Visiting Northern Virginia

Last week, we visited our daughter and son-in-law in Fairfax, Virginia, and then continued to Lancaster, Pennsylvania. I’ve written several posts about some of the highlights of the trip, but I wanted to add some photos from both places. Today: our visit to Virginia.

Sunday, February 11, we traveled the Ohio and PA turnpikes and continued
south to Fairfax.

We arrived just in time for the classic Superbowl refreshments: chili and guacamole.

We were also in time for Mardi Gras and Paczki.

Two Towns in Virginia: Occoquan and Alexandria.

When I was a child, there were several carriage stones in my neighborhood, but we called them 
“wishing stones” and thought if you sat on them and made a wish it might come true.

Near Alexandria, we enjoyed birding, especially the owl.

The Torpedo Factory, an art space in Alexandria.

The National Museum of the American Indian, Washington DC

I have written about the special chocolate festival at the museum
Evelyn, Tom, Len, and I also looked at a variety of other exhibits.

I enjoyed a case dedicated to children’s toys and dolls.

Symbolic gifts to the Europeans to cement a treaty.

“Nation to Nation: Treaties Between the United States and American Indian Nations” is a long-term exhibit at the museum (from 2014-2028). The exhibit documentation states:

“From a young age, most Americans learn about the Founding Fathers, but are told very little about equally important and influential Native diplomats and leaders of Indian Nations. Treaties lie at the heart of the relationship between Indian Nations and the United States.”

The first rooms were focused on several early examples of the very numerous treaties between Indian tribes and Europeans from early colonial times through the early 20th century. These pre-Revolutionary and early 19th century examples were often made in good faith, though later broken by the settlers and politicians eager to take over land and expand the European domination of the continent. As time went on, the treaties became more and more exploitative and cynical, and the national policy of  “removal,” which became law in 1830, replaced any good will towards the Native Americans. I was very interested in the artifacts, the facsimiles of treaties, and the historic information in this exhibit.

Visiting Evelyn and Tom

We took several walks around the neighborhood.
The weather was beautiful, with only a touch of snow.

Houseplants!

 A puppet from their collection.

Evelyn makes wonderful ceramic gnomes.

Tomorrow, I’ll continue with our visit to Arny and Tracy in Pennsylvania.

 

Blog post © 2024 mae sander

Museum of the American Indian, Washington, DC

Heading into Washington, DC

Blossom to Beverage: The Story of Chocolate

This weekend the museum had a special event with lectures and demos about the 
history and uses of cacao, including interactive mural painting. The aroma of chocolate was everywhere! 

The artist creating the murals is Joaquin Alejandro Newman, a Yaqui Indian from Mexico.

Kids could help paint the mural, which is deigned in Aztec style.

The display of chocolate-making, starting with the raw beans and processing them with traditional
equipment, was presented by Jose Reyes and his family, who are Mixtec.

Grinding cocoa beans and pressing cakes of chocolate in the traditional way.

Preparing a Mexican chocolate beverage.

The chocolate demos were on the main floor, while all the exhibits are upstairs.
After looking at the people preparing cocoa beans and mole, we spent quite a lot
of time in the main parts of the museum. From above, we could see the chocolate expo.

The American Indian Museum is one of the Smithsonian museums on the Mall in Washington,
so you can see the Capitol Building from the windows.

Blog post and all photos © 2024 mae sander

Shared with Sami’s Monday Murals and with Elizabeth’s celebration of drinks.

Two Museums and Zaytinya

In Washington, D.C. today we spent some time at the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM), looking at art from the American West. I've been wanting to see some of the western landscapes and portraits of American Indians that I read about recently in the book The West of the Imagination by William H. Goetzmann and William N. Goetzmann. (I blogged about it here.)

American Indian portraits by George Catlin (1796-1892) which I particularly wanted to see.

Thomas Hart Benton (1889-1975) -- "Archelous and Hercules"

"Archelous and Hercules," detail.

Works by Georgia O'Keeffe and Arthur Dove.  

One of several large landscape paintings by Thomas Moran (1837-1926).

After our visit to SAAM we went to lunch at Zaytinya, a delightful restaurant quite near the museum.

After ordering, you are served puffy pita-type breads.

Dipping olive oil with a "Z" written in pomegranate vinegar.

Foreground: tarama salata. Background: İmam bayıldı (eggplant with walnuts).
We also enjoyed shakshouka with smoked duck.

Fish -- bronzino -- with walnuts, water cress, pomegranate seeds, and other flavors.

In the open kitchen -- legs of lamb roasting on spits.

Another view of the kitchen.

In the afternoon we went to the "Nature's Best Photography"
exhibit at the main Smithsonian natural history museum.
We've enjoyed several earlier exhibits of this annual contest.