A G: Washington D.C. - by Aaron Smithsonian Castle, National Museum of Natural History, National Air & Space Museum, National Zoo, Botanic Garden

Washington D. C. Smithsonian

- Aaron

The Smithsonian places are awesome. James Smithson was an English wealthy inventor. In his will, he pointed that all his money will go to his nephew, if nephew died with childless, all the rest of the money goes to the government of the United States of America. Six years later after his nephew died, the U.S. claimed his wealth. Congress debated with what to do with his money. In the end, they decided to build a museum, the Smithsonian Castle. Later, other museums built near the castle made up the group of Smithsonian museums. That is the story of today's Smithsonian Institute.

Smithsonian Castle

Smithsonian Castle

Edison lamp with bamboo piece

Apollo Lunar sample return container

The museum has lots of national treasures including a Edison lamp with a slice of bamboo, the sample container from one of the Apollo Lunar missions, and a vase from China.

about to explore the castle

National Museum of Natural History

entrance to National Museum of Natural History

world famous
Hope Diamond

Paleontologist at work,
trying to pictures for fossils

The National Museum of Natural History is home to more than 125 million great specimens and artifacts. Some popular displays are dino skeletons, a huge collection of gems, artifacts from early human, an insect zoo, and many more. There are always crowd for the unwrapped mummies displayed in glass cases. People waiting in turns patiently to take pictures of the world famous Hope Diamond. I thought it was at least as big as a cannonball. I was so disappointed to find out the Hope Diamond is actually only the size of a thumbnail. On the way out, we saw a real Easter Island stone sculpture. I call it Dum Dum. This museum is the biggest and coolest one I have ever seen.

Atlantic right whale

the real Egyptian mummy of a boy

Easter Island sculpture

National Air and Space Museum

Apollo 11 command module, Columbia
world's first landing on the Moon

huge amount of spaceships

a cool aircraft

The National Air and Space Museum (NASM) displays the largest collection of air and spacecraft in the world. Supersonic planes were hanging from the ceiling. A whole big room displayed the Wright Flier. The most popular display was Apollo 11 Command Module, which carried the astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins on their famous voyage to the Moon on July 16-24, 1969. I learned about the history, science, and technology of flying. The National Air and Space Museum carries full of famous planes.

the Wright Flier

Apollo-Soyuz test project

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Chart of upper level and lower level
ranking during World War II

United States Holocaust
Memorial Museum

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is a great museum. It tells about the Holocaust, (the capture of Jewish people) which happened during World War II. I discovered that the Nazis measured the lengths of people's nose and their head along with comparing their eye and hair colors to determine who they were. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum brought me back to World War II and exhibited lots of sad stories. World peace is essential to everybody and every country.

Smithsonian National Zoo

can you find the Giant Panda,
Tian Tian,
who is sleeping inside the cave.

cheetah - world fastest land animal
on earth

The Smithsonian National Zoo is one of the oldest zoos is America and the only one in Washington, D.C. Smokey (the bear) was rescued from a fire and lived at the National Zoo from 1950 until his death in 1976. They now have about 2,000 animals from 400 different species. It was my first time to see the world's fastest land animal Cheetah in real life. I guess the most famous species among them is Giant Panda. There are 3 Giant Pandas at the zoo, 1 male and 2 females. When we visited, 1 female, Mei Xiang, was about to give birth and kept inside a building. The other female Bao Bao was shy and hid inside the same building. The only Giant Panda we could see was the male panda, Tian Tian. He was taking his nap in a cave to avoid the heat. The news said that just 30 minutes after we left, Mei Xiang gave birth to a twin. Isn't that amazing. The Smithsonian National Zoo is an awesome place with many animals.

Botanic Garden

entrance of indoor Botanic Garden
fragrant, fresh air

followed Jr.
Botanical Ranger
program to learn plants

papaya is good for
the digesting system

Jr. Botanical Ranger
backpack

The plant museum located on the National Mall has a huge indoor garden with about 4,000 tropical plants. It was managed by the architect of the Capitol and has special exhibits throughout the year. Do you know that the Botanical Garden has some plants over 200 years old? Borrow Jr. Botanical Ranger backpacks, follow Jr. Botanical Ranger program, Now start exploring different exhibits from all over the world. Have fun...

The Smithsonian Institute has the most popular museums, a fun zoo and a cool garden. The Smithsonian Castle has important artifacts. The National Museum of Natural History is a very informational place. The National Air and Space Museum is an awesome place carries Apollo missions and lots of cool airplanes. The National Zoo and Botanical Garden have awesome animals and plants. I will definite come back and visit again.

Union Station, a train station

swimming in a rooftop pool

We took the train from Philadelphia to Washington DC. Our Washington D.C. trip started from the train station, Union Station. The sculptures and decorations are as pretty as New York's Grand Central Terminal. Don't miss out Georgetown. It is a nice well preserved 18th century town. It has tons of shops and restaurants. You can walk along Washington Harbor and see the Potomac River. Also, Washington D.C.'s Chinatown has lots of delicious food from all around the world. There was Chinese, East Asian, Italian, Mexican, and even Greek food. Every night, our tummy led us to Chinatown, and never get bored. Swimming is always a relax and enjoyable thing in our trip. At Washington DC, our hotel provide a roof top open air swimming pool on its 10th floor. It was so nice to swim in the pool especially when the pool lights up at night. We played with our new friends here every night. Our east coast trip ended here at Washington D.C. But our mission to explore the whole wide world, will never end.