Friday April 15th 2016

I took the 9:00 bus from the campground to the metro station. I made it to the National mall by ten. There were no surprises. The bus and the metro worked as advertised. Considering all the times in the last year that Washington Metro issues have been in the news, that’s saying something.

Washington Monument

There was a parade of buses in front of the museums along the mall. They were bringing hoards of school kids to tour the museums. All during the day one group of students after another were trailing their leader around the museums or monuments. Worse yet some of the school kids were allowed to run around the museum in groups of 4 or 5. I am sure the kids get something positive out of the experience. Unfortunately, it complicated my own experience.

The museums now have full security checkpoints at the doors. A complete bag check and metal detector pass was required for everyone. It took over 20 minutes to get into the American History Museum even in the shorter “no bags” line. The lines for the Natural History Museum and Air & Space Museum were even longer. I only went to the American History Museum today largely because of the lines.

The American History Museum has been almost completely remodeled and updated since my last visit. The west wing of the building still has areas being updated with sections scheduled to open this year through 2018. Some of the new exhibits are very well done and but others are laid out in a way that just confuses me.

The exhibit area built for the Star Spangled Banner Flag is very dramatic and informative. It is a huge improvement from the way it was displayed in the 1980s when I first saw it. Other artifacts that I have seen on previous visits are in new locations while other less movable objects have been surrounded by new exhibits.

What confuses me is the choices used for grouping artifacts. One of the new West wing areas on Inventions and Inventors has areas grouped by location and areas that are chronological. In the chronological area they also group items by category. I just find it confusing. In one area you’re looking at automation of farm equipment then 2 feet away how McDonalds markets products in Japan. The common element is they both happened in the same decade.

World War II Memorial

World War II Memorial with Lincoln Memorial in the background

Korean War Memorial

After about four hours getting in and touring the American History Museum I moved on to the monuments at the west end of the mall. The last time I was on the Mall the World War II memorial was under construction. It is a large area of granite between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial. Its size and popularity matches the significance of the war to the people and history of the last century. It documents the states and US territories that provided troops to the war and the major battles of the war. It is a significant monument, but I don’t think it is as dramatic as the Korean Memorial or as personal as the Vietnam Memorial.

Washington Monument and Capital Building as viewed from the Lincoln Memorial

I made it back to my RV home shortly after 4pm. It was an exhausting day. Tomorrow I’ll need to dodge the parades in town. The Cherry Blossom Parade and the Emancipation Day Parade are both tomorrow. I think the Cherry Blossom Parade was delayed because of weather when it was originally scheduled. All of the Cherry Blossoms have dropped off the trees.