A quiet cruising summer aboard Wild Blue is about to change.Boat cruising activity aboard Wild Blue has been in a slump over 2017’s summer. We’ve made just three cruises to the California Delta including a short cruise to Half Moon Bay. Ove…
9 September 2017 Renwick Gallery Washington, DC
Renwick Gallery
This gallery fancies itself being America’s Louvre and it is quite interesting.
The most fascinating display is the Parallax Gap, made of separate layers, suspended from the ceiling, and occupying the entire length of the Renwick Gallery. It transforms the upstairs into a visual puzzle with its multiple vanishing points. The 9 layers depict different ceilings in iconic American buildings of the 19th and 20th centuries.
Installed near or on top of one another, they create layers that, depending on my position, appear totally different and change as I walk about beneath this suspension, looking up.
It plays with the ideas of depth and perspective offering many vantage points to appreciate the work. Parallax is defined as how the distance or depth of objects appear to vary when viewed from different lines of sight and this is most certainly THAT!!!
Without a doubt, this is the focal point of the entire gallery but there are also other works of interest.
This bench looked inviting and I really did want to try it out!
This soft and inviting looking pillow is actually carved from a chunk of marble.
At first glance, Ghost Clock, appears to be a Grandfather Clock covered with a white sheet but it’s a sculpture hand carved from a block of laminated mahogany. Its silence suggests eternity—the absence of time. I need to feel things and was so tempted to touch even though the sign said not. I had no idea that there’s a motion sensor that would tell the entire gallery that I’d transgressed and I’d have been mortified.
Nothing special–just interesting and pretty building I liked as I meandered. It’s now a bank.
Reagan Memorial
Till later–
Bill and Laura
Bill and Laura
8 September 2017 – A DC Day Out on the Town
This morning, at the Washington Post, I had the good fortune of attending a breakfast and interview with Wilber Ross, U.S. Secretary of Commerce. James Hohmann, interviewer for the Post, (of which I’ve become quite fond), is a national political correspondent who interviews decision-makers on the most relevant news having to do with their jobs. So this morning, it was 79 year old Mr. Ross on the stage with Mr. Hohhmann.
The two discussed the Trump administration’s efforts to reshape the playing field for international trade, the tax reform push, and other pressing economic issues, including hurricane recovery. Mr. Ross commented on the relationship between the White House and business leaders; the disbandment of the president’s manufacturing and economic councils. “What’s sad is for business leaders to give up an opportunity to influence policy over some singular issue with which they disagree. I don’t think that’s very considered.”
This was to begin at 9 AM and it did—on the dot!!! It ran about 5 minutes over but no one seemed to object. It was a very informative morning.
Trump Hotel
Trump Hotel Lobby
Long ago when the old Post Office was just that, Bill and I toured it and went up into the tower so I was curious as to what it looks like now as a Trump Hotel. I’d have never recognized it for what it used to be. Quite opulent but then what would you expect. The bar must have hundreds of bottles! I’ve never seen so much booze.
I was happy to see that they kept the funny little circular radiators surrounding the columns.
It was suggested I visit the Willard Hotel and it is so classic and grand old elegance. I love the old teeny tiny tiled floor. I’ve never seen tiles so small. Can’t image “back then” the back breaking job of laying those.
Charmaine invited me to her office for lunch in their cafeteria. This is an international legal firm of 2800 attorneys but in her building there are just a mere 1000. Instead of an office building it looks like a high end hotel and resort. Lawyer’s offices line each side of the halls—each of the 11 floors is laid out in a square, and are glass walls—no wood anywhere. The door to each office slides and when it’s closed, all mayhem could break out in there and you wouldn’t hear a sound. The cafeteria reminded me of the unlimited choices on a cruise ship. The good was quite appealing to my taste buds and tastefully presented. We took our meals and went to the roof where there are tables, umbrellas, comfy chairs, and a beautiful view accompanied by a cooling breeze. She works really hard but to come to work in a place this majestic and beautiful would be wonderful. The architects, decorators, and landscapers spared no cost to make this building a work of art.
Day is done and tomorrow’s calendar is jam-packed so looking forward to another great day.
Sylken Sea Update
Been awhile, no excuse. Home projects, family, golf…….you understand I’m sure. We were hauled in Antigua, doing some really neat upgrades, will post details, stand by.
Irma
It is painful to watch the destruction this storm has inflicted and we fear that many of our friends will be affected. These are wonderful islands, warm friendly people many of whom do not have the resources that we take for granted. Many of the …
Wilderness – Not Wilderness
Every year on our journey south from SE Alaska, one of the difficult adjustments we have to make is to the increased number of boaters in anchorages the further south we go.
In SE Alaska, we become accustom to being the only boat in an anchorage. Occasionally, we will share an anchorage with 1 or 2 other boats. In the most popular anchorages, a half-dozen is a crowd. The same goes for many of the northern BC anchorages if you aren’t on the main route of Grenville Channel/Princess Royal Channel (aka “the Ditch”).
The photo below is taken on a paddle from our anchorage in Tuwartz Inlet at the south end of Pitt Island which we had to ourselves.
The closer you get to the major population centers of Vancouver/Victoria, the anchorages get more and more crowded. The photo below was taken in Montague Harbour on Galliano Island on Labor Day weekend.
While we prefer the more secluded anchorage, the crowded anchorage can be lovely and pleasant. The key is setting your expectations appropriately (e.g., don’t expect solitude on Labor Day weekend in the Gulf Islands).
Ultimately, it is the memory of that first photo that gives us the motivation to travel those many miles each season back to SE Alaska.
Sullivan Bay
Sullivan Bay is our stop for today. When calling in on the VHF to get docking instructions, their last comment is “ Welcome to Sullivan Bay”. What a wonderful comment to hear upon arrival. I have to say we have experienced this welcome throughout Canada. Sullivan Bay is another one of those unique marinas of […]
Labor Day 2017 Washington, DC
Sunday, the day before Labor Day, Bill and I cycled to Silver Spring, MD, by way of Georgetown and Bethesda where we stopped for lunch at a delightful sidewalk cafe. Sadly, the Georgetown Branch Trail connecting Bethesda and Silver Spring closed the day after we rode it in preparation for the Purple Line of the Metro to be built. It will be closed for 5 years and re-routed but not through the shady woods but alone city streets and that’s far less than ideal.
We got home just in time to grab a bite before heading to the Capitol for the final concert of the season by the National Symphony Orchestra. What a treat and with very patriotic overtures. That was definitely not an event to be missed.
We got home just in time to grab a bite before heading to the Capitol for the final concert of the season by the National Symphony Orchestra. What a treat and with very patriotic overtures. That was definitely not an event to be missed.
Labor Day provided a great day of cycling orchestrated and led for Bill and me by our Bike Friday friend, Charmaine. I thought I’d cycled the entire Anacostia Trail but she took us to the obscured part that I didn’t see as well as a portion of the trail that she takes on her commute to work. A word about this lady who’s a dynamo on a bicycle. She commutes RT 15 miles a day, rain, shine, sleet, or snow not greater than 3” deep. She takes her bike to all parts of the globe to cycle—alone or with a group. She doesn’t care as long as she gets to ride and enjoy the solitude of nature.
This was our 2nd day of cycling (50 miles within a period of 36 hours) and being unaccustomed to that distance, Charmaine probably thought she was leading a bike ride from the Old Folks’ Home but she was very patient with us—me, far more than Bill. He did a much better job of “keeping up”. We stopped along the Metropolitan Branch Trail for lunch at a sidewalk cafe. We were all in need of “fuel” at that point. It’s on the same patio as a bike shop who’ll repair while you eat or enjoy a cup of java for a caffeine boost. I love this city! Are you weary of my saying that?
As we passed REI I heard it calling my name so we made a stop there for some much needed bike accessories to make our DC cycling more safe—or less vulnerable to traffic. The building now occupied by REI was originally built as the venue for the Beatles to perform decades ago which accounts for the many Beatles posters inside the store. That’s on Charmaine’s route to work and she was able to watch the construction/re-construction of the building before its Grand Opening just a few months ago.
We cycled pasted this amazing mural that she said was started and completed in just a couple of weeks by 2 artists. The medium they used is impervious to graffiti—it’ll accept it but is easily removed. It’s difficult for you to see all the intricacies of the painting but near the center are the carving artists, the Piccirilli Brothers, hard at work. I love the silver-gray colors used in this beautiful artistic accomplishment.
The above quote is by Frederick Douglass whose estate Bill and I visited last week and the video about his life that I found so moving.
Bill and Laura
Washington, DC
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The Bluffs Marina – Jupiter, FL
Nordhavn 57-26 Istaboa
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