After the National Museum of the American Indian that I last posted about, we had time for one more. We headed to the Air & Space Museum, which I knew to be excellent because of my previous visits. The museum was buried beneath scaffolding and repair work. Orange cones, steel plates and blocked sidewalks surrounded it, but we were assured it was still open.
From their website: “The museum has been undergoing a seven-year renovation that began in 2018 and includes redesigning all 23 exhibitions and presentation spaces, complete refacing of the exterior cladding, replacement of outdated mechanical systems and other repairs and improvements. The entire project is expected to be complete in 2025.” The first eight exhibits open up today, actually: October 14.
But all of this was beside the point. It’s such a popular free museum that one needs to reserve a time to visit online, prior to a visit. This is a new thing since I was here last, so I didn’t know about it. We checked the website real quick to see if we could get inside before our evening flight. Nope. All booked for the day.
We crossed the grassy National Mall to the other side, and came out at the sculpture garden beside the National Gallery of Art. We skipped the sculptures and headed for the National Museum of Natural History.
Whatever direction we walked inside, we saw marvelous things. Mostly animals, and mostly preserved via high quality taxidermy in some action pose conveying the life that once was. Another large category was skeletons, usually of extinct animals, again arranged in dynamic poses. There was even a section for mummified species.
I thought this top-down view would help show how gigantic the whale is, but it does not. It does show how big the jellyfish is! Interestingly, the Aleut’s kayak is shown here to be several feet away from the whale when in the photo above, it appears to be inches away.
Viewed at this museum from its face, the panther’s fur is solid black, exactly as you expect. Viewed in bright lights from his haunch, this is simply a very dark leopard, and the spots are easily found. Here’s a fun fact: a panther is not a species but either a dark jaguar or a dark leopard.
Speaking of an all black member of the family, how about an all white one? Albinos are animals devoid of melanin. They have pink eyes. Sometimes the albino trait will only show up rarely in descendants, and sometime there can be a larger population of albinos. I visited sacred white snakes in Iwakuni, Japan, in which all descendants were albino. Anyhoo…there happen to be more albino squirrels in Washington, D.C. than you ever would guess. When we left the museum and walked to go catch our ride, we were lucky enough to spot an albino squirrel at the National Mall.
We caught an Uber right there to the airport and had a relaxing flight home. Due to the time changing in reverse, we got home before midnight. :o)
Conscious Engagement 
This is just amazimg. I haven’t been to DC since the mid 90’s. Saw the Holocaust Museum and Postal Museum and some of the Smithsonian. Back then, you could wander in the White House and a friend of mine and I got lost in the tunnels of the Capitol where the junior representatives had offices. A very different time. These last two posts of yours from DC have been amazing! So much to take in. Beautiful! Thanks for the history and the great photos!
Aw, thank you so much, Bonnie. The Postal Museum! Of course you would go. I have not seen it. The Holocaust Museum, yes. I have been so very lucky to have been to D.C. multiple times, beginning with some high school programs, then as a result of 30 years of being a federal employee. I also remember some fun times exploring beneath the Capitol…we took an underground subway somewhere…directly to the White House maybe? Also, I’ve always simply walked right in the door of the museums – having to pre-schedule a visit time, then stand in line for an hour to get in seems nuts. But then, I’m grateful these museums are popular. People simply can’t go wrong spending time in a museum. I am eager to see the new and improved Air & Space museum next time we find ourselves there.
An excellent substitution, well photographed as always. The displays are so much more imaginative than Kensington’s Natural History museum which we visited often in the 1940s and ’50s
I agree that the substitution was satisfactory! We were pretty delighted with everything we saw, and we did not get to see it all. This museum is well done and packed with exhibits. Ha, ha, imaginative is right! Those taxidermy samples were outstanding. The two lionesses fighting a water buffalo? Just, wow. And the leaping tiger over our heads…I imagined a small child looking up and being startled.
Thanks for doing the museum trips for me. I can’t do them. Can’t walk slow. 🙂 I have never seen an albino squirrel! Fascinating! Glad you made it home again. Hugs.
Marlene, I am very happy to do your museums trips for you. Just let me know which one to explore next. I am eager to find a way to get to the Heard Museum, as a Cherokee friend of mine has an exhibit there through January. But do tell me what else you want to see. ;o)
I had never seen an albino squirrel either! This was so exciting. What made it especially neat is that I spotted it on my own, and stopped in my tracks. It was so fun to just discover it. After a few minutes, I realized that a dozen other people were also stopped in their tracks, but for a moment I thought I was the only witness to something amazing.