of them within days, they all sound the same. I think having lived in DC for ten years now makes us even a bit more confused about how and why things happen as they did, and continue to today. Or maybe, I'm just getting older and notice it more. I'm not sure if anybody watches these shows? May be they should. It's amazing how things never really change.  

Joshua Kendall, First Dads, and a walk to the Capitol Visitor Center

It has been a solid month of rain and I am so sick of it. Rather than walk in it this morning, we decided to start out early for a program we planned to see at the Library of Congress. Rather than walk outside, we walked in the underground tunnel to the Capitol Visitor Center to look around a bit, have an early lunch, then head back to the library for the talk by Joshua Kendall on First Dads. Along the way we ran in to my past colleagues on the way over to the Capitol, and a couple more who also attended the lecture. We took advantage of the long corridors a couple times more on the sixth floor before we went in to the meeting room. It feels so much better to be in the building since I retired in February. This was one of the best presentations we have heard since attending these programs over the last ten years. It almost made me want to buy a book! But it was the type of information that I have always found interesting - more about the social aspects and real lives of famous people. I'm not sure when or what the next program will be, but it is a great way to get in some exercise, have a bite, and maybe even learn something - all in a very remarkable setting.