Day 25: The Smithsonian

Woke up bright and early to begin our tour of the Nation’s Capitol. We found a subway station just across the street from the hotel and were at The Mall in a few minutes. Bam, there we were, surrounded by the greatness that is Washington, D.C. The Washington Monument to my left; the Capitol Building to my right; and The Smithsonian beckoning to us from all directions! It was my first glimpse of the city and I felt proud to be an American.

Since it was rainy and overcast, we decided to spend the day at The Smithsonian. Our first target was The National Museum of American History. As you may expect, the museum was enormous, with exhibit after exhibit presenting a different part of American history.

The museum was comprehensive and covered so many areas. Highlights included seeing the Star Spangled Banner in the process of being restored; a chamber dedicated to the First Ladies, featuring a gallery of dresses worn by them; the timeline of Americans through the centuries, with emphasis on the civil war, immigrants, and the industrial revolution; Popular culture, with artifacts such as the chairs used by Archie and Edith Bunker on the All in the Family TV set and Dorothy’s ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz; and one of my favorites, The Information Age. Tracing the history of technology starting with the development of the telegraph, the exhibit followed advances in technology through the decades, ending up in the 21st century. I was thrilled to find a TRS-80 Model I on display, and explained to my family that it was the very first computer I had ever owned!

Two areas were dedicated to hands-on, so the kids had a great time learning how to make rope, experiment with lasers, saddle a horse, communicate in morse code, sew with a vintage Singer sewing machine, and ride an old fashioned bicycle. Mary and I enjoyed watching them explore and learn.

We ate at the museum cafe ($27.00 for junk food!) and spent about five hours there. Next, we walked next door to The National Museum of Natural History, another enormous structure.

We intended to view only a couple exhibits, but there were too many interesting things to pass up. We started by making a beeline to The Hope Diamond. It is a big rock, no doubt, though none of us were terribly impressed. So we went looking for dinosaurs. Now THESE were impressive!

We continued through the museum and found the expected exhibits. Totem polls, native cultures, geology, mummies and obligatory pro-evolution mumbo-jumbo rounded out the expansive museum. Most disgusting thing we saw? An encased Giant Squid. It was indeed huge and we all let out a collective “ewwwww!” when we saw it.

By 5 pm, we were exhausted. Our feet hurt, my legs were aching and we had had enough. Back to the subway and we were at the hotel shortly thereafter. Grabbed a dinner at Ruby Tuesdays (mediocre food) and called it a day.

I have reservations for the Washington Monument at 10 am and tickets for the Holocaust Museum later in the day. Who knows what else tomorrow will bring?