July 1, 2016
Day 31 in Falls Church
Kerry was all recovered today so we took the Metro back down to the Smithsonian again. We started by taking a tour at the Smithsonian Castle which was about the origin and history of the Smithsonian Institute.
After that, we walked over the Museum of American History. One of the first things we saw there was the Greensboro Woolworth's lunch counter which was the site of one of the first "sit ins" in 1960 to protest racial segregation.
There was a small exhibit on bicycles in an "Innovations" gallery including a couple of penny farthing models. We saw one of these being ridden on the Withlacoochee trail this winter.
It was also interesting to read how the bicycle contributed to the independence of women - including the move to "rational dress" which allowed women to participate in more activities without the restriction of long, full skirts and tight corsets.
We saw the office of Ralph Baer who invented Magnavox Odyssey, the first home video game. It was the immediate predecessor of PONG. In fact, Baer's company successfully sued Atari for patent infringement after they brought out PONG the next year. It was amazing to look at that those three moving objects and remember how fascinated we were with that game forty years ago.
We had lunch at a farmer's market next to the USDA building, then took a walk around the mall before going to the next museum. It was getting pretty hot by this time. We saw some shaded benches in the National Sculpture Garden and went in there for a break. There was a beautiful pool with many little kids sitting with their feet in the water. It was too inviting to resist, so I joined them on the edge of the pool. It felt great on my hot, tired feet.
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Next, we went into the Museum of Natural History and looked at the mammal and ocean galleries.
By now, it was late afternoon. We met up with Team A and took the Metro back to Falls Church. We had an outstanding dinner at a Turkish restaurant right around the corner from our hotel. We will all sleep well tonight!
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