Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

Rather than take the usual neighborhood walk this morning, we headed out towards the Washington Monument. All the preparations are being made for the grand opening of the Smothsonian Museum of African American History and Culture on Saturday morning. We've been watching the construction over the last couple of years right near the White House on Constitution Avenue. You need timed tickets to get in to the place, somewhat like the Capitol Visitor Center. But there are none to be had at this late date, although there are activities and music around the Washington monument all weekend. When I worked at the Library of Congress we got to go on two behind the scenes tours of the Capitol Visitor Center before the grand opening. It's really interesting to get a guided tour and see places the general public rarely knows about. Unfortunely that wasn't the case for this museum. So it looks like it will be a beautiful weekend for the event. We will probably visit when the early rush of interest wanes a bit. What's nice about living here is that we can gauge the best time to become tourists ourselves. In the mean time we will check out a few presentations at the National Book Festival on Saturday. I wonder if they knew this date would be in conflict with this event? It's hard to be in two places at one time - especially when the traffic will be an even bigger mess.