One of the best museums in D.C. that isn't free is the Spy Museum, a massive collection of everything espionage. With new interactive displays and a spy game that you play the whole way through the museum, this is a fantastic place for the whole family. The number of fun details in the museum are fantastic and the number of items on display is extensive. You could spend hours in this museum and still not see everything. So much information is available that it's rather overwhelming and I would like to get back and see the museum again. The one downside is that the museum is very busy since it is such a fun place for all ages. I visited this museum back when it was at its old location and the redo of the museum has made it infinitely better. It's well worth visiting.
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The history of the postal service doesn't seem like the most exciting of museums, but the National Postal Museum is one of the coolest and most interesting museums I've ever been to. Arranged to view history through the eye of the postal service, this place has some of the most fun interactive exhibits I've seen and really give you a perspective on history different to what you'd normally think. One of my favorite things was the stagecoach that lets you climb into it and see just how cramped riding across the West would have been. We were able to go on a tour with one of the volunteers who knew lots of historical anecdotes about the items in the collection and was able to show us the most notable in the collection. This included a mail car from a train, Amelia Earhart's flight suit and the mailer the Hope diamond was sent to the Smithsonian in. The museum isn't very crowded and is a great place to spend a day. I could have stayed far longer there as the place is just fascinating.
Recently got back from Washington D.C., a city I consider one of the easiest to travel in the US and always interesting. My first stop was the American History Museum, one of the most well known museums in the country. The museum is very large and with limited time I would suggest trying to time it so you can take a tour with one of the volunteers that work there. Unfortunately in this case our flight came in late so we were coming in rather near closing time. Most of the areas are relatively comfortable to walk through without them being too crowded save for the entertainment history area and the First Ladies area. These two areas are very popular and busy. Of course these are where some of the most famous things in the museum are as well. The transportation area I always thought was set up in an interesting way and is very crowd free. I think one of the weaknesses of this museum is that they have so many items it's overwhelming and a bit hard to find a focus. I'll talk about that later in relation to the Smithsonian Postal Museum, which has even more items but a very clear focus about how they present history. The American History Museum feels like it's trying to cover everything and therefore you would need days to properly get a feel for everything. This is a museum that is well worth seeing the highlights of with a guide if at all possible. Tennessee State Museum offers author talks certain weekends with authors who have written about Tennessee historical figures, Tennessee history, or are fiction authors located in Nashville (particularly if their books have to do with Tennessee or Nashville). I went this weekend to see the talk with Elizabeth Elkins and Scott Williams who wrote nonfiction books about Timothy Demonbreun and David Crockett respectively. The author talk was well moderated and very informative with the ability to get their books signed afterwards (the museum offered a discount on their books as well that day). It's a free event, so author talks are well worth looking for on the museum events page. The museum itself is free as well and since it has moved to the new building looks state of the art now. Visitors follow a circular plan through a timeline of Tennessee history from prehistoric times to modern. The museum is also now located conveniently next to Bicentennial Mall and the Farmer's Market, so if you want a good lunch it's within easy walking distance from one of the many food stalls at the Farmer's Market (we had excellent Korean). Bicentennial Mall, which is also a state park, also often has shows at the ampitheatre on the weekend and is a great place to walk. McNairy Spring, which was one of the first places that trappers came to in Tennessee including the famous Demonbreun, is now incorporated into a fountain at the edge of the Mall.
It's the first week of the Ren Faire in Tennessee. There's something about the Ren Faire that ends up being the hottest thing you'll ever attend in the summer and I mean that literally. It doesn't matter how cool the weather starts out, I always end up overheated and with sunburn. I did a little better today since I got there at opening and the opening weekend crowd was a little thinner (the nine million things going on in Nashville this weekend probably also helped).
I was able to enjoy some of the shows, including the Lords of Edge, a comedy sword trio. There was Paolo the juggler. The Buckle and Swash show was pirate comedy entertainment. I was also to get some good pictures of people in costume including the queen and her court and the fairies. Of course everyone goes to watch the jousting, which was packed. There were two female jousters this year, which was new. The male jousters were excellent with several hits between the two of them (the women only did the games and not the actual jousting with lances). There are games to try as well. I tried the knife throwing but wasn't too good. I was far better at archery. I ended up buying a circlet crown right away and then getting a henna tattoo. Prices are always high at the Ren Faire, it's just to be expected (and sort of a running joke). Imagine my surprise at witnessing a dude get very heated over what he thought was pricing being marked wrong on some belts. Truly strange. After getting cheesecake on a stick and some pastries to bring home for people I headed out. My advice is to arrive right when the Faire opens and to eat early. Lines become insane around noon. Also lots of sunscreen. |
AuthorA librarian doing the travel. Archives
May 2024
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