In 1874, in the city of Paris, an art gallery showing would bring together the works of over 30 artists. These painters and sculptors sought to break away from the staid, ossified traditions that they saw reflected in the works exhibited by the Paris Salon, an annual art exhibition that favored tradition over experimentation. Artists by the names of Cezanne, Monet, Manet, Degas, and Renoir created their own exhibition (known as the First Impressionist Exhibition), displaying their new interpretation of art. The movement these artists birthed was not met with acclaim – critics were scathing in their responses: “Impressionist” was meant as an insult, not a compliment (via the National Gallery of Art).
Until January 19, 2025, the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC has recreated the iconic art show that inaugurated the Impressionist movement. Over one hundred works of art have been reunited for the first time in 150 years. My wife, who adores Impressionist art, planned a weekend trip to our nation’s capital, where we would enjoy amazing artwork, visit the founding documents of the United States, see an amazing basilica, eat great food, and have a wonderful time.
Let’s begin:
DC in a Weekend
Our weekend road trip would take us from New Jersey, through Delaware and Maryland, and end in our nation’s capital, all within a three hour drive. Gotta love the northeast – it’s far more compact than other areas of the country. Three hours of driving through Wisconsin, for instance, gets you to… Wisconsin.We loaded up my Acura TLX after dinner on Friday night and began our trek southward. One benefit of an evening drive? Hardly any traffic!Roughly 2.5 hours after leaving our house, we stopped for the night at a Holiday Inn in central Maryland. It was clean, comfortable, and located close to the highway – all wins in our book.We awoke early the next morning and made a beeline to the local Starbucks for our early morning caffeination! We have several family members who keep us well-supplied with Starbucks gift cards for our travels… and we thank them greatly!Our early start meant that we made decent time to DC. We were at the entrance to the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel about a half hour after leaving the hotel.Submarine mode: engage! Looking at my car’s GPS while traversing the tunnel, I momentarily imagined I was in James Bond’s underwater-capable Lotus Esprit from The Spy Who Loved Me.Pretty soon we started to see signs for DC, and then the Washington Monument loomed into view in the distance!After parking the car, we began our walk toward the National Gallery of Art. We made an unplanned detour to the District of Columbia Public Library to check out the Center for Accessibility. My wife and I both work in the field of disability services for college students, and we were greatly impressed with the Center. The library offers a number of accommodations for guests with disabilities, as well as classes in American Sign Language and publicly available computers with assistive technology pre-installed. Really awesome!As we neared the Washington Mall, we passed the US Navy Memorial. Situated along Pennsylvania Avenue, the memorial honors those who have served in the US Navy, Marines, Coast Guard, and Merchant Marine.Our first stop was the reason for our trip: the National Gallery of Art!After entering the National Gallery of Art, we made our way to the exhibition. There was already a line of people waiting to enter. Despite the sign indicating a 40 minute wait, the museum staff kept the line moving nicely and we only waited about 20 minutes.It was amazing to think that we were in the presence of a collection of artwork that had not been in one place together since the lifetime of my great-great-grandparents.Berthe Morisot had her worked exhibited at the prestigious Salon de Paris exhibitions six times before joining the other Impressionist painters in their rogue 1874 art show. In the words of one critic from the time who described the Impressionist art show: “…five or six lunatics, of which one is a woman… whose feminine grace is maintained amid the outpouring of a delirious mind” (via Wikipedia). Talk about a quote that has aged badly.Italian painter Giuseppe De Nittis had also previously shown his work at the Salon de Paris, before embracing the Impressionist style later in his career. His works also joined the other artists in the 1874 at the first Impressionist exhibition.The exhibit runs at the National Gallery of Art until January, and is free to visit. Our advice? Go early to beat the crowds and enjoy the show!After touring the special exhibit, we made our way through the permanent galleries to check out some cool art, such as Claude Monet’s Bridge Over a Pond of Water Lilies.One of the coolest exhibits we saw was this collection of sketches by Georges Seurat. Seurat was inspired by the Impressionist movement, but used their techniques to develop his own style, known as pointillism. These fourteen sketches were then used to develop larger, full-size paintings.The most striking artwork I saw was this portrait of Ginerva de’ Benci, the daughter of a wealthy banker. The painting was created by Leonardo da Vinci, one of the few portraits he ever painted. This shot does not capture the lifelike quality of the painting – I stared at the details, initially convinced I was looking at a photograph!We stopped for a late morning snack at the Garden Cafe in the Gallery’s West Building. While my wife had an Autumn Harvest Salad, I went for something less healthy, but equally tasty: a cherry danish and an almond milk latte. Fueled up, we continued on our journey.Before leaving the museum, we swung by the galleries that displayed medieval art. I almost missed the centerpiece of the gallery until I looked up… Venetian painter Titian’s magisterial work, St. John the Evangelist on Patmos, was stunning to see in-person. It’s in amazing condition for having been painted in 1547! After taking in our fill of priceless art, we headed to the next stop on our tour of DC.We next turned our attention to the National Archives, to visit with some of our nation’s founding documents.The Rotunda of the National Archives contains some of the most important documents in our nation’s history, including the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights.“We the People of the. United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty…” While our nation may have thrown off the shackles of tyranny in 1776, it was in 1787 when we began a bold experiment to govern ourselves without a king or royalty.The brilliance of the Founding Fathers is that the Constitution is a mere four page document, yet has been flexible enough to reshape itself for the governance of our nation over two centuries later.William Livingston, David Brearley, Jonathan Dayton, and William Paterson were the four signers of the Constitution from New Jersey. Fun facts: David Brearley has a street named after him in Madison, Wisconsin, and William Paterson and William Livingston both have towns named after them in New Jersey. Jonathan Dayton, on the other hand, was arrested and charged in Aaron Burr’s plot to establish a breakaway nation in what is now the southwestern US. He was not convicted, but his reputation never recovered (via Wikipedia).We stopped for a late lunch at Luke’s Lobster, a small restaurant specializing in fresh lobster rolls.While I had a 6oz lobster roll, my wife tried the sampler – shrimp, crabmeat, and lobster rolls. Hers were served on gluten-free bread. Outside of Maine, it was one of the best lobster rolls I have ever tried!As we walked back to the car after lunch, we made a detour to a location I had never seen – Ford’s Theater, site of the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln on April 14, 1865.Ford’s Theater is both a museum and a working theater – it resumed live performances in 1968. During days of live performances, the theater is closed in the afternoon, so we were unable to step foot into the theater itself. However, we were directed to the Peterson House across the street, where Lincoln was taken after the shooting. It was in this house that he passed away.In this small bedroom on the second floor, President Lincoln died at 7:22 am on April 15th, 1865. Having read about Lincoln since I was in elementary school, it was sobering to be standing in this room.Also on the second floor is the Black Parlor, where Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton directed the manhunt for the assassin John Wilkes Booth and interviewed witnesses. He also summoned together Lincoln’s cabinet to draft a letter elevating Vice-President Andrew Johnson to the highest office of the land.A small museum on the third floor showcases items from the life and times of Lincoln, as well as his lasting cultural impact. Even the famous Lincoln Logs had a place of honor – the original Lincoln Logs kit included directions for building a model of the log cabin Abraham Lincoln lived in as a child.Perhaps no one American has been written about as much as Lincoln – this three-story tower is comprised of books about our 16th President.We got in the car and headed north of the city to one of the prettiest churches in have ever seen: the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.Construction on the basilica began in 1920. The central Trinity Dome was not completed until 2017 – imagine being a worker whose great-grandfather started building the church almost a century ago!The interior of the basilica was simply stunning.The Trinity Dome mosaic (pictured) is comprised of 14 million pieces of Venetian glass (via National Shrine).Around the perimeter of the basilica are a series of statues and shrines honoring Mary from different Catholic traditions across the world. This is Our Lady of Altotting from Bavaria, Germany.Even more elaborate shrines to Mary from cultures around the world can be found in the lower level of the basilica.The National Shrine is absolutely worth a visit, and is free of charge. The Basilica is open 365 days a year from 6:00 am – 6:00 pm.After the basilica, we made our way to our hotel. We were staying at the Crowne Plaza, and our room gave us a view of Crystal City, a neighborhood in Arlington, Virginia.Leaving the car at the hotel, we took an Uber to Los Tios Grill, a nearby Mexican restaurant that has good reviews. Longtime readers might remember Los Tios from our previous visit to Washington DC in 2019.After indulging in some margaritas with our chips and salsa, the main course arrived! While my wife enjoyed the Pollo Mexicano (chicken breast topped with shrimp and cilantro sauce), I devoured this platter: a chicken taco, a chicken tamale, refried beans, and rice. It was all I could do to resist licking the plate clean. So good!After dinner, we ambled our way back to the hotel, stopping to check out Water Park. The park houses several restaurants and bars, all located around the centerpiece: a man-made waterfall.We made a quick stop into Tatte Bakery & Cafe. Tatte is a chain of bakeries in both the Boston and Washington DC metropolitan areas.We went into the bakery to simply look around, but we walked out with several items to enjoy with our coffee in the morning! Several items are identified as gluten-free or gluten-friendly. I bought a slice of apple pie for myself and a gluten-free chocolate muffin for my wife. Fast-forward to the next morning… they were fantastic!Leaving DC around 9:00 am on Sunday, we made great time back to New Jersey, even flying across the usually-crowded Delaware Memorial Bridge.About three hours after departure, we were back in our driveway. The TLX proved itself yet again to be a comfortable and fun vehicle for our travels. 46,000 miles is officially in the books – onward!
Wrapping Up
Whether you go for a week or a weekend, Washington DC has plenty of amazing sites to explore and great restaurants to enjoy. If you have even a passing interest in art, I would strongly encourage you to visit the National Gallery of Art for the Paris 1874: The Impressionist Moment exhibit. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to view some of the most influential works that continue to inspire to this day.
Thanks for coming along on another journey down the open road ahead.
Wow, you packed a lot into that trip! It looked like a lot of fun. That art exhibit must have been incredible. It’s so interesting how certain art pieces can pull us in (thinking of that portrait you photographed). And the church you visited was beautiful! There is something really magical about the art and architecture in a church. The food looked delicious too!
I’m amazed we packed as much into the weekend as we did – it was a whirlwind trip! If you have a chance, I’d definitely recommend a trip down to DC to see the exhibit.
I’ve been to the National Archives. Feels pretty amazing to be in the presence of so much history of our country. I really felt that the entire time I was in DC.
So many amazing things in this post. I really liked seeing the tower of books about Lincoln. I’m from close to Springfield, IL so Lincoln stuff is dear to me too.
I knew you were from IL originally, but I didn’t realize you were that close to Lincoln’s home. It’s definitely on my list of places to visit! And agreed on the National Archives (and DC more generally) – awesome place to visit. Thanks for reading!!
The Open Road Ahead 
Wow, you packed a lot into that trip! It looked like a lot of fun. That art exhibit must have been incredible. It’s so interesting how certain art pieces can pull us in (thinking of that portrait you photographed). And the church you visited was beautiful! There is something really magical about the art and architecture in a church. The food looked delicious too!
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I’m amazed we packed as much into the weekend as we did – it was a whirlwind trip! If you have a chance, I’d definitely recommend a trip down to DC to see the exhibit.
Thanks for reading!!
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I’ve been to the National Archives. Feels pretty amazing to be in the presence of so much history of our country. I really felt that the entire time I was in DC.
So many amazing things in this post. I really liked seeing the tower of books about Lincoln. I’m from close to Springfield, IL so Lincoln stuff is dear to me too.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I knew you were from IL originally, but I didn’t realize you were that close to Lincoln’s home. It’s definitely on my list of places to visit! And agreed on the National Archives (and DC more generally) – awesome place to visit. Thanks for reading!!
LikeLiked by 1 person