One of the best part about homeschooling? Field trips! We took the time to travel to Washington, D.C. this week, and we’re glad we did.
The Museum of American History is only open for a few more weeks before it closes for its two-year renovation. A shame, as we will start tackling American History NEXT year, but I digress. There were so many amazing relics there at the museum. Inspirational. It was truly a shame that we couldn’t see everything – some of the exhibits have already started being pulled for the renovation.
The flag that hung on the Pentagon after the 9-11 attack.
We spent some time looking at the original Star Spangled Banner – shame that we couldn’t take pictures there, but it is amazing to see a piece of history that closely. Clyde was fascinated with the missing star (“How could someone steal it?” “No-one stole it, it was a gift.” “What kind of gift is that?”) and with the fact that it wasn’t Betsy Ross who sewed the flag. It was a good opportunity to talk about not believing everything you read, and the value of going to original sources.
The kids were fascinated by the scrapbooks – “Hey Mom, you do that”. Indeed!
Much of the 3rd floor was already closed off, but we ventured up in hopes of finding the Muppet exhibit. It was disappointing that there were only 3 cases left – very small, but it was pretty neat to see Lance Armstrong’s bike.
The Museum of Natural History was much more crowded, but still enjoyable. Of course, we went to see the dinosaurs, but we vetoed the mammal hall to go see the gemstones! Clyde was convinced that his grandma should receive a Hope Diamond replica for Christmas. I think Grandma would prefer the real deal!
I thought the Hope Diamond was okay, but would prefer to have this to accessorize with it.
Both Bonnie and Clyde were fascinated by the Western Civilization exhibit – which tied in nicely with the history that we had studied last year. They checked out the ancient peoples, and Bonnie spent an extra long time watching the videos on mummification. The whole reason we came to see the exhibit? They wanted to see a real mummified cat.
Bonnie and Clyde’s aunt works at the Freer Gallery of Art, so we stopped by to say hello. Bonnie was tired, so she waited outside with Dad, and the rest of us went inside for a highlights tour.
The Japanese scrolls were beautiful, but even more fascinating was the Peacock Room. Clyde loved the story of how the room came to be. Here’s a link to the online brochure here: http://www.asia.si.edu/exhibitions/current/peacock.htm
The rest of our visit, we enjoyed the Haupt Gardens, and the Museum of African Art. We even took a few minutes inside the Smithsonian Castle (Clyde loves castles). All in all, a successful trip!
