From Philadelphia we moved on to Delaware. We were there for a week and had a campsite right near the beach and decided to spend this state recuperating rather than sightseeing. Along with hanging out on the beach Jim played a couple rounds of golf and some pickleball and we spent some time with Jim’s brother and sister in law. Since we didn’t do anything special we have no pictures of this state. Sorry, Delaware! But we did enjoy our stay here.
So since we have no pictures of Delaware I’m continuing this post into Maryland. We left Delaware for a campsite at Andrews AFB. Turned out to be a very nice campground and we were close to the DC area which is where we spent most of our time sightseeing. We had both been to most of the museums before but it had been a very long time. The first one we went to was the Museum of Natural History. Here are our pictures.
The Washington monumentThis hide of a 22,000 pound, 13′ African elephant has been in the museum since 1959This is a real mummy of a man who died about 2,200 years ago!This shows how the mummies were decoratedAnother mummyA child mummyA mummy coffinSkulls from over a million years ago30,000 year old bones of a Neanderthal found in a cave in IraqLucy, over 3 million years old. The firstBones of a gray whaleBones of a Leatherback turtleBones of a swordfishA piece of the 300,000 ton meteor that landed in Arizona 50,000 years agoAnother meteor found in Goose Lake, California in 1938This meteorite hit a car in Peekskill, NY in 1992Another meteorite found in Mexico in the mid 1800’sThe Hope Diamond. Found in India in the early 1600’s it’s been owned by many Kings and finally a jeweler named Harry Winston, who donated it to the SmithsonianThe necklace the diamond is onThe Whitney Flame Topaz. 49,000 caratsThe Dom Pedro Aquamarine. 11,000 caratsA 13,000 carat TopazThe Oppenheimer diamond on the left, a 254 carat uncut diamond. On the right, the Portuguese diamond, at 127 carats it’s the largest cut diamond in their collectionA 68 carat diamond necklaceAnother diamond necklaceA 168 carat diamond and emerald necklace designed in 1931
A 1,000 carat flawless AquamarineStar of Asia, a 330 carat sapphire. Once owned by an Indian princeA 139 carat star ruby, one of the largest in the worldThe Inquisition neckless. A 45 carat emerald with 336 diamondsA diadem gifted to Marie Louise from Napoleon as a wedding giftA necklace given Maire Louise from Napoleon after the birth of their first sonDiamond earings originally given to Marie Antoinette by her husband King Louis XVI in the mid 1700’s