NMNH Hall of Geology, Gems & Minerals

For some reason I had a hankering to visit the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History's Hall of Geology, Gems & Minerals today, so I asked if my mother wanted to come along, which she did. I hadn't stopped by the exhibit in several years so I suppose I thought was about time I returned, especially now that I work at the Smithsonian's National Zoo and have a discount at all of the Smithsonian museum stores and restaurants. I also learned that I can bypass the sometimes long security lines.

Getting downtown took a little longer than it should, only because my mother and I both grew up in the DC area and tried to Metro on auto-pilot rather than reading the signs, forgetting that the new silver line could get us to our destination just as easy as the orange line from the Metro Center stop.

There is massive construction going on downtown, including MAJOR turf restoration and something on the dome of the Capital:

Here are some photos from the Gems & Minerals exhibit--note that my photos do not include the Hope Diamond, which is displayed in this exhibit…I much prefer more natural beauty:

I like all geodes that resemble grouper fish with gaping mouths...

 I don't remember what this is, but I like it

This is a very large piece of copper!

My mother and I couldn't help each buying a bag of select-your-own-rocks at the Gems & Minerals Gift Shop. I also picked up a beautiful piece of green malachite:

After getting home, I went out again to find a local geocache called "Jurassic Pork" that I couldn't find when I first searched the site - this time = SUCCESS! An excellent cache. Anyone interested in geocaching can read about my adventure here: Jurassic Pork