On Saturday night, I watched the movie “Elf” which ushered me further into the holiday spirit…and on Sunday, I made my way to the National Christmas Tree near the White House. Until 1973, the National Christmas Tree was a cut tree, delivered to the White House from somewhere in the United States. In 1973, a large tree was planted and remains in area all year long “as a reminder of the holiday spirit” or so said the sign next to the tree.
Around the large National tree, there are 52 normal size Noble Fir trees all around, one for each state (including I noticed Puerto Rico, American Samoa.) The trees are decorated by a selected group of children from that state. Some were girls scouts, some were schools and some were other types of children’s organization such as Boys and Girls clubs, foster homes, etc.
This is the California Tree…
To be honest, I was very underwhelmed. The National tree was not very impressive…the decorations were rather boring and plain. The state trees were very plain as well. The children’s ornaments were all hand made things like you see in schools (pie plates, popsicle sticks, etc) that are encased in large clear balls to keep them safe in the weather. The area is not decorated, and the whole thing looks like someone didn’t put a lot of thought into the whole thing. So far, this is the worst DC attraction that I have seen so far!
After seeing the tree, I visited the recently opened Smithsonian American History Museum, located on the National Mall. It had been closed for renovations for the last two years. (Yes, I said YEARS!)
Entrance to the Smithsonian American History Museum
Apparently, it was voted the least attractive museum in some poll, and they decided it needed an update. The biggest attraction in this fascinating museum is the newly restored Old Glory American Flag. This huge flag was the flag that was flying on a fort during a battle that Francis Scott Key saw flying after the British were retreating. It was this sight that prompted him to write the words for the song “The Start Spangled Banner”. The flag is very large (10-12 feet by 20 feet maybe) and very old. To help reduce the aging, they created a sealed room behind a glass for the flag, where they have darken the lights to reduce the UV damage, and softly backlit the flag underneath. It was quite a moving sight.
Other interesting items you can see is the lunch counter where the blacks staged the sit in to protest segregation, Calvin Coolidge silk pajamas, and the Ruby Slippers from the movie “The Wizard of Oz”. The item that fascinated me the most was one of the original Kermit the Frog and an actual Oscar the Grouch. As a child of the 70’s who grew up with Sesame Street, this was very cool!
Here are pictures I took today. Hope you enjoy as much as I did. And here is hoping you are in the holiday spirit too.
Where the protest was staged…
The green guy!
The entrance to the Star Spangled Banner. (You cannot take pictures of the flag due to the potential damage to the fragile fabric with the flash)
President Calvin Coolidge’s Silk Pajamas. (Isn’t it funny that he would wear green silk pajamas with yellow embroidery? I would not have guessed that they were so colorful!!)
Believe it or not, this is a “key to the White House!” Really! The note below explains that the key is mostly symbolic, because there are always people who open the doors to the white house for the president, but that presidents get a key like this so they feel like it is their house while they are living there. Isn’t that interesting? Who knew that they get a key?
Here I am, trying to look Fabulous! (I still wear my glasses…I just took them off for this picture!)
