Seein’ the DMV: Three Shorts – August-September 2025
There’s a lot going on in my family, so I’ve stayed pretty close to home base lately. However, I did make three short excursions that I’m sharing here. Western Maryland Mountain View – August 28 2025 has been filled with astrological sights, or at least more have come to my attention. One of my efforts has been to find a dark sky site–one where the effects of ground lighting offer no/limited interference to viewing the night sky–within a two-hour drive of home (plus a quickie-trip would give me an excuse to test drive my new prescription shades). My latest effort was a drive to western Maryland, initially to Catoctin Mountain Park. I found numerous hiking trails and cabins for housing, even a swimming pool and various other event sites. I also passed a road with cautionary signage that might have led to Camp David, which I read was in close…
Seein’ the DMV: Concerts and National Aquarium
Two Concerts I don’t normally post about musical concerts I attend because I don’t like to write reviews. However, I’m going to spend a little time touching on three concerts I attended in July, but the bulk of the post will cover my second visit to the National Aquarium in Baltimore. Since my return to the DMV, I have taken as much advantage as I can of the stage events offered here. This summer, this has included concerts from the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s Summerfest schedule–an all-George Gershwin program and movie music by John Williams, plus the performance of Carl Orff”s Carmina Burana, performed by the National Symphony Orchestra, soloists, Choral Arts Society of Washington and the Children’s Chorus of Washington. The Gershwin concert started what was a very busy week on Sunday, July 20. The program included his Cuban Overture, excerpts from the opera Porgy and Bess, Rhapsody in Blue,…
Unplanned Mini-Trip: Rock And Roll HoF, Cuyahoga Valley NP, Western Maryland Scenic RR
Some trips just happen. This was one of them. I was watching a news story on Monday, June 9th, about the extremely rare Strawberry Moon scheduled to occur on Wednesday and decided I would find an different place where I would see it. Next morning, with minimal preparation, I jumped into the Silver Bullet (SB), texted a family member I was headed out of town, and drove towards Ohio’s Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Now, those of you following this blog know I have been there before. Twice, in fact, in 2024, first to witness the total solar eclipse, then traveling on the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad. On neither visit, however, did I actually see much of the park itself. The downside of unplanned trips is that I WILL forget something. In this case, I forgot that my usual ability to get satisfying photos from the camera on my very dependable…
Seein’ the DMV: With Sadness, Bidding Black Lives Matter Plaza Farewell
Just because I suspected–and feared–the negative results of November 2024’s presidential elections, that has done nothing to alleviate my dismay as I watch the intentional systemic destruction that has already occurred. So much damage affecting so many in the United States and around the world. One visible (but completely expected) consequence, was the announcement by the mayor of DC that Black Lives Matter Plaza would be demolished due to pressure by the Trump administration. I have not previously used this forum to overtly express political views, but I am making an exception here. The two-block-long plaza’s mural was created in June, 2020, after non-violent protesters of the murder of George Floyd were attacked by Federal forces. The simple, but powerful, statement “Black Lives Matter” was emblazoned within easy view of the White House. I found this satellite view to get a full sense of the mural. (Click on the picture…
Seein’ the DMV: Art and Legos and Captain America, Oh My!
As probably seems apparent by now, my interests drift in many directions. When I saw that an exhibit of creations using Lego blocks would be in Washington, I decided I wanted to see it. This is not unlike my 2008 visit to Iowa’s Matchstick Marvels and a desire to see how creativity can be expressed in different ways. I chose a Wednesday afternoon in the hope that attendance would be low and was pleased that I guessed correctly (this time). Called The Art of the Brick: An Exhibition of LEGO® Art, it was the second exhibit offered by Fever I had attended. (The first was their King Tut exhibit a few months ago.) Most of the exhibit consisted of recreations of famous art works and sculptures across human history and cultures. It was amazing how the creators were able to use Legos to assemble works reminiscent of those works. I…
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…
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…
King Tut-ing
There are so many exhibits and activities going on that I sometimes feel like I have to use “eenie-meanie-minee-moe” to decide what to see or do. When I saw the ad announcing the exhibit, Tutankhamun: His Tomb and His Treasures, I had to go. The exhibition consisted of reconstructed objects, film, and narration based on the discovery of King Tut’s burial grounds in Egypt in 1922. I found the exhibit fascinating, especially the scale and detail of the objects, from the Rosetta Stone to the artifacts in the tomb. Also, each of the attendees were given a device that allowed us to individually control the audio presentation based on the display. I’m going to let the photos speak for themselves: As usual, click on individual pictures to enlarge. The more than 200 pictures I took are available at https://singin1.pics/piwigo2/index.php?/category/seein-the-dmv-king-tut-ing-050824. Overall, I think I chose a good day to…
Cherry Blossoms Cruisin’
I invited my DC siblings (Debra, Chuck and Gerry) to join me on a lunch cruise to view the flowering cherry blossoms lining the Washington Channel and Potomac River in Washington, DC. The Cherry Blossom Festival connected to the blooming of these trees is a major event held during the Spring. Traffic to and from the area makes reaching activities then a major challenge that I’ve previously avoided. However, this year, I wanted to to experience the beautiful scenery and share it with the sibs. I checked the options and discovered that there were cruises available that were specifically organized to view the trees and was able to get a reservation for a lunch cruise on a Tuesday when I hoped would give us an excellent view without the congestion that would come with any effort to drive there. The day of the cruise was a little cool, but it…
The DMV and Indiana Dunes NP
As I mentioned in earlier posts, I am in the process of relocating to the DC Metro area, otherwise known as the DMV, so I’m closer to family and away from the winters of Iowa. I had two primary goals for this trip: one, to find a place to stay and two, celebrate the publication of Recorded Solo Concert Spirituals with my family. I think I found an apartment in the area that would be available when I need it, but I won’t know for sure until September. By Friday, I was able to take time to get my hair professionally done (I could almost hear the strands singing “thank you” afterwards) and visit my cousins on my mother’s side of the family. Then, on Saturday, I met colleague and former vocal coach Millicent Scarlett-Smith for lunch to catch up. Somehow, although I hadn’t planned on it, she left lunch…