Smithsonian Natural History Museum

We rarely go to visit the Smithsonian Natural History Museum. Neither my husband nor I are dinosaur lovers. We find ourselves in the National Gallery of Art, the Library of Congress, the Hirshhorn Gallery and gardens, US Botanic Garden, and History Museum most often. But this time of the year is the best time to visit any of them. You don’t need a timed pass (except for the Library) and the places are not busy in January. That makes a big difference for me. My husband likes the crowds and I could do without them. So when we go for our weekly walks on the National Mall we may stop in. And we did just that this week. I needed to get some photos for the weekly photo challenge and while we were there we walked about the natural history museum. We spent a bit of time in the mammal area, and also the dinosaur section. Having just been at the National Zoo visiting the live animals, it was sad to see the many stuffed versions. But it does give you the opportunity to see things up close and personal. Then we went upstairs to see the hope diamond and all of the other stones and gems. There were thousands of them in all shapes and sizes.  One of these days I really need to read about what all is in there because we are undoubtedly missing something of interest. We lived on Capitol Hill for thirteen years and these are our old stomping grounds. We enjoy the walks, the photos, and the neighborhood. Who wouldn’t?