We started our day at the Smithsonian Castle. The castle is actually the first building of the Smithsonian Institution and the original museum. The Castle is a unique structure in Washington DC. The entire institution was originally funded in 1835 by British scientist James Smithson’s will “for the increase and diffusion of knowledge”. What makes his $500,000 donation unique is that James Smithson never visited the United States.
Unlike the smart chandelier investment for the Capitol in 1965, Congress invested Smithson’s funds in bonds that failed. It was not until 1846 that Congress decided to replace the funds to create what has become the Smithsonian Institution.
The castle has three floors and multiple sections. The main area in the center is the great hall.
At one end of the castle you will find the Commons which has beautiful architecture and a display of American Wildlife.
The castle is located near the mall between the Washington Monument and the Capitol. It is not as large as a castle, but its appearance does have the look of a castle.
From the castle, we walked across the mall and down the street a short distance to the National Museum of American History.
The American History Museum has three floors of exhibits. There were over 20 different areas to visit on the day we were there. Three of the larger exhibits were The Price of Freedom, The American Presidency, and America on the Move.
The Price of Freedom Exhibit discussed the history of America at war from before the revolutionary war until today. It described the cost in lives, in losses, in pain and suffering. It also showed how the wars had changed and developed the character of our country.
The American Presidency showed a history of all the presidents so far. It also covered each president’s impact on the country. It also demonstrated how, historically, power has passed from one president to another with great ease, and how presidents, despite their different views, have worked together for the country. A related exhibit, entitled “The First Ladies,” showed how the wives of presidents have also had an impact in the leading of our country.
The third large exhibit in the American History Museum was entitled America on The Move. It traced the history of transportation in America.
A significant portion of the displays addressed shipping. One example of the shipping displays is the sailing ship shown below.
It was not surprising that a large part of America on the move dealt with automobiles. One of the larger displays outlined the first transcontinental automobile trip. In 1903, Horatio_Nelson_Jackson made a $50 bet that transcontinental auto travel was possible. It took 63 days and cost over $8,000, but he completed the trip. At least he won the bet. You can read his story using the link above. After learning the details of his trip, we have it easy today, even with terrible traffic and other drivers on the road.
We also have better cars to drive as another display proved.
Our third museum of the day was the National Museum of Natural History .
The Natural History Museum is on three floors. It has more displays than you can easily count. The museum covers history from very early on until today. The museum has the largest collection of artifacts of any natural history museum in the world.
One of the larger displays in the museum is right inside the front door. You are greeted by a huge elephant when you enter.
The minerals display includes thousands of samples, such as the Hope Diamond and this beautiful white crystal scolecite. You could spend a whole day just looking at the minerals display.
The museum has done a magnificent job of displaying the animals in representations of their habitats. The polar bear shown below is only a small representation of all the animals shown in the museum. The displays are so lifelike, it is hard to remember they are not alive.
There is also a large segment of the museum dedicated to dinosaurs. Here is a picture of one of their larger dinosaur skeleton mock ups.
We had a very full day visiting the three museums.