Recently the Friends of Artis-Naples sponsored a day trip to see the new Museum of the American Arts and Crafts Movement followed by lunch and an afternoon stop at the Dali Museum. Knowing nothing about the Arts and Crafts Museum and everything (almost) about the Dali we decided to join along for a pleasant one day getaway.
After our morning tour of the Arts and Crafts Movement Museum, we traveled about five minutes away to the Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital complex to have lunch. Located in the ground floor of one of the hospital buildings was The Library Restaurant. The dining room had two story ceilings and while diners had tables and booths on the first floor, over their heads were bookcases of blue binders punctuated with framed drawings and oil portraits.
The large bar made excellent cocktails
and we were able to select from a limited menu of comfort food-the appetizer hot buratta featured a large ball of mozzarella cheese floating in a tomato sauce with a small loaf of bread for dipping and was huge! We had a spiced cauliflower that was wonderful.
The entrees were all large and yummy. I had a spinach and chicken salad while my husband had a double patty hamburger with fries (not exactly healthy for a restaurant located in a health complex). They followed it up with freshly baked cookies. We all had large doggie bags to take home!
We slowly boarded the bus and were almost ready to take a nap when we drove a few blocks to the Dali Museum. I got a kick out of the exterior design and decor plus the mask warning had so much charm!
We then took the elevator to the third floor to see the exhibit: “Picasso and the Allure of the South”. There were a lot of new Picasso paintings on display that I had not seen before! Here are a few of my favorites:
At the end of the exhibition I was able to make an image of myself using cubist techniques–it was fun!
As we were feeling a little tired, we briefly looked at the main exhibition of Salvador Dali’s artwork before walking down the double helix designed staircase
to check out the great museum store
and have a glass of wine at the Café Gala before boarding our bus for a quick 2 1/2 hour ride back to Naples. It was a great day!