Jessica and I were extremely excited to visit the recently re-opened National Museum of American History -- it had always been one of my favorites, but it had been closed the last two times we visited Washington, DC. Unfortunately, I have to say that I'm not a fan of the way the museum has been reorganized. It's clear that a lot of the construction was needed to accommodate the vast crowds we saw on the Friday we went, but the shrunken exhibits themselves were sadly lacking. From the floorplans, however, it appears that there will someday be additional exhibit space opened to the public. I can't wait!
The most obvious example of shrinkage was the World War I exhibit which measured about 50 square feet. Frankly, the online version of the exhibit is more engaging and impressive than the room itself! I couldn't even get a picture of the room because it was too small to maneuver my camera with all the people crammed in.
In contrast, here are some pictures I too of the recently christened Obama Wing.
I can't say I was displeased that the shoulder-to-shoulder crowd didn't seem too interested in the 5,000 square feet dedicated to our current President. I visited the museum in 2001 and 2005 and don't remember President Bush being so prominently featured.
