One Life: Babe Ruth at National Portrait Gallery

Date of Visit: August 3, 2016

Usually we wait until September to start going back to the museums, but when I told Mik about the Babe Ruth exhibit he wanted to go when it opened. That didn't happen due to my slow healing pinky and then the weather (humidity and rain). Today we finally managed a decent weather day and even decided to roll/walk home instead of taking the metro so Mik could get a better feel of the neighborhood and using his power chair again (recently got repaired after being out of commission for over a year).

The exhibit was a little disappointing in that it is just one small room. It's well done and gives a good overview of Babe Ruth's life, but we've been to the Babe Ruth birthplace museum in Baltimore and this exhibit just seemed a very small scale version of that museum. However, that museum is not accessible (or at least was not back in 2009), so Mik liked this exhibit a little for easy access. He didn't like that he couldn't get close enough to be able to touch most of the options to play the videos on the one multimedia part of the exhibit, though.

Even though the exhibit was disappointing, it was still a fun outing because there's always something interesting to discover at the National Portrait Gallery. For example, Mik enjoyed seeing the portrait of Kevin Spacey as President Frank Underwood from House of Cards in the Recent Acquisitions area. Plus, we enjoyed catching some Pokemon while sitting out front having a snack.

Go here to see our review of the National Portrait Gallery for more general accessibility info. It's a few years old, but all still applies as far as we've noticed (Mik has no desire to ever recheck that tiny elevator).

Destination Info:
National Portrait Gallery
Between G St and F St and 7th and 8th St
Washington, DC

Lane Motor Museum

Date of Visit: October 5, 2015

We had been meaning to go the Lane Motor Museum for a few years now, but every time we drove through Nashville to/from Huntsville it seemed to be a Tuesday or Wednesday and it was closed. We almost missed it again because I had completely forgot about it until Mom picked up a pamphlet on it.

Mik loves the car museums and this one certainly did not disappoint. He particularly enjoyed that it was different in that it had a lot of European cars. He found the microcars interesting and enjoyed that they were in a variety of colors, although the signs for many of these were behind them and I couldn't roll him up to read them (not an issue throughout most of the rest of the museum).

The 1966 Subaru 360 Van was another vehicle that caught his attention.

We also found it interesting that there are some photos showing how the building used to be a bakery and gave some history on the building.

One of the most interesting vehicles on display is the 1959 LARC-XL. This is U.S. military amphibious craft. Mik wasn't able to see it because you have to go up some steps to look out the window, but there was a video showing it being driven through Nashville to the museum that he enjoyed.

 Of course, Mik's favorite part ended up being the miniatures. In particular, he enjoyed the miniature dioramas that were on display that included junkyards and a hot rod shop.

The Lane Motor Museum is now one of Mik's favorite car museums he's been to. Mik also mentioned that the museum was a great deal because this was only $9 a person compared to the $17 to $25 a person for the other museums we visited in Nashville this trip.

Destination Info:
Lane Motor Museum
702 Murfreesboro Pike
Nashville, TN, 37210

Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum

Date of Visit: October 4, 2015

Mik had a choice between the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum or the George Jones Museum for today. He choose for us to go to the Hall of Fame because isn't familiar with George Jones. Also, he thought maybe he could first learn a little about him there and then be interested in the George Jones Museum like he was with the Johnny Cash Museum.

Mik wasn't too interested in the videos playing and the particular music selections in most of the exhibits (it was a lot of Johnny Cash actually, which even I was beginning to get tired of).  He did particularly enjoy the selections in the "Flyin’ Saucers Rock & Roll: The Cosmic Genius of Sam Phillip" exhibit, though. He also liked that it was nicely laid out to be able to roll into the listening booths and select the songs.

I couldn't get him interested in the many listening booths in the "Dylan, Cash, and the Nashville Cats" exhibit, but how can you not listen to the original Honky Tonk Man?

As expected, Mik's favorite part was the cars including Webb Pierce's silver dollar convertible. Taylor Swift's sparkly guitar also really caught his attention.

Accessibility Notes:

• To get up to the entrance is a ramp on the side of the building to the right of the main entrance that isn't entirely obvious, but also not that hard to notice.

• The elevator situation for navigating between the levels is again not entirely obvious, but it actually can be extremely confusing. Everyone starts by taking the elevators to the third floor. The signage that points to continue to the second floor only leads you to steps. We were going to head back to the elevators we came up, but I noticed an elevator by what is currently the exhibits on Eric Church and Stringbean. This worked no problem other than Mom decided to continue down to the first floor to go to the restroom and then couldn't get back up because you need your ticket to get back up and I had them all. The second floor and museum visit ends at the Hall of Fame and again it's steps. This time you're closer to the first set of elevators. The elevator locations are pretty conveniently close to the stairs, but they really should have some signage to tell you where to go, especially from the 3rd to the 2nd as that elevator is easy to miss.

Destination Info:
Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum
222 Fifth Avenue South
Nashville, TN 37203

Johnny Cash Museum

 Date of Visit: October 1, 2015

Mik knew about at least some of Johnny Cash's music (mainly "Walk the Line"), but he was interested in visiting the museum when I mentioned it when planning our Nashville trip because he did not really know much about Johnny Cash. The museum is small, but it did provide a good overview of Johnny Cash's life and career (music, TV, film).

Throughout there are interactive iPad displays. These were interesting, but they were mostly too high for Mik to use. The ones at the beginning with videos of Johnny Cash performing songs in each decade of his career Mik couldn't really reach, but would've enjoyed more than one song from if only the headphones weren't too big as that was the aspect he found too frustrating.

Mik's favorite part was the area about Johnny Cash and the Bicentennial in Washington, D.C. He really enjoyed watching Johnny Cash read "Ragged Old Flag." He also liked watching the "Hurt" music video at the end.

The admission price is a little steep at $17/person, but it was still a worthwhile experience. It just would've been better if the iPad displays were easier for Mik to use or at least the headphones fit better for him.

Destination Info:
Johnny Cash Museum
199 3rd Ave South
Nashville, TN 37201

National Museum of American History: Fantastic Worlds: Science and Fiction, 1780-1910

Date of Visit: September 16, 2015

The "Fantastic Worlds: Science and Fiction, 1780-1910" exhibit features examples of science fiction literature and explores how developments in science influenced fiction. It was interesting how it was organized by chapters with each featuring some examples of different types of science fiction, such as Chapter 1: Terra Incognita about unknown lands and Chapter 5: Rise of Machines that included Tik Tok from the Oz books. Mik particularly enjoyed looking at the various illustrations that were on display.

Destination Info:
National Museum of American History
1400 Constitution Ave NW
Washington DC

Metro Accessibility Note: Closest metro station is Federal Triangle (Blue/Orange/Silver). Smithsonian (Blue/Orange/Silver) is often also recommended as nearby for this museum and if you take the escalator exit it probably is closer or same distance as Federal Triangle, but the elevator is several blocks further, so Federal Triangle is definitely closest if you are exiting Metro via elevator. Of course, we are always partial to Archives (Yellow/Green) since it's a shorter train ride for us to take Yellow instead of Blue into D.C. and it's only a little more walking.

National Archives: Spirited Republic Exhibit

Date of Visit: September 16, 2015

Now that summer is over and the crowds are slim to none again, we finally got to the National Archives to see the "Spirited Republic: Alcohol in American History" temporary exhibit. While the exhibit was a good brief timeline history of alcohol in American history with most of the focus on temperance and the Prohibition era, it was overall kind of disappointing.

I guess we mainly were disappointed because we tend to find the temporary exhibits here very interesting and this time it wasn't anything new to learn. However, it also seemed kind of limited in artifacts on display. Obviously as an Archives exhibit, the majority of items on display are always documents, but there is still usually more variety to types of documents along with artifacts either from the Archives collection or on loan from other places (often Smithsonian). This time it just seemed very heavy on letters and in particular it seems there could've been more of the patent and advertisement things. There were some items, but it was mainly just a drunkometer, which was actually very interesting.

Still worth a quick visit to the National Archives, especially since there was pretty much no other visitors making it easy to see everything at your own pace even if there really wasn't that much to see.

Destination Info:
National Archives
Constitution Ave NW (between 7th & 9th Avenue)
Washington, DC

Museum of the Shenandoah Valley: Glen Burnie House & Gardens

Date of Visit: May 14, 2015

The Glen Burnie House and Gardens are part of the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley. The gardens are mostly accessible, especially in front of the house. The first floor of the house is also accessible.

The gardens are partly under restoration, but there's still several areas to explore. One of the most interesting areas we went through was the Pink Pavilion. At first it seemed inaccessible because there are steps, but we found we were able to get there from a path off to the side of the Pink Pavilion and there's just a small step to get inside, which was worth doing because it was fun to see the decor, especially since Mik's sweatshirt hood matched the floor.

The Glen Burnie House is wheelchair accessible from the front. Inside Mik particularly enjoyed the miniature of the house.

There is a lift to get down to the drawing room. This room currently has a special exhibit called "Beauty and Botany" with botanical art. There is then an exit to a patio with a ramp exit back into the gardens.

  
Destination Info:
Museum of the Shenandoah Valley
901 Amherst Street
Winchester, VA, 22601

Museum of the Shenandoah Valley

Date of Visit: May 14, 2015

The Museum of the Shenandoah Valley was something we ended up adding to our Skyline Drive trip because I noticed it had a miniature exhibit. Mik enjoyed that exhibit, but the temporary exhibit ended up being an even more interesting to him.

The temporary exhibit was called "Mort Künstler: The Art of Adventure." The artwork and video was interesting to see. Mik particularly enjoyed it because he was already somewhat familiar with the artist's work.

Of course, the R. Lee Taylor Miniatures Collection was another highlight in Mik's opinion, although it was the smallest exhibit and thus not as impressive as the larger collection displayed in the temporary exhibit that happened to also match his interests.

The museum also features exhibits about the history of the Shenandoah Valley and 18th and 19th century items collected by the last owner of the Glen Burnie House, which the museum is associated with.

Destination Info:
Museum of the Shenandoah Valley
901 Amherst Street
Winchester, VA, 22601 

Shenandoah National Park: Byrd Visitor Center

Date of Visit: May 12, 2015

We mainly stopped at the Byrd Visitor Center to get the National Park passport stamps there. We had already done most of the Skyline Drive and gone to the Natural Bridge and back by that point, so MIk was ready to get to the Skyland Resort and be done for the day. Thus, we didn’t check out the movie that was starting right when we got there. However, we did check out the exhibit.

The exhibit is an interesting one about the history of the park. We accidentally went through it backwards, which worked okay, but would’ve probably been better to go in  chronological order from the start. Some of the highlights are the parts on controversy of eminent domain to take private owned land to create the park and the 1930s and 1940s desegregation in the park.

Destination Info:
Byrd Visitor Center
Milepost 51 Skyline Drive
Shenandoah National Park, VA

National Air & Space Museum: Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center

Date of Visit: April 12, 2015

The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center is kind of out there for a D.C. area attraction, but it is one of the more interesting Smithsonians and because it is out there it is much less crowded making it a great option to do today with family in town rather than deal with the crowds in D.C. again.

You enter the museum on the level that has the overlook paths for the hangar. There is ramp to go down to the first level, which is long and doesn't seem too steep, but it says not for wheelchairs and we just listened to it and used the elevator by the IMAX theater. Mik pointed out that this actually led to us noticing some aviation artwork in the halls back to the hangar that we wouldn't have seen if we hadn't used the elevator.

Mik really enjoys the airplanes on display at this museum, but this visit we mainly just focused on the Space Hangar since we mostly came to see the Standard Missile-3 full scale model. Thus, we only did the overlook near the entrance, but the area on the other side is definitely worth going up to and there are at least two different elevators up to it to access it.

After the space hangar and before heading to the gift shop, he looked at the map and decided there were only two planes he wanted to check out (most he remembers from our last visit several years ago). One was the Boeing 307 Stratoliner Clipper Flying Cloud. The other was the Concorde, which he wanted to see because he had heard about in a Jack Ryan book.

The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center is mostly about the big stuff in the National Air & Space Museum's collection. However, there are also some exhibits with models, which Mik particularly enjoyed when we happened by a case with various models as part of an exhibit on business aviation.

Destination Info:
Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center
14390 Air and Space Museum Parkway
Chantilly, Virginia 20151

National Museum of American History: Lincoln's Carriage

Date of Visit: April 2, 2015

Since we were already going to be nearby on our walking the National Mall and Memorial Parks yesterday, we decided to quickly pop in and see Lincoln's Carriage. It actually is a really easy pop in and see thing if you enter from the Constitution Avenue side, which we always do because until today I didn't even think the other side had an accessible entrance, but according to the Smithsonian access map it does (Note: I don't totally trust it because it's over a year old and I know last time we went to the Air & Space the Independence Avenue entrance was closed, but it is likely the American History now has an accessible entrance on Madison and I just remember it not being accessible before the major remodel).

Lincoln's Carriage is temporarily on display on the First Floor of the National Museum of American History through May 25, 2015 as part of the 150th anniversary of Lincoln's death. It's just a the carriage and a few signs with info, but it's still interesting to get an up close look at his carriage, which they rode in to Ford's Theatre the night he was shot.

Destination Info:
National Museum of American History
1400 Constitution Ave NW
Washington DC

Metro Accessibility Note: Closest metro station is Federal Triangle (Blue/Orange/Silver). Smithsonian (Blue/Orange/Silver) is often also recommended as nearby for this museum and if you take the escalator exit it probably is closer or same distance as Federal Triangle, but the elevator is several blocks further, so Federal Triangle is definitely closest if you are exiting Metro via elevator. Of course, we are always partial to Archives (Yellow/Green) since it's a shorter train ride for us to take Yellow instead of Blue into D.C. and it's only a little more walking.

Newseum

Date of Visit: February 14, 2015

I have been to the Newseum a few times including when it used to be in Rosslyn and the day it opened on Pennsylvania Avenue, but Mik had never been. While I knew it was a well-done museum, the tickets are kind of expensive, so it kept getting pushed down on our list to do. The opening of a temporary exhibit about Lincoln, though, quickly moved it to the top because Mik particularly likes Civil War history.

We enjoyed the whole museum and found it to be well designed to go through. It's mainly designed that you go down one level, then go to the top floor (6th), and work your way back down. There's elevators on both ends of the building (the three in the middle only go to Concourse and 6th) that make it efficient to go through the museum without backtracking much, although we did find ourselves going backwards through some exhibits.

Mik's favorite part was the Berlin Wall Gallery, which I remember as always being an impressive thing to see. He liked seeing the wall pieces and guard tower, but it was the whole experience with the videos about the wall and how news played a role in that period that really made it a history come to life kind of thing that captivated him.

It was too cold to enjoy the Greenspan Terrace from outside, but Mik did like that you could read the signs from inside (or at least you could because no one else was up to venturing outside to block them). The timeline history of the avenue is pretty interesting and with the walls of windows you can enjoy most of the great view of some of the major landmarks in D.C. from the climate controlled indoors, too.

The "President Lincoln is Dead" exhibit was another highlight. It was interesting to see the different editions of the New York Herald that provided new information as the story of Lincoln being assassinated and the hunt for Booth evolved. In particular, we found it fascinating that all editions said assassination and at that time the word only meant a secret attack and not that he was necessarily killed (in fact, he was still alive during the first couple editions). It wasn't until after Lincoln that the word became known as we think of it today.

Mostly Mik wasn't interested in the NBC News Interactive Room, but I convinced him to try out one of the touchscreen stations (they have several with no seats for wheelchairs to roll into) and he actually had fun with the trivia game.

Overall a fun museum to explore at least once, but it still is on the pricey side and not likely to go back anytime soon even though the upcoming Reporting Vietnam exhibit does appeal to Mik (kind of wished we waited for it to be open since the Lincoln one is through January 2016). Only exhibit Mik found disappointing with the FBI one, as it didn't seem to really tie in the news influence into it as well as the other exhibits.

Destination Info:


Newseum
555 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington DC 20001

555 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C., 20001 - See more at: http://www.newseum.org/visit/#sthash.soxnjIVn.dpuf

555 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C., 20001 - See more at: http://www.newseum.org/visit/#sthash.soxnjIVn.dpuf

National Building Museum: Designing for Disaster

Date of Visit: February 3, 2015

The "Designing for Disaster" exhibit explores the damage of natural disasters and how to make communities more resilient to disasters. The exhibit features a variety of photos, videos, and interactive displays. Mik found this a really enjoyable exhibit, especially the parts on earthquakes and air natural disasters (hurricanes and tornadoes).

One of the first things that captured Mik's attention was in the first room they had the video of the 1989 World Series playing in which it suddenly cut out because an earthquake caused a loss of power.

Mik's favorite part was the wind tunnel interactive display in the air natural disasters section. Here you choose what type of roof and which direction to put it on the house related to where the wind would come from. Then you could press a button for the wind to be relative to a category 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 hurricane. First he hit the one. Then he went all the way to five and thought it was cool how it showed the effect of the roof blowing off. Also, he noted that it was nice that the display was designed on a table surface that he could easy roll under to use.

This exhibit is on display through August 2, 2015.

Destination Info:
National Building Museum
401 F St NW
Washington, DC 20001

Accessibility Note:  The accessible entrance to the museum is G Street. The Judiciary Square Metro (Red) is the closest, but since we live near Yellow Line we find the Gallery Place-Chinatown Metro (Yellow/Green/Red) more convenient as it is faster/easier to just walk/roll an extra block or so than transferring to Red Line for one stop. More details in our first review of the museum here.

Our Other Current National Building Museum Exhibit Posts

• HOT TO COLD: an odyssey of architectural adaptation (closes August 30, 2015)

National Building Museum: HOT TO COLD an odyssey of architectural adaptation

  
Date of Visit: February 3, 2015

The "HOT TO COLD: an odyssey of architectural adaptation" exhibit features over 60 architectural models suspended from the balconies of the Great Hall. As the Great Hall area is open to the public, you can view most of the exhibit without paying admission. With admission, though, you can go into the second floor gallery that includes more models and videos.

The exhibit is mainly experienced walking around the 2nd floor balcony, but from the first floor you can also look up and see symbols and colors on the bottom that reflect how they represent locales from hot to cold climates.

Mik enjoyed checking out the various models. Of most interest to him was the Phoenix Observation Tower (i.e. Big Pin), which is proposed for near Chase Field. I thought it was absurd, but he thinks it could be a cool way to watch a baseball game (seems too high a view for that).

The Smithsonian South Mall campus plan and St. Petersburg Pier idea were some of our other favorite models.

This exhibit is on display through August 15, 2015.

Destination Info:
National Building Museum
401 F St NW
Washington, DC 20001

Accessibility Note:  The accessible entrance to the museum is G Street. The Judiciary Square Metro (Red) is the closest, but since we live near Yellow Line we find the Gallery Place-Chinatown Metro (Yellow/Green/Red) more convenient as it is faster/easier to just walk/roll an extra block or so than transferring to Red Line for one stop. More details in our first review of the museum here.

National Museum of Natural History: Orchids Interlocking Science and Beauty Exhibit

Date of Visit: January 25, 2015

The "Orchids: Interlocking Science and Beauty" is a special exhibit that opened yesterday at the National Museum of Natural History. The exhibit is located on the 1st floor and while it is quite small, it was definitely worth a visit.

Mik especially enjoyed seeing the different colors and styles of orchids on display. It was also interesting to learn about the history of collecting and transporting orchids, which began in the Victorian era.

Destination Info:

National Museum of Natural History
10th St and Constitution Ave NW
Washington, DC

Accessibility Note: The accessible entrance to the museum is on the Constitution Avenue side of the building. The Smithsonian Metro is usually recommended for the museum; but we find Federal Triangle (Blue, Orange, Silver) and Archives (Yellow, Green) to be closer or just as convenient since the elevator exit for Smithsonian is on opposite side of the National Mall.

Our Other Current National Museum of Natural History Exhibits Posts

• Once There Were Billions (closes January 3, 2016)
• Wilderness Forever (closes late Summer 2015)

National Museum of the American Indian

Date of Visit: January 15, 2015

We've been meaning to visit the National Museum of the American Indian ever since the Nation to Nation exhibit on treaties opened back in September. Waiting until now worked out well, though, as a new temporary exhibit opened this week ("Commemorating Controversy: The Dakota—U.S. War of 1862") and we still got to see the first treaty on display before they switch it out next month.

Since the last time we visited this museum was back in 2006, we ended up wandering through most of the museum. Most of our time was spent in the "Nation to Nation: Treaties between the United States and American Indian Nations" exhibit, but by the end Mik said it seemed too repetitive. I guess to some extent it kind of was with it being making the treaties and then how they were broken or honored with each panel given the perspective from both sides. Mostly, though, I think it was more that he got overwhelmed with information because it covered quite a bit.

Mik's favorite parts of the museum were the displays in the atrium near the elevators on the 4th and 3rd floor. Most interesting to him was the interactive touch screens for the Window on the Collection Exhibitions, which allowed him to get a close up look at the artifacts on display. The ones on the 4th floor (pictured above) were a little tough for him to get up to and use, but once he figured out a good position he spent quite a bit of time using it. The ones on the 3rd floor are slightly different in set up and were easier for him to use.

He also liked the little question and answer displays interactive turning displays that were related to the Nation to Nation exhibit.

He enjoyed watching some of the videos in the Our Universes exhibit. However, some of them were on small low screens in front of a high backed bench, which while architecturally cool they made it impossible to view them well because there was no good angle to roll close enough for him to get a decent view of the screen.

Other than the issue with the design of the screens and benches in the Our Universe exhibit the museum is a good very modern accessible conscious designed museum. This includes button activated automatic doors to enter the building and companion bathrooms at least on the third and fourth floor. Of course, there are also elevators, which Mik was quick to say we had to take a picture of to add to photos of cool elevators we've encountered. The elevators are also nice and large, although the call buttons by each are almost too well blended with the decor/architectural design.

Destination Info:

National Museum of the American Indian
4th St & Independence Ave SW
Washington, DC