Famous Elephant
Hope Diamond
Sea Monster Bones
Flying Reptile
Live Flowers
Emerald Necklace
Kid trips
Museum of Natural History, Washington D.C.
Visiting Washington D.C. may leave your kids cold if you are visitng Arlington Cemetery. A visit to the art galleries may leave you embarrassed. On visiting an art gallery, my three year old screeched from her stroller, "Mummy. Look! All the ladies are nukkid (naked)"
In Washington D.C. there are ton of museums than you can drag a tired cranky kid to. Best to take it slowly and follow what your kids are interested in, be it planes or kermit the frog. My kids love the Museum of Natural History.
While I love the hope diamond and all the other jewels, they can't be torn away from the stuffed animals. This includes the huge elephant in the entrance hall and a magnificent tiger suspended from the ceiling. Personally, I can't help thinking of the past killing of now rare animals.
The hall features 274 mammal specimens. The exhibit takes visitors around the world to see how mammals have adapted to different habitats, from the sweltering desert to the bone-chilling north.
Next favourite and one of mine as well, the dinosaur exhibit, one of the best in the world. The exhibit includes Dinosaurs, Life in the Ancient Seas, Fossil Mammals and Fossil Plants. The bones of a real sea monster run the length of a large room.
My children also like the insect zoo. They watched a tarantula feeding demonstration. The insects are alive. I'm not sure if that is better than stuffed!
No visit to a museum is complete without the gift boutique. My kids depress me with their gift shop anxiety. The whole of Sea World or Universal Studios before them, and they want the junk shops. Right now. I'm tough. No shopping until the end of the visit.
There is a store in the Museum but I have to admit that we went wild at the Air and Space Museum and The American History Museum (during our first visit, the History Museum reopens November 21, 2008) Buffy the Vampire lunch box, gummie army men, spacecraft, and Rosie the Rivetter gear. Not to mention the Folkways CDs.
Admission: FREE like all the Smithsonian museums.
Hours: The museum is open every day of the year except December 25.
Regular hours are 10:00 AM to 5:30 PM.
Note: the Museum is open until 7:30 PM on Saturday and Sunday of Columbus Day weekend.
