A Visit to the Burke Museum

 

A dinosaur fossil dominates the room at the Burke Museum in Seattle. 

I recently visited the Burke Museum with my sons as a chaperone on their field trip. This museum is located on the campus of the University of Washington. The Burke Museum of History and Culture invites you to experience the life before us. There are exbibits about dinosaurs, fossils, Northwest Native Art, plant and animal collections, and cultural pieces from around the world. 

One of the highlights at the museum is the giant Baird's beaked whale on display. This is one of only ten in the U.S museum collections. This fossil display is quite something to walk under, as you go up and down the staircase below it. Our group spend the majority of the time in the NW Native Art area, but I would have liked to see the Fossils Uncovered area, since checking out dinosaur fossils is so cool!  

After eating lunch outside on the steps, we walked a few minutes around the UW campus to Red Square. This area has some beautiful architecture. This is the central plaza and is a very popular spot in the early spring when the cherry blossoms bloom. 

The Burke Museum is free on the first Thursday of each month. This is a really interesting museum to explore, and pretty educational, too! 

The view from our bus on the way to UW. The campus is across the water and Bellevue is on the right in the distance. 

This is the beaked whale. This fossil is huge! 

I couldn't help but take a shot of this building covered in ivy on the way to Red Square on UW campus.

Red Square at UW. 

This is Denny Hall, University of Washington's oldest building. It was built in 1895. That's old for Seattle! 

The Burke Museum 

4303 Memorial Way NE 

Seattle, WA 

(206) 543-5590