Last Sunday Joe and I took a field trip to the National Museum of American History.
I love this museum! I hadn't been since the Star Spangled Banner was restored and rejuvenated, so I was eager to see it, and Julia Child's kitchen, and whatever else piqued our interest.
The Star Spangled Banner exhibit is the first thing that greets you as you walk in. It's a huge silver sculpted wall, not the flag itself. You walk up a slight ramp to get to the flag -- all along the way you are treated to a multimedia history of the flag, including artifacts, visuals, and sound. You turn the corner and on your left, stretched out at a slight angle, is the enormous, tattered, flag. The aisle is pitch dark to preserve the flag, but two rows of small lights guide you. Just past the flag is a wonderful interactive exhibit that enables you, through a touch screen, to find out more about this iconic piece of America. Finally, the ramp down treats you to the history of the flag itself and how it came to the museum. It's everything it should be.
I will admit that I got a little misty eyed viewing it.
Just as wonderful and informative, but way more musical, is the exhibit on the history of the Apollo Theater in Harlem. This is a true gem of an exhibit! There are great relics, from Cab Calloway's white shoes and baton to Ella Fitzgerald's dress to George Clinton's P-Funk jacket to Michael Jackson's fedora. There are terrific video clips for each era of the theater's existence, from the 20s through the present, including a longer video that traces the entire history of the theater. It covers the wonderful dance, music, and comedy that was born and nurtured here, and highlights Amateur Night, including the dreaded Executioner who only followed the wishes of the audience when he booted a bad act off the stage.
See those three white outfits to the right of the marquee? The ones that look like Pierrot costumes? Those are the Supremes' dresses!
I loved every bit of this exhibit.
We also stopped by Julia Child's kitchen, which she donated to the museum in its entirety when she moved from Massachusetts back to California. I melted when I saw my favorite B. Kliban cat cartoon on the kitchen wall. "Love them little mousies.."
Finally, we looked through a charming little exhibit on the engineering behind pop-up books! It was delightful and fun to see the different ways that paper can be folded flat, only to become a beautiful 3-D sculpture at the turn of a page.
At that point we were ready for lunch, but we'll be back! That's the great thing about living in DC. I can always go back.
