National Geographic Museum - Terra Cotta Warriors of China Exhibit

Place:	National Geographic Museum - Terra Cotta Warriors of China Exhibit
Location:	1145 17th St NW, Washington, DC
Phone:	202.857.7588
Hours:	Daily:10:00am–6:00pm Wednesdays:10:00am–9:00pm
Website:	http://www.nationalgeographic.com

The National Geographic Museum is teeny tiny but located on 17th and M, so it's just too easy to get to it. The Terra Cotta Warriors exhibit has been on display a few months now, with another few months to go, but the interest is overwhelming. The museum offers tickets on a half-hour basis, and the line always appears to go down the stairs. Was it worth the wait, the energy, the mid-week hassle? In a word: yes. The exhibit is broken into two parts - both parts offer close-up views of a few of the warriors and many images of the pits in China.

Knack was amazed at how tall the warriors are - about 5 and a half feet tall for each warrior. Also, Knack was interested to learn that the 8,000 or so warriors were NOT created based on real people. Rather, a series of face molds were used and traded to make different looking warriors.

Knick on the other hand, was surprised by how short the warriors were (just kidding), seriously, he enjoyed the exhibit and just wish there had been a tad more information and a couple more figures or even replicas of figures. The great thing of the exhibit is that is gives you a glimpse into a world Knick knew very little about. The exhibit, even on a Wednesday evening, was packed. But it was great. Great exhibit. Knick and Knack learned a lot about China back in about 200 BC, and the gift shop was a great cherry on top.

One final recommendation is if you want to go and you should most absolutely go, plan ahead and get tickets for the 3:00 or 4:00 time slot and go to the National Geographic Society and enjoy the exhibit. Knick is planning on doing just that when his pardner in crime is back in town.

National Geographic Museum - Terra Cotta Warriors Exhibit - Pre-post

Knack has been VERY interested in China for some time now, and this has caused her to seek out interesting Chinese experiences in the good ol' USofA. No, we're not talking about eating in Chinatown - we're talking about museum exhibits!

It had been reported that the Terra Cotta Warriors from Xi'an, China date back to 210BC!! There are believed to be about 20,000 of these warriors, all made out of terra cotta and expertly designed. Not all of them have been found yet. The National Geographic Museum has about 15 on display through March 31.

Knick and Knack have acquired tickets to this exhibit and will be viewing the Terra Cotta Warriors in all of their Chinese grandeur on Wednesday.

Failure Number 1

Dear readers, this weekend we had a little hiccup with our scheduling and we missed the National Cathedral, which we were supposed to visit. Shame, shame, shame on us, what can we say, we were going to make up by attending a Gay event (MAL or Mid-Atlantic Leather Weekend, google at your own discretion). So that is the sad story, but the good news is this weekend we watched:

A Single Man

Nine

Got yarn for my next project (think saffron yellow)

We will catch up next weekend, we promise!

National Building Museum

Place:	National Building Museum
Location:	401 F Street NW, Washington, DC
Phone:	202.272.2448
Hours:	Monday–Saturday:10:00am–5:00pm Sunday:11:00am–5:00pm
Website:	http://www.nbm.org

The National Building Museum was a natural first museum stop for The Crafty Ones. It's an unsung historic building with beautiful architecture and great exhibits. It's also located in a really accessible location - very close to Gallery Place and Chinatown. We went on a Saturday afternoon and had no trouble finding parking right in front of the building.

Upon entering the building you immediately are possessed by the grandeur. The majority of this building is an atrium that is separated only by massive Corinthian columns.

Currently there are three exhibitions - House of Cars, Cityscapes Revealed, and Washington: Symbol and City. House of Cars is a really cool dissertation on parking garages throughout history (1900 - now) and how parking has been key to the development of cities. Parking is a unique challenge for city planners in that it's something people take for granted, require, and don't want to focus on. So parking structures have to be convenient and inconspicuous. Now we've added the challenge of making parking garages green, too! Cityscapes Revealed was an interesting review of facades used on buildings around the country. Washington: Symbol and City was a close look at the city over the past two hundred years. I learned a lot about the neighborhoods of DC and how they've grown and changed over the years.

National Building Museum Pre-Arrival

Many DC residents think this museum is part of the Smithsonian group of museums, but it is not. It is housed in a beautiful brick building and has one of the biggest indoor patios in the city, it is for this reason that most of us know it, since it is a place for galas, dinners and even inauguration balls. But what we all know little about is the museum itself that is what the crafty ones are going to try and figure out this weekend. We also hope to take some breathtaking pictures – which from Knick’s perspective means beautiful zoomed in pictures and lord knows what Knack’s pictures will be of, but we promise a detailed and well thought analysis of the place.