After Ford’s Theater, we walked to the National Archives. Another place that you cannot take pictures. We made it a fairly quick stop – just went in to see the original Constitution, Declaration of Independence, and Bill of Rights (along with other original documents). It wasn’t too busy, so it didn’t take that long. I always forget how faded they now look (hence why you can’t take pictures), especially the Declaration of Independence, which you can barely tell what it is! There are other exhibits that you can visit there as well, but no one in our party was really interested.
After the Archives, we walked across the street, through the Smithsonian Sculpture Garden, to the Natural History Smithsonian. My biggest tip, if you have kids, is to pick out what is most important to see, so you can get to that first before they (and you) get too worn out. Luckily, since we have been so many times, I knew exactly where we wanted to go. Dinosaurs, bones, gems (Hope Diamond) and mummies are always popular with the kids. There was also a special Narwhal exhibit we wanted to see.
We then headed to the American History Smithsonian next door. Again, I knew what we wanted to see. Old Glory is always a must. There was also a religion exhibit that we were interested in seeing – an original manuscript and a first run print of the Book of Mormon. Pretty cool! The Julia Child Kitchen is always fun too. I enjoy the presidential memorabilia and the dresses from the First Ladies!
We stopped by the Regan building (which is where we parked), for a very late lunch (Smithsonian’s are way too expensive – luckily, we had lots of snacks)… We later found out that our credit card was skimmed at one of the restaurants where we got food. Oh joy!
