More Music & History....Naturally!

It was back to the Natural History Museum on our next trip into DC. There’s so much to see, and even though we’ve seen most of it all before, we still enjoy walking through all the exhibits whether it’s past the 2,200 year old Egyptian mummy or through the Sant Ocean Hall with its replica of a 45-foot-long North Atlantic Right Whale. In the Hall of Bones as you can imagine skeletons abound and are grouped together, i.e. man-like apes, rodents, birds, fish, or whatever. Of course no skeleton exhibit would be complete without those of the dinosaurs which are located in the Hall of Paleobiology.


















Located near the dinosaur exhibit is the FossiLab, a glass enclosed area that allows visitors to watch museum paleontologists and volunteers work on extracting fossils from rock and creating fossil casts and molds. There were several working today, and this man was removing rock from around the pelvis of a small meat eating dinosaur that lived 200 million years ago.

In the Hall of Human Origins (http://humanorigins.si.edu/exhibit) you travel back in time as you walk through a tunnel showcasing the evolution of man. This 15,000 sq. ft. Hall explores the question of "What does it mean to be human?" and tells the story of how humans have “evolved over 6 million years in response to a changing world” through many fascinating exhibits…stories of extinction and survival, life-size reconstructed faces of early humans (wasn't able to get a good picture this time), bronze statues and skulls, interactive games, and so much more…all very educational.

The Hall of Geology, Gems and Minerals is home not only to the Hope Diamond but also nearly 2,500 minerals and gems of all sizes, a section on earthquakes, volcanoes, meteors, and plate tectonics, 4 mine recreations, and its newest temporary exhibit: “Against All Odds: Rescue at the Chilean Mine.” At the center of this display is one of the capsules used for testing the rescue shaft. Standing 13 ft. tall with a diameter of just 21 in., it really helps one visualize just how small an area this was that brought these 33 miners back to the surface from a half mile underground. A museum volunteer was on hand to answer questions and further explain the exhibit, i.e. the small narrow tubes used to get food and supplies to the miners, graphs demonstrating the corkscrew mineshaft, while in the background video footage of the rescue played continuously on a small screen. The exhibit was fascinating and is an excellent tribute to the endurance of the human spirit.

It was Tues. and you know what that means…the Butterfly Pavilion was open for free, and we had gotten the first timed ticket of the day! The butterflies were in abundance, and near the entrance on a tray of cut fruit, they were getting their fill of some sweet nectar. We were also fortunate to actually see one emerging from its cocoon!

We had been told about the Maine Avenue Fish Market also known as The Wharf and decided to venture down there after the museum. Located on the DC waterfront, it’s an open air seafood market that has been in operation since 1805 and is the oldest continuously operating fish market in the U.S. We were amazed at the number of vendors and the amount of fresh seafood! They sell every kind imaginable from floating barges, and you can even have it steamed right there. Tourists rarely know of its existence but is regularly frequented by the locals. Since we weren’t heading straight home, we didn’t pick up anything but definitely plan on a return visit before we leave town.


The next chorus visit on my Sweet Adeline tour was to Capital Accord (http://capitalaccord.org/) in Silver Spring, MD. Under the direction of Sherry Stanton since 2001, this small chorus of nearly 30 women placed 2nd in their division at last year’s Regional competition. After vocal warm-ups, we jumped right into working a couple of songs but when they started working their contest song with choreo, I stepped out for a bit. Didn’t want to get in the way! I got to join back in the fun, and then it was time for some chorus business which included welcoming in 3 new members! That’s Sherry in the green top along with Carol far right welcoming in the new members. What a fun evening with great singing!

As we’ve mentioned before, one of the great things about this lifestyle is the people we’ve met along the way and sometimes having the opportunity to reconnect again. We met Rich and Joan a couple years ago in FL. They still have a home in NJ and had not headed south yet, but Rich e-mailed me that they were planning to make one of their overnight stays here in Greenbelt. Once they got settled in their site, they came over and we talked for a couple of hours, Joan and I picked up a pizza, and we chatted some more. It was so good to see them and catch up.

We also got to visit with Shayne, the brother of our good friend, Scott, who passed away a couple of years ago. He was in town on business, and we met him at a little Italian place in Silver Spring, MD, called Olazzo (http://www.olazzo.com/). We sat at a booth in the bar area, and I never made it to the back section to see what the rest of the place looked like, but we spent the next couple of hours catching up, sharing memories of Scott, enjoying each other’s company, and a good meal. Hopefully we can do it again some time.