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Sometimes, DC gets tired of being a sprawling pox upon northern Virginia and decides to pretend it's another city. Like Chicago. Which it was doing yesterday when a bunch of us from Hollins went up to visit the Smithsonian and it started snowing like a sonuvabitch.
Aside from the cold and blizard conditions, it was loads of fun. The snow ment less traffic and, my dislike of most of DC aside, I <3 the Smithsonian. Museum after museum of cool stuff, and it's all free. I highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't been to DC yet or who ever plans to go. The National Air and Space Museum in particular rivals the Imperial War Museum and the Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio for "largest amount of cool stuff under one roof." I've been there so many times that I could give the tour, but every time I go, it's still fun, and the thrill of seeing Apollo and Gemini spacecraft and the Wright flyer never diminishes.
The Natural History Museum also rocks. I hadn't been there since I was a kid (and was crushed to find out that the Hope diamond was not, in fact, the size of a man's fist), but it's just as much fun even when you're not six. The giant sloth skeletons in the ice age section are still fucking terrifying, though. I spent half the time in the hall of mammals going "ooh my God, I want an [insert species here] for a pet," and love the T-rex and Dipodicus skeletons, but those giant sloths creep me out almost as much as they did when I was a small child.
The American History Museum, which I'd never been to before, was also thoroughly enjoyable, mainly because they had an exhibit on American wars (French and Indian all the way through Iraq II), and you can't go wrong with military history. And I got a CD of civil war songs and a deck of WWII aircraft recognition cards at the gift store (note to self: next time make sure someone goes with me to forcibly keep me out of those places). The CD doesn't have all of my favourite songs (neither version of "Battle Cry of Freedon," no "Bonnie Blue Flag" or "Faded Coat of Blue" or "Stonewall Jackson's Way" or "Tenting Tonight on the Old Campground") but it's still wonderful angsty nostalgic fun. I'd forgotten how brilliantly saptastic Victorian songs can get. "Somebody's Darling," in particular is so overwrought that it's almost impossible to take it seriously.
Aside from the cold and blizard conditions, it was loads of fun. The snow ment less traffic and, my dislike of most of DC aside, I <3 the Smithsonian. Museum after museum of cool stuff, and it's all free. I highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't been to DC yet or who ever plans to go. The National Air and Space Museum in particular rivals the Imperial War Museum and the Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio for "largest amount of cool stuff under one roof." I've been there so many times that I could give the tour, but every time I go, it's still fun, and the thrill of seeing Apollo and Gemini spacecraft and the Wright flyer never diminishes.
The Natural History Museum also rocks. I hadn't been there since I was a kid (and was crushed to find out that the Hope diamond was not, in fact, the size of a man's fist), but it's just as much fun even when you're not six. The giant sloth skeletons in the ice age section are still fucking terrifying, though. I spent half the time in the hall of mammals going "ooh my God, I want an [insert species here] for a pet," and love the T-rex and Dipodicus skeletons, but those giant sloths creep me out almost as much as they did when I was a small child.
The American History Museum, which I'd never been to before, was also thoroughly enjoyable, mainly because they had an exhibit on American wars (French and Indian all the way through Iraq II), and you can't go wrong with military history. And I got a CD of civil war songs and a deck of WWII aircraft recognition cards at the gift store (note to self: next time make sure someone goes with me to forcibly keep me out of those places). The CD doesn't have all of my favourite songs (neither version of "Battle Cry of Freedon," no "Bonnie Blue Flag" or "Faded Coat of Blue" or "Stonewall Jackson's Way" or "Tenting Tonight on the Old Campground") but it's still wonderful angsty nostalgic fun. I'd forgotten how brilliantly saptastic Victorian songs can get. "Somebody's Darling," in particular is so overwrought that it's almost impossible to take it seriously.