DH (JR) and I (DR) took a quick trip to DC this morning (a Sunday) to check out the recently rehabbed American History Smithsonian.

We live about 20 miles south of Annapolis and the closest road in is Pennsylvania Avenue. It runs into Independence which we took to 1st, left onto Constitution and parked on the street between 11th and 12th on PA Avenue (I can't desribe how PA Ave. reappears!). Took us less than 45 minutes leaving at 9:30. A good thing to do because we really beat the crowds.

We are parked in front of the old Post Office Bldg. and it looks like a place to check out. Anyone been there?? We walked a block to Constitutional and turned right and we were there in less than 10 minutes.

The new building has much in the way of tourist amenities that the older one didn't. A nice (albeit expensive) cafeteria replaced one whose fat trap hadn't been cleaned in 25 years ("but you didn't hear that from me" said the docent). Everything light and spacious. DR wanted to see the 1st Ladies' dresses so we went there first.

More after I eat dinner.

1 question I have is the signpost from MASH on display. I am coming in a few weeks with 3 friends of mine and we are all huge MASH fans.

tchoiniere: we didn't see it but only went to a few of the exhibits. Have you looked on line??

OK, DR wants to see the ladies and Julia Child's kitchen and JR wants to see transportation on the water. We didn't think the signage was as good as in Natural History but we get there and are disappointed to find that not all of the dresses are on display. A docent (the first of 2 we find floating around-very helpful and knowledgeable) says they lost space with the remodeling and will now rotate the dresses. Also (don't shoot the messenger ok?), because of restoration issues some dresses are getting very fragile. I didn't snarkily point out that Vatican has some tapestries from the 1500's. There was an interesting video with living First Ladies. Next, Julia!

I did check the website but its unclear whether its on exhibit. Guess we will have to wait and see.

I don't believe the MASH sign is there anymore. Archie Bunker's chair is also gone.

Time marches on.

My big complaint is that the exhibit of presidential buttons is not there either. The whole idea was to update the museum in addition making it easier to navigate. It is easier to navigate, but you will find some old favorites gone and new exhibits that replaced them. American History is really designed to be kid friendly. More serious history exhibits can often be found at The Library of Congress or Archives. The best thing in American History for those with limited time is the exhibits on the presidents on the 3rd floor. I also personally love those on all the immigrant groups and African Americans. Each group has a story to tell.

There is plenty in the Museum to occupy several hours for history buffs. Kids usually are done after an hour due to limited attention spans and/or interest. Older kids can take more time, but, from doing tons of groups in all age brackets, even high school kids can be done in 1-1/2 hours in any museum.

The Bunkers' chairs were there! They went on some sort of road trip for a movie according to the docent. Again, didn't see Mash stuff but...

Lauren, I agree with you and have some additions to your comments as well when I 'get' there! We bypassed the presidents' exhibit this time but will return.

OK, After the First Ladies, we walked very quickly through the area with the red slippers and the chairs and on to Abe Lincoln's exhibit. I have always thought that many Smithsonian exhibits are boring (as the emperor in "Amadeus" said, "too many notes"). There was much info about AL and the civil war. A good movie though but the "Emancipation Proclomation" was in a corner by the movie screen. Wish one could have heard it, Gettysburg Address, and AL's 'with malice toward none' speech.

Julia Child's kitchen was very cool. For better viewing, they replaced one pegboard wall with plexiglass (with shadows showing implement/pot shapes of the things that HAD been there). There was a 90-minute video showing many TV clips that was a hoot. We didn't stay to read all the other stuff. Video for sale at $24.

On to the Water Navigation. Again, not enough interaction for DR. Cool map of New York City showing various statistics about trade and demographics. Whale boat and info pretty good also.

On to the cafe and Natural History museum...

I forgot to say that we stopped by the Inventions area before Julia and it was neat. Lots of videos, hands-on things for kids and a cool display about Kelvar. Also a windsurfing board to try.

Ok, beef brisket with red potatoes and green beans, 2 slices of pizza, a beer and a bottle of apple juice was around $30 (tossed the slip). The brisket dish could have been shared by 2 and was very good. Cafe is set up like a cafeteria and had lots of variety but wasn't cheap. There were some virtual rides in the cafe area.

Upon leaving American History, there was a line to get in. So get there early folks!

On to Natural History and saw that the movie "Night at the Smithsonian" would start at 5 p.m. but went to IMAX theatre (please check on line for prices) for the Ocean one in 3-D.

To add to Lauren's opinion above, there seemed to be many more people here. Signs for various exhibits were plentiful and easy to read. Perhaps newer museum will catch up with that. We enjoyed the 3D movie although it was long on fish eating other fish-perhaps that's about all they do that's not R-rated? After the movie, we went to the new butterfly house and walked right up for tickets. I think it was $6 to get in and it was pretty nifty. One butterfly stayed on JR's shoulder the entire time. I'll post some shots later. BTW, if you have time, try Brookside Gardens in Wheaton. It has a larger butterfly collection and nice gardens.

We left around 3:30 - backtracked because we know it would work- took Pennsylvania back to a right on 1st, left on Independence and picked up Pennsylvania again. Traffic backed up for Anacostia Freeway North but you can get to right lane without having to get off on AF South so it wasn't too bad.

I think American History has some things to work out with signage and getting the popular items back in but it's worth a look after you've gotten the Hope Diamond and American Indians out of your system. One of my new faves is Portrait and American Artists near Spy Museum. So very much to do in DC. We also think a weekend after a major holiday can be a smart time to visit popular museums. Happy Traveling to All!

Did you see the new exhibit surrounding the Star Spangled Banner? We stopped in a couple weeks ago to see that and were impressed. it was too crowded for us to visit any more exhibits that day (a Sunday afternoon), but we'll be back in the fall when the crowds thin out a bit.

Hi Longhorn-no, we didn't-we were on a mission for the other things. The docent told us that Ralph Loren funded the removal of the old backing. It was done by hand by people on platforms lowered over the spread out flag. Are you DC neighbors? Maybe we can have another GTG.

Also, I forgot to say that the Natural History museum has some lockers. A couple are large enough to fit an overnighter. That might be helpful for people with some time to kill between flights.

Also, we thought Federal Triangle metro was more convenient than Smithsonian for getting to Constitution Ave.

I visited the new Star Spangled Banner exhibit in early March, on a very quiet afternoon. A visitor walked into the dimly-lit room and promptly smashed into the edge of a long dark bench; he was hurt enough to just sit there for a while. I know that the light is dim to preserve the old fabric, but maybe they overdid that and could stick in a couple of theater-aisle type lights or something..

Forgot to say that (per docent) the "powers that be" thought the First Ladies dresses took away from the seriousness of the presidency. Apparently no one fought hard enough for them. Also, she suggested that the enormous contribution Ralph Lauren made for the flag's restoration was given higher priority.

I do hope that you will write your congressperson or contact the Smithsonian about the things not returned. It seems very short-sighted of "them" to ignore popular items.

Archie Bunker's chair was there? As many times as I've been in the museum, I must have walked right by it. I will check it out next time. I guide here and during the spring tour season, I can be in the museums more than once per week.

By the way, the Holocaust Museum has a place to check bags. I have occasionally left luggage there when I am meeting with a tour group early and they are going there later in the day. I pick it up when I return to the museum. Could be useful to those catching flights.

Just curious, TDudette, what items are you specifically talking about that weren't returned? I would assume that museum objects become fragile over time, and so there is a need to rotate objects for conservation purposes. Or maybe the objects you miss are actually being conserved right now. You know, the Smithsonian has millions of objects in its collections, and each Smithsonian museum oversees their particular collection. As such, it would make more sense to write directly to the Smithsonian museum in question.

As for the Old Postal Building, the architecture inside is interesting, but I'm distracted by the crappy vendors shilling junk inside. I heard the view from the top of the building is excellent, but I've never been up there myself, so can't say for sure.

LaurenKahn1: Yes the chairs (his AND hers) were there. As mentioned above, they were being used in a movie or something. Good to hear about lockers in HM as well. I'm going to start a separate thread about lockers-hope you'll add your info.

mcnyc: I'm talkng about the First Ladies dresses specifically. Other posters mentioend presidential buttons and the Mash sign. As I said above-if textiles from the 1500s (and earlier) can be shown in the Vatican, the conservation argument doesn't hold as much water. Docent's comments above speak to this issue as well. Of course not everyone can be made happy but the above-mentioned are so very popular. Surely, Smithsonian wants lots of visitors.

Sorry to hear that Old Postal Building has schlocky vendor stuff. Will try to give it a look sometime soon. I believe one of the inauguration balls is held there.

The Vatican's tapestries were originally designed to be durable and to be displayed and thus are made of much sturdier materials than ladies' dresses of the nineteenth century. Reweaving or supporting a section of tapestry is an entirely different conservation challenge than a skirt made of yards of the finest available fabric or an elaborately stitched lacy bodice.

If the dress is in too bad a shape to see the light of day, what's wrong with a digital photo? There are just too many ways to display things if they really wanted to. Anon, I "hear" your points, but I stand by my opinions; I think that the Smithsonian "caved" a little by virtue of Lauren's huge donation (and I'm NOT denigrating the flag) AND, the docent did say that they had to cut some stuff because there is less display room.

With all the new facilities, do they have a place to store bags. I am on a quick trip and need to put my small carryon somewhere while I visit?

See above, Ima

Thanks Ima I didn't fully read all the other posts. I will head to HM and leave my bags there before hearing to explore.

Did you do any of the simulator rides? Where are they and which did you do if any? My son loved the ones at Air & Space.