Museums - National Building Museum

Conveniently located on top of a metro station.

National Building Museum

I had a day off from work a couple of weeks ago, but Kathryn was stuck working. I decided to make the most of it and check out some museums. I started at the National Building Museum to see the LEGO Architecture exhibit.

• The building was originally used for the Pension Bureau. It features a giant open room with equally giant Corinthian columns. The museum exhibits are tucked in the hallways surrounding the main room.
• The LEGO Architecture exhibit was my primary motivation for coming, but the exhibit I enjoyed most outlined the architectural history of the District. It featured scale models of the National Mall throughout history and a great collection of old photos from around the city. Interesting fact I picked up - the "Beltway" was the only outer loop completed although the original plans called for 4 of them.
• I also recommend the exhibit "Investigating Where We Live" which was designed and constructed by school kids from Southeast DC. It was really well done and emotionally moving.
• These two free exhibits really made me proud to be a DC resident.
• The LEGO exhibit was the only one with an entrance fee ($5), and it was disappointingly small. Also, most of the buildings were from Chicago (Corn Cob, Sears, and John Hancock).
• Like the Postal Museum, the small, concentrated focus of the museum made it well worth the visit, and it doesn't seem to get as overrun as the major Smithsonian museums.

I decided to save the $5 and not check out the Wearable Crafts Fair.

I wanted to get to the Yankee Hotel Foxtrot angle, but the table was in the way.

This was making me homesick.