Visiting Washington DC, Part 1 - Smithsonian

We couldn't believe that our timing to visit Washington, DC coincided with the peak of the cherry blossoms. Word from those in the area had it that the blooms were a little earlier than usual - very fortunate for us! Having only seen DC in January on one other limited visit, the contrast was amazing and the views of all the traditional sights were tremendously enhanced with the banks of luscious blooms.

The only downside of hitting the cherry blossoms and the long holiday weekend for Easter was the size of the crowds, particularly at the Smithsonian museums. Actually, there were only a few that were extremely crowded: the Air and Space, American History, Natural History museums and the National Archives. Touring the interior of the Capital, the White House and riding the elevator in the Washington Monument backed up with very long lines in all directions. To introduce our kids to the various aspects of DC, it was still fine. If you want to actually take in these particular offerings, go at a time when most schools are in session. Although there are still many field trips, we found a large number of field trips to be those from out of state, touring the Capitol during spring break.


This gorgeous spring scene was on the 'backside' of the Smithsonian Castle (facing away from the Mall). We were delighted to find this by chance and also delighted that the large crowds were not aware of this very lovely spot.

We arrived at the Air and Space Museum about 15 minutes before opening time and found a very long line with several large field trip groups. Once the doors opened, however, the crowd moved through security at the entrance very quickly and the museum is large enough to disperse the crowd. Because we've already toured the Kennedy Space Center, NASA in Houston, the Pensacola area military museums and Kitty Hawk, we didn't require a lot of time to see the exhibits here. The Smithsonian has added another museum that houses more recent aviation exhibits (such as the Concord) several miles from the Mall buildings. We didn't take the time to go, but would highly recommend it if you've not had the opportunities to see the other wonderful aviation and space exploration facilities in the country.

The displays of milestones in aviation and space exploration are terrific to take in and are displayed in a very inviting way.

We couldn't resist capturing the guys with the Spirit of St. Louis!

In the space exploration area of the museum, we took advantage of the very unique display of the solar system with everything in accurate proportions (Jupiter is so very, very large!). The moons of the various planets are also included for perspective. Truly terrific for our 9 yo!

Even with the exposure to the various rockets at NASA and Kennedy, their size still takes a moment to absorb!

Speaking of absorption, that's about enough for one post - DC will be continued in later installments, as will Yorktown, Jamestown and Williamsburg from our Virginia trek. We've been very, very busy!