I always liked the old one better.

The National Museum of American History, which has been closed for the last two years for renovations, is reopening.

That's sort of bittersweet for me. I'm glad that it's reopened. But I'm not gonna lie - I really liked the super-dated '60s vibe of the old museum. I'm going to miss it.

I'm also going to miss the pendulum, which, has apparently been scrapped.



Bye-bye, pendulum. You were boring... but sort of an institution unto yourself.

Another vestige of the old (OLD) museum that I'll miss (even though it hasn't existed since about 1997) is how the Star Spangled Banner hung behind that painted screen. The lights in the great hall would dim, and the Anthem would play from speakers as the covering rolled down (it was down, right?) to expose the flag... which would air out for about five minutes, and then get covered up.



There was something so... 70s Epcot Animatronic about that... sort of scary Hall of Presidents (with the tinny Anthem playing out of well-worn speakers) but in a comforting sort of way, if that makes sense...

I'm sure the new museum will be very nice.

But I miss knowing that the old one is still around.