Washington, D.C., is a great city for walking, and our typical day included driving in from our hotel in Alexandria, parking our car in a centrally located lot, and walking, walking, walking, walking.
On Day Two, we walked down F Street, noting all the attractions along the way that we might want to visit on another trip, such as the International Spy Museum. However, the museum's neighbor, the Shake Shack, required much closer inspection and caused about a 20 minute delay in our morning. It was well worth it:
Just down the road are The Smithsonian American Art Museum (commonly known as SAAM) and the National Portrait Gallery, which is also a Smithsonian museum. The museums share space in the Old Patent Office Building. Collectively they are known as the Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture, although I don't think anyone really calls them that. The building takes up two city blocks, and while they really are two different museums, we experienced them as a single museum.
A dramatic sculpture on the outside is always a good sign that you've arrived at an art museum. This one,
Modern Head (1989-1990) by Roy Lichtenstein, is the perfect piece to stand outside a portrait gallery. It is an impressive thirty-one feet tall and is made of steel:
Entry to the museums is free, and we were lucky to be there on a day that wasn't wall-to-wall people. The SAAM has over 7,000 pieces of art and we had limited time. Here are a few of my favorites:
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| Cape Cod Morning by Edward Hopper, 1950 |
