National Museum of African American History- Logistical Tips

[dr.girlfriend]

We were able to go this weekend, and I thought I'd share a few logistical tips for people who were planning to go.

1.  We did the "wake up at 6:30 a.m. to try for same-day tix" thing.  I kept refreshing the page from 6:30 a.m. on, and it kept saying "No tickets available," so I almost gave up, and then finally at like 6:35 it showed all the times.  I think in some places on the website it said you could get six tickets, but now you can only get 4.

2.  There's a security line outside that took us about 15 minutes to get through (at 2:30).  It was complicated by the fact that a lot of people walked up and got in the line thinking they would get in the museum, not knowing it was restricted to timed passes.  I wish they had someone out there telling people that, rather than waiting for them to get to the front of the line and then have a testy conversation with the security screener.  Anyway, if it's cold, you might want your coat for that part, but...

3.  They mentioned on the website that lockers were available, but when I asked where they were the Information lady was basically like, "There won't be any left" and there weren't.  It's a very small number of lockers, so we had to lug our big coats around with us the whole time.

4. Most importantly, once you get inside the museum there's another big line (in our case, about 40 minutes long) to get down to the "Historical" exhibits, which is pretty much the main part of the museum.  30 people at a time can go down in a big elevator, and then there's one long ramp up through the next three basement-level floors that follows the history of African Americans in America from the 1800s to now.  It's apparently a mile long, and there's no way to shortcut it or anything, so you have to be able to walk the mile and it takes a minimum of an hour.  They talked about it being close in some places with warnings if people were claustrophobic, but I didn't find it so bad.  We had to skip past some things because of the crowds and our tired kid, and it still took us at least one and a half hours.  There was an additional extremely long line for the Emmet Till exhibit that we couldn't even find the end of and so ended up skipping.

5. I was a little worried about the exhibits for my anxious 7-year-old.  I want him to be educated and aware, but was worried about ramping up his anxiety especially in this era of Trump when he picks up on a lot of concerns.  Overall, I thought most things were presented at a kid-appropriate level.  I mean, the whole thing is obviously very upsetting and I don't think they sugarcoated anything, but I don't think it's going to give him nightmares.  I skimmed him past a photo of a man with a horribly whip-scarred back, but for the most part I think a lot of the horrifying parts just went over his head (e.g., reading the number of people who boarded each slave ship versus those that lived.)

6. It might be tempting to skip the Contemplative Court since it's kind of tucked in a half-level up from the lobby, but it's really beautiful in there and worth stopping in.

We did the 2:30 time pass because I wanted to be sure we had time to drive in from Philly, but in retrospect I should have just tried for Sunday and gone in the morning.  Between getting in and the line to get down in the elevator, it was 3:30 before we could really start, and the museum closed at 5:30 (with the museum shop closing at 5).  We had to skip whole floors of the "cultural" exhibits.

Anyway, hope this was helpful.  I'm very glad we went, although I'll also be glad to go in a few years when it might be more conducive to just going in and wandering around. 

[thejackpot]

Thanks for sharing. Glad you got to go.

[shortstax]

I have a great tip to share too

A friend and I went to try and get same day tickets on Sunday 1/22. There weren't any available, but the usher gave us a piece of advice that worked out beautifully. Because you have to request your tickets months in advance, many of the tour groups coming will often have extra tickets.

We waited near the reflecting pool where the charter buses pull up, and sure enough the 1st group we asked had 2 extra tickets! I hope it works for anyone else who is unexpectedly in DC.

Also--go to the bathroom before you go through the historical exhibit. There's only one bathroom right at the beginning, and no others as you walk the mile long path. The exhibits are designed to be uninterrupted, so if you had to go, you'd have to exit then wait in line again to get in.

[kicks]

Thanks for sharing your experience. I'm looking forward to going.