During the holidays I was back east, spending time with my family. This year in between the holiday festivities, I was determined to visit Washington DC. When I was a kid I spent many a school field trip trekking from Smithsonian to Smithsonian.
So on a real cold grey day, I bundled up and headed into the city with my parents on the Metro. We first headed into the Smithsonian Castle which held a collection of souvenirs from various relics. They had a great display of seed catalogs.
Next stop was the Native American Smithsonian whose exhibitions are designed in collaboration with Native communities from across the hemisphere. I was amazed to find that their cafe features Native foods. It is organized into five food stations that depict regional life-ways related to cooking techniques, ingredients, and flavors found in the indigenous cuisines of the Americas.
Then we headed to the National Botanical Gardens which has a huge glass conservatory. It houses collections of plants from tropical to arid regions and showcases orchids, medicinal, endangered plants. For the holidays they had replicas of the capital’s landmark buildings made out of various plant materials, like twigs and pinecones, way better than gingerbread in my opinion.
As a farmer I don’t get to visit museums as often as I’d like. But I find viewing history and artifacts a great way to see beyond yourself and redefine your business goals.