WASHINGTON (Gray DC) - Hundreds of visitors filed into the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History over the weekend as Smithsonian Institution museums reopened after a government shutdown causing them to be closed almost five weeks.

The rush of guests marked a dramatic change from the empty steps that characterized the National Mall during the closure, when government funding cuts forced the world-famous attractions to turn off their lights.

“People are coming in all over, so I’m very excited to be one of those people,” said Elly Johnston, visiting from Virginia Beach, Va.

Visitors like Warren and Slade, who traveled from Oakland, Calif., arrived just 30 minutes after museum doors opened for the first time in more than a month.

“I wanted to see the part about the animals,” Warren said. “We got to walk around, talk about some historical stuff about the Capitol, Washington Monument.”

For Johnston, the reopening came as a pleasant surprise during a planned concert trip to the area.

“We would have found stuff to do, but it would have been a lot more limited,” Johnston said. “So much knowledge and so much information that is accessible to us because of our wonderful government so it’s great to see it back up and running.”

Six museums along the National Mall had reopened by the weekend, along with the National Zoo. The remainder of the Smithsonian Institute’s 21 locations will welcome back guests on a rolling basis by November 17th.

The Smithsonian museums rely on government funding to keep their doors open, making them among the more obvious casualties of the government shutdown.