Art of Video Games Exhibit at Smithsonian American Art Museum

Date of Visit: March 26, 2012

Mik was excited to go see the Art of Video Games Exhibit at the Smithsonian American Art Museum (see our accessibility review and more general visit recap from last year here).  The exhibit was pretty interesting showing video footage of a variety of games to illustrate the way graphic art has changed in video games over time.  Mik especially liked the area that showed the different game console systems along with example footage from four different games per system.

Another cool part of the exhibit is that there are some giant screen gaming stations that you can play.  There are a few different games to play from different systems, although the only one I can remember off the top of my head is Pac-Man because we actually tried that one.  Mik could reach and use the controls fine, but he quickly tired of it because he stunk at it.

Overall an awesome exhibit and worth checking out even though we did not want to see anything else at the museum that day.  It was definitely a convenient stop on the way back to the hotel after Ford's Theater.

Destination Info:
Smithsonian American Art Museum (same building as National Portrait Gallery)
Between G St and F St and 7th and 8th St
Washington, DC

Ford's Theater National Historic Site

Date of Visit: March 26, 2012

This time of year we could have gotten day of tickets on the weekday without much trouble, as when we got there to pick up ours most tours had tickets available.  However, our noon tour was sold out and it is worth the convenience fee to have them reserved.  We choose to pick them up via will call because the other options cost extra.

We arrived at Ford's Theater about an hour early for our tour, since I knew I had to at least pick up the tickets.  It took us awhile to figure out that the door everyone lines up outside of for the tour is actually the one to go in for the box office.  Then it took about 15 minutes to pick up our tickets even though we were next to be served because the two ticket people were helping people buy show tickets.  We had purchased the audio tour tickets, but I did not realize we were supposed to then pick up our audio tour things before getting in the ticket entry line.

The walkthrough is self-guided and it is just timed entry.  Depending on the time you choose you get access to the museum and a theater walkthrough or just a visit to the theater for a ranger talk.  You also get access to Petersen House with all tickets, but I do not know how that works since I am pretty sure it is not accessible.  Additionally, you get access to the Center for Education and Leadership next to Petersen House, which I did not realize at the time, although it is accessible since it is new.


Overall we enjoyed the museum, although it was annoying that a school group gathered up waiting for everyone to meet at bottom of stair exit making it hard to view the end of the exhibit.  They did seem to try to be as out of the way as possible, but there just is not much room in the museum.  It would probably be best to hand back while the line comes down the stairs and join the back of the timed walkthrough group.  After the museum you take the elevator back up to the lobby and be confused by there being no sign of what to do next.

We wandered over to the ticket scanning spot and the person who escorted us earlier to the elevator was there and escorted us down the ramp to the theater.  From here you can see most of the theater, although the upper seating blocks the view of the boxes somewhat, although I image if you manage to not skip the balcony access you would get a decent view still.


After we were done looking at the theater, I was waiting at the bottom of the ramp to go back up when the security desk ranger came over and let us out the deliveries door right there.  The timing was right when a tour entry started and I just figured we would wait for the entry line to clear and head back up the ramp.  Going out the deliveries door was fine, although I guess we should have done the balcony before the main theater level.

By the way, I was not impressed with them for not being visitor friendly and informative since they did not tell us about picking up our audio tour first or that we could go to balcony or have a sign or say you might want to go check out the stuff across the street included with your ticket.  Not to mention the ranger in the theater was rather rude to the school group yelling at them to go only one way and not sit down when he could have politely informed them, as they really did seem like a well-mannered group and it would be my guess the signs are not obvious or helpful from the rest of our experience here.

It does not seem right to have to know yourself, especially since the wheelchair route through is not an obvious route.   I kind of get the audio tour thing, but no one ever said anything to us and I did not realize until we were down in the museum that we were supposed to get them up by will call.  Between the person at will call just handing us tickets and the person scanning them it would seem they would tell you, hey go over there to get your audio tour.

The other two things just mean having signs, which would also be helpful for knowing that you do not have to wait for the incoming line to clear for you to go back up the ramp from the theater, but can leave through the delivery entrance right by theater.  However, at the same time this means you do not end up going to the balcony, which you can do from the same elevator that goes down to museum.

Destination Info:
Ford's Theater
511 10th Street NW
Washington, D.C. 20004

U.S. Navy Memorial Heritage Center

Date of Visit: March 26, 2012

We have been to the U.S. Navy Memorial several times, but somehow never noticed that there was a U.S. Navy Memorial Heritage Center next to it.  The only reason I knew to look for it this time was that there is supposedly a National Park Passport Stamp for the memorial at the Heritage Center Bookstore.  We did not find it, but then again we did not ask about it and the whole place seemed to be in a major overhaul mode.  It must be there, though, as the day after we visited it the last confirmation date for the stamp in the Park Stamps database.

On the level you enter the U.S. Navy Memorial Heritage Center there is not much other than a ship model.  There is an elevator and stairs down to the exhibit space and bookstore/gift shop.  There was not really much to see, as they were taking stuff down and had ladders and such in a big part of the area.  The bookstore had the displays of items so close together that Mik could not get his wheelchair through most of it.


Overall we wish we had skipped the U.S. Navy Memorial Heritage Center.  Not that it does not have potential to be an interesting stop, but they were actively dismantling exhibits and there was clutter of coat racks in the elevator hallway and such.  The U.S. President's Room was interesting, but really it was not worth the visit at this time.  Now if there was not exhibit turnover going on it would be a great stop other than Mik did not like that the buttons to select the floor you wanted to go to where at about his eye level.

Destination Info:
U.S. Navy Memorial Heritage Center
701 Navy Memorial
Washington, D.C.

Netherlands Carillon and Iwo Jima Memorial

Date of Visit: March 25, 2012

Mik wanted to make sure he saw the U.S. Marine Corps Memorial/Iwo Jima Memorial while we were in DC, since on the first day he bought a miniature of it for his miniature collection and we also got the National Park Passport stamp for it at Arlington National Cemetery.  Since after the MLK Jr Memorial we were closest to the Arlington National Cemetery Metro stop, which was one of the closest to the Memorial, we just decided to walk to it.  We then just walked back to our hotel, which was near Rosslyn, the other stop near the memorial.


The walk was not bad, but it is hilly with a rather steep part as you approach the Netherlands Carillon before you get to the Iwo Jima Memorial when coming from Arlington National Cemetery.  The route between the Rosslyn Metro and the Memorial seems shorter and not as steep overall.


The Netherlands Carillon is not all that interesting to look at, but it does have interesting lion statues in front of it.  It would have been nice to hear it ring on the hour, but we were there right between the hours at 12:30 p.m. exactly and it was too cold and wet (just sprinkling) for Mik.  However, there were some great patches of tulips in bloom nearby.  Mik really loved seeing the tulips with his favorite being the orange ones.


Mik was ready to be back at the hotel by the time we got to the Iwo Jima Memorial.  I did not insist we cross over to actually go up close to it because I have seen it before and understood he was cold and wanted to be indoors.  So we just took a picture from the path across the street and continued on to Rosslyn.

Note: Both memorials are part of the George Washington Memorial Parkway National Park Unit.

Destination Info:
Netherlands Carillon and Iwo Jima Memorial/U.S. Marine Corps Memorial
Northside of Arlington National Cemetery
Washington, DC

Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial

Date of Visit: March 25, 2012

Last year the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial construction made going to the Tidal Basin memorials from the Lincoln Memorial confusing, but now that it is a memorial to walk through to get to the Tidal Basin path.  We came from the Washington Monument and entered between the two big rock shapes, which is the same way you would come from the Lincoln Memorial.  However, if you came from the Tidal Basin, such as from the FDR or Jefferson Memorials, than you would first see the Martin Luther King Jr. statue part of the memorial.

The MLK Memorial includes walls stretching out on both sides from the rocks and center path.  The walls have quotes from speeches.  In the center of the Memorial is another giant stone.  It seems just like another stone from the way we came in, but as you get to the side of it you will see that on the other side is Martin Luther King Jr carved out of it.   On one side it says "Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope."

The MLK Memorial is now the newest of the many memorials worth seeing in the National Mall area, but the part Mik loved the most was the bookstore and restrooms building.  Like many of the bookstores and monument doors in the area, it does have button operated automatic doors.  The part that most impressed Mik, though, was that it was the first time he had seen the buttons used for the bathrooms.  Mik especially appreciated that there was a Family Restroom and even it had a button outside and inside, although it was a little on the small side and would have been somwewhat difficult to go in there with him in his power chair.  Still it is adequate and much better than the older facilities in the area.

Also, in the Martin Luther King Jr Memorial Bookstore we got 3 more National Park Passport stamps.  The first one we got was the Martin Luther King Jr MEM one, which filled up the last spot in our National Capital Region section of our 25th Anniversary Passports.  The way I do it we fit 40 stamps on the 5 pages with 13 of them being from last year's visit when we first bought them after forgetting our original passports at the hotel the day we did the memorials.  This time I did not forget those ones and the extra 2 at the MLK Jr Memorial (National Cherry Blossom Festival and National Mall & Memorial Parks ones) are the first ones in the National Capital region of those passports.

I was really excited about doing those stamps in mine because now my passport has a stamp in each region.  I started my original one in 2007 and after the ballpark trip in 2009 I had stamps in all regions except the National Capital region.  It was driving me nuts that I did not have any in that region, especially since I lived in the DC area between September 2007 and April 2008.  Not to mention I could have gotten some on the ballpark trip, but did not think of it at the time.  Mik only got his original in February 2011, so he only has one Western region and now 2 Capital region stamps in his original.  In the 25th Anniversary ones we do not yet have any from the North Atlantic or Southwest, although this summer we will hit some in the Southwest region.

Destination Info:
Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial
On Tidal Basin near intersection of Independence Ave and West Basin Drive
Washington, DC

Washington Monument Bookstore

Date of Visit: March 25, 2012

The Washington Monument is currently closed from earthquake damage that occurred back in August 2011.  You can still go up pretty close to it, but if you cannot go up it, it is kind of better to just view it from afar.  There is a typical sloped path up the hill to it for those that do want to walk or roll up closer.  The main purpose for our visit, though, was to get all the National Park Passport stamps they keep at the Washington Monument Bookstore.

The Washington Monument Bookstore is located at the bottom of the hill on the east side of the monument (i.e. on 15th Street).  The bookstore is very small and barely has just enough room to fit the wheelchair through, but not so much with it being crowded with people.  I just left Mik right inside the store. There was still just enough room for others to walk around him while I went over to the stamping station, which is on a high counter that Mik would not have been able to see or use unless he enter with his powerchair in a standing position, but then again he probably would not have been able to manuever through the small store like that anyways.

Mik felt claustrophobic having to wait for me, but he did like the warmth of the store.  If the weather was nicer, he would have much preferred to stay outside.  For most National Park Passport stamping locations even waiting in a tiny store would not have been annoying for Mik, but he had to wait almost 10 minutes for me because there were 24 stamps to get, which means me stamping 48 times (once for each of our books).  At least there was not a line when I got to the stamping station, so I got done as quickly as possible, but there was several people waiting to use them by the time I finished.  Mik got concerned about where I was and he was stuck with people on all sides and could not go anywhere, but he also liked that we got a bunch of stamps and they are all places we have been to and many we had never got the stamp for before.



After getting the stamps at the Washington Memorial Bookstore, we only had room for one more stamp in the National Capital Region of our 25th Anniversary Edition National Park Passports.  It was a good thing I brought our older regular National Park Passports because now we collected some in the National Capital Region of those instead of putting the extras in the Additional Cancellation pages, which I want to save until we fill a particular region pages in both books.

Destination Info:
Washington Monument Bookstore
East of Monument at bottom of hill
Washington, DC

White House Visitor Center

Date of Visit: March 25, 2012

The last time we went to the White House Visitor Center was back in 2006.  It really has not seemed to changed much since then other than the video they show is at least partially updated with there being footage of the Obamas.  Interestingly, though, some areas still do not include them, such as the Presidential medals display not including Obama.  If it was 2009 or even 2010 that would be understandable, but seriously its 2012 and it seems ridiculously outdated.  Now if they just stopped doing the Presidential Medals, then it should at least say something about it.  However, I rather doubt the tradition has ended.


The Visitor Center was still worth a visit for us, though, as we got 2 stamps for our National Park Passports.  One is for the Star-Spangled Banner National Trail and the other is for President's Park - The White House.

Overall the White House Visitor is still a nice stop, if you have not been there, yet.  They have a button operated automatic door.  The security check requires all bags and stuff in your pockets to be put through machine, but they did not do a pat down of Mik like at the airport.  However, they did ask for him to lean forward to make sure he was not hiding anything behind his back.  Also, if you walk through the metal detectors are on here, which is not always the case at the Smithsonian Museums where at least this time of year are usually just looking through bags.


After the Visitor Center we were going to just head over to some memorials on the National Mall, but I realized Mik did not remember ever actually seen the White House in person.  He might have when he was little, but I am pretty sure even in 2006 we did not walk up to it.  We just went and saw it from the Ellipse side, which coming from the Visitor Center required a rather round about way of going the long way around a statue (Sherman?) due to the road blocks and steps by the quick way to walk in.  However, it is not a big deal and really it is better to walk further and view the White House from the Lafayette Square side, which provides a closer view and there are some good statues to look at in the square.  It was cold and we were trying to get the memorials done as much as possible before it began to rain, so Mik was only up for the viewing it from what was closest for us at the time.

Destination Info:
White House Visitor Center
Southeast corner of 15th and E Streets
Washington, D.C.