A Hidden Gem

From NJ it was time to start heading south though for now we were only going as far as Greenbelt, MD, just outside of Washington, DC. We planned to spend a couple weeks in Greenbelt Park (http://www.nps.gov/gree), part of the National Park Service system and a hidden gem in suburban Maryland only 12 miles from the White House (though because of heavy traffic it can take you longer than a normal 12 mile commute to get to where you’re going!) The park has no hook-ups, and after Labor Day, sites are on a first come, first serve basis. There are quite a number of trees, but we found a site along the road with a clear view of the sky and just barely big enough for the rig and car to fit. What a beautiful setting not far from the hubbub of our nation's capital!

This was our third time visiting Washington, DC, but only the second time since we started fulltiming. In June 2008 we spent 6 days, and you can check the blog entries from that visit for more details starting with “A Night on the Town”. Both of us were still trying to get over colds that we caught while in NJ so having visited the area twice before allowed us to take our time seeing the sights and not needing to run out everyday.

The Smithsonian Institution (http://www.si.edu/) is a complex consisting of 19 museums, 9 research centers, and the National Zoo with the majority of these located around the National Mall. Once you have visited just one of these buildings, the fact that admission is free to all of them is absolutely amazing. We also discovered that if you arrive early enough, parking on street around the National Mall is free for 3 hours between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., and during our stay we never had a problem finding a spot. Shoot, we spent nearly 3 hours in just one of the buildings and that was without even looking at and reading every single item in the museum!

During the next 10 days we visited the Museum of American History consisting of 3 floors of thousands of historical items including the original 30’ x 34’ flag that inspired the Star Spangled Banner. It is preserved behind glass with very low lighting and no photos are allowed to protect it. We actually didn't finish this museum but planned to view the 3rd floor on another day. We also visited the Museum of Natural History complete with the largest mounted specimen of the world’s largest living land animal located in the lobby. The African elephant, known as Henry, measures over 13' at the shoulder and weighs nearly 12 tons. Another day was spent at the Air & Space Museum where we took a guided tour tracing the history of air and space, and where is housed the original Wright Brothers plane built and flown in 1903. We also fit in visits to The Castle (Smithsonian's information center), the Freer Gallery, and the Museum of the American Indian. There is so much to see and do, but I’ll let you read up on each of the museums through the link above and simply provide a few pictures that can never do justice to all that we saw.

Before arriving I had learned that surprisingly there were 4 Sweet Adeline choruses within 30 minutes of where we were staying, and that’s generally the outer limit of how far I’ll travel to visit a chorus. Last night I chose to visit Chesapeake Harmony (http://www.chesapeakeharmony.com/), a small chorus that chartered only 10 years ago and is directed by Tancey Bosna. They were dressed up for Halloween, and on this particular night were having special guests called Hands of Harmony Sign Language Choir, an area group that signs music. (They don’t have a website but can be found on Facebook.) Four members of the group not only performed a couple songs for the chorus but also acted as coaches giving some feedback on what they saw that the chorus could possibly do visually to put more emotion and feeling into their songs. Tancey summed it up by saying, "Sing as though you were performing for the blind, and perform as though you were singing for the deaf." It was so interesting to see it from that perspective because sign language is not just signing words. Body language and facial expressions are so key to what is being "said" or "sung", and can be so key in any performance. Chesapeake Harmony has a great sound, and I had a wonderful time not only meeting these ladies but also getting a chance to sing.