Seein’ the DMV: African American Museum Redux 081324
So my “Seein’ the DMV” selection for August was a visit to the National Museum of African American History and Culture. As I mentioned in my earlier blog post, I’ve visited the museum twice previously in the eight years since it opened. The Metro subway system took me to within 4/10 of a mile of the museum, but that was a pretty long walk for me. Still, driving wasn’t really an option because finding parking was nearly impossible mid-day in that part of DC. Next time–and there needs to be a next time–I will see if there is a bus that would drop me off closer to the museum entrance. Anyway, I decided to go because their Afrofuturism exhibition was scheduled to close at the end of the week. As a fan of Star Trek–I’m debating whether to post a picture of my personal ST collection here, The Matrix, The…
Short Trip to the Iowa Border: DeSoto Preserve-080419
Last backtrack (I hope) of 2019 travels. I don’t remember the circumstances under which I made this trip, but I did try to get to know my adopted state of Iowa, and most parts of it were within a one-day round trip. In this case, I made the less than three hour each way drive in early August to the western border with Nebraska. The DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge is part of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and is located along the Missouri River in both Iowa and Nebraska. In addition to the refuge, the site houses a museum with artifacts that survived the sinking of the steamship, Bertrand, in 1865. I will simply quote from the website: On April 1, 1865, the sternwheeler hit a submerged log, twenty-five miles north of Omaha, Nebraska. Bound for the newly discovered goldfields of Montana from St. Louis, Missouri, the Bertrand began…
Two Trips to the African American History Museum
I can’t believe that I chronicled neither my 2016 nor my 2019 visit to the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC)! ** Sigh ** Anyway, since I’m hoping to return to the museum during this month (August, 2024), I at least want to leave a blog post marking the earlier visits. December 26, 2016 I visited the NMAAHC for the first time just three months after it opened to the public in September 2016. (I have always been thankful that it opened before the change in presidential administrations because I believe that they would have done all they could to “kill it in the crib.” The wait list for tickets was months long, especially if a group wanted tickets. Still, the Joneses descended en masse to see our history gathered on one site at last. My nephew and godson volunteered to be my escort, which at that…
Motorin’ to Michigan-September 2019
I was invited to participate in the Reflecting on the Past…Reaching toward the Future conference at the University of Michigan. The conference happened to be held a few days before my birthday, so I contacted my niece who lived in the Detroit area to see if she would be able to get together. She showed me a wonderful pre-birthday evening, and it was amazing to talk with the young lady who had grown up with such maturity. Unfortunately, she had to work on my b-day, so I decided to make a day of it by visiting Motown, aka Hitsville, U. S. A., in Detroit. Even though it was a Tuesday, I got one of the last online tickets for the tour. I arrived early enough to find close parking and get several exterior shots. The facility was more accessible than I had expected, so I was able to see virtually…
Finding Harriet Tubman Museum-123119
This post demonstrates the disadvantage of uploading photos without immediately writing the blog. Sooner or later, something is going to fall through the cracks. In this case, I managed to forget to write the blogs for pictures I loaded from four different trips in 2019, to DeSoto Preserve (Iowa) in August, to a workshop at the University of Michigan with side trip to Detroit and the Gerald Ford Presidential Library in September, and December’s trips to the African American Museum in Washington and the Harriet Tubman Museum in Maryland. Oh well, here comes a series of backtrack blog post…. At this point, I don’t remember why my youngest brother and I decided to make the 1.5 hour trip to the Maryland Eastern Shore town of Cambridge, location of the Harriet Tubman Museum & Education Center. However, I don’t believe it’s a coincidence that we made the trip the day after…
Thoughts about My Latest Long Stretch and Upcoming Plans
So, I finally got that bucket list entry, Glacier National Park, taken care of! After so many aborted attempts, I just wasn’t letting my hopes get too high until I actually steered the Silver Bullet through the park entrance. Anyway, it was definitely a visit that didn’t disappoint, even with the winter storm that cut the trip short and the parts of the park I wasn’t able to see. Before I left for that trip, I acquired a set of National Park postcards that also include several memorials and other sites that are part of the US Parks System. I’ve started work on a display of the parks that I have visited in the order I was there, with lots of space for more cards. National Parks Planned and Those So Far Visited It’s already August, but I have several trips planned for the remainder of the year. This includes…
Seein’ the DMV: Memorials at Night–Black Lives Matter Plaza to MLK
During my first excursion Seein’ the DMV, I accidentally let my phone’s charge get so low, I couldn’t take any pictures of the evening tour sites we visited. It took me nearly two months, but I finally decided the time was right to address this by revisiting the memorials covered by the tour, plus an additional stop. I also wanted to test a new camera I had just purchased that I’m hoping to take with me to Hawaii later this year. By that point, I want to know it well enough to be able to take some decent photos on the cruise. This was a Saturday night, two weekends after July 4th. My luck with crowds was spotty at best sometimes, and this was the midst of DC’s busy season for tourists. I seem to have really lucked out this time, though. Vehicular and pedestrian traffic was mercifully lighter than…
Seein’ the DMV: With the Fishes–National Aquarium, June 2024
I love aquariums. I always try to have one in my home, even a one or two gallon one, and I imagine having a 50-gallon saltwater tank filled with fish. Since that isn’t likely to happen, I settle for visiting aquariums, and I now live within a short drive to the National Aquarium in Baltimore. Since the city is in Maryland, I decided to use the visit as my DMV exploration entry for June. I left early enough to have lunch at a restaurant one of my brothers recommended. I’m afraid I didn’t really like the fish filet I ordered. Despite this, I want to go back when I can try their pasta, which looks very tasty. The National Aquarium is in the Baltimore Inner Harbor area where several cruise tours that look like possibilities on future trips were based. I had come on a Friday afternoon when the aquarium…