Resurfacing! So many adventures and outings have occurred that have gone undocumented, forgive me for the extended absence.
On these chilly December days museums are the perfect place to stay warm and entertained. On a not-so-recent but unpleasantly blustery and frigid day in November I found a stellar Smithsonian pair of museums that offered the perfect amount of art and culture time without a mind-numbing amount of time standing in front of portraits or ancient artifacts.
Behold the Air and Space Museum and National Gallery of Art combination. These two museums provide the perfect amount of yin and yang balance between nerding out in front of some incredibly cool planes and gazing at some exceptional art and architecture. I started at the Air and Space Museum, which never fails to impress. The collection of plane models and spacecrafts is astounding. The building layout also allows for user interaction and great viewing of the planes. The two expansive floors provide a manageable amount of terrain to explore and it took my companion and I approximately two hours to cover. Heading to the museum in the morning provided optimal crowd-minimizing results as well.
Moving on to the National Gallery of Art, in either wing you cannot go wrong. I find the West Building a little overwhelming and have more of a pension for modern art but interchange your favorite artistic time period with the East Building and you are sure to have your own perfect experience. The design of the East Building by I.M. Pei provides a work of art to marvel at within itself. The enormous mobile by Alexander Calder, one of my favorite artists, was definitely a highlight. The wing also host great iconic pieces by Rothko and Pollock. Make sure to check out who is being featured “In the Tower” an intimate and quite perfect nook located at the top of the building. This museum hopping will keep you warm and occupies a perfect winter half day in DC, make sure to run over to The Eastern Market area to refuel before your next quest.
I’m stealing two photographs from my museum partner in crime, but I’m sure he won’t mind. Check out the light reflections of the Calder room mobiles.
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