Zentangle Diva Challenge #310 – Washington, D.C., (“Frunky Town”) USA Edition

(Never heard of Zentangle, start here.)

Before anyone sends me an annoyed email pointing out that the correct name of the song is “Funkytown“, my use of “Frunky” is a reference to the name of the tangle (pattern) the Zentangle Diva challenged us to use this week. “Frunky” was deconstructed and shared by Katharina Königsbauer-Kolb, all the way from Germany.

Here’s my “Frunky” tile with a Phirst border.

Frunky on a mandala base with Phirst as a border. Colored with Prismacolor pencils and gelly roll metallic pens.

I did the challenge in our nation’s capital, Washington, D.C., where I am in trailing spouse mode as Mr. Excitement confers with 19,999 other cancer researchers from all over the world.

I first visited Washington, D.C. at age 15 when my father brought me here (without my then whiney younger sisters) as a birthday present. I’ve since returned many times, for my own legal conferences or on other trailing spouse trips, so I have visited most of the “must sees”, especially the wonderful Smithsonian museums.

The United States Capitol building which houses the legislative branch of our government, the Senate and the House of Representatives. It’s hard to believe so much dysfunction occurs in such a beautiful building.

The indoor Garden Court in the US Botanic Gardens has a nice water feature as well plantings.

I took advantage of a sunny day to walk over a mile down the National Mall to two Smithsonian museums I had never been to: the United States Botanic Garden Conservatory and the Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian.

The Botanic garden is next to the Capitol building and is small compared to the ones we’ve been to elsewhere in the world, like the one in Singapore; however, a good deal of it is an indoor conservatory with various habitats, so it is a good choice even on a cold or wet day. The tropical habitat was impressively steamy and lush and there was a pretty indoor garden court.

On the National Mall between the Botanic Garden Conservatory and the ever popular Air and Space Museum, is the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. As with all the Smithsonian museums, admission is free. The museum building itself is visually interesting in a curvilinear style with no right angles on the facade. Echoing the curves of the exterior, the interior is built around an open central core with a dramatic ceiling.

Facade of the Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian.

You start your visit to the museum by watching a 15 minute film in the 4th floor theater. The fourth floor also has an exhibit explaining the spiritual beliefs of various native American peoples and a special exhibit (there until 2020) about treaties made with, and among, several Native American groups.

In addition to its major focus on the Native American peoples of the United States, the museum also references Native Americans of both American continents. Mr. Excitement and I spent our honeymoon in Peru, so I was especially interested in the the extensive and well curated exhibit about the construction of the Inca road system.

The dramatic domed ceiling of the open central core in the National Museum of the American Indian.

The museum has a quite large gift shop as well as a cafeteria featuring the cuisines of various Native American peoples.

The capital city of the United States is quite handsome and is well worth a visit. The low rise central core is comfortably walkable and is replete with interesting museums, monuments and architecture. The city also has an easy to use, extensive underground metro system. Many of the museums are free of charge.

Have you had a chance to visit Washington D.C.? If so, what was your favorite museum or experience? Zentangle comments are also always welcome. 

Tagged as: National Museum of the American Indian, United States Botanical Gardens, Washington D.C., Zentangle