If we’re not hanging around an airport, we’re most likely in a museum.
Here are a two museums on our “go” list.
National Geographic Museum of Exploration
(Photo by Elman Studio for National Geographic)
The new National Geographic Museum of Exploration in Washington, D.C. opens to the public on Friday, June 26, 2026, promising museum exhibits and immersive experiences that “reveal the wildlife, landscapes, communities and cultures that make up our incredible planet.”
Adult admission starts at $29.
(Image by Rebecca Hale. Courtesy National Geographicz)
“Photo Ark: Animals of Earth,” features the wildlife photography of Joel Sartore and eliminates size comparisons of the animals, giving a mouse the same importance as an elephant.
Some of the other exhibitions include The Archives, Rolex Explorers Landing and the Magazine Gallery, which is a large-scale digital installation of National Geographic’s magazine covers from the first magazine in 1888 to the latest issue.
“In Focus,” showcases some of the most memorable National Geographic photographs, including this one by Anand Varma of a ladybug standing over the cocoon of a parasitic wasp.
The caption includes this tidbit: “The young wasp has taken control of the ladybug’s mind, transforming it into a zombie bodyguard.”
(Photo by Anand Varma/National Geographic, Berkeley, CA. Digital capture. First published November 2014).
Maryhill Museum at 100
In Washington State, the eclectic Maryhill Museum of Art is celebrating its 100th year.
The museum sits on a scenic bluff in Goldendale, WA overlooking the eastern end of the Columbia River Gorge.
The collection include 80 works by Auguste Rodin as well as European and American paintings and decorative arts, Indigenous art and a cache of objects from the palaces of the Queen of Romania.
Our favorites from the collection include the more than 400 chess sets from around the world and the renowned Théâtre de la Mode —small-scale fashion mannequins attired in haute couture of post-World War II France with a great lost and found story.
General adult admission to the Maryhill Museum of Art is $23.
