After our morning walk through the war memorials, and a brief visit to this gentleman on the grounds of the National Academies..
...the giant bus disgorged all forty-nine of us at the steps of the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum shortly before 10. Then our guides cut us loose. Just Moon Pie and me.
I don't have a proper camera to capture the Air & Space, so here are two photos that - I hope - illustrate the density and size of the displays.
Next, I dragged Moon Pie into the Hirshhorn, the modern art museum. He was skeptical at first ("I could do that!"), but that didn't last long. I knew I could pique his interest in contemporary art. Traditional is a harder sell. Here's one of our favorite displays, not really a work of art, but my son liked it.
We took a photo outside the Hirshnorn, because the shape of the building is so cool.
I could've spent the next two hours in the National Galleries, but I couldn't do that to my kid. So, we finished our time in the Museum of Natural History.
The rotunda is beautiful, inside and out. Our first mission was to photograph all the most odd-looking animals we could find.
The gemstone and mineral exhibit was vast. We discovered that, in addition to beautiful gemstones (emerald, topaz, sapphire, the Hope Diamond), there are minerals on Earth that look like silver hair, slabs of toffee, and gorgeous fatty blobs.
This sample was huge; taller than me, with the pedestal. I wish I could remember what it is, but it looked as if someone had moved it over from the Hirshhorn.
I know paying taxes isn't pleasant, my friends, but after visiting the Smithsonian I'm a more willing taxpayer. These museums are gorgeous. We visited only a fraction of the museums on offer, and admission is absolutely free.
