The National Mall- Washington DC- Saturday daytime

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Welcome to the National Mall! The students were dropped off near the Washington Monument in the morning, and from there they would be able to wander around at their leisure. It was a beautiful fall day and there was plenty to do. There were free museums, monuments, great architecture, places to grab a meal or just a quick bite from a vendor, or you could could hang out and people watch.

It was even possible to do everything in a single day if you were quick about it. And hopefully everyone wore comfortable shoes because seriously your feet will be filing to divorce you by the time you leave if you didn't.


[Open to all students and any teachers who would like to chaperone! You'll handwavily get back to Fandom in the evening.
Also I maybe put the OCD in order of the path around the mall in case anyone actually does want to try pinging into several things, so you know what order you probably went in. La.]

Comments

Washington Monument

[throughaphase]

Ah, the phallic monument. USA! USA! You can see things like the White House and Jefferson Memorial from different points on the ground, and the monument is finally open again, so with a ticket you can head on up and get a view of everything!

Re: Washington Monument

[suitably_heroic]

Atton could say he was here because it was becoming increasingly likely he'd be living on Earth for a while and he needed to know its history, but he'd be lying. He was mostly here because he was trying to keep his momentum going without having to do too much, which meant another school-arranged trip was perfect. He'd swapped out the Jedi tunic for a dark brown sweater under his jacket, but that was about the only concession he was making for this trip. (The jacket was not optional, okay? Never.)

"Somebody overcompensated," he said, eyeing the monument from afar.

"I should've stuck with the milk."

Re: Washington Monument

[ultimatehottie.livejournal.com]

Johnny planned this out. He had a camera on a small tripod set up at the perfect angle. He spotted where he needed to be. He took his position as the timer went off and boom, best photo of him where you couldn't see his pretty face ever, a flame apparently coming off the tip of the monument like a giant birthday candle.

After doing that, he actually flew over to the monument itself to check it out.

Re: Washington Monument

[sharp_as_knives]

The first thing Hannibal did upon arrival was connect to a local network and google himself. Finding nothing, he relaxed a bit and determined to be just another tourist.

Re: Washington Monument

[stacyexperiment]

Gwen mostly had wanted to get out of the dorms for a day, because she didn't hugely care about any of this stuff. So she started by wandering kind of lazily around the monument, and actually thought it was kind of cool to check out anything she could see from here.

And yes she was already planning on taking some inappropriate pictures from the other end of the mall.

National Museum of American History

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This museum is all about the US and its history. It houses things like the original Star-Spangled Banner and Lincoln's hat, and has exhibits on everything ranging from the War for Independence to pop culture.

Re: National Museum of American History

[doesnotkneel]

Edward stood about and squinted a bit before he even thought about entering this building.

He was getting himself prepared mentally; it was, to say the least, odd to be going to a museum of a country that didn't even exist yet when he came from.

"Suppose the king was unhappy about this," he mused idly, once he actually bothered to step inside.

Re: National Museum of American History

[tigerundercover]

Raven took her time going through this one -- it seemed like there were literally exhibits and display cases everywhere, and she paused to look over every single one.

It wasn't going to stop being trippy seeing pieces that she could get brand new back home on display as cultural artifacts. And things that back home hadn't been invented yet being treated the same way.

Re: National Museum of American History

[stacyexperiment]

This was a pretty good museum to start in, Gwen thought. She wasn't exactly big on museums or culture or anything, but she knew this stuff, at least. If there was anything to do with fashion, she ended up checking it out just a little longer, maybe wondering if the way she dressed was ever going to end up in a display somewhere.

Of course she was currently wearing a midriff-baring Ozzy shirt, so probably not.

Re: National Museum of American History

[throughaphase]

Kitty had never been in here, so she thought she'd take a little more time than just running through in a mad dash to get to everything today. Wow, this place just went right ahead and addressed slavery, huh? Good for them.

Re: National Museum of American History

[not-called-icky.livejournal.com]

Would it be a bad thing to know more about the future of his own time? Ichabod decided not and spent a long time in this museum, frowning and making comments to himself that made other visitors give him confused looks. It might have something to do with him wearing his usual 18th century clothes too, of course.

National Museum of Natural History

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Straight out of the movies, this museum is about the planet, nature and world culture. It includes things like a fossil exhibit we're going to pretend is open, the Hope Diamond, mummies, and a butterfly pavilion. You know you want to try the butterfly pavilion.

Re: National Museum of Natural History

[not_every_mage]

Anders had dressed to blend in on this trip, which meant jeans that felt stiff against his thighs, a red long-sleeved t-shirt that brought out the auburn in his hair -- and an uncomfortable lightness on his back where his staff should have been.

As soon as he got to the museum, he paid a quick visit to see the familiar-but-strange beasts in the Hall of Mammals and then made a beeline to the mummy exhibit. He was mesmerized by the artistry that went into their preservation.

The questions he asked the guard as he lingered might have made blending in an impossible task, but he didn't care.

Re: National Museum of Natural History

[stacyexperiment]

This one Gwen was doing mostly because she'd seen it in movies. She was finding that she was maybe all about the dinosaurs here. They didn't seem so scary as a near-adult unless you really looked at how long their teeth were. She dug it.

Re: National Museum of Natural History

[pasunereveuse.livejournal.com]

This was where Celia spent a huge portion of her day, mostly intrigued by the minerals collection. She could pull diamonds from thin air, sure, but it was somehow so much more impressive to see what nature herself had created. And when she was done with the Hope Diamond, she had plenty of plans to track back and look at the dinosaurs, too -- frightening though they were in their enormity, they were something that she hadn't spent much time researching in her spare time.

National Gallery of Art

[throughaphase]

If you want to wander around and check out some art, this is the place! The museum also includes a large outdoor sculpture garden and an indoor cafe with sculptures in it.

Re: National Gallery of Art

[theheadkid.livejournal.com]

After milling around a bit, Travis found himself at the National Gallery of Art. He didn't know if it was wise to go in since it'd dredge up memories but he went in anyway.

Art was one of those things he liked for the most part. Some things he liked more than others but he couldn't deny that it was relaxing to wander around and check things out.

Capitol Building

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You can get a guided tour of our nation's capitol building, or you can just hang out outside because the building itself is pretty great. Plus you can see across the mall, and take cutesy/inappropriate tourist pictures with the Washington Monument in the background.

Re: Capitol Building

[notconflicted]

Sia had sort of a passing interest in things like American government and politics just because it was different than what she was used to and it helped to know how other cultures did things, so she wanted to stop here. She debated actually taking the tour, but she wasn't sure she wanted to spend that much time looking at something she was only passingly interested in, so instead she took up a seat on the steps outside for a while and watched tourists taking pictures.

United States Botanic Garden

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Come see plants! This is an actual plant museum, including exhibits on plants from around the world, surviving from the Jurassic period, endangered species, and much more. And even for mid-October, there's plenty of flowers in bloom.

Re: United States Botanic Garden

[flickofthewrist]

Flick had passed through DC a few times but never actually stopped to look around. So, he'd taken the opportunity to go this time and found himself in the middle of a lot of plants.

Well, at least everything smelled good.

National Museum of the American Indian

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This museum holds many exhibits detailing the culture and past of the Indians of the Americas. It also has the Mitsitam Coffee Bar and Cafe, which is all about native foods. Have a buffalo burger.

National Air and Space Museum

[throughaphase]

The Air and Space Museum is pretty self explanatory: planes and space travel through the years. There's so much stuff there's even another museum in Virginia to hold it all. Planes and space stuff! Planes and space stuff!

Re: National Air and Space Museum

[ultimatehottie.livejournal.com]

Johnny eventually made his way to the Air and Space Museum since, well, he had spent time in The Awesome, a space shuttle that had been converted for interdimensional travel.

And he nearly died in it. Whatever, he named it, that was a win. It made him wonder when The Awesome would b in a museum.

Freer Gallery of Art

[throughaphase]

This museum showcases Asian art from around the world, and even includes things like Biblical manuscripts. Also the Peacock Room in the America exhibit might be worth a look.

Re: Freer Gallery of Art

[halfbad.livejournal.com]

Nathan found himself inside the museum, looking a little lost. He took a few more uncertain steps and actually got caught up in looking at some of the displays. This, at least, was something he could enjoy without feeling too stupid.

Hang out on the lawn

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If you need a break or just want to people watch, you can set up camp on the grass. You can also grab a snack from a vendor and hang out.

Re: Hang out on the lawn

[suitably_heroic]

Atton got hungry halfway during the day, and... honestly he just didn't want to go anywhere for a while. So there he was, sprawled somewhere on the lawn eyeing the sky as he contemplated eating his food.

Other places

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There's plenty to do in the area! You can walk or take a pedicab to plenty of places, to visit other museums or monuments or take pictures outside the White House fence (please don't joke about jumping over it right now). Just be back before it's time to leave, and put your location in the subject line so others can join you!

Re: Other places: Hirshhorn & Sculpture Garden

[locointhecoco]

There was something about the big circular building surrounded by gardens that just drew Pinkie in. She didn't understand a damn bit of the art -- well, other than the soundsuit, anyway -- it was lots of fun to imagine what Rarity and Twilight would have to say about the different pieces.

And hoo boy, were the other folks visiting friendly! It seemed like everypony she passed wanted to watch her walk around and try talking to her and take her picture! Though she never did find the "amazing performance art piece" they were all talking about. . . .

OOC

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If I missed anything or messed something up, let me know down here!

Oh DC, I miss you.