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Visiting the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian

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I have been wanting to visit the National Museum of the American Indian since it opened a few years ago. And finally go to go! We book rooms at luxury hotels DC near the Mall. That way we would be within walking distance of the Smithsonian museums and monuments in the down town Washington DC area.

I as excited to see the new museum. It has be said to be a new experience in museum going with a very different plan and way of showing their collection. Of course I was intrigued and have been wanting to go for a very long time.

Now that I have been there it lives up to all it’s expectations and more. The building sits on the Mall near the end where the capitol is. Constructed from slabs of rock and placed in a way that the walls are not straight from side to side or up and down. It is a very interesting look. The building slopes out over your head as you walk around it and it undulates closer and further from the side walk all the way around. This is to give the feel and effect of walking next to canyon walls and it works. Around the base of the building are gardens that flow one into another. The gardens are to represent the different habitats that exist on the North American continent.

Once circling the building we came to the entrance. once inside your in a large space that is open to the ceiling some 6 stories above. There is a series of strategically places prisms on a wall facing the sun which cast rainbows across this enormous lobby. In the center of the lobby are long boats and canoes an some other larger artifacts on display.

The galleries of the museum are accessed by taking the escalators to different levels of the museum and there over looking the lobby are displays of Indian artifacts. What is really different about this museum is how the items are displayed. There were cases showing bead work, arrow heads and other artifacts. Below those display cases are a series of drawers that the museum visitor can open to see more items like the ones on display above. As the drawers were opened lights came on and when you released the handle of the drawer it closed automatically. I really was impressed with this aspect of the museum. I am glad I finally made it here.

Related posts:

1. The Natural History Museum of Mauritius Island
2. “KidsWorks” at the Port Discovery Children’s Museum in Baltimore
3. Tripti Bhupen, Indian Classical Dancer
4. The Royal National Park of Sydney
5. American Graffiti Based on George Lucas’ Coming of Age in Modesto

Tags: luxury hotels DC, National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian museums

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