Museums and Other Neat Places

The National Mall is Museum Central. Just the Smithsonian alone has the American History Museum, the Natural History Museum, Arts and Industries Museum, the Hirshhorn Museum (with the famous Goose Statue just behind *snicker*), the American Indian Museum, the Air and Space Museum, the Stackler Gallery, the African Arts Museum, the Freer Gallery, the Remwick Gallery, the Postal Museum, and the Reynolds Center American Art Museum and Portrait Gallery, all within a mile of the National Mall. And don't forget the Smithsonian Castle, which is no longer a museum, but an information center.

The first museum I saw in Washington DC was the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. I felt like a kid in a candy store. In the entry way alone were various space capsules from the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo eras and the Spirit of St. Louis. Old planes, new planes, neat space stuff... I was amazed.

Among the best things in the Air and Space museum was the Wright Brothers' plane. No, not a replica. THE Wright Brothers' plane. It has been recently re-covered with new canvas, but other than that, it's the actual plane that made history. Wow.

Another section looked like an aircraft carrier. Film loops on large screens made you feel like you were at sea, just without all of the motion sickness.

The American History Museum is closed for renovation, so they brought some things from there to the Air and Space Museum as part of a temporary exhibit called "National Treasures." I was elated to see Kermit the Frog near the beginning of the exhibit. Each thing I looked at made me oooh and aaah as I saw the Eniac, Ray Charles' coat, George Washington's military uniform, Marilyn Monroe's gloves, C3P0 and R2D2, Louis Armstrong's trumpet, a sunstone from the Nauvoo LDS temple, Glen Miller's piano, and the famous signpost from the television show M*A*S*H.

The Air and Space was the one museum I visited twice. I just couldn't get enough of that place. Tonight, they open an exhibit they were working on. The exhibit is all about commercial aviation.

I also visited the Natural History Museum. The mammals exhibit was very cool--LOTS and LOTS of stuffed mammals of all shapes and sizes. The geology area was definitely my favorite part. I can say that I've seen the Hope Diamond, though it was less than I had hoped it would be.

The National Archives was another great place to visit. The reverence and awe I felt as I saw the Declaration of Independence, the United States Constitution, and the Bill of Rights really can't be put into words. Those documents are the foundation of the country I call home. They may not be perfect, but I believe that divine inspiration led to their creation.

Another awe-inspiring museum is the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Ever since I served in The Netherlands and Belgium and regularly met people with tattoos on their forearms that had survived the holocaust, I've been fascinated by it. The permanent exhibition at this museum is amazing. It follows the plight of the Jews through the rise and fall of the Nazi party. The artifacts include a path paved with cobblestones from the Warsaw Ghetto, a rail car that carried Jews to one of the many camps, a room full of shoes taken from Jewish prisoners... Each time I really reflect on what happened in the Nazi so-called "Final Solution," I'm staggered by the complete disregard for human life and dignity.

The hall of remembrance in the Holocaust Memorial Museum is a beautiful place with candles lit below the names of the many concentration camps and a flame on a granite block containing earth removed from each concentration camp, taken from where crematory ash was discarded. This was one of my favorite places in all of Washington DC.

Other neat places that deserve mention:

I had to see the US Capitol building. I took pictures of it at night as well as right at sunset one evening. The light was perfect, and I got some postcard-worthy shots. I might even make one picture into a puzzle. Yes, I know! I know! I'm planning on posting the pictures on Flickr eventually!

A less-well-known place on Capitol Hill is The Grotto. It's the only somewhat natural place left in the area. It appears to be a place where natural springs bubble up through the ground, or at least, they did at one time. It's a small green, untamed piece of land in an otherwise meticulously planned and landscaped area.

Union Station was a good place to have dinner. The arched roof seems SO high. I estimated it at about 50 feet. It's actually almost double that at 96 feet tall. The panels in the ceiling are gilt with 70 lbs of gold! It's unbelievable that they created such an amazing building way back in 1908.