Visit to Washington

This week we decided to take a trip to visit a fairly new museum in our nation's capital. Acually I didn't know it existed until my dad said that he wanted to go. I am always up for something new, so we packed up and took a few hours drive, got on the Metro and went to the National Museum of the American Indian. Since we don't live near the city, my son had never been on the Metro, I mean he's only 8, I don't think I have deprived him too much. :-) But he was extremely excited about taking the Metro underground.

Once he got on the train, he couldn't stop looking out the window for something new to see. We know that it's mostly dark, but he wasn't so sure.

At one point on our ride, I told him that we were going under the water and he asked if we were going to see sea life. We chuckled and told him that we would be in the tunnel and wouldn't see any water. Thank you Lord! Once we got to our stop we shuffled off and up the huge escalators, Cole insisted that we take them and I wasn't one to deny him the ride. {ahem}

We walked a few blocks and made it to 4th and Independence, right next to the Capital building. I was impressed with the landscaping and architecture this building offered, complete with a cascading water feature and hand built clay sculptures.

Once inside we were able to check out this scupture called The Beaver and the Mink , by Susan Point.

Cole and our cousin Christian standing next to one of the Native reed boats in the Potomac Atrium.

Another unique feature of this museum was that we started our tour on the 4th floor. There we watched a mini movie in the Lelawi Theater that celebrates the Native life and from there we went to Our Universes and then Our People, both were fascinating areas of the beliefs and histories of the Native Indians. On the third level, we explored the contemporary Native life. I was happy to find that there are lots of Indians still living and celebrating their culture in different areas of the Western Hemisphere. It's amazing that we all live in this tiny part of our world and sometimes don't realize what's on this beautiful planet.

One comment about lunch, they have a nice cafe on the 1st level with meals and snacks of the Native American but they also have some burgers, chicken strips, and fries for those that don't want to be too adventurous. One warning is that it can be a bit pricey and an alternative could be bringing your own lunch and having a picnic on the Mall.

We only scratched the surface of the marvels of this museum, but I would definitely go back and visit again, if only to visit longer and explore. Evidently this is one of three sites that make up the National Museum of the American Indian and it opened on the Mall in 2004. Go check it out when you come to Washington.