Smithsonian Offers Extended Summer Hours
Posted By ajw93 On April 7, 2009 @ 12:34 pm In Essential DC, The Mall | Comments Disabled
SS-20 at NASM*
The three most popular museums on the Mall are now open from 10:00 AM through 7:30 PM daily (except when there’s a special event scheduled). Hours apply at the National Air and Space Museum [1], the National Museum of American History [2], and the National Museum of Natural History [3] until Labor day! If you, like me, have still not been to visit the newfangled Star-Spangled Banner exhibit [4], or the Einstein Planetarium [5], or the new Ocean Hall [6], because you’re just too tired after a hard week’s work to fight the crowds on the weekend – now is your chance!
I have taken full advantage of the later hours (11:30 AM – 7:00 PM daily) at the National Portrait Gallery [7]/American Art Museum [8] on 8th Street. It’s thisclose to my Metro stop, Gallery Place, so I visit quite often in the winter when I commute on the bus and train. In the summer, I bike commute, and my ride takes me down the Mall past the three biggies each workday. Now, when I’m overcome by the urge to visit the SS20 missile [9] at the Air and Space Museum, I’ll be able to stop in on the way home.
So, DC, take advantage of your free museums, and if you’ve got any touristy visitors coming this summer, be sure to let them know!
*photo by flickr user ptufts [10], used under a Creative Commons license
Article printed from Washington D.C. Metblogs: http://dc.metblogs.com
URL to article: http://dc.metblogs.com/2009/04/07/smithsonian-offers-extended-summer-hours/
URLs in this post:
[1] National Air and Space Museum: http://www.nasm.si.edu/
[2] National Museum of American History: http://americanhistory.si.edu/
[3] National Museum of Natural History: http://www.mnh.si.edu/
[4] Star-Spangled Banner exhibit: http://americanhistory.si.edu/exhibitions/exhibition.cfm?key=38&exkey=70
[5] Einstein Planetarium: http://www.nasm.si.edu/visit/theaters/planetarium/
[6] Ocean Hall: http://ocean.si.edu/ocean_hall/
[7] National Portrait Gallery: http://www.npg.si.edu/
[8] American Art Museum: http://americanart.si.edu/
[9] SS20 missile: http://collections.nasm.si.edu/code/emuseum.asp?profile=objects&newstyle=single&quicksearch=A19900275000
[10] ptufts: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zippy/
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