Last Sunday night when I dropped in on my folks and my Dad and I clicked back through my Facebook pictures for the last two years, when we hit the Washington D.C. photos, I was hit with a wave of emotion.

Not only did we realize I had not shown all of my photos from that trip to him, but I also realized how much I loved that trip, and how I hadn’t finished processing it all, like I had promised myself I would.

So here, in a nod to that fantastic trip, is one of my “Best Of”s.

The Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Off of the National Mall a few blocks, I didn’t originally make this museum visit a priority in my planning. The Mall memorials, the Air and Space Museum, and the Holocaust Museum were all at the top of my list of things I had to see. I’m not even sure the SAAM was on my list of must do’s before I ended up there with my sister and her family.

After a full first day of touristing on August 3rd, in which we visited the memorials in the morning and I spent the rest of the day in the Air and Space Museum, Day Two was a more flexible day.

And it is only suitable that Day Two- August 4th- was not only the sitting president’s birthday, but mine as well.

After a morning visit to Capitol Hill and wandering east of the mall over to the International Spy Museum, I ended up taking a phone call midday about the planning of our high school reunion, and a billing issue. Because of that, I didn’t get into the Spy museum with my family, so I broke off to find some lunch (Subway), and then to find an interesting place to go. It was reading a sign near the Mall that the SAAM was highlighted, a large square structure a few blocks away. I like art, I thought. And on that warm afternoon, I made the trek to it.

An austere Greek Revival structure, I entered the building and was immediately relaxed by the soft lively colors on its walls, and the cool air filling its rooms.

I had arrived just in time- a docent was getting ready to give an overview tour of the museum, so I hopped into that, and one hour and four levels later, I was in love.

The Smithsonian American Art Museum features art that is specific to America, and within its catalog are not only Pre-Revolutionary War paintings, objects, and busts, but representative American art from throughout the history of the nation, including wonder works from its masters- pieces that have relevance because of their appearance at certain moments in American history.

But it was not just the breadth and astounding beauty of the art in the SAAM that won me over. The building itself wooed me, from its levels styled after different eras, to its halls of soft lighting and hallowed quiet, to its incredible central courtyard that itself was a quiet and stylish retreat from the noise and heat of the busy city around it.

I ended up spending nearly 5 hours in that museum. After the docent tour ended, in which she took us to select pieces of art on each floor, I went to the bottom level and walked every room from bottom to top so that I could soak it in. And I was refreshed.

Good art does that to me. I feel the noumenal when I am in its presence, like one feels the movement of the Holy Spirit in special moments in church. My senses are all turned up, and I am overwhelmed by the abilities of humans to make such art, and by the raw beauty of the art itself.

On that day, the museum also had some nice additional features. There was an exhibition displaying a lot of art created as WPA projects from the 1930’s, which contained some very moving images of activities from that time.

There was also a room on Babe Ruth. Images, videos, and objects that were attached to the man and his iconic life. That was a treat.

I was also drawn to the room which featured some New Mexico artists, with their images and sculptures related to the place I call home.

But to see alcove after alcove of master artistry filled me with joy.

Early in the evening, I ran into Kristi and Frank as they dropped in on the museum to finish their touring for the day. We said quiet “Hello”s like parishioners in a cathedral for a Christmas Eve midnight mass, and then we drifted in different directions. As twilight approached, my last stop in the museum was at the gift shop.

Those hours in the SAAM were one of my favorite birthday presents, ever.

The SAAM. If you are going to D.C. and you like art, I would suggest you make it one of your top three or four destinations.

I left D.C., only behind the Lincoln Memorial, loving it the most of everything I saw.