Smithsonian Museum of Natural History

It took two days but I made my way around most of the Smithsonian Natural History Museum.  Even at that I am sure I missed some parts.  It's bigger then it looks.  Quite a few really interesting exhibits, and certainly a must see if you are in DC.  It was hard to get decent pictures, but here are a few.

Ocean Hall

Mastodon

 

Extinct giant deer

 

Wolly mammoth

 

 

The Hall of Bones was really interesting

 

 

They have a great forensic anthropology exhibit with several skeletons from the original settlers in Virginia

 

Ancient Roman mural

 

Great gem and mineral exhibit too.  Here's the Hope diamond

 

 

 

 

Marie Antoinette's earrings

 

The U.S. Capital

I scheduled a tour of the US Capital and spent a little time walking around.  It was really cold and windy, so I spent less time outside than in!  Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the area.

The east facade of the Capital, where you enter the visitors center.

The west side, with the Capital Christmas tree in front.

 

Inside the newly completed visitors center.

 

A replica of the statue on top of the dome.

 

Inside of the rotunda dome.

 

 

From the Hall of Statues, the old House chamber.

 

The Capital Complex

I followed up my tour around the memorials with a tour of the Capital area buildings.  In addition to the Capital itself, I also toured the Library of Congress, the Supreme Court, and the National Archives.  The Library of Congress was really nice, it had quite a few really well done exhibits, including one of three original Guttenberg bibles.  And the National Archives was fantastic, in addition to several original letters from George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, they have an original map from the battle of Gettysburg, President Taft's bathtub, Shaquille O'Neil's shoe, and of course, the original Declaration of Independence, the original Constitution, and the original Bill of Rights.  And an original of the Magna Carta from the late 1200's if I remember correctly.  I didn't get as many pictures, since flash photography isn't allowed inside a lot of these exhibits.  But here are a few the whet your appetite.

The ceiling and frieze in the Library of Congress.

 

 

 

The south facade of the National Archives

 

The front of the Supreme Court building.

 

The National Mall, Part 2

Continuing my tour around the memorials...

Looking west from the top of the Washington Memorial, with the WWII Memorial in the foreground and the Lincoln Memorial to the back.

More of the World War Two Memorial.  Very, very well done.

One star for each 100 casualties of the war.  Click the picture to enlarge it.

 

From the iconic Vietnam War Memorial.  As moving as I anticipated it would be.

 

The Wall.

 

Looking down the Wall to the Washington Memorial.

 

The Korean War Memorial.

 

The Franklin Roosevelt Memorial.  Less well known, but one I really enjoyed.

 

The bread line.

 

Several of these guys flew back and forth all morning.  Looks like they were going to the Vice Presidents Residence, or something else in that area.

 

Looking from the Washington Memorial towards the Capital.  More of that tomorrow...