National History Museum

One of the places on our list to visit before exit was the Natural History Museum.  Part of the original collections were specimens gathered during Darwin’s “Voyage of the Beagle.”  This place is a victorian mecca of taxidermied animals.  Make sure and check out the collection of about 300 hummingbirds in the bird section and ‘archie’ the giant squid.   This is the 200 year anniversary of Darwin’s birth and they have a wonderful exhibit on his life and ideas.