Museum Envy

After reading Batty’s description of prowling about the Smithsonian this week, and Jen’s description of wandering about the MFA last weekend, I am reminded of a long-ago summer I spent in museums. I think it was after my sophomore year in high school; the family lived just ten miles outside Washington D.C. Every Saturday morning that summer I caught a bus from the suburbs and visited one of the Smithsonian’s galleries, or one of the capital’s many other cultural venues.
I hiked up and down the Washington Monument (all 565 feet of it), I went to the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials, I even went into the Corcoran and Freer. I saw samples of taxidermy at the Museum of Natural History; I was bemused by the size of the then-new Air and Space Museum (the building, let alone the contents); and I saw copies of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Ever since then, I have been enamored of museums. I’ve waited in line at the Louvre; I’ve worn my feet down to the ankles walking around the British and the V&A; I’ve been known to stop in places like Fort Sumner, NM to see the Billy the Kid museum (the web site says it’s open seven days a week; well, not in 1992. The place was closed on Mondays when I went by). I’ve seen museums in Astoria, Honolulu, Vienna, Los Angeles and Phoenix; in Massachusetts, Munich, Edinburgh and Maui. I’ve visited maritime museums, military museums, and transport museums; I’ve seen modern art and 17th century art. I’ve marveled at marble and stared slack-jawed at sculpture; goggled at cubists and been awed by impressionists.
I wonder if there’s a need for museum reviewers?

2 Comments

  1. To whom it may concern, I am part owner of Billy the Kid Museum and we are open 7 days a week but like any business that is run strictly by one family ther are times when we have to close. Such as going to family funerals or our childrens events sorry we inconvenienced you. Bring this e-mail with you and I’ll let you in for free if it will make you feel better.
    Respectfully, Tim Sweet
    Billy the kId Museum

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