Background

The Museum Project represents my most ambitious New Year's resolution of 2010. I moved to Northern Virginia two years ago and, after the initial post-move binge of sightseeing, found that there was still so much of DC that I hadn't taken in. So this is it...I plan to visit all of the museums, monuments, and historical sites in the city over the coming year with a few select spots oustide the district added in for good measure.

Twyla Tharp said "Art is the only way of running away without leaving home"...with the exceptions of tequila and my current obsession with LOST, I think that she was right on the money. My hope is that running away with the Smithsonian will have fewer repercussions than a bottle of Patron.

Monday, February 22, 2010

National Museum of Natural History (Smithsonian)

My good friend Karen made the trek down from Delaware to hang out in D.C. for the day.  After a lovely brunch featuring beignets, fried green tomatoes and Bloody Marys, we made our way down to the mall as fast as our over-stuffed bellies allowed. 




I hadn't been to the MNH since the same 9th grade field trip that took me to the Botanic Garden.  I have very fuzzy photos of the African Elephant and the Hope Diamond, but no other recollections of the visit.   The museum was opened in 1910 and was one of the first of the Smithsonian complex to open to the public.  In addition to the elephant and the Hope Diamond (both still there), the museum has the expected dinosaurs, early mammals and geology / archaeology that one would expect. 

I can't believe that I didn't remember the Giant Ground Sloth.  It was definitely the most impressive thing I saw this trip...way cooler than T. rex or the Hope Diamond.  Giant Ground Sloths were huge, elephant sized animals that could rear up or walk on the ground and they have a lot of them at the museum.  At least half of my pictures from the day were sloth-related in some way. 

Karen being attacked by a Giant Sloth


Giant Sloth (left) and Saber Toothed Cat (right) faceoff - I embellished a bit

There is a great Insect Zoo upstairs and a butterfly / flower co-evolution exhibit.  No one seemed as amused as Karen and I that the insect zoo is sponsored by Orkin.



Nature's Best Photography Exhibit  has the best photos submitted from this year's competition in categories ranging from Animal Antics to Indigenous People.  A Rare Encounter: The Hope and Wittelsbach-Graff Diamonds is a face off between two of the largest blue diamonds in the world. The museum is trying to determine if they were cut from the same original stone while the smaller, Wittelsbach-Graff diamond is on loan this year.  We had to zip through Written In Bone: Forensics Files of the 17th Century Chesapeake but what we did see was very interactive and looked great for older kids.  Links to all the exhibits are on the website: http://www.mnh.si.edu/. 


Hope Diamond (out of its setting for this year only)


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