Finding the transportation used yesterday to travel into Washington, D.C. for the day relatively painless, we opted to repeat the process again today. Jeff took Devon, Sierra, and Violet in our car, and Clark and I called for Uber.
We decided that today we would visit museums. Given there is no entrance fee, we picked three of them as our target destinations. We started with the Air and Space Museum because Jeff and Devon thought this one might be of greatest interest to Sierra.
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| National Air and Space Museum |
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| Airplane Cockpit on display at Air & Space Museum |
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| Engine on display at museum |
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| Model Constellation on display (Clark remembers these from his youth) |
Having wandered the Air and Space Museum for a couple of hours, we decided we needed to eat, so we walked down to the cafeteria area and found a mob scene. Lines for the on-site McDonald's stretched across the huge room. Thankfully, we brought our own food and drinks, so we passed by all the hungry folks on line and walked up to the second floor to find a quiet table to enjoy our food.
After lunch, Sierra was on the run again, and we explored more of the museum until 2:00 or so. Before leaving, we visited the gift shop where Sierra became fascinated by a space helmet they had on sale there. I thought sure there would be a scene when it came time to leave as I was certain that no room existed in her luggage for an object of that size. Sierra, however, surprised me by putting it back when done and leaving without comment.
Once outside the Air and Space Museum, we set off in the direction of the American History Museum and the Museum of Natural History that are located close to each other. Jeff decided we should visit the American History Museum first and then stop at the Natural History Museum on our way back to the car.
Along the way, we walked beside the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Gardens. Although the rest of us only glanced that way, Clark repeatedly poked his head in to see the artwork.
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| Entrance to the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Gardens |
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| Sculpted Tree |
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| Artwork in the Art Sculpture Gardens |
As we walked along the Mall, we saw some interesting sights
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| Food Trucks Galore! |
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and heard some music.
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| Brass Instruments - Lovely music! |
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| Make-your-own Percussion Instruments! Amazing sounds from buckets and trash cans! |
We arrived at the American History Museum around 2:30 or so.
The American History Museum is under development, so some wings of the museum were not open for viewing at the time of our visit. We headed to the first floor exhibits first where we found various American inventions on display. After which, we came to two rooms designed for children to explore and learn. One room designed for ages 0 to 6 and one for older children. Clark and I left Jeff and family here and went to explore some more of the museum on our own.
Clark liked the computer-related displays, and in particular the exhibit related to Clark's own, first home computer that he built himself. I, on the other hand, preferred the transportation exhibits showing an 1800's locomotive, a 1920's fire engine, and a train car that closely resembled a subway car. I got excited and insisted on a photo when we came to the Pennsylvania Turnpike historical marker on display. I am a Pennsylvania girl - what can I say!
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| PA Turnpike - Opened October 1, 1940 Initially 160 Miles from Carlisle to Irwin, PA Used as a prototype and model for future highway development across the country! |
We poked our heads into the Money display, which is probably exciting to a collector, but rather dry for Clark and me. Clark did like the $10,000 bill on display however.
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| Actual $10,000 bill on display at American History Museum |
Clark and I arrived back at the "play" area at 4:05 only to find both children areas closed at 4:00. Our family had departed and were nowhere in sight. Thank goodness for the invention of texting, we found them on their way to the "First Ladies" exhibit and followed suit.
There, I enjoyed looking at the dresses worn by first ladies over the course of time which paralleled the changes in fashion over the years. The mode of dress in the "roaring 20s" and the attire worn in the 60s stood out to me from the older, conservative attire of the 1800s, which contrasted greatly with the elaborate, modern gowns of more recent years. A video showed Michele Obama donating her inauguration dress to the museum.
We left the American History Museum at 4:45 and walked to the Museum of Natural History. The museum would close at 5:30, so we did not have a lot of time to explore.
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| Natural History Museum |
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| Petrified Wood outside museum approx. 200 million years old found in Arizona |
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| Banded Iron Ore - on display outside museum Layers of Red Jasper and Black Hematite approx. 2,250 Million years old |
The rest of my family wandered into the aquatic-life exhibits, but having seen more similar displays on our travels than I can count, I went off on my own to see some other parts of the museum. At lightening speed, I saw the history of the development of man through the ages, the mammals exhibit, and the geology-related displays. I had hoped to see the Hope Diamond, but I got so interested in the creation of volcanoes and the artifacts from meteors that have hit earth that the museum called for people to exit before I got any further. Fortunately, my arrival at the museum exit and that of the rest of my group coincided within seconds, so we easily reconnected for our walk back to the car.
Walking well over six miles to and through museums today, in conjunction with the eight and a half miles walked yesterday, left my legs and feet aching for a rest. Having eaten out at a restaurant the night before, we were all content to eat on board tonight. As our family returns to Idaho tomorrow, Clark grabbed a photo of our last supper together.
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| Last Family Dinner on board Sunset Delight (spaghetti, salad, and lots of veggies) |
Of course Clark jumped up at sunset to grab his nightly photos.
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| Ferris Wheel on a Cloudy Night in National Harbor |
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| Pirate Ship at Sunset at National Harbor |
While Clark was outside getting his photos, the pirate ship came in and docked directly behind our boat. Since he was out there, he offered to grab a line thrown to shore by one of the pirates. The pirate's aim was off, so he missed Clark and the dock, but Clark was able to fish the line out of the water and tie up the pirate ship before the line found the pirate ship's bow thruster. When Clark came in to tell us, Devon exclaimed, "Cool! How often do you get to catch the lines for a pirate ship!?"
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