*This is NOT a sponsored post. I have a couple of links to some interesting places, but I promise it’s just sharing good fun and no monetary stuff for me!
Hey loves! I hope you had an awesome weekend! We certainly did and I am so excited to share it with you! I am a huge history buff. Since well before The Mummy movie series, I have always wanted to view the Terra Cotta Army in person. It’s a bucket list item. Seriously, it’s been one of my most desired things in the world. I almost had the chance many years ago before Father Winter and I dated to see a very large exhibit, but my chances were dashed after Snowmaggedon. I figured I’d never see them unless I high tailed it overseas. But nope! The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts has an exhibit and I was so amazingly happy to go and see them for myself!
Of course, this is too big an event to see by myself, so I decided to take my eldest daughter Honeybee to look at the warriors and some of the other great exhibits. Then, I surprised her with a trip to The Children’s Museum to round everything out.
So, a bit of background. The museum itself is FREE for general admission exhibits. They have quite a few things to view including a beautiful exhibit on historical portraits of Black subjects. (I’ll post some of those later). Terra Cotta Army exhibit, however, is NOT free unless you are a member of the museum. Because we live so far from the museum, it doesn’t make sense to purchase the membership fee. This means I ended up purchasing a $20 Adult ticket for myself and reserving a FREE ticket for Honeybee since child tickets are free for ages 6 and under. I read up on the museum since this would be my first time attending and discovered there was also a $5 parking lot fee unless I found parking somewhere else. I didn’t mind paying the fee for the convenience and peace of mind. Tickets are timed at thirty minute intervals similar to how the National Museum of African American History does theirs.
Oh and as a heads up, they have some really amazing event space. The day we were there an after-hours party was scheduled. I would have loved to attend as the invite looked fun! They also have TONS of additional exhibits, rotations, and classes from infant art introduction to adult immersion.
The Exhibit
So, Honeybee and I walked into the exhibit after checking her coat
(I really should have checked mine too) and descending the stairs to the special exhibit floor. We were greeted with a “card sign” that identified the exhibit, our ticket was scanned by the attendant, and we were ushered in. The ambiance was quite nice. Quiet room, subdued lighting, highlighting of the articles and you could almost draw the connection between the unearthing of the artifacts. It was quite impressive.
These are just a few of the amazing pictures I captured. But the pièce de résistance was the actual collection of the Warriors themselves. We turned a corner, went into the room, and there they were…and I honest to goodness got tears in my eyes from excitement.
You all have to understand that this experience, these statues, these artifacts? They have all been a part of my bucket list since I was a child. Now, here I was standing in front of them, reading about them, in their presence. I was so excited. Far too soon, I was at the end of the tour and deposited at the exit near the gift shop. I would have LOVED to have purchased a remembrance from this day, but the lines were quite long and I decided I would spend some time viewing the rest of the museum with Honeybee.
I really wanted to visit the Fabergé egg display, but I missed it and I knew the little one was going to be antsy soon. So, I visited another part of the museum that I knew would resonate with her. We visited the Like a Study in Black History: P. H. Polk, Chester Higgins, and The Black Photographers Annual, Volume 2 exhibit. It was phenomenal.
Honeybee and I talked about the pictures, discussed some things that made her nervous, identified comparisons to family members, and enjoyed spending time with one another in such beautiful surroundings.
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It absolutely was an amazing trip and one you have to take if you are ever afforded the opportunity to see the exhibit and/or museum for yourself.
We’re not done! But this post is! We’ll take you on the rest of our museum hopping adventure in Part II. Have a great day and happy reading!
-K
