Celebrate SmithsonianA VIP experience at the Smithsonian

Itinerary

June 5 - Washington, DC
Individual arrivals at the Omni Shoreham Hotel. One of Washington’s best known hotels, you’ll enjoy comfortable accommodations and fine hospitality.

This evening depart for a gala reception and dinner at the Smithsonian Castle. The Under Secretary for History, Art & Culture, Richard Kurin welcomes you and offers insight into the Smithsonian collections. (R,D)

June 6 - Outside of Washington, D.C.
Travel just outside Washington, D.C. to the National Air & Space Museum’s, Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center located near Dulles International Airport. Meet Paul Ceruzzi, curator of Aerospace Electronics and Computing, and Valerie Neal, curator of the Human Space Flight collection, to explore the treasured icons of spaceflight on display at the James S. McDonnell Space Hangar. See artifacts from the full scope of space exploration history, organized around four main themes: rocketry and missiles; human spaceflight; application satellites and space science. A total of 152 large space artifacts are housed in the hangar. The biggest and heaviest, including the Space Shuttle Discovery, an instrument ring segment of a Saturn V rocket and a Space Shuttle main engine are displayed at ground level. An array of cruise missiles, satellites, and space telescopes hang from above. Enjoy a luncheon off site with the curators followed by a lecture with Dr. Valerie Neal. Return to Washington, D.C. for time at leisure.

This evening gather in the hotel for cocktails and a talk with Jacquelyn Serwer, Chief Curator of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, for an exclusive preview presentation on the museum, currently under construction on a five-acre site between the Washington Monument and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. The museum is creating its foundational collections, preserving artifacts, documents, and art that reflect the history and development of the African American experience in its many aspects. Subjects will include the era of slavery, the period of Reconstruction, the Harlem Renaissance, and the civil rights movement. (B,L,R,D)

June 7 - Washington, D.C.
Spend a fascinating morning at the Smithsonian’s massive Museum Support Center located just outside of Washington, D.C. in Suitland, Maryland. Explore the Smithsonian’s greenhouses with Collections Manager, Mike Bordleon. The greenhouse complex is a research and living collections facility for the Department of Botany of the National Museum of Natural History. The collections are primarily tropical in nature, representing research interests of curators in the Department of Botany. Specimens come from both wild and cultivated sources. The Institution’s collection includes material sourced from six continents.

Continue to the National Museum of the American Indian, Cultural Resources Center for an exclusive tour with Collections Manager, Tori Cranner. The Cultural Resources Center is designed to house the museum's collections in a manner that is sensitive to both tribal and museum requirements for access and preservation. Inspect elaborate tribal regalia including beads, clothing, headdresses, drums, and pottery during your visit.

This evening arrive after hours at the National Museum of Natural History. Enjoy cocktails in the Janet Annenberg Hooker Hall of Geology, Gems, and Minerals. One of the largest renovations ever undertaken by the Smithsonian Institution, the current geology hall opened in 1997. Nearly 3,500 gems, minerals, rocks, and meteorites from the Museum’s unparalleled collections are on display. Highlights include the recently acquired Dom Pedro aquamarine, the largest in the world; Marie Antoinette's diamond earrings; 127-carat Portuguese diamond, the largest cut diamond in the collection; the Bismarck Sapphire necklace; the Hooker Emerald Brooch; the DeYoung Pink Diamond; the 58.19 carat Maharani Cat’s Eye; and the iconic Hope Diamond. Enjoy a festive farewell dinner followed by remarks by Jeffrey Post, Curator-in-Chief of the Gems and Mineral Collection. (B,L,R,D)

June 8 - Washington, D.C., Home
Your tour ends after a leisurely breakfast at the hotel. (B)