I'm going to condense a few days' worth of sightseeing here, because there were a few places where I didn't spend a whole lot of time but were still enjoyable.
One was the Museum of Natural History. To be honest, this one didn't hold a whole lot of appeal for me. It is mostly animals (dead) and fossils. I know there's a lot of cool stuff in there, but it's just not up my alley. I did stop in long enough to see the gem and mineral section, and of course the Hope diamond. It is a huge museum and I think it would be fun for kids who are interested in dinosaurs, fossils, etc.
The Hope Diamond is in a rotating case so that all of the visitors can get a good view and a good photo. It really is that big, and it's quite beautiful. It has it's own room, and then you can go see several other spectacular gems.
An amazing sapphire:
A diamond necklace given by Napoleon to his second wife:
Marie Antoinette's earrings:
And the fantastic Hope Diamond. It's said to be cursed, so I'd settle for just one of those "little" diamonds on the chain.
Another quick visit we took was to the National Botanical Garden. This was a really beautiful space, indoors and out. The outdoor is of course, gardens, and the indoor space is a huge greenhouse, or conservatory, with sections for different kinds of plants. It's like a plant zoo I guess. We especially enjoyed the orchids, but there were also interesting sections on medicinal plants, desert plants, endangered species, Hawaii, and more. A very pleasant stop.
This is a cacao pod growing. It's the beginning of chocolate!
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