Visiting 5 Museums & More In Washington, DC

Stephen and I have been wanting to get back to Washington, DC to see the National African American Museum of History and Culture, the National Museum of the American Indian and more. We had tickets to go to the Harry Potter Forbidden Forest exhibit in Leesburg, VA at the end of November, so taking the 2 weeks before we went back to Virginia after Delaware seemed like the perfect time. We got our timed tickets, booked our hotel and were ready to see even more of what the capital had to offer.

Alas, COVID struck after Thanksgiving! We managed to avoid getting COVID-19 throughout the pandemic of 2020-2021 through common sense measures like social distancing, hand washing, avoiding eating inside public restaurants, wearing masks and getting vaccinated/boosted. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a matter of if but when one or both of us would catch it as the restrictions lifted and the virus became endemic. Stephen started not feeling well and immediately began wearing a mask while I got COVID tests. He tested positive and I tested negative. I moved out of the hotel room as I was both negative and not exhibiting any symptoms. Our DC adventures quickly became my DC adventures.

I found myself in downtown Washington DC on two different occasions using free night certificates which allowed me to experience 5 different museums, as well as the Capitol and National Christmas Trees. Here’s what I did and my recommendations

Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

I’ve been to The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center before and really enjoyed it, so after waiting years for the renovations of the National Air and Space Museum in DC to take place I was ready to go! Sadly, it didn’t live up to the hype or the fantastic displays at the Udvar-Hazy Center and other Air and Space Museums around the country that we’ve been to. I ended up really disappointed.

There are some planes, but they’re mostly suspended from the ceiling, although there are a few replicas that you can walk inside. There was a lot of empty space and far too many words and photos on display rather than actual artifacts. The best part was the Wright Brothers display which includes the restored 1903 glider – the real plane the Wright Brothers flew in Kitty Hawk, NC.

Another really interesting display was about air traffic controllers. I have a wonderful friend who does this as her job and she’s amazing at it. She showed me around her work when we were in Tennessee and explained the roles and processes to try and help ease some of my own flight anxiety.

My personal recommendation? Unless you *really* care about the Wright Brothers, skip the downtown National Air and Space Museum and just go to the Udvar-Hazy Center near Dulles.

National Portrait Gallery

If you’ve followed us for a while, you’ve probably noticed that we don’t go to art museums very often. We enjoy art occasionally, but for the most part we’re more interested in history, culture, food and drinks in new places. But, sometimes there’s just an art museum that’s *can’t miss* and since I was by myself I wandered into the National Portrait Gallery.

I ended up being pleasantly surprised by some really cool historic portraits that can add to my virtual field trips as The Traveling Teach. Like that of John Brown, the abolitionist, who attacked the armory at Harpers Ferry to start a slave rebellion.

I really wanted to see some of the presidential portraits. I’m not a visual artist but even I could see the similarities between JFK and Obama’s portraits.

Even if you don’t enjoy art this is a really great space to see amazing works of art that speak to you. They’re also working to increase their portraits and artists by and of people of color and indigenous people who’ve traditionally been marginalized in art history.

Ford’s Theatre

Shocking that I didn’t realize it, but I was surprised when I saw signs for Ford’s Theatre. I don’t know where I thought it was, but it never really occurred to me that it was in DC. I therefore signed up for a tour the next morning.

To me, this is a can’t-miss. There’s a great museum, you can see the theater and some days the President’s box is on display (the day I went it was!), you go across the street to the home where Lincoln died and learn more about the aftermath of his assassination. You end at a tower of books about Lincoln of which there are currently 15,000 written.

Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum

I’m a big nerd about a lot of things. I didn’t think stamps were one of them. It turns out I just might be a philatelist! I spent over an hour in the stamp gallery alone before realizing there was a whole other section to the museum!

I saw the world’s first stamp, but one of my favorite pieces was this letter from the Silk Road from 1390 CE. It’s about the price of luxury fabrics and spices like cinnamon and pepper.

There’s a lot more about the Post Office, including Oney, a homeless dog that started to ride the rails with the mail and became a mascot for the mail train getting little badges whereever he went. His body was preserved through taxidermy and is on display with his special harness.

There’s a part of the exhibit that makes the post office seem much more exciting when you learn about the law enforcement side of the mail system.

This one’s worth a visit. Even if you don’t love stamps and mail, it’s interesting and was very cool and interactive for kids and adults alike.

National Museum of African American History & Culture

I’ve been the this museum before with young people, but never as a way to gather field trip material or just to see it for myself. It’s huge and to do it justice you should plan to go over two days. I spent 4 hours there and was exhausted. I’ll have to go back to see the rest of the museum.

You take the elevator down through time and you learn about Black History starting in Africa and see the parallel journey through Europe and Africa that leads to enslavement. As you walk back up through the exhibits you’re transported through time with exhibits, stories and artifacts including a few reconstructed houses.

You make your way back up through to today and exit to a reflecting area. There’s a whole other set of exhibits on community, sports, etc. and so that’s where I recommend you come back for the second day if you can.

Right outside the Washington Monument it’s a chilling reminder of the foundations of our country and their roots built on the system of enslavement.

The Capitol & National Christmas Trees

This is seasonal, but it’s really fun to learn about the Christmas Tree at the Capitol and the National Christmas Tree which can be found outside the White House.

The Capitol Christmas Tree comes from a different National Forest each year; last year when I visited it was Ruby from North Carolina. She stood 78 feet tall and was decorated with ornaments from schools and community groups.

The National Christmas Tree celebrated its 100th lighting this year. It was originally put up as a lobbying campaign, by a former employee of General Electric, to get more electricity used in American homes during the holidays. The thinking was that if the President lights a tree outside his house, maybe everyone else will too! The National Christmas Tree is planted on site and left up year-round while the smaller trees for each state and territory are brought in annually and covered with ornaments by school children from each location.

DC is a really wonderful place to learn so much history but these museums were almost all new to me. I really enjoyed digging deeper into Washington DC this time around.