Summer is a time for Congress to leave Washington and tourists to throng to the National Mall along with the mosquitos and the humidity. The Smithsonian is an oasis of air conditioned cool for the weary researcher or traveler. The Library of Congress is positively chilly, with marble floors and walls that beckon. I love the momentary sense of cave-like cool the museums exude in deep summer. In the National Archives branch in College Park, one follows a path into what feels like a restaurant-sized refrigerator. Ah!
Washington natives, and there are very few of us, love to complain about Washington in summer. It's been the sport of residents since Lafayette came and laid out the grid for the city. But, as I easily navigated Capitol Hill this morning, I thanked the Founding Fathers. We may sit on a miasmic swamp, but, you can't beat the parking as the mercury rises.
