The Mall

I took off work yesterday, so I could partake of my yearly tradition: a trip to the National Mall in Washington, D.C. to visit the museums. I’d already gone once before this year with Mandy, but decided I could use another refresher.

It was a cloudy day with a bit of occasional drizzle, but I never got wet; I was exploring the museums too often.

The Natural History Museum is first on my list every year. I always loved science as a kid, so this was my favorite museum (maybe next to Air & Space). There’s just so much to do and see, and they’ve kept it up so well over the years. I could walk by a fossilized Tyrannosaurus Rex every day and it would thrill me on the thousandth day.

The National Gallery of Art is also always on my list, simply because there’s so much amazing art on display. Paintings from grand masters. Not reproductions; the actual oil and canvas they touched. I also scored reproductions of four of my favorite paintings in that museum; Thomas Cole’s “Voyage” series.

The Air & Space Museum is not on my list every year, despite my love of space and science fiction. Why? Because the Air & Space Museum is a fantastic chronicle of air and space travel up until, oh, about 1978. There’s almost nothing recent in there; nothing about the Star Wars missile defense program, or the International Space Station, or practically anything else in the 80’s, 90’s, or 00’s.

I went this year anyway, partly because I hadn’t been in a while. All the old stuff was still there; the only new thing I saw was a set of flight simulators. :sigh: I did find a little book on the B1 bomber in the gift shop, so that’ll be fun to share at work.

After visiting Air & Space, I walked nearby to the National Museum of the American Indian. A little Cherokee blood flows in my veins, so this one is special. It’s a beuatiful museum, too; no straight lines anywhere. It’s all curves and flowing water and muted earth tones. Very good museum, though a bit difficult to navigate at times.

I also perused the National Archives for a little while. ‘Twas a momentous feeling to stare down at the original Constitution and Declaration of Independence. Also weird to see them faded almost beyond recognition. There’s probably a message in that.

I also took a bunch of photos.

Comments:

Kem I love D.C, there’s always so much to explore!
Stephen Have you been to the new Air and Space museum out by Dulles? It’s quite nice. I was very happy to be able to stand right next to an SR-71, and the space program has its own huge room and an actual space shuttle. I loved reading all the text printed on it. Stuff like (A392FG Connecter Access, or “In Emergency CUT HERE” (inside a red square).

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