Culture and Burgers

Yesterday we cashed in on a silent auction item we “won” at a fund raiser for the Chesapeake Charter School. It was a tour of the National Portrait Gallery hosted by Marty Sullivan, former director of Historic St. Mary’s City and now director of the Smithsonian’s Portrait Gallery. A surprisingly easy drive to Branch Avenue and Metro transit found us at the museum a bit before our scheduled time, so we spent some time (and money) in the bookstore. I’m sure the readers know that the Portrait Gallery shares spaces with the American Art Museum. These bookstores are quite a good resource, they have very focused books and even some music that you probably won’t find generally available. I picked up a disc of classic blues from the American folklore collection.

We were met by our host and went up to a private room where Dr. Sullivan gave us some background on the Portrait Gallery, its relationship to the American Art Museum and his thoughts on the Gallery’s mission in the 21st century. He doesn’t want it just to be a lot of “paintings of dead white guys from the shoulders up”. There are many stories to tell. We walked around some and he gave us his perspective on some of the paintings and why they were grouped together and how they interact. Some of the highlights for me was a gorgeous recently debuted painting of Eunice Kennedy Shriver. It depicts her on a Massachusetts beach with several (actual) kids from Special Olympics. The painting just jumps off the canvas at you. Try and see it if you can. In another of the galleries they had some photographs of contemporary people including the only known photograph of the Grateful Dead together with Big Brother and the Holding Company. There was Janis, Jerry, and the others. Memory rush there..We also spent some time in a room devoted to (for want of a better term) “freedom movements”, a collection of paintings and drawings of people like, Betty Friedan, Malcom X Chief Justice Warren Burger, Dr. Martin Luther King, and a particularly striking carving of Rosa Parks in the arms of agents, notables from the Native American movement, and so forth. The perspective on how all this sort of fits into the fabric of American evolution was really brought forth through Marty’s explanations. Sometimes you just sit in wonder at people.. Strongly recommended visit, and they are open until 7 unlike several of the other institutions..

On the way home, the couple we were with suggested that we stop at Bert’s for some food. We had not been there (in the “we gotta stop there sometime” category) for years so thought it was a good idea. They advertise themselves as a “50’s Diner”, and although the feeder was alive then, I really don’t have a baseline to measure them against. Probably most peoples impressions of a “50’s Diner” are formed by Happy Days and the Fonz. And, to be sure, that’s what you get. A starkly white interior with black and white tiled floor, chrome chairs and red vinyl seats and tables, booths along the wall with those little Juke Box floppy paged things where you put in quarters, blaring music, memorabilia on the walls, it’s all there. (not sure about those Keno screens however). The waitstaff (at least last night) was exclusively female, and for the most part young and perky. We were seated in a booth along the wall. The other clientele was composed mostly of family groupings and there were several sports teams of youngsters whooping it up in various sections. I think they got the 50’s thing pretty good. The menu is a tri-fold plastic coated affair (just what you would expect) offering five large pages of options. Apps, Subs and Sandwiches, Blue Plate (what else?) Specials (classic hot roast beef sandwiches, etc.), Fries Wings and Pizzas, and of course desserts, with banana splits, sundaes, cones, shakes and malts (what else). All this is presented in colorful blue and white checked background with cutesy little 50’s license plates adorning some of the pages. All fits. I gravitated to the burger section (why not?) and after figuring out that a 10 Oz. Cheeseburger was big (let’s see, 16 oz. is a pound, so…) I opted for a more reasonable 1/3 Lb version which came with fries. I was not asked how I would like it prepared. MFO went with the “hound dog” and our companions opted for the “Berts Famous Fish” dinner and a Reuben. Drinks of sodas, iced tea, and lemonade were served in those big red plastic glasses of course. Ordering was matter of fact, no names, no inclination of taking care of anybody, just a pencil and the little green pad. Fits. Meanwhile, the music still blared, the kids with uniforms were behaving like kids, and it was generally a fun spectacle to see. Food arrived in red and brown plastic baskets with waxed paper liners (except the dinner which was plated). My burger had an almost melted square of kraft cheese, a burger that wasn’t round or square, some chopped lettuce, onion slices that sort of hung out the sides on a Wonder Bread Bun, no multi grain here. The famous fish were several chunks of Haddock, fried, with hush puppies, the Reuben on a marble rye (oh well), and the dog on another Wonder bread bun. The “golden” fries were actually pretty good, had some skin attached and although I’m sure the emanated from a bag were tasty. The burger had pretty good flavor and was exactly as expected.

If you’re in the mood for that kind of thing, and do that “expectations” consideration, I think you would enjoy it. As I said, the authenticity is hard to judge unless you’re at least a septuagenarian, but it’s an experience. Prices are reasonable, service perky and at one point the lady who greets you at the door circled all the tables asking if everybody was happy. All in all, a surprisingly good experience.

So, we had a day of American culture maybe at both ends of the spectrum.

DFD (except suspended at Berts)