Tour de Force
Had a pretty jam-packed week between work and visiting friends and taking tours of cool places.
First, we took a tour of the Smithsonian Support Center. That's where they keep all the displays from the Smithsonian museums from wet/dry animals to various anthropological artifacts. We got to see how they store rows and rows and more rows of fish specimens in these high metal bookshelves. And we saw the giant squid which used to be on display at the National History Museum in DC. One of the coolest parts was seeing up close and personal (though no touching!) the various artifacts from around the world: Eskimo parkas made from animal intestines, Samurai suits, ivory carved spheres and chess pieces from Japan, ceremonial masks from various South American tribes, just to name a few ... We even got to see the frozen animal carcasses which they use to study (many animals weren't killed for study but were found washed ashore or already dead). There was a creepy room replete with giant hooks hanging from the ceiling above a metal table with a hole at the end for washing the guts and blood away to the drain on the floor. Lots of ideas for a horror story. And we got to see the demisted beetles in action, as they ate away the dead flesh from various rodents and a Pygmy hippo. Kinda gross, but cool. Best of all, we got a tour of the whale bones and stood next to the jaw of a Blue Whale. It's amazing the size of the animals. The artifacts and animal remains are used for study as well as museum displays. Students, researchers, and scientists from all over the world will come to the support center to take samples of bones or tissues for different studies (such as determining what might be killing off a certain species of while) or study the stitching on a dress from Peru.
Next we had a tour of the White House. Our friend works for the National Security Council and just had a meeting with George Bush last week. I know ... friends in high places. :P (And here I thought I was cool when my friends used to work at McDonalds and sneak me free food.) We got to the see the Oval Office which was brilliant, literally, it looked brilliant with all the gold and yellow adorning it. Each president redecorates the Oval Office and Bush used lots of yellow and gold coloring. I have to admit that it looked snazzy and I expected a multitude of angelic voices to be hitting a high "ahhhhhh" when we saw it. We were able to view the Roosevelt room where most meetings take place and the Cabinet room with gold tags on the back of the chairs to indicate where the members sit. We only got to see the West Wing and the executive offices. And I have to admit that the West Wing looked so small, especially with the cramped hallways, for a place where so many important decisions are made. The residence is no longer open for tours but we were able to take a photo outside.
Definitely a great weekend. And I'll have lots of information to pull from for my next stories.
First, we took a tour of the Smithsonian Support Center. That's where they keep all the displays from the Smithsonian museums from wet/dry animals to various anthropological artifacts. We got to see how they store rows and rows and more rows of fish specimens in these high metal bookshelves. And we saw the giant squid which used to be on display at the National History Museum in DC. One of the coolest parts was seeing up close and personal (though no touching!) the various artifacts from around the world: Eskimo parkas made from animal intestines, Samurai suits, ivory carved spheres and chess pieces from Japan, ceremonial masks from various South American tribes, just to name a few ... We even got to see the frozen animal carcasses which they use to study (many animals weren't killed for study but were found washed ashore or already dead). There was a creepy room replete with giant hooks hanging from the ceiling above a metal table with a hole at the end for washing the guts and blood away to the drain on the floor. Lots of ideas for a horror story. And we got to see the demisted beetles in action, as they ate away the dead flesh from various rodents and a Pygmy hippo. Kinda gross, but cool. Best of all, we got a tour of the whale bones and stood next to the jaw of a Blue Whale. It's amazing the size of the animals. The artifacts and animal remains are used for study as well as museum displays. Students, researchers, and scientists from all over the world will come to the support center to take samples of bones or tissues for different studies (such as determining what might be killing off a certain species of while) or study the stitching on a dress from Peru.
Next we had a tour of the White House. Our friend works for the National Security Council and just had a meeting with George Bush last week. I know ... friends in high places. :P (And here I thought I was cool when my friends used to work at McDonalds and sneak me free food.) We got to the see the Oval Office which was brilliant, literally, it looked brilliant with all the gold and yellow adorning it. Each president redecorates the Oval Office and Bush used lots of yellow and gold coloring. I have to admit that it looked snazzy and I expected a multitude of angelic voices to be hitting a high "ahhhhhh" when we saw it. We were able to view the Roosevelt room where most meetings take place and the Cabinet room with gold tags on the back of the chairs to indicate where the members sit. We only got to see the West Wing and the executive offices. And I have to admit that the West Wing looked so small, especially with the cramped hallways, for a place where so many important decisions are made. The residence is no longer open for tours but we were able to take a photo outside.
Definitely a great weekend. And I'll have lots of information to pull from for my next stories.
posted by J.T. Bock at 3:01 PM
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