The Secrets of the Panda

On the day after the election-to-end-all-elections, I invite you to forget Washington politics for a moment and contemplate the panda.

The giant pandas are Washington DC’s greatest celebrities. Everyone loves them. On loan from the Chinese government, they feature on the city’s Metro tickets. There are special Panda Hotel Packages. Fedex created a special plane, the fuel efficient Panda Express, to ship their baby back to China in a record 14.5 hours. They are a phenomenon. But that’s the problem. How can you visit the giant pandas at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo without having the experience ruined by the crowds?

By accident, we have the answer. Go during the week (and not during the summer) in really, really bad weather. Watch the sky and if the heavens open like Monsoon Mumbai, my advice is to rush to the Panda House at the National Zoo. We were there recently with Eloise in heavy rain and there was no one there. No one! We did see one other hapless British family wandering around but that was it. When the pandas were brought inside at around 2:30 for some biscuits and bamboo, we (and the keepers) were the only humans in sight. And to think that not so long ago, when the pair’s only baby was in residence, you had to reserve a time slot to see them. I’ve been to the National Zoo many times. I’ve seen the pandas many times but never have I come away so delighted and thrilled by the experience.

And for that matter, the rest of the Zoo was great too. The reptiles were repulsive, the birds pretty and the orangutans convivial. It’s not every day that a soaking wet thirteen-year-old and her parents can have a fine time together in a deserted national institution.

Admission to the National Zoo is free but the parking is expensive. If you want to save money, you can travel by either bus or metro but whatever you do, go in terrible weather.

The photo was taken by Eloise Hedges.

The Library of Congress - Politics with No Crowds

"All is Politics in this Capitol"
Thomas Jefferson

As much as we love the Smithsonian museums and the Phillips Collection, we feel visitors to Washington DC would be missing a trick if they came to town and did not pay a visit to the Capitol, a working legislative body and one of the most recognized monuments in the world. Here’s the problem with that idea. Tickets. According to the U.S. Capitol Guide Service website:

“Tickets are distributed each morning beginning at 9:00 AM … Tickets are required for all tours of the Capitol. … personnel distribute the tickets on a first come, first serve basis … Tickets … are for the same day admission only …During the busy months of Spring and Summer, the line for tickets forms quite early in the morning, so please plan accordingly.”

When NoCrowds reads something like that, we run for the hills but we are happy to report that on our last visit to Washington, we did find in the Library of Congress an easier way to get the Capitol Hill experience without a ticket and with far fewer crowds.

The Library of Congress, housed in three buildings directly east of the Capitol, serves as the research arm of Congress. It is America’s oldest cultural institution and with 138 million objects stored on 650 miles of shelves, it is the largest library in the world. Being a research library, most of the books and objects are kept secure in closed stacks but are available to anyone over the age of 18 who wishes to conduct research.

All the action for visitors to the Library can be found in the glitzy, spectacular Jefferson Building which has more gold, marble, mosaics and statues than any government building we’ve ever seen. During our visit, we were able to wander through several exhibitions including “Creating the United States” which looks at the ideas, collaboration and compromise involved in drafting America’s founding documents and “Exploring the Early Americas” about encounters between native Americans and Europeans. There is an inspiring exhibition on Thomas Jefferson and a recreation of the Library he sold to Congress in 1815. Popular culture is well represented in the Bob Hope exhibition on American entertainment. A lot of effort has gone into making these exhibitions interactive, so they are ideal for younger audiences.

Free guided tours lasting about 45 minutes and requiring no advance reservations are offered at 10:30, 11:30, 1:30, 2:30 and 3:30 (but no 3:30 tour on Saturdays). If tours aren’t your thing you can take yourself around the building. There is Discovery Guide for children and a gift shop for the “If you behave yourself, I’ll buy you a treat” routine.

So what’s the verdict on the Library of Congress? A visit is an excellent way to get a Washington political fix without getting on a tourist hamster wheel. The pomp and circumstance of the Library speaks volumes about political life in the nation’s capitol. The exhibits do a good job of presenting America’s view of itself and the world. You can pop in or linger as you like. If you are like us, you will leave thinking that regardless of one's view of the US government, it sure does know how to organise a great library.


The Library of Congress
Jefferson Building – The Library of Congress Experience
1st Street SE (between Independence Avenue and East Capitol Street)

http://www.loc.gov/
Tel: 202 707 8000
Email vso@loc.gov

Hours – Monday through Saturday 10 am to 5pm
Closed Sunday and federal holidays

Photography by Carol M. Highsmith from the Library of Congress website

The Phillips Collection: Washington's Other Museum

For visitors to Washington DC, there is an art collection just off Dupont Circle that is miles away from the Smithsonian museum complex in both scale and temperament. In a town of state institutions and memorials, the Phillips Collection is all about a private individual and an intimate space. Reminding NoCrowds of the Wallace Collection in London and the Jacquemart-Andre Museum in Paris, at the heart of the Phillips Collection is a romantic story involving a visionary collector and a grand house. In this case, the visionary collector was Duncan Phillips, the grand house was his Georgian Revival home and the story involves his appreciation of then little known artists who went on to become the masters of 20th century art.

Dashing into the museum between meetings, we were able to view works from the permanent collection, including the iconic Luncheon of the Boating Party by Renoir and lots of wonderful European and American impressionists and post impressionists. We also visited the special exhibition Christo and Jean-Claude: Over the River, a Work in Progress. Ever since these two artists transformed New York’s Central Park with “The Gates” installation, we’ve wondered how they ever got such a project off the ground. The Over the River exhibition provided lots of interesting information about how Christo and Jean-Claude conceive and bring about one of their installations.

We didn’t have lots of time for our visit to the Phillips Collection but it still sticks in our mind. We like the fact that in a town full of huge state-supported institutions, there is also room for a premier private initiative. Being a private institution, there is a somewhat complicated charging system for admission on the weekend and for the special exhibitions, but admission to the permanent collection during the week is free and all the time for under 18s. In any event, we feel the bottom line is that the setting, the house, the art and the story are first class. We enjoyed the scale and lack of crowds. By all means, visit the museums on the Mall but save some time and energy for the Phillips Collection, Washington’s other museum.

The Phillips Collection
1600 21st Street, NW
Washington, DC 20009

Opening Hours:
Tuesday – Saturday 10am – 5pm
Thursday – until 8:30pm
Sunday – 11am – 6pm

Admission to Christo and Jean Claude: Over the River and to the permanent collection on the weekend is $12

Photo 0f Marjorie and Duncan Phillips by Naomi Savage in front of Renoir's Luncheon of the Boating Party from the Phillips Collection website

The Best Value Outing in America

NoCrowds received an email recently from a Danish friend on a business trip asking where she should spend a few free hours in Washington D.C.

“I was thinking of taking a tour of the White House”, she wrote.

“Forget it. You need to plan months in advance. Besides, you are nationality-impaired. You’ll never get in,” we wrote back.

We advised her to head instead for the Smithsonian museums on the Mall. The museum complex, the largest in the world, with more than 136 million objects, has something for everyone. All the museums are within walking distance and free. Some of the museums, such as the National Air and Space Museum and the National Museum of the American Indian, are crowded. Some, such as the Freer and the Sackler Galleries are virtually empty. The choice is so vast; you can wade in or avoid the scrum according to your mood and interests. For foreigners, it’s a great place to watch Americans and for Americans, it’s a great place to watch yourself.

Following our own advice, we spent a half day on the Mall during a recent visit. As we always do, we popped in to the Freer and Sackler Galleries to see the world’s largest collections of James Whistler's work, as well as the world's largest collection of 19th century Hokusai prints. Having been to mobbed (and expensive) shows for both artists in London and Paris, we love seeing the work in such a tranquil and intimate space – and for free.

Until January 4, 2009, the Sackler also has an exhibition of newly discovered royal paintings of Jodhpur from the 17th to the 19th centuries entitled “Garden and Cosmos” which is worth a visit, especially since this is the first time many of these works have been seen by anyone besides a maharajah!

We headed next for the imposing National Gallery of Art, created by a joint resolution of Congress in 1937, which has one of the largest and finest collections of Western paintings and sculpture in the world. On the day of our visit, the place was packed with vacationing American families in shorts and sneakers taking pictures of themselves next to famous works of art. Outside, financial markets were crashing, just as they had when the museum was founded, but inside, we were all on holiday. Eavesdropping on some of the conversations was as much fun as seeing the art. For example, a man standing in front of a massive Anthony van Dyck portrait of Queen Henrietta Maria, from 1633, turns to his wife and remarked, “Honey, you know this photograph over here. I like the frame.” Good for you, we thought, here’s a man that in a middle of a crisis, still knows what he likes.

After an hour's wander through art history’s greatest hits, it was time to head home but not before we sampled a really good barbeque sandwich from a funky bug-like zero-emission kart outside the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.

NoCrowds has often wondered why Washington street food, particularly what you can find around the Mall, has always been so bloody awful. Well it seems that a long standing moratorium on vending licenses made the existing hot dog and soft drink sellers complacent. A recent lifting of this moratorium has provided a company called On the Fly with the opportunity to sell more interesting and healthy “grab and go” food from environmentally friendly karts around the city. The company has hired a chef trained at The Inn at Little Washington, one of the nation’s top restaurants, and partnered with such well known local providers as Rockland BBQ and Julia’s Empanadas. The results are impressive. Being from North Carolina, we were sceptical that some boys from DC could pull off a decent barbeque sandwich, but for $6.50, On the Fly produced a succulent sandwich along with some good, not-too-sweet coleslaw.

In 2006, NoCrowds had this to say about the Smithsonian National Museums:

“I know of no other place in the world where you can see and learn about more things with greater ease, for less money, than on the Mall in Washington.”

In 2008, this is still the case, but now we have an even greater need for both the savings and the inspiration that visiting these national treasures can provide. With the addition of good and well priced food from On the Fly, a visit to the Mall in Washington wins the NoCrowds award for the best value outing in America.

Smithsonian – most museums are open every day from 10 to 5:30 except Christmas.

On the Fly karts in front of the Portrait Gallery, Hirshhorn and Natural History Museum. Click here for location and times.

Photo of Queen Henrietta with Sir Jeffrey Hudson, 1633, from the National Gallery collection.

A Washington Museum Marathon

Leaving North Carolina via evil Interstate 95, I headed north for New York and New Jersey, stopping for two days in Washington, D.C. To plagiarize an undisclosed member of my family, “Washington is actually a suburb masquerading as a city”. This observation goes a long way to explain why the nation’s capital is both a pleasant place to live and a pleasant place to visit.

But the prime reason to organise a stop off in Washington is to see the vast and spectacular collections of the 18 institutions which comprise the Smithsonian National Museums, most of which are both free and within walking distance of each other. I know of no other place in the world where you can see and learn about more things with greater ease, for less money, than on the Mall in Washington. And it’s not just paintings and sculpture. Included in the Smithsonian club are the American Indian Museum, the Air and Space Museum, the Natural History Museum, the Postal Museum, the Zoo and the American History Museum.

Of course, in any ointment there is a fly and the fly on the Mall is crowds. It’s understandable given what’s on offer and all free, but these really are not like the crowds that you find in congested “old” Europe (maybe the goofiest thing Donald Rumsfeld has ever said), because, like many things American, the place is huge, insuring that a preposterous number of people can be absorbed before things begin to feel crowded. While some of the museums such as Air and Space can be quite crowded, a number of superb museums, such as the Freer and the Sackler Gallery, can seem all but deserted.

During my visit to D.C., I spent a whole day in the museums on the Mall, seeing three first class special exhibitions, one brand new museum and two collections in the newly refurbished National Historic Landmark which Walt Whitman once described as the noblest building in Washington.

I started my museum marathon at the Freer Gallery of Art which has major Asian and American holdings. The museum is cool, serene, with a lovely centre courtyard and filled with much appreciated curatorial touches such as the ample provision of magnifying glasses for the Asian works with tiny details. The Japanese collection has the largest holding of Hokusai in the world. Whistler’s Peacock Room is beyond fabulous, as are the other 70 oil paintings Freer bought from Whistler for his collection. Don’t miss the exciting gift shop at the Sackler which has everything from fabulous origami kits to Shangai Tang clothing and accessories.

One of the best aspects of my visit was the opportunity to see three superb special exhibitions – Asian portraiture at the Sackler, Anslem Kiefer at the Hirshorn Museum and Sculpture Garden and the Art of Native Americans of the North Pacific Coast at the National Museum of the American Indian. By London standards, I waltzed, unticketed, into shows whose costs would have totalled roughly $50 with no waiting and no hassle. I found the whole experience amazing.

Another highlight of my museum marathon was my visit to the National Museum of the American Indian, established by an Act of Congress in 1989 and opened in 2004. It’s strange but every Washingtonian I talked to about this place found it disappointing. The throngs, who were there when I visited, and I, certainly disagree. I think the mistake is to have the same expectations for this place as one would have for a traditional museum. The American Indian Museum is more of a theatrical experience or a "happening" than a home for a formally curated collection and I loved this effect, as did the army of children who were there with their camps, their parents and their summer enrichment programs.

Using Eloise’s museum criteria of preferring places with lots of things to do, the Museum of the American Indian is an absolute winner. There are so many things to get excited about, for example, the unbelievable building designed by Douglas Cardinal (Blackfoot) and a team of Native American architects, the excellent introductory and other films on offer and the food available at the Mitsitam Café on the first level which serves a broad range of delicious and intriguing meals based on the indigenous foods of the Americas. Certainly, the museum was crowded, and I don’t say this very often, but I think it is worth coping with the crowds to visit this exciting new addition to the Washington’s museum landscape.

I finished my museum marathon at the recently reopened Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture in the National Historic Landmark near Chinatown in downtown Washington which is roughly a 5 to 10 minute walk from the north side of the Mall. Talk about a fabulous building, the freshly renovated National Historic Landmark is considered one of the finest examples of Greek Rival architecture in the United States. As beautiful as the building is, the way the two museums inhabit the structure makes absolutely no sense and has to be considered a failure. I don’t know but when I was working for a bank that had warring departments, we ended up with projects that looked and felt exactly like this place. For the life of me, I couldn’t figure out where the American Art collection stopped and Portraiture began and vice versa and the guides and literature seem to fudge the issue. If the heads of these two museums are on speaking terms, I would be amazed. If they are, they need to straighten out how they are going to co-exist going forward.

Leaving this criticism aside, there are lots of things to love in the collections. The portrait gallery is a fun and informative American history lesson as seen through the faces of the folks who made the history. The American Art collection had some iconic pieces by artists such as Edward Hopper which are part of the visual memory of the United States. Since I had just finished a big lunch at the Museum of the American Indian, I did not stop in the Upper West Side or Portico Cafes but both looked very inviting.

All in all, I spent a total of seven hours sampling some of the finest art and culture that America, and the world for that matter, has to offer. I spent a total of $7.50 for my lunch. Only in the Museum of the American Indian were there crowds of any significance. It was one of the best days I have had in a long time and for all my current ambivalence about the United States and this administration’s deranged foreign and domestic policies, my museum marathon on the Mall provided a much appreciated moment when I was once again proud to be an American.

General Smithsonian Information

Tel: 202-633-1000 (voice/tape)
Recorded Information: Dial-a-Museum, 202 357 2020
http://www.smithsonian.org/ or http://www.si.edu/
Email: info@ si.edu

Most museums are open daily from 10AM – 5:30 PM.
The Donald W. Reynolds Centre for American Art and Portraiture is open from 11:30 AM – 7:00 PM
All are closed December 25
There is a Smithsonian Information Centre in the Catle on the Mall, open daily from 8:30AM- 5:30 PM

Photo of the Museum of the American Indian