Traveling with My Boo

By Pamelagrace Beatty

For those not familiar with the nickname “Boo,” it comes, probably, from the French, “Beau,” meaning beautiful or meaning boyfriend in English. In the ‘hood it is simply a term of endearment, usually applied to a girlfriend or boyfriend; sometimes a small child.  So, my Boo took me off to Washington D.C. to see the African American Museum.  That’s a long flight from Seattle but it was worth it. I knew this would be quite the adventure, since Boo is not a person of color and it would be our first time traveling together. Traveling with another person can be stressful; actually, I broke up with two boyfriends many years ago due to traveling differences. I confess, I was a little concerned about that on this trip because Boo and I are more than a bit different…but I’ll get to that later.

As I mentioned, this trip was Boo’s idea.  I agreed because I thought it might be interesting to see the African American Museum and to spend a week in Washington D.C.  I had been there before, but only for a day or so while overnighting as a flight attendant, or later going to a work-related meeting.  Having an entire week there was enticing. Boo got the B&B.  We used my United miles to travel.  Boo covered eating out.  The museums were free, but we had to make reservations for some.

Lodging and Food

The B&B was delightful.  It was an apartment in a nice neighborhood in the northwest part of the city.  I fell in love with the architecture – especially the little turrets on the top of some of the buildings.  I also liked the different colors of the buildings, and the red brick ones especially.  It was a short walk from restaurants and stores. We slowly explored, and had dinner in different restaurants.  We had a delicious meal in an Italian restaurant that was below the sidewalk. The food was wonderful and the staff very friendly. We were two of four people dining. 

Unfortunately, I was a little upset at having seen a large rat run from the side of the restaurant and hide under a bush in front of it.  I was even more disturbed when an equally large, black rat ran from one side of the walkway back behind the restaurant as we were leaving.  Perhaps the rats were why there were so few people there when the food was so good.  My Boo was willing to go back there.  I couldn’t bring myself to do so.  We affectionately refer to that restaurant as “Ratatouille.”

Because I love Mexican food, Boo took me to a cute place that had a lovely Day of the Dead statue of a woman in front of it.  Boo doesn’t like Mexican food much but he enjoyed his fish tacos. We went to a different Italian restaurant another night, and in between the restaurants, we ordered Chinese food delivered to our B&B.  That kept us busy for a couple of days. We celebrated six month our anniversary while here, and went to yet another Italian restaurant because the French restaurant that did a brunch on weekends was closed without notice.  The Italian restaurant was delightful and there were no furry customers there.

The Museums

The first museum we went to was the African American Museum because…that’s why we came!  I am very familiar with African American history, or so I thought.  I’ve read many books, and talked to relatives about their experiences growing up in the south. They said very little. Most of my knowledge came from reading, seeing artifacts in museums, displays and Hollywood.  Occasionally, I learned through overhearing something my family didn’t intend for me to hear.  Still, I thought I was prepared for what we might see in the museum.  And that was true to some extent, but not entirely.

There were details I had either forgotten, like how many slaves the U.S. actually had by the time the American Civil War erupted; 4 million!  A small detail I had not heard of was how much more cotton the slaves had to pick because of the invention of the cotton gin.  Even though it was invented in the late 1700s by Eli Whitney, once it was adopted by cotton growers there needed to be far more slaves to pick it, and each slave had to pick many more pounds in a day than before the cotton gin was invented. The cotton gin changed the entire face of American business and profit, both north and south and made the lives of the slaves far more dismal.

I learned of Queen Nzinga, who reigned over Angola and another area near there.  She was intelligent, politically astute, and determined to keep her people out of slavery and to keep her country abundant.  Only when she could see no other way to do this, did she become a part of the slave trade, selling slaves to the Europeans and Americans.  She felt it was “them” or “us.” And then, the last bit of information I found amazingly illuminating was a small detail I had never heard, regarding the end of the Reconstruction period, right after the Civil War. According to the history that was, for some reason, left out of my history classes in school, President Rutherford B. Hayes ended the Reconstruction Era by agreeing to remove federal troops from the three remaining states still under occupation.  He would do this if the democrats agreed to support his candidacy for president.  They did and he kept his word. And in the south, all hell broke loose.

Seeing originals

I needed to take a breath.  So, Boo and I went to the art gallery.  It was splendid. I am a fan of modern art but I love to look at the historic paintings, as well as to watch how art changed. Seeing the original Fauvists, impressionists, and abstract paintings was so exciting.  The actual paintings have so much more impact than photographs of them.  Being a painter, I could spend hours just wandering through every gallery room.  Boo, not so much. But going to the art gallery lifted my spirits.

Native Americans and Spirituality

The American Indian Museum showed me a side of Native American cosmology (how the world began) in more detail than I had known. I was touched by the descriptions of what the various tribes believed.  There were many beautiful artifacts such as baskets, both woven and as pottery, items of clothing, jewelry, war bonnets and armor.  There was a lovely display of old and modern Tlingit art with symbols on all of it.   There was information about the process of how Native Americans were systematically removed from their lands.  I read of how much it cost the United States to send the Native Americans on the Trail of Tears, and the thinking and issues that supported and/or pushed the government to snatch up Native American land and destroy the people themselves.  Not a happy visit but very informative.

After visiting the museums, we went for a long walk to look at memorials. So many of them were more beautiful than I imagined. The memorial for Abraham Lincoln was very stately and impressive. Martin Luther King Jr.’s memorial had a lovely modern touch to it. The tribute to those who fought and died in the Viet Nam war was touching and both the statues for honoring the women who were in the war as well as the men were striking.

Despite our different ways of doing a vacation, Boo and I managed to enjoy our time together. He likes to get up early, shower and dress and be out doing stuff. I like to luxuriate in the feather comforter, read a book, sip coffee and enjoy looking at the sky and trees through the bedroom window, before jumping into my walking shoes and going on to the next adventure.  Our last day touring the city, Boo went off in by himself that morning and gave me my “me time,” and we met up in the afternoon. Perfect compromise. We were glad to be working things out.  Traveling can make or break a relationship. I think this trip actually made our relationship stronger. It was also good practice for the next trip we take in April! Now that we know each other so much better.