DC Holiday Part 4a: The Museum of Natural History Rocks

Right across the Mall from the Smithsonian Metro stop is the Museum of Natural History. Chock full of rocks and bones, it's my next stop.


Visitors are immediately greeted by a large elephant, silently trumpeting it's dominance. The best place to see it is from the second floor, which also houses the gemstones exhibit.



The gemstone exhibit is where I found all the cool rocks. Because many of them are behind glass cases, a lot of photos didn't come out usable - mainly because the glass confuses the auto-focus and I don't have a manual focus control on this gadget. I did capture some neat stones though.





This is one of the weirdest things I've ever seen - a rock that looks like a giant hairball.


And another crystal that looks like nothing so much as a giant plate of French Fries.


More cool rocks galore, including some of my favorites - geodes.










The display includes a batch of flourescent rocks.


And, saving the best for last - the most impressive rock in the place, the Hope Diamond.