DAR Museum — Attraction in Washington

A museum right on the White House Elipse, but not crowded or over-visited. The curation focuses on American colonial history and settlement before and since, with a particular emphasis on the way we lived. A rotation of special exhibits is anchored by halls of living spaces set in periods of time, called rooms. Each room set on a theme, for example, 1880s parlor or 1860s bedroom, the exhibit offers glimpses into the daily lives of those who paved the way and is a fascinating peek into what it would be like then. They do a wonderful and careful job. Free admission, reservation required, so never over-crowded like many other [Smithsonian] free museums...

I was really frustrated that there were very few printed explanations of the items on display. You have to use the Smartify app to look up each item in order to get an explanation. It makes perusing the museum very tedious -- a display that you could normally absorb in a few minutes now suddenly requires 15+ minutes to glean the same information. It was very frustrating, because I was actually very interested in the items on display, but felt quickly worn out by the tedium of having to look...

If you love historical architecture and design, please come here and check out the period rooms! They're so well maintained and preserved. I especially loved seeing the antique wallpapers, since I know how hard it is to preserve wallpaper. The building is gorgeous, and the tour guide was very nice. Also, their small gallery of various items is also interesting, including silver sets from the 18th century, china, quilts, and...