Dino Day

  Washington DC, District of Columbia, United States
Thursday, September 18, 2008

Smithsonian Castle

Washington Monument

After the round of golf and lunch, I walked to the National Mall.  On my route was the Holocaust Museum, which I have been planning to visit.  However, today was too beautiful of a day to partake in such a somber experience.  I remember when I visited the Dachau concentration camp, that the weather was cloudy and drizzling.  I felt it was such an appropriate environment for the sites I was witnessing.  Today, it was sunny and pleasant, so I passed.  Instead I toured the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. 

Rotunda at Museum of Natural History

At the main entrance, you are greeted by an elephant mounted in the rotunda.  The elephant is marching towards the Hall of Mammals.  Here, you learn what separates mammals from the rest of the animal kingdom (ear bones, mother's milk and hair/fur).  Some of the stuffed mammals are a little mangy and needs a new coat of fur.  I did like some of the action poses found in this gallery.  Next to the mammals is a special exhibit on the photography of Richard Evans Schultes.  He spent decades researching how native people of the Amazon used plants and is considered the father of ethnobotany...think Sean Connery in "Medicine Man".  This was one of three special exhibit galleries.  The other special displays were a photo gallery of oceanic marine life and an exhibit on dirt ?!?

Mummified cattle

I was a little surprised to see exhibits on African and Western Cultures in a museum of natural history.  I was even more surprised to see in the Western cultures room a mummified bull.  The last time I was in the museum was on a hot 4th of July afternoon...I was hiding from the scorching heat waiting for the fireworks.  So there has been changes; most noticeably the addition of an IMAX theater.  I purchased tickets to a showing of  Sea Monsters 3D and Dinosaurs 3D: Giants of Patagonia.  It cost $8.5 for the first show and $5 for any additional shows.  I enjoyed the Sea Monsters show more because it followed the theoretical life of an aquatic dinosaur with music from Peter Gabriel.  Giants of Patagonia was probably more accurate but I was nodding during the show because it was slow paced.

Hope Diamond

No trip to the Natural History museum is complete without a visit to see the Hope Diamond.  Also in the gallery is an informative display on how the Hope Diamond was formed.  In an adjacent room is a collection of other gems and jewelry, but I could not find the Heart of the Ocean.