On the happier side of life...
May. 30th, 2019 11:57 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fabrisseYesterday was my 58th birthday. Neotoma got us tickets to the National Museum of African-American History and Culture. It's free, but in tourist season, timed entry tickets are required. Before she arrived, I helped a German speaker get tickets -- or at least did my best to.
The collection itself was laid out on a timeline. It starts out on the bottom floor with the beginnings of the African slave trade -- pre-colonial to colonial to revolutionary. It then goes to the next floor up and the 19th century through about the 1920s. There are tributes to various units who served in the various wars, including the training plane used by the Tuskegee airmen.
There are also photos of lynchings, genuine KKK robes, and a list of all the Jim Crow laws by state. I would like to thank Delaware, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont the only states not listed on that particular wall of shame. Knowing Massachusetts, I know that not having the laws doesn't necessarily mean they were less racist, but not enshrining Jim Crow into law was at least a small step in the right direction.
We didn't see to much on the third level which was 1960-ish to the present. We definitely need to go back. The museum definitely needs more benches.
After lunch, we headed to the National Geographic Museum and the Queens of Egypt exhibit. We were joined by the friend whose pseud in this journal is Elle. We saw some great items that were well described. Favorite section? The perfumes. One of the archeological sites has baked pottery with remnants of scent. They've been analyzed and five items -- Myrrh, a grass whose name I can't remember, Cardamom, Henna, and Blue Lotus -- had been identified as ingredients in Cleopatra's favorite perfume. Blue Lotus has a beautiful and slightly odd scent. It was really, really gorgeous and seemed to have multiple notes all at once.
With aching feet, we finally left National Geographic and headed into Georgetown for Vietnamese food. Our friend Kay joined us there. Afterward, Elle bought me a new handbag as a birthday present. Kay covered dinner. It was a grand day.
The collection itself was laid out on a timeline. It starts out on the bottom floor with the beginnings of the African slave trade -- pre-colonial to colonial to revolutionary. It then goes to the next floor up and the 19th century through about the 1920s. There are tributes to various units who served in the various wars, including the training plane used by the Tuskegee airmen.
There are also photos of lynchings, genuine KKK robes, and a list of all the Jim Crow laws by state. I would like to thank Delaware, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont the only states not listed on that particular wall of shame. Knowing Massachusetts, I know that not having the laws doesn't necessarily mean they were less racist, but not enshrining Jim Crow into law was at least a small step in the right direction.
We didn't see to much on the third level which was 1960-ish to the present. We definitely need to go back. The museum definitely needs more benches.
After lunch, we headed to the National Geographic Museum and the Queens of Egypt exhibit. We were joined by the friend whose pseud in this journal is Elle. We saw some great items that were well described. Favorite section? The perfumes. One of the archeological sites has baked pottery with remnants of scent. They've been analyzed and five items -- Myrrh, a grass whose name I can't remember, Cardamom, Henna, and Blue Lotus -- had been identified as ingredients in Cleopatra's favorite perfume. Blue Lotus has a beautiful and slightly odd scent. It was really, really gorgeous and seemed to have multiple notes all at once.
With aching feet, we finally left National Geographic and headed into Georgetown for Vietnamese food. Our friend Kay joined us there. Afterward, Elle bought me a new handbag as a birthday present. Kay covered dinner. It was a grand day.
