Mr NYC in D.C.

I've been to our nation's capital many times -- even lived and worked there for a summer -- so doing one post about it seems almost pointless. Yes, I've seen and gone to all the sites, many times, and recapping them would be boring -- but if there's a museum, a monument, or a big building in DC, I've probably seen it or gone into it (including the West Wing of the White House).

That said, it's been a while since I was in DC and it was fun to take the kids for their first visit. They loved the National Air and Space Museum, running around the National Mall, and we ended our visit at the best place possible -- the National Zoo, where we saw the gorgeous giant pandas from China.

My favorite/least favorite moment was when my family and I sat on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and listened to this huge uniformed brass band with spinning majorettes, the whole deal, playing various songs -- including, of all bizarre things, "Spaceman" by The Killers, a song we had just listened to on our drive down to DC the day before!

It was delightful, uniquely American, and the kids loved it -- until, just as we were about to leave, a family walked up the steps of the memorial wearing the grotesque red MAGA shirts and caps. Needless to say, it was a real downer, a beautiful moment ruined by hate -- and, by the way, how dare these or any people wearing those racist symbols while visiting the Lincoln Memorial, especially on the same day where their president called a traitor, Robert E. Lee, a "great general." Disgraceful -- but it also makes you realize that some people have no sense of irony or decency or history.

In that moment, at that special place, we saw the best and worst of America.

We also visited the American history museum which is full of all sorts of Americana including a First Ladies exhibit and lots of military stuff. I did see there one NYC related piece of history -- an original ticket booth from 1923 that was once used at Yankee Stadium in the days of Babe Ruth. 

So it's always fun to go to DC -- even in these bizarre, troubled times for our country.