museum, rest, repeat

I neglected to write about some fun times in Virginia and DC in September, with some of my favorite people in the world. A dear one and I spent a day on the National Mall, checking out the mesmerizing if limited Kusama exhibit at the Hirschhorn, then browsing the other galleries. Next was coffee and a stroll to the Museum of African Art, its three floors packed full of captivating art and photography. A downpour caught us as we left, and I looked at the Capitol in the distance, imagining what it was like on J6. The traitorousness of that day still sickens me. We took refuge under an old bridge and finally made our very damp way to the Museum of the American Indian. The grounds are gorgeous and welcoming, and we spent another few hours learning and browsing.The exhibit on Native American imagery in logos was fascinating and infuriating.

Then, dinner time! Gypsy Kitchen offered up a busy sidewalk table, with lots of people watching (leather pants, crop tops, teetering boots) and delicious Mediterranean food.

The next day was an early one, throwing our suitcases in the car and heading back into DC to catch a bus to New York City. Traffic slowed us down but we arrived around 5pm into sunny afternoon madness at Madison Square Garden/Penn Station. A 20-minute rush across town to check in at our hotel, to find the room wasn’t ready. So, a change of clothes, dropping the bags off with the bellman, and out into the city. We wandered down Third Avenue and found pizza, warm cookies, and a thrift store, in that order; when the room was ready we checked in, rested a moment, then headed back out to the chaos of Times Square to soak up the city. On our walk back, my companion looked up and saw the lit-up Chrysler Building, as a pedicab circled blasting Jay Z’s “New York.” Corny, but iconic.

The next day we fortified ourselves with coffee and pastries from the nearby Daniel Boulud establishment, then headed to the Museum of Arts and Design https://madmuseum.org/exhibitions. What an amazing venue. We lingered over the Machine Dazzle costumes and the jewelry exhibit. Across the street though Magnolia Bakery beckoned, so we got banana pudding and a slice of red velvet cake and headed to Central Park to rest and enjoy a treat. Next was a dash through the American Folk Art museum https://folkartmuseum.org/ and its touching and clever Morris Hirschfield exhibit.

Another break for coffee, and my companion had a thought. She’d never visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Was I game? My feet said, Hell, no but my heart said Yes so we walked uptown, passing a line of thousands for a Global Citizen concert.

We spent about 3 hours in the galleries, not even close to enough, but my pal was happy and we finished the evening at a sidewalk Italian restaurant with (not great) pizza and a glass of bubbly. My partner flew in that night, sweaty and tired and minus a guitar.

The next day was good-bye, and we embraced tearfully at the newly remodeled Amtrak Station at Moynihan Hall, fortified with Blue Bottle coffee. Then my partner and I hopped Metro North to visit family for a few days. Not much to report other than a quick hop north to Burlington, Vermont, for the aforementioned apple cider donuts, tart apple cider, and wonderful heritage apples.

Then it was back to New York City where I checked out the FIT exhibits on Balenciaga/Dior, and shoes, https://www.fitnyc.edu/museum/exhibitions/index.php hit a couple more thrift stores, dined on margaritas and Mexican food with pals on the Lower East Side, then caught another Amtrak train.