After visiting Capitol Hill SBA and I made our way down the Mall, stopping off at the sculpture garden enroute to the National Museum of American History.  This was one of the museums on my list to visit whilst we were in Washington D.C.  I don’t know where my obsession with America started, although I can probably pin point it to the movies, Marilyn and JFK.  However, my knowledge of American history, in the historic sense needs a lot of polishing.  Thankfully the National Museum of American History doesn’t require you to know any particular history as you are likely to recognise quite a bit.  I was especially looking forward to seeing the original star spangled banner.

You have to go through security as you enter the museum, but this did not take very long at all, even though the museum was very busy.  I would recommend picking up a museum guide though as the museum is very large and this will guide you through easily.  This is gained from the visitor centre which is on the right as you enter the building.  We quickly decided what we wanted to look at and took things a floor and wing at a time. There were closed areas for renovation but we didn’t find that prohibited our tour of the museum.  I’ll let the photos do the talking as we started our tour at the Star-Spangled banner followed by the following exhibitions: Within these Walls, Communities in a Changing Nation, American Stories, America on the Move, Price of Freedom, Treasures of a Popular Culture.  American Presidency and First Ladies.

We spent a good few hours in the museum, which is easily done due to the size and amount of exhibits.  I think for me the exhibitions that I enjoyed seeing most were the American Presidency and First Ladies, American Stories and Price of Freedom.  However, seeing the original Star-Spangled banner is something that I will never forget and am so glad I have had the chance to do.

We couldn’t leave without looking in the museum shop.  It was stocked full of memorabilia and things you didn’t know you needed.  I did come away having purchased reminders of my visit.

As with all of the museums in Washington D.C. you can spend the best part of a day in each one, depending how much you want to look at and absorb the information.

I’m glad I chose the National Museum of American History as the one museum to visit during my stay, as for me, it encapsulates all the things I love about America.  I took so many photos, you can see more of my tour of the museum on my Facebook page.

Lula Belle x