Day 60: National Museum of American History

Before going to the Nationals game on July 18, 2009, we took the Metro into D.C. and visited the National Museum of American History. This is my favorite museum in D.C. and I have not seen it in over 3 years due to it being closed and this being my first time in D.C. since it reopened. I thought we were going to end up skipping it since we changed the plans and stayed in Atlanta an extra day to see the Maddux Number Retirement Ceremony. However, we got to the D.C. area, set up camp, and still had several hours to waste before the Nats game. Also, since I had been to Nationals Park a lot we did not have to worry about getting there early because I knew where we were going and that there is not really anything to see outside the park.

It was a Saturday and it is the summer, so it ended up being very crowded, so we did not really get to see much. We did wait in line to see the new way they display the Star Spangled Banner, which is really well done. It was also oddly the shortest line to wait in to see an exhibit. The only other exhibit we got to was the Philadelphia Gunboat. I had wanted to also see the Popular Culture exhibit, but there was a long line just to get into the exhibit. I had never seen it to ridiculous before and honestly I think the remodel has caused these line issues because the exhibits are now more connected with less general hallway space in between. That and it having been closed for so long and it being the first summer reopened probably added to their being more people visiting.

Anyways it was sadly not as enjoyable as I had thought it would be. We ended up leaving after less than an hour because there was no way to see anything and still get out of there to the Metro and then the game. Thus we wasted time by walking the National Mall to get to the green line at L’Enfant Plaza and go to the game instead of getting on the closest stop and having to transfer at L’Enfant Plaza, which can be an annoying multi elevator thing.