There’s something about a good gift shop that excites me more than any other type of shopping (and I like most shopping). DC certainly has a lot of them, and to be honest some are just better than the rest. I would actually give a Gold Medal to the Building Museum for their gift shop.

The Building Museum is on my “Off the Beaten Path” tour I give to visitors. It’s a is a museum of “architecture, design, engineering, construction, and urban planning” and is honestly quite interesting (even for us non-engineers). The setup of the museum is perfect for stopping in to beat the heat (or the cold) – it’s wide open inside with separate rooms for each of their exhibits, so you can just pop into a couple, without needing to spend the entire afternoon in one spot.

I might go into it in a later post, but some of the highlights of the museum include a 3D model of the Washington, DC area – both pre and post swamp removal (long story) – and past exhibits using Legos, or about the design of parking garages.

Yes, this is one of those museums you might lose Kyle in. 

 

 

 

Speaking of Kyle, this particular visit to the Building Museum was only to pick up a couple gifts for him in the museum shop. Being a non-Smithsonian, I guess that the museum has the liberty to stock whatever they want and they stock some VERY good things for the engineer, green building enthusiast, travel lover, map lover, or architect in your life, from child to adult.  Since my husband falls into at least a few of those categories, it’s easy to get him a gift.

 

 

I mean, who doesn’t need some DC-map earrings and some ceramic Legos for their home?

Now hopefully someone comes to visit us soon so  I can have an excuse to actually visit more than the gift shop!