No bones about it the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History is a great place for old fossils, we really enjoyed it. It a great place for kids too.
There’s a lot to see at this museum, but the highlight has to be the dinosaur skeletons. There’s a huge sauropod skeleton in one of the main galleries that’s truly impressive. It’s hard to imagine how something this large could walk around. There is something to be understood in person in a way that’s hard to appreciate from a book or website. This is particularly true when the exhibits are accompanied by a guided tour. Our guide gave a great explanation of why scientists think that birds evolved from dinosaurs. He described how the joint between the thigh bone and the pelvis has an opening at the top of the socket. That’s a feature that’s shared with birds but not mammals or reptiles. When he was describing the anatomy, he used the technical terms for various anatomical features. It turns out he was a retired orthopedic surgeon! It’s not just the skeletons of dinosaurs that were impressive. There were also skeletons of mammoths and other mammals that were interesting.
The museum isn’t all about fossils, though. there are amazing displays of crystals, gems, meteorites and other examples of the history of our planet.
