Earlier this year we took a family trip to Washington, D.C., our first time with the kids and hubby and I’s first time back since shortly after we met over 12 years ago! Unfortunately our trip coincided with a pretty big snow storm so we weren’t able to be as “touristy” as we had hoped, but we still got a lot in (including visiting with family and friends which was a top priority).
We decided to use our short amount of tourist time visiting only the Smithsonian museums for a number of reasons. First, they’re easy to access with close in free street parking if you get there early enough in the day (the snow storm helped, too!) Plus the museums themselves are free so we were able to stay as long as we wanted without feeling like we have to get our monies worth. And it’s the Smithsonian, what’s better than that?!?!
We started at the Air and Space Museum (obviously, if you know hubby and his airplane obsession) and we just happened to hit a special event day where they had different art and craft areas set up for the kids who were able to make aviator goggles and headphones as well as design and construct parachutes. We got to see the Spirit of St. Louis which was super exciting for Honeybun since she and hubby had been watching the 1957 Lindbergh movie at home as well as lots of other cool aircraft though we were disappointed the moon rock was not in its display case.
We then headed to the American Indian museum next door. It was recommended by my cousin that we have lunch there and she was right, the lunch offerings and quality are phenomenal! An array of Native and South American recipes at super reasonable prices (Honeybun got a buffalo burger for $8, we paid over $10 at a local food trucks in Florida just a few weeks before!) We got way too much food but everything looked so good and we wanted to try everything. Unfortunately, the food was the best thing about the museum and the actual exhibits severely lacked in content and being able to hold my children’s attention to needless to say, we didn’t stay long, especially with the snow moving in but did spend a decent amount of time in the kids discovery area where they built an igloo and completed other skills based tasks.
The next day we got a late start due to being snowed in at my cousin’s house but headed into the American History museum once the sun came out. I LOVED this museum. It is well laid out and was entertaining for the girls with its story-telling format and interactive exhibits. We did most of the exhibits and the girls learned a lot about their country!
Our next stop was the Natural History Museum. We didn’t spend a lot of time there as we had been to the Natural History museums in both New York and Denver in the fall so the girls were a little bit over looking at the same dinosaur bones and animal displays.
Our last day (after a day visiting friends), we went to the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center which is outside the city near Dulles airport before catching our evening flight. The larger part of the air and space museum, the Hazy holds many aeronautic wonders including one of the Concords, a blimp, and a space shuttle. There were a few interactive experiences for hubby and the girls and we could have spent much more time there than we had! (NOTE: the museum is free, parking is not so keep that in mind but buses do run frequently from the city).
There are, of course, a million more things to do in D.C. and next time we hope to be able to visit the Lincoln Memorial and National Monument if the weather is nicer and can’t wait until the kids are older and we can take them to the Holocaust and Spy Museums, but for now the free Smithsonian museums were just perfect for rounding out our trip!
I agree with your assessment of the Museum of the American Indian. I think more went into the architecture of the building (which is beautiful) than content.
I hope they continue building the exhibits because there is so much to share and learn about that part of our American story!
It opened back when I was in college, and honestly, I haven’t been since. I suspect if the exhibits don’t have more content by now, it’s not coming any time soon :-/