Another TBB post featuring the most eclectic links around the web such as the hot stock markets, the AI money vortex, the real China model, eleven dreamy Airbnbs, the 100k CITI Strata Elite card offer, passive investing principles, generative AI aftermath, anti 5G vigilante, the anti vaccine movement goes way back, the best romantic spots in each US state, Thailand buffaloes, the best photography links and of course always all of the most important developments in the crazy world of frequent flyer miles and points at the lower half of the post. Enjoy the weekend.
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This blog started way back in 2012 focusing on my crazy hobby addiction of traveling with frequent flyer miles, hotel and bank points. It has since evolved to curated posts featuring the best web content along with my commentary.
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BLOG HOUSEKEEPING
This is truly a one man labor of love operation, enjoy it while it lasts.
PERSONAL FINANCE
And The 2026 Tax Brackets Are Here. See Where You Land. Main highlights:
The new income ranges for each tax bracket and a higher standard deduction mean that someone who earns the same income next year would likely owe slightly less in taxes, though the difference may be a few hundred dollars in many cases…The 37% income-tax rate will apply to income above $768,700. For individuals, that top tax bracket will kick in above $640,600…A married couple filing jointly could have $100,800 in taxable income, nearly $4,000 more than this year, and stay in the 12% bracket.
The standard deduction rises to $16,100 for individuals in 2026, up from $15,750. For married couples who file jointly, it is $32,200, up from $31,500.
For those of you with large embedded unrealized capital gains: For 2026, the 0% rate applies to single filers with taxable income up to $49,450 and joint-filing couples with incomes up to $98,900.
The new tax law set the federal estate-tax exclusion—or the amount an individual can shelter from estate taxes—at $15 million for deaths in 2026, up from $13.99 million this year.
A separate annual limit on tax-free gifts is $19,000 for 2026, the same as this year.
This Jason Zweig Wall Street Journal article is about a month old. And yet so timeless: How to Keep This Hot Stock Market From Melting Your Retirement Dreams. Don’t assume high returns will last, or that you will spend far less.
What investors must never forget is that market returns also have three basic phases: good to great, middling and miserable. To counteract the consequences of miserable long-term returns, you have only three choices: Save more, work longer or take more risk.
Saving more is by far the easiest and safest.
Earlier in my career I once lost a prospect to come aboard my small by design wealth management firm because, as he put it, my investing style was not complicated enough I guess for his level of wealth. This used to bother me but I quickly got over it. Because in this business client fit is paramount. Anyway, the article: At What Point Do Passive Investing (Boglehead) Principles Not Apply? The article contains lots of cautions against private market investments. For the reasons I have outlined here in the past numerous times.
…the passive/Boglehead style of investing is just as prudent, regardless of whether we’re talking about the low range of the wealth spectrum, the high range, or anywhere in between.
A stat and a graph that I came across in the past week that I deemed were worthy to share with you:
In 2022, only 10% of Americans actually waited until age 70 to claim their Social Security benefits, while 29% claimed benefits at age 62 and the majority, 61%, did so before their full retirement age (According to a study by the Bipartisan Policy Center).
and this:
I am surprised only 10% wait until age 70 to claim their Social Security benefits. Everyone is different but, in general, it is the right thing to do, IF you can afford to wait that is. And of course you are alive until then and live a normal life span. Don’t forget that your SS benefit goes up by about 8% each year after your normal retirement age (which is likely 67). So, you get a 24% increase by waiting three years and then you get to lock in the highest amount of benefit for life. Not a bad deal, again, if you can afford to wait. Then again, changes will eventually come to this program so who knows what that will do to the benefits. My gut feeling is most of the pain will be inflicted on our kids/grandkids.
Nothing surprising about the rich getting richer graph…
SCAMS/CRYPTO/AI/TECH
There is a giant sucking sound sucking money for everything AI: The AI Money Vortex. OpenAI is worth $500 billion now. What are its investors getting back?
The result is a disconnect between what goes in and what comes out. OpenAI is worth more than Norway’s GDP; its employees are raking in princely sums, and its expenditures on everything from development to operations to raw computing power are, by any metric, extreme. But there’s no guarantee that AI chatbots will be the revenue-inflating productivity accelerators their biggest boosters hope they will be. There’s also no guarantee that chatbots will offer the kind of life-changing support for everyday users that these companies claim. Still, the world’s biggest venture capitalists and tech conglomerates are willing to take that chance. Potential regulatory hurdles, implementation bottlenecks, bubble doomersayers, social backlash—none of that seems to matter, at least not yet.
Here comes another influencer type who got rich by selling his stupid courses online to morons. Actually, good old Ponzi type scam was behind the “business”: ‘Do You Believe I’m a Scam? Haha’ Tai Lopez became YouTube famous promising men they too could own a Lamborghini. Then came the alleged Ponzi scheme.
Authorities now claim that Lopez, Mehr, and Burkenroad had more to be cagey about than just the losses. Last month, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged Lopez and Mehr with several fraud counts for “misappropriating investor money and operating a Ponzi scheme” from 2020 to 2022 with $122 million of investors’ funds. In meetings, they say Lopez and Mehr discussed the “triage” of payments — using new investors’ money to pay back those who had already put into the pot.
Going back to AI, we can not escape it. Another article to try to wrap our heads around this thing: Generative AI might end up being worthless — and that could be a good thing. What is this article about? It tries to answer feasible (probable?) scenarios such as what if the technology never works well enough to replace your co-workers, companies fail to use AI well or most AI startups simply fail? With this parameter of course:
Current estimates suggest big AI firms face a US$800 billion dollar revenue shortfall.
This story reminded me of a dude I used to see in my hometown of Ann Arbor. At a traffic light intersection, with cars waiting at the red lights, he went around showing us all drivers a big board sign saying how 5G is killing us all and how it is a conspiracy and stuff like that. I have not seen him in the past three months or so, maybe the waves or some secret government institution silenced him lol. One Vigilante, 22 Cell Tower Fires, and a World of Conspiracies. Beware of your phone and what the algorithms are serving you. Because it does not take much to get you to be consumed by all this crazy conspiracy shit and end up ruining your life. What a sad story…
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ODDZ & ENDZ
Must read, all about China: The Real China Model. By Dan Wang.
The country may have problems, but it will continue to be effective. And the longer it succeeds, the more the United States and its allies will deindustrialize under pressure from Chinese firms in energy, industrial goods, and perhaps even artificial intelligence. If the United States is to compete effectively, its policymakers must spend less time worrying about how to weaken their rival and more time figuring out how to make their country the best and most vigorous version of itself.
Fascinating link: List of dates predicted for apocalyptic events. So many charlatans, so many fooled by charlatans #sad.
Vaccine deniers have been around a very long time: The strange history of the anti-vaccine movement. I just scheduled my annual physical next month. And getting my flu and Covid shots as well, do your research 🙂
This is good fun: TV Simulator Says. Ask anything and the response comes from The Simpsons lol.
Amazing photography in the 2025 Ocean Photographer of the Year contest.
TRAVEL
Another list: Discover the Most Romantic Spots in Every U.S. State. I always check my state, just curious.
Michigan: Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
Some of these are absolutely amazing: 11 Dreamy Airbnbs in the Middle of Nowhere. Which one is your favorite?
Wow, this bridge: World’s highest bridge opens in China.
Obligatory Thailand link, it’s time for buffaloes! Photos show a water buffalo festival in Thailand at the start of harvest season.
What a fun link! From Guinness World Records homepage: Take a record-breaking road trip across America from giant cowboy boots to dino skeletons. Check out the place with the largest cowboy boots, a big banana car, tallest monument, largest cave opening, largest golf tee, largest library, largest mailbox and lots more, enjoy.
Not sure where to stick this one so I decided to stick it in this section. Very interesting, found HERE:
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This blog started with a focus on miles and points and travel. It has evolved since then. Everything below deals with the hobby of collecting frequent flyer miles and points and maximizing your travel experiences. If you are not interested, you can stop here, thank you.
MILES & POINTS
Here we go again.
Since price inflation is solved, maybe we can now attack hotel brand inflation lol: Hilton Just Launched a New Brand of Independent Boutique Hotels. I think this is brand #25 for Hilton. I think they need to pick it up here, only 25 lol. I chuckle sometimes reading what each new brand “represents”. So,
Outset Collection by Hilton is designed to capture what travelers increasingly crave: hotels with personality, a sense of place, and experiences that don’t feel cookie-cutter. Each hotel will have distinct design aesthetics, architectural style, and on-site amenities. That means a boutique city stay may come with contemporary interiors and high-tech features, while a basecamp for outdoor adventure offers guests local guidebooks and trail snacks. Dining and guest experiences will also vary, depending on the destination and its local culture…The first Outset Collection hotels will open for bookings in November, with stays beginning later this year. Debut locations include a basecamp for outdoor adventures in Moab, Utah, and the Acme Hotel in Chicago’s River North neighborhood.
Many bloggers are making this a much bigger deal than it is: Rakuten Adding Bilt Points As Payment Option. Purely coincidentally, such bloggers saying this crap tend to be ones who may accepted the invite by the Bilt marketing department to be wined and dined in Caribbean private islands. Unlike this blogger, it is what it is.
Interesting: Alaska VP Bashes Other Carriers’ ‘Monopoly Points’ & Other Juicy Reddit Tidbits. And this airline continues to do things in its own distinct ways, how about this starting in 2026: Atmos™ Communities. Our communities are built to reward you for how you actually explore. Whether you’re a culinary adventurer, thrill seeker, or bringing the whole family along, your membership unlocks curated deals, experiences and offers that speak to what matters most to you.
Another one: Capital One Miles Complete Guide.
I think United Airlines is being much better managed lately. And its steady international growth continues: United Will Fly to 4 New European Cities Next Summer. From Newark/New York to Split, Croatia; Bari, Italy; Glasgow, Scotland and Santiago de Compostela, Spain. Santiago de Compost what?
Good review on YouTube: Ranking 8 International Business Class Products.
Another good review YouTube video: Every Major Luxury Hotel Brand Compared.
TRAVEL REWARDS CREDIT CARDS
You know, Fifth Third bank just got much bigger, maybe they also get into the travel rewards credit card business in a serious way? Fifth Third to Buy Comerica. I have some clients who have been doing business with Comerica for decades so this is huge for us in Michigan.
This is a very disturbing article about the damage that can be inflicted from these “Buy Now, Pay Later” firms that are running wild out there (thanks to blog reader Sam for sending this one in): They Got to Live a Life of Luxury. Then Came the Fine Print. ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ has built a delirious new culture of consumption — and trapped users in a vortex of debt. Reading how this lady just could not stop buying crap she could not afford was, well, painful. Good to see her turning her life around but most in her case would go on destroying themselves. And loved ones along the way as well. Also, Klarna went public recently at a $19 Billion valuation! I am pretty sure the regulators over at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau CFPB are all over this industry making sure consumers are not taken for a ride. Yeah….right smh.
B.N.P.L. has scaled quickly as an industry, with the total value of purchases ballooning to around $120 billion in 2023 in the United States alone, up from just $2 billion in 2019.
Not much action in this space, other than the new 100k Citi Strata Elite card offer now available to all online, see New Offers below. And the IHG One Rewards cards now have an expiration date of 10/23/2025.
NEW OFFERS:
Citi now offers the 100k Strata Elite card after $6,000 minimum spend. This is Citi’s premium card at a $595 annual fee. $300 annual hotel credit, $200 annual Splurge credits, $200 annual Blacklane credit, 4 annual American Airlines Admirals Club lounge passes, Priority Pass Select membership and $120 Global Entry/TSA Precheck credit. Earning structure is: 12x points per dollar spent on Hotels, Car Rentals, and Attractions booked on cititravel.com, 6x points per dollar spent on Air Travel booked on cititravel.com, 6x points per dollar spent at restaurants on Citi Nights purchases, Friday and Saturday from 6 PM – 6 AM EST, 3x points per dollar spent at Restaurants any other time, 1.5x points per dollar spent on All Other Purchases. Points can now be transferred out to American Airlines. This card is a Mastercard. There is a $145 discount off the annual fee if you are a Citigold customer or have a Private Client relationship (requires over $200k with Citi). Citi Private Clients get the first annual fee waived. Citi is not an easy bank to deal with so beware. If you are looking for a link please email me.
Amex just came in with elevated offers on all four Hilton Honors cards:
– Honors: 100,000 points after $2,000 spend in six months
– Surpass: 155,000 points after $3,000 spend in six months
– Aspire: 175,000 points after $6,000 spend in six months
– Business: 175,000 points after $8,000 spend in six months
And Chase just elevated this offer:
Chase Marriott Boundless 125,000 Points + Free Night Certificate (up to 50,000 points) after $3,000 in six months
The rest of the offers below are old “new” offers: 🙂
These two offers stand out and they are back!
Two NO ANNUAL fee cards from CHASE, the CHASE Ink Business Cash and the CHASE Ink Business Unlimited, for 90,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points for $6,000 minimum spend.
The 90K CHASE Ink Business Unlimited card is back. This is a NO ANNUAL FEE business card that earns 1.5x on everything, unlimited. The minimum spend required to earn the Signup Bonus is $6,000 in the first three months. Don’t use this card abroad as it has a foreign transaction fee. Chase may advertise this card all over the place as a cash back card but it does pay the Signup Bonus in 90,000 Chase Ultimate Reward points. Of course, extended warranty, purchase protection and primary CDW when renting a car for business purposes also apply. All these goodies for no annual fee, wow! Needless to say you don’t have to book travel in the Chase travel portal to get the travel values above. You can transfer your points to airline and hotel partners and possibly get even more more value than what you can get at the Chase travel portal, assuming you do have one of the cards mentioned above (Sapphire Reserve or Sapphire Preferred or Ink Business Preferred). But that requires a little more legwork from you to transfer, find availability, book award trips, etc. I like to transfer to Hyatt, Air Canada Aeroplan, United and sometimes Southwest. Available from my favorite bank links above.
The 90K CHASE Ink Business Cash is a NO ANNUAL FEE card. The card now offers the 90k Signup Bonus after $6k spend in the first three months. It earns 5x on office supply stores and internet/cable/phone services on the first $25,000 and 2x on gas and restaurants on the first $25,000 and 1x on everything else unlimited. Don’t use this card abroad as it has a foreign transaction fee. I usually go to Office Depot and buy gift cards of the stores I usually shop at, hello 5x Amazon! You can transfer your points to airline and hotel partners and possibly get even more more value than what you can get at the Chase travel portal, assuming you do have one of the cards mentioned above (Sapphire Reserve or Sapphire Preferred or Ink Business Preferred). But that requires a little more legwork from you to transfer, find availability, book award trips, etc. I like to transfer to Hyatt, Air Canada Aeroplan, United and sometimes Southwest.
Attention all you Southwest Companion Pass lovers and seekers:
Chase Southwest Business Performance Card 120,000 Points Signup Bonus (Companion Pass With Single Card Signup). $299 annual fee. $10k minimum spend in 3 months. If you time this right, you can earn the Companion Pass for all of 2026 AND 2027! Offer expires 10/22/2025 by the way. So if you apply in early October you can get the bonus posted in early January 2026 and boom!
Chase Aeroplan 100k Bonus Points. $95 annual fee. 75k points for $4k spend in 3 months. Additional 25k points for $20k total spend in 12 months.
EXPIRING OFFERS:
We now have the refreshed American Express Platinum & Business Platinum Cards ($895 Fee, 175k/200k Bonus, Many New Credits).
The Signup Bonus offers remain the dreaded “Up to 175,000 points” for the personal card (most getting 80,000). And a solid 200,000 points for the Business card.
125k CHASE Sapphire Reserve/200k CHASE Sapphire Reserve for Business
Chase raised the Signup Bonus to 125,000 from 100,000 points. The minimum spend is $5k in the first three months. As with all cards, you know what to do to help the blog, thank you. You can read a lot more about the Sapphire Reserve cards HERE.
30k CHASE United Gateway
One of my favorite no annual fee keeper cards. Just $1k minimum spend in the first three months. Earns 2x on United purchases, gas stations, local transit and commuting, 1x on everything else. You get expanded award availability and 2 free checked bags after $10k spend in a calendar year. 25% off in in-flight purchases. No foreign transaction fees. Many spend based promos with this card from personal experience, there is always a spend based promo going on, they never stop, love it.
75,000 Points + $300 Travel Credit Capital One Venture
If you value simplicity, this card earns 2x points everywhere (and 5x on hotels and rental cars booked on the Capital One travel portal) with a $95 annual fee. No foreign transactions fees, Visa Signature benefits and credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck.
Capital One Spark Cash Business Card $1,000 Signup Bonus With $10,000 Spend
The card has its annual $95 fee WAIVED for the first year. No annoying credits to deal with, it just earns 2 points everywhere. And you can earn 5x on hotels and rental cars booked on the Capital One travel portal too. And when you have a Capital One Venture X or the Venture card above, the $1,000 can be turned into 100,000 miles.
CITI Strata No Annual Fee 30,000 Thank You points
Two new 100k offers on United business cards Ends November 5, 2025
The IHG One Rewards offers below all now END 10/23/2025.
- Chase IHG One Rewards Premier: 165,000 Bonus Points after spending $3,000 in the first 3 months from account opening.
- Chase IHG One Rewards Traveler: 2 Free Nights + 40,000 Bonus Points after spending $2,000 on eligible purchases within the first 3 months from account opening. Each Free Night is valued at up to 50,000 points.
- Chase IHG One Rewards Premier Business: Earn up to 200,000 Bonus Points. Earn 140,000 Bonus Points after spending $4,000 in the first 3 months from account opening. Plus, earn 60,000 Bonus Points after spending a total of $9,000 in the first 6 months from account opening for a total of 200,000 Bonus Points.
Please help the small independent blogs like mine continue to exist by supporting them with your CREDIT CARD clicks, thank you!
THIS CARD STILL PAYS FOR ITSELF:
The 75K CAPITAL ONE Venture X card has a minimum spend of $4k in the first three months. If you like simplicity and looking for one (premium) card, I highly recommend this card (and yes, I have it myself!). It has an annual fee of $395 but it comes with an easy $300 statement credit for travel booked on its own travel portal, essentially turning it into a $95 annual fee card. But wait, there is more! On each card anniversary you earn 10,000 points essentially making it FREE! Every dollar of spend earns 2 points and flights booked on the travel portal earn 5 points per dollar. You get access to Capital One and Plaza Premium airport lounges and a Priority Pass Select lounge membership and, this is important, you can add four authorized users FOR FREE who can also have their own Priority Pass Select airline lounge membership and, this is BIG, they can bring in unlimited guests with their FREE Priority Pass card! You can transfer your Capital One points to up to 18 Transfer Partners. No foreign transaction fees. Free Hertz President’s Circle rental car top elite status. Cell phone protection and PRIMARY rental car coverage. Awesome seats at baseball stadiums for just 5k points each. And lots more.
Here are my three TOP CREDIT CARD OFFERS:
90K Capital One Venture X
90K Chase Ink Business Unlimited
90K CHASE Ink Business Cash
BONUS OFFERS NOTIFICATIONS
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Elevated Card Offer Notifications
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MY ACTION AND BLOG BUZZING
I am starting to worry about finding business class award space for my wife flying to Bangkok from Detroit and then both of us returning from Kuala Lumpur back to the US. Award availability has been just atrocious lately. So much for award space opening up at the last minute. No panic time yet, I have about a month plus to take care of this. The only one I still get emails from Points Yeah is my own flight to Bangkok. Which I have already booked a few months ago and have me flying to Washington IAD on United economy, then on United Polaris business class to Frankfurt and then on Thai Airways business class to Bangkok. I intend to keep this ticket unless something better opens up. I am also thinking to just book some economy tickets as placeholders just in case no business class tickets materialize. I am also keeping an eye out for paid business class fares. Almost jumped at a Royal Jordanian business class fare but staying overnight at the Amman airport was a deal killer #developing.
I am over 1.5 million miles/points burned year to date. This followed 2024 when I burned over 2 million miles/points. Will I make it past 2 million this year again?
Hate it that I am not combining some elevated spending currently under way for the kitchen remodeling project to go with new credit cards to hit bigly Signup Bonus offers. I am going to stick around home in 2026 and then go big with one big push to earn some hundreds of thousands of miles/points. I am going to finally get wife to go for her own Capital Venture X in December when we are back from our travels.
Been trying to get me the 125k Amex Schwab Platinum card. I applied online using different browsers/methods for three days in a row, only to get the dreaded Amex popup telling me I am not eligible. Until I did not get the popup, which was exciting. A day later and Amex emailed me I was not approved because I applied way too frequently (true). Anyway, I called and poured on my native charm to the rep and tried my best to get them to approve me. Only for the rep not to budge and she encouraged me to apply if not 30 days later after my last app, at least 7 days afterwards. I have a calendar reminder to apply again on October 14. Stay tuned.
Update: Sending condolensces to Ben at One Mile at a Time, RIP Ben’s mom.
I saw the movie One Battle After Another. I liked it. But I don’t think it deserves such high reviews.
After the Greek national soccer team lost to Scotland 3-1 the path to the 2026 World Cup is fading away. Unless Greece wins all three games left (at Denmark and Belarus and at home with Scotland) the dream is over. Hopefully this young team can stay together and get better ahead. This makes 2026 travel planning easier by the way as I don’t likely scramble to go catch the games here (or Mexico or Canada). Anyway, we should have more teams qualifying this weekend. I say the World Cup every four years is the greatest show on Earth and I stand by it.
Me in a cave again in Kefalonia, Greece:
Trying to get more subscribers, I am stuck at 72, come on over at YouTube. I guarantee all my videos to be edit free, one and done baby lol:
My latest Regency Executive suite Upgrade in the Thessaloniki Hyatt Regency
Myrtos Beach in Kefalonia, Greece
I DO have a separate page listing my affiliate links HERE for: Rakuten and Top Cash Back and more.
I am giving myself a challenge to average 5 credit card sales and 15 Buy Me a Coffee sales per month. If I can’t even hit these low targets after almost 13 years of blogging I am out. We now have:
August:
Credit card sales: 8 Buy me a Coffee sales: 22
September:
Credit card sales: 2 Buy me a Coffee sales: 18
October to date:
Credit card sales: 4 Buy me a Coffee sales: 5
HOT CREDIT CARD OFFERS:
200k CHASE Sapphire Reserve Business, 125k CHASE Sapphire Reserve, 100k CITI Strata Elite, 175k AMEX Platinum, 90k CHASE Ink Business Cash, 75k CAPITAL ONE Venture X, 90k CHASE Ink Business Unlimited, 100k CAPITAL ONE Spark Cash, 200k AMEX Business Platinum, 200k CAPITAL ONE Spark Cash Plus, 75k CHASE Sapphire Preferred, 30k CHASE United Gateway, 100k AMEX Gold, 75k CAPITAL ONE Venture Rewards, 120k CHASE Southwest Performance Business, 100k CHASE Air Canada Aeroplan, 15k AMEX Blue Business Plus and many more!
As of today, I have burned 1,507,212 miles/points year to date (2,027,816 in 2024) and have 4,079,149 miles/points in the bank.
Remember, you are NOT allowed to ever carry a credit card balance!
Let me leave you with this:
Some of the links are behind a paywall. You can try to read them using Archive.is.
Thank you for reading my blog. If you enjoy it please forward it to a family member or friend. Or Buy Me a Coffee, thank you!
Feel free to contact me anytime at travelbloggerbuzz@gmail.com, all feedback is very appreciated.
George
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On the topic of internet algorithms causing trouble: we deleted my dad’s youtube history so it would quit suggesting terrible videos to him. The Algorithm was back to its former habits after only half a day. Sigh…
Update: I added a link to One Mile at a Time in the “My Action And Blog Buzzing” section announcing the loss of his mother due to cancer. I think it is one of his best posts ever. And what a remarkable woman indeed.
On that Social Security thing. I retired when I was 51 from my federal gummint job. I could because it was law enforcement and under a special classification. (Mandatory retirement at that time at age 57) I also at that time, as part of the retirement package started receiving what they called *supplemental* social security, which was not my full amount I would get but decent sized chink to go along with my pension and other stuff.
BUT! At age 62, that stopped and it was either have a hefty monthly pay “cut”, OR start on regular Social Security. So that is what I did and ended up with a monthly pay “Raise”, but was unable to wait to collect.
It is OK though as I have been able to have what I consider a good life style and comfortable, if not wealthy, retirement for over 17 years now.
Great post again and thanks. I did already read the article on that private loan stuff and it is maddening how so many people do not understand how easy it is to get deep in debt. Good writing in it, that is for sure.
I’ll read more of the stuff over the next couple days. Thanks as always!!
Thanks for the link to One Mile at a Time. A grand tribute.
The write-up of the Library of Congress really undersells it. Perhaps the neatest museum in the District of Columbia is the one at the top of the Library of Congress. There is the on-going attempt to replicate what Thomas Jefferson gave to start the Library of Congress … edition by edition, not just book by book. And the first map with the name America in it is there. THAT cost so much that Congress had to ask for help! The argon housing is worth the trip. You will remember from chemistry class that argon is inert … no oxygen allow here!
We went with a friend to the Freiberg museum that sold it and now only has a reproduction. He was vastly amused when he got to see the original.