It was supposed to be a snowstorm, named Saturn, apparently that caused the city to shut its offices and cancel flights. And it was yucky out. But we were on a mission. A mission to conquer yet one more Smithsonian in this city and come hail, or rain, or slush or cold or wind... We were gonna do it.
We parked right in front of the American History Museum. Literally, right at the front doors. Yes, one more reason to love this city.
The American History Museum is fantastic and actually, surprisingly very baby friendly. We hit "America on the Move" right away just in case Gabriel needed to crash. We wanted to make sure he got at least one exhibit in. We let him loose and he wobbled himself right up to the trains and cars and wagons, all the while making "brrrrrrooooom" sounds with his lips. Yes, this boy loves his trucks. Dad broke out the harmonica to make train sounds for him and that got quite a few looks of interest from teenagers also on tour with their schools.
Some highlights for us: the "dogoggles" for the dog who sat in one of the first cars to travel off-road across the country. His name was Bud. A bulldog. They are seriously amazing and wondering how I can get my hands on a pair of vintage dogoggles for Abe. Also a huge fan of the "kidillac" pedal car for toddlers.
The car from my childhood, the one that went off the road in a snowstorm.
Tv from Jordan's childhood.... missing aluminum rabbits ears necessary for reception.
We checked out the food section and got to see food guru Julia Child's kitchen which was donated to the museum. It is impressive, huge and very well organized and equipped, I mean, obviously, given her profession. I would LOVE a kitchen like that.
Another favorite, appealing to my love of fine fashion, was the display of inaugural gowns they had. First Lady Michelle Obama's dress was stunning and very classy and elegant. But I also really loved Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis's simple yellow gown--always a fashion icon!
Lastly we got to see the original stars and stripes flag on a very darkly lit display. It is incredibly fragile and pieces of it had been cut out and given away as souvenirs before it was donated to the museum. In fact, one of the stars is missing! I bet that star is worth a heck of a lot of money now!
Overall, fabulous museum and one of my favorites for sure. And one of the great things for mamas is, you can actually get your babies out of the stroller and let them toddle around looking at everything since most is either encased behind glass or barred off by rails. It's a very extensive museum, so there is plenty to go back for.
You might also like:
No comments:
Post a Comment