Day 7

We took the Metro to Dupont Circle so Anne could attend Friends Meeting and then meet Ack for the Phillips Collection. At the top of the escalator, while looking for Connecticut Ave, we instead found a fabulous farmer's market. Two blocks long, it was filled with great looking produce, fish, breads, flowers and cheeses. We were delighted to learn that it runs all year round.

Because we weren't prepared to carry produce around for our day of touring, we bought only a loaf of bread. The line for this vendor, Bonaparte Breads, was dozens deep and for good reason. The "bruschetta" loaf was like "country" bread, hand-shaped, a light brown roughly textured crust, creamy off-white interior with a texture that bounced back to the touch. It tasted great at dinner.

The Friends Meeting was in a wonderful space on Florida Ave, with the simple meeting room large and airy. About 80 people were present; both the silence and the shared inspirations were meaningful.

Walking the three blocks from the meeting house to the gallery, we discovered a neighborhood filled with embassies, museums, amazing 19th century mansions, and art, such as a statue honoring Mahatmas Gandhi outside the Indian Embassy. The Phillips Collection is a block-long series of buildings with an impressive collection of modern paintings. Some pieces that I really enjoyed were Paul Klee's "Arab Song" on burlap, Jacob Lawrence's "Migration of the Negro" panels, most things by Maurice Prendergast because of the bold colors, and Childe Hassam's "Mt. Beacon at Newburgh" which was painted on the back of a cigar box and had such luminous light. The premier piece in the collection is Renoir's "Luncheon of the Boating Party."

After several hours of soaking in the visuals and rambling the Phillips' halls, we left and headed to the National Mall for a visit to the Black Family Reunion, an event I'd heard about for years and never thought I'd get to visit. There were lots of informational booths, music and dance by local performers, food and free give aways. We left with fans from the FBI, towels from Freddie Mac, and shuttle pins from NASA. We ran into folklorist Jim Deutsch, who will be curating the NASA program at the 2008 Smithsonian Folklife Festival. (The photo is an example of what won't be in the Smithsonian's NASA program.)

We ended the day with watching "Volver," an odd but charming film starring Penelope Cruz, and enjoying a glass of Ferreira 10 year-old tawny porto.