Mammals, Spies, and Archives... Oh My!

First weekend in DC is officially over. And what a great weekend it was! I'm trying to take advantage of all the city has to offer, especially since most of it is free! My trusty travel companion Kim and I jumped on the metro and just followed our guts with no plan for each day. On Saturday, our neighbor and honorary third roommate Ted(named after our favorite senator of course!) joined us. Here's where we ended up:


Museum of Natural History- Kim and I discovered that we both share a love for elephants, so it was only natural that our feet took us to this museum first. We jumped up and down like we were in Disney World when we saw the mammals exhibit. As you can see, the HUGE giraffe was a fan favorite. Some other highlights were the gem exhibits where I saw some amazingly beautiful rocks from the D.R. Congo and the soil room where we got a private demonstration on quicksand. It was awesome.


The Post Office Tower- We first went into this gorgeous building on Friday for lunch. Then on Saturday Ted told us its real attraction is the bell tower you can climb and get a 360 degree view of the city. Although it was freezing and windy, The views were great. One of the greatest things about DC is that no building can be taller than the Washington Monument. This basically means you always have a great view.


The INTERNATIONAL SPY MUSEUM!- Ok, no picture for this one because obviously I can't reveal anything about its identity. But trust me, it's awesome. The museum seems really new and innovative with a lot of great interactive exhibits. Fun fact, they have a whole room dedicated to pigeon travel which apparently really does exist and has a 95% success rate! Crazy. My favorite part was taking on a "cover" of someone else and getting asked questions in order to complete your secret mission. Even though this is one of the few museums you have to pay for, it's totally worth it.

The National Archives- Today, other than people watching and searching for spies all around us, we thought it was necessary to check out the historical big 3- Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights. The documents were obviously really neat, but my favorite part was actually the public archives which have different rooms dedicated to the phrases of the Preamble. In the picture, I designed my very own state seal. Brownie points to anyone who knows the meanings of my symbols!


The Museum of American History- We stopped here for only about an hour after being wiped out from the Archives and walking around today. This sightseeing stuff is a lot of work!Even though I have seen this museum the last two times I was in the city, it’s different every time. We only saw the Star Spangled Banner and A Presidential Life exhibits, but they are some of the best parts for this American Studies nerd. Here I am giving the Kennedy inaugural address. Typical Sunday afternoon.

Tomorrow starts my week of classes and internship search. More to come about the Metro experience, interviewing, and the Newseum on Thursday!