Let’s clear something up immediately: If you go to Washington, DC and skip the dinosaurs, you didn’t “do DC.” You just walked around outside looking at buildings like a Victorian child with no indoor enrichment. The dinosaurs are indoors. The dinosaurs are free. The dinosaurs are the best thing in this city. This is not an opinion. This is a travel truth. The Smithsonian Fossil Hall Is a Flex The David H. Koch Hall of Fossils is one of those places where you walk in and instantly think, Oh, I should have blocked off more time for this and fewer minutes
Tag: museums
The National Portrait Gallery: Where Presidents Go to Be Judged by Lighting and Vibes
You know you’ve reached a certain level of power when your face gets immortalized in a portrait that hangs in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. Where lighting, brushstrokes, and historical trauma all come together under one very expensive roof. The Gallery is basically America’s yearbook, except instead of embarrassing prom photos, you get artistic interpretations ranging from “timeless statesman” to “hungover at a Chili’s.” Let’s talk about the highlights, shall we? Abraham Lincoln: Classy AF Lincoln’s portrait radiates the kind of quiet, tortured gravitas that says, “Yes, I abolished slavery, and I’d still remember your birthday.” He’s draped in
The Smithsonian American Art Museum: A Roasting in Oil Paints
If you’re in D.C. and want to feel both deeply inspired and mildly haunted, the Smithsonian American Art Museum is your jam. It’s like wandering into America’s attic: some pieces are gorgeous heirlooms, some are historical oddities, and some are the kind of thing you stare at for five minutes wondering if you’re the problem. Spoiler: you’re not. Let’s break down some of the highlights. The Seasons of Life: Your Entire Existence in Four Frames The Seasons of Life paintings are so beautiful they should honestly come with a warning label: “Will cause an existential crisis by the third cavas.”
The National Air and Space Museum: Where Nerd Dreams Take Flight
There are museums you go to, and then there are museums you experience. The National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. is firmly in the latter camp. This isn’t just a building full of dusty artifacts. It’s where the Wright brothers’ sketchy little plane rubs elbows with a freaking space shuttle. It’s where you suddenly find yourself whispering, “Okay fine, humanity has done some pretty cool things.” The Vibes Walking in, you’re immediately hit with the kind of awe that makes you want to slap your own face and say, “Remember this moment!” Planes dangle from the ceiling like oversized mobiles, rockets stand upright
A Whirlwind Tour of the Royal British Columbia Museum (aka: I Tried to Be Cultured but Got Distracted by a Glowing Sea Lion)
Back in July 2017, my man and I took a trip to the Royal British Columbia Museum in Victoria, BC. And look—I’m ashamed to admit how long it took me to write about it. Because this place? Delightful. Absolutely, gloriously delightful. You know what wasn’t delightful? Realizing mid-selfie that the full name of the museum didn’t fit in the frame. That’s a lot of syllables, y’all. Let’s Start With a Confession I’m not what you’d call a museum scholar. My approach is more along the lines of: • Step 1: See shiny things. • Step 2: Gasp. • Step 3:
National Air and Space Museum – A Museum in Washington, D.C.
I can’t believe my trip to Washington D.C. was a year ago. It seems like decades ago, an era before pandemic and a global crisis. A time when going to a museum was a fun day out and not a potential source of COVID. Le sigh. However, I can’t wax too lyrical about the National Air and Space Museum. Not because it wasn’t cool but because… I’m a terrible travel blogger. My problem is I go to museums and take a lot of pictures of crap without actually going through and figuring out exactly *what* the crap is. And being
Jewelry at the National Museum of Natural History – Washington D.C.
I didn’t take many pictures, because the gemstones were so bright they were actually blinding my camera. Check it out. Can you imagine the bling that was happening in real life? I feel like it was damaging to the eyes to look at these babies straight on! You really do have to see these gems in the flesh to realize just how brilliant they are! Obviously, we had to stop by and see the Hope Diamond. You know, the one that seems to be cursed and kills everyone. It is huge and ostentatious. There is some jewelry that I lust
The National Museum of Natural History – Washington D.C.
When we arrived in Washington D.C., my boyfriend kindly asked me what I would like to see. Like a child hyped on pixie stix, I shouted “DINOSAURS!” because the six year old kid that is my soul still wondered in awe at the behemoths that used to roam the world. “Oh yeah! Or we could go to the museum of space and–“ “But there are DINOSAURS.” “There’s that too. We could also visit the Lincoln Memorial–“ “And we could DINOSAURS.” “…That’s not even a sentence.” “DINOSAURS.” Since I had been reduced to incoherence, we decided that we should go to
The History of the Little Black Dress
The title of this post is a little misleading. It implies that you’re going to get a discussion on how the little black dress evolved, its origins, and how it became the iconic and timeless wardrobe classic that it is. But really, all you’re going to get is pictures, because I really like pictures and hate reading little museum placards. And that’s where I saw this, the Washington State History Museum where this was their current exhibit. My boyfriend, thoughtful guy that he is, knew that I’d enjoy the time warp back to the start of the little black dress.
