DC: Day 2, Pt 2--The National Postal Museum

After the unexpected pleasure of the Library of Congress we were off to another museum that is not high on most people's lists, but which I had heard was underrated--the National Postal Museum. And I agree--it was a great stop that I would recommend to any tourists. but esp. those with kids and esp. homeschool families!

Very unassuming from the outside.

Much more grand on the inside.

 Uber-hip display--the infamous pistols used in the Hamilton-Burr duel! 

As you would expect, there were lots of different kinds of letters/mail to geek out on.

 One room was all about collecting, and they had bins of stamps that guests were welcome to look through and select some to take home!  We found some awesome history in those--a stamp that looks like it is from North Korea, a Nazi stamp, National Parks stamps & more.

 There was a display on women in aviation, since so many of them started out delivering mail. Here is Amelia Earhart's flight suit. 

 Leaving the formal museum and going downstairs, it was clear this part was added much later, and this was where there were more modern, kid-friendly & interactive displays. 

 Owney, mascot of the Railway Mail Service. 

There were so many cool things about this museum I didn't even mention--the scavenger hunt for kids, the free retro postcards, the stamp collections to browse. But we only had a few hours there, because we had a date at the Capitol!