Monday, January 02, 2012

Smithsonian Natural History Museum

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Andy and I took an extra day off from work this weekend to just spend some time together and take advantage of another 4 day weekend. We spent the day at one of most favorite places...the Smithsonian Natural History Musuem. Dino Date! Dinosaurs and rocks are kind of awesome. I ended up doing a sort of tour around the museum on instagram and I thought it would be cool to show some of my favorites, here.

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The dioramas are pretty phenomenal in the dino wing (to the right when you walk in). I love the retro-science feel of them. Also...one of Andy's proposal plans was to ask me in front of the T-Rex! Ugh...he's the best.

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The ocean exhibits are really cool. We spent a lot of time in the deep sea sections and I took some photos of the Giant Squids they have on display. They are...horrifying. By the way! Did you know there's such a thing as a Colossal Squid? Gross and awesome. Also...the origins of humanity are in mammals and rest rooms. This sign cracks me up every time.

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Time to go upstairs! It was so crowded...worse than during the summer. I guess a lot of people were staying over for the holidays and decided to take their kids. Advice from a local...come during the week when kids are in school :/

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Rocks and minerals! I'm kind of a geology nerd and this is my second favorite section of the museum. This top display is just called, "Rainbow of Minerals." Also note middle bottom is just a giant wall of quartz, that was featured in my last post. And bottom right is the effing Fortress of Solitude!

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There was also a new exhibit of Egyptian mummies and artifacts on display. We went to see the King Tut exhibit in NYC in 2009 and it blew our minds. But this exhibit had actual mummies. Real bodies of a grown man and small child that had been preserved for over 2,000 years old. It was incredible. I didn't take any photos of them, out of respect. But I didn't think the kittens would mind. Just phenomenal.

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It was a pretty awesome day ^_^

<3

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