Washington DC: Twenty years later

Last time I was in DC was twenty years ago just before I had graduated EOD school at Indian Head NAS in Maryland. I decided that since I was in the area, I would stop in for a visit to out nations capital and see if it was a excellent as I remember...it was. I started with The Mall which is the area between the capital building all the way to the Lincoln Memorial. On either side of this is the Smithsonian Institute and its many museums, this is sometimes referred to as the Nations Attic. I started with the natural history museum first which really hasn't changed much in twenty years. That makes it no less impressive, I particularly enjoyed the human origins section, being a student and teacher of anthropology, it was like walking through an entire semester of an intro to physical anth 101 semester. I really got jazzed by the gems, minerals and mining section. This is the home of some of the most wondrous gems in the world including, but not limited to, the Hope Diamond.

For more info on The Hope Diamond click here

From the web site "The new Hope Diamond setting, called “Embracing Hope”, incorporates 350 baguette cut diamonds set in platinum for a total carat weight of 105.52 carats. It took a total of 8 months for Harry Winston Inc craftsmen to create the new design which was chosen by over 100,000 people in an online vote sponsored by the Smithsonian Channel. "  It truly is an impressive spectacle as were many of the other gems and jewels on display.

I moved on to the American history Museum which has been closed since 2006 for renovation. It reopened in November of 2008 to rave reviews. The pop culture stuff is what I was looking forward to. I did see Archie Bunkers chair and Fonzie's jacket and the original Kermit the Frog puppet, but the whole music section was not open, thats where the Kiss stuff is, "You want the best, you got the best, the hottest band in the world...sorry no admittance" Oh well, better luck next time. 

The Star Spangled banner display is most impressive. The room was completely dark and the banner, which is enormous, was lit from above, very cool.

Giving a speech in front of Reagan's cabinet in the American History museum.

Then I took a lap around the Washington Monument which of course is always impressive. All the phallic jokes aside, it is one big monument, and I was off to the Air and Space Museum. Twenty years ago they had one of the Enterprise models from the original Star Trek series. It was gone this time but there were several new displays that were frankly mind blowing. One hall in particular had composite space probe photographs of the planets and other celestial bodies that were unbelievably awesome. But what made the whole excursion worth while was the Hubble experience in 3D on the IMAX, narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio.

See the Trailer at http://www.imax.com/hubble/

 The movie spends a good amount of time on the astronauts that go to repair the Hubble telescope and the missions problems and solutions. After that it takes you on a mind blowing journey using the 3D to explore some of our galaxys structures as the Hubble sees them. Then its a very Hawking/Sagan type journey beyond our own galaxy into the Deep Field stuff that I have always found extremely fascinating anyway. This movie made the whole journey worth while. It ran about 45 minutes but I could have sat there all day watching it.

Back up mirror for the Hubble in the museum, very cool.

Off to have a little dinner and try the local brews, which given the popularity of my Germany post, will become a regular feature here in my blog. i walked just a few blocks from The Mall to the Chophouse and Brewery. Their handcrafted beers were much better than I would have expected. Being from Colorado, land of the micro brews, I generally don't expect much. I used to work at a restaurant in Colorado Springs called the Warehouse that had a Dopple Bock that was so good I will never forget it and I have been searching for its like ever since. Well...I found it.

http://www.chophouse.com/

It had a sublime rich flavor that makes it a dark beer for any occasion. They also had an incredible 14% Russian Imperial Stout that is not for the faint at heart. The first sip made me cough but once I was aware of what I was drinking I found the taste enormously satisfying. So in one stop, I found a beer Ive been chasing for years, the Dopple Bock, and found another, The Imperial Stout, that I will be chasing for years to come. Turns out they have locations in Boulder and Denver so it comes from Colorado after all...I should have known.

Rich colored Dopple Bock on the left and the dark as night Russian Imperial Stout on the right.