Our trip to Washington DC to see my tapestry at the Renwick Smithsonian Museum was filled with family, both the ones who were with us and those in the past who led us to our weekend activities.
I’m so happy we were able to make it to see the State Fairs: Growing American Craft. It was the last weekend the exhibit was on view in DC, and the halls were crowded.
My potato tapestry was beautifully displayed and lit, and I especially liked the way it hung away from the wall, casting leaf and potato shadows on the wall behind it. The signage for all the pieces in the exhibition was filled with stories about the makers. I thought they did a nice job with the label for my tapestry.
I would never have woven that tapestry if it weren’t for my upbringing on a farm in northwestern Minnesota. So I thought of my father and grandfather, and their potatoes, while I enjoyed my small moment of fame in the Renwick Gallery. The photo shows my father, Robert Wurden, and my grandfather, Anchor Wurden, probably in the late 1940s.
I was very happy to have my son-in-law and daughter-in-law as companions in appreciating the show. Here are Dan and Maris with the butter sculpture cow. The tendrils of its tail seemed impossibly curly. From butter!
On Saturday we visited the National Museum of Asian Art. Besides enjoying the collection, and especially the Peacock Room, we went to see a Jun-ware bowl on display in an exhibition titled A Museum in the Making.
Charles Freer, whose collection forms the basis of the museum, bought 52 pieces of Asian art now in the Smithsonian collection from Rufus Ellis Moore, my husband’s great-grandfather. Both Mike and his son Dan stood beside the beautiful bowl, which was undoubtedly handled by Rufus Moore at the beginning of the 20th century.
A trip to Washington, D.C., is always fun and meaningful. Our nation’s capital! It would be much nicer if the White House weren’t completely obscured by black fencing.
We took a boat tour on the Potomac, which we hadn’t done before, and met two women from Australia. Their U.S. tour started in San Francisco, came to D.C., and was moving on to NYC the next day. That’s a lot of time in airplanes, to be sure. I was happy to hear that they were very impressed with the friendliness of Americans.
We stayed in Georgetown and had a great couple of days. The Canal House hotel was quiet, beautiful, well-located, and had such friendly staff (recommended!).
We ate at Cafe Milano, recommended by the son of a friend, who must think that old people have a lot of money. It was the type of restaurant with almost as many waitstaff as patrons; visiting the restroom requires winding your way around clumps of tuxedoed waiters. A large poster on the wall showed the cover of a book on Giorgia Meloni, with a foreword by Donald Trump, Jr. We celebrated Maris’s birthday, complete with espresso martinis for dessert.
The next night we ate at Otto’s, a Turkish restaurant only about six months old. Everything we ate was perfect and delicious. It was enormously fun, and we would love to return.
Breakfast at Popup Bagels was amazing, and Maris read that one is coming to Minneapolis. Yay!