Washington DC: Day 6

Bob Aron
Sep 6, 2022
3 min read

More Museums...

Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

There is a lot to see here. Too much for one day, at least for me. We started on the 4th floor and almost never left it. A social justice themed exhibit and then a music section that I could have spent at least another hour visiting. Walking through that section really makes you realize how different the music of this country (and most of the western world for that matter) would be today if only Europeans had lived in this country for the past 300 years. On the 3rd floor, I must have spent 10 minutes alone just watching a running video of James Baldwin interviews on various topics. Seriously, you can't cover this museum in one day unless you spend 8 hours there. I never have that much stamina for any museum.

Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

This is a typical natural history museum. Neanderthals, geology, dinosaurs. It's a good one though. Highlight for me was trying to capture some live butterflies in the special exhibit. Butterflies are difficult subjects, especially in a tight space.

Evening Stroll on the Mall

After a nice dinner at China Chilcano, one of the many Jose Andres restaurants in DC, I tried to pull out the Canon for some dusk pictures on the mall. Not too successful, but glad to at least make the effort. I’ve gotten out of my photography rhythm and trying to get back at it again. Still struggling with the EOS R after so many years with my 7D. Fireflies! It was cool to see them everywhere as we walked around.

Museum Scoreboard:

National Archives - Definite must see, though we really just had time for the big 3 documents: Declaration of Independence, Constitution, Bill of Rights.
Museum of American History - A casual museum with American cultural type exhibits. Not a staunchly, serious place but some interesting and amusing stuff. I had to explain the classic Julia Child SNL sketch (it was SNL right?) to Nick and Danielle as were walking the Food exhibition which included Julia Child’s actual kitchen. They had my Mom’s olive green crock pot there! Sorry no photo
Smithsonian National Museum of the America Indian - A good museum. Interesting building, mostly topics that I knew about to some degree but presented well. Until January 2023 there is an outstanding exhibit of Preston Singletary’s glass sculpture work. Really worth checking out.
National Gallery of Art - East Wing (Modern Art) - As you may know from reading my travel blog entry from the Tate Modern in London, I have an opinion about 'Modern Art'. Most of the art was from the past 125 years and included many well known artists (Picasso, Pollack, Matisse) and many others that I'm not overly familiar with. I'm by no means knowledgeable in arts after you get past the big names. It had a good variety though and we spent all morning enjoying the galleries. Thumbs up!
Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History - OK, I love dinosaur, origin of man, and science (in general) exhibits, but natural history museums aren't always my favorite. Many exhibits are geared for a younger audience, or only cover details I already know. The one we just visited in London just didnt do it for me. But, I really did enjoy the one here in DC. I think it's the layout and ability to just bounce around and pick up nuggets of interesting info without having to walk a sequence of plaques to read. We also timed it right to check out some live butterflies - bonus!
Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture - I would highly recommend this museum. Well curated and so much stuff from pop culture to the serious side of our countries past. Take all day, or several shorter visits.

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