Ferrari Mailing List: Things to do in DC

[George P . (ygpz4re]

Here's a few of the things I always recommend (in no particular order):
 
- White House - you can walk all around, but waiting in line is not worth the time.  Unless you have a reason to use the handicapped entrance - you miss a couple of rooms downstairs, but get cut into line without waiting.
 
- FBI building - neat tour if you have the time.
 
- A couple blocks north of FBI is Ford's Theater and the Peterson House, important parts of our National history.
 
- Just across PA Ave to the south of the FBI building (iirc) is the National Archives.  Small door on the north side (facing PA Ave) is the research entrance, if that's your thing, and the large entrance on the south side (facing the Mall and National Gallery of Art) is the main entrance where you can see the Constitution, the Declaration of Independance, the Bill of Rights, and a copy (one of the original copies, I believe) of the Magna Carta.  Definitely worth the time here.
 
- Capital building - I haven't been through the new underground visitor's center yet, but you used to be able to do a "self-guided" tour with a little brochure they published.  That was fun.
 
- Supreme Court - ditto (self-guided tour).  Interesting, cool building, but not a lot of time required as there's not a lot to see (less even, if court is in session - unless you can get in to spectate).
 
- Air & Space museum - Here you can touch a piece of moon rock, see the original Wright Flyer (and the very interesting room they have devoted to it), and lots of other neat stuff if you're interested in that kind of thing.  Also, go to the NASM's Udvar-Hazy Center out at Dulles - fantastic collection, including the actual Enola Gay, an SR-71, and a Space Shuttle (Discovery, I think), among many, many others.
 
- National Gallery of Art (directly across the Mall from NASM - go to Gallery #6 (iirc) and see the only original Da Vinci in all of North America.  The other stuff isn't too bad, either.  ;-)
 
- Museum of Natural History - here you can see the Hope Diamond.
 
- American Museum of National History - Lots of neat stuff here, not the least of which is the actual "Star Spangled Banner" - the flag which inspired the poem/National Anthem.  The last time I was there, they had a cover painted just like the flag, and only unveiled the actual flag for a few minutes each hour.  That was some time ago, and they've done some restoration/preservation since then, so I'm not sure what the display is like now.  But still worth seeing.
 
And of course, the monuments.  The new WWII memorial, at the opposite end of the reflecting pool from the Lincoln Memorial, is pretty well done, and not at all intrusive to the surroundings.  The Viet Nam memorial (wall) is also impressive, and very moving.  When you walk down to the "joint", it's eerily quiet.  I've never found out if that's by design, or happy coincidence.
 
In theory, you could do all of this (except for Dulles) in a day, if you're focused and don't mind a lot (read, ***A LOT***) of walking.  But if you have the time (OP - Dave Craig??? - said he/wife would have a couple of weeks), you should have no problem soaking in many of these, plus a lot more.  Oh, one more thing worth seeing right in the immediate area - Arlington Nat'l Cemetary.  Take the tram tour and see the changing of the guards at the tomb of the unknowns.  Very impressive.  Be respectful, guards are known to chastice tourists who are not.
 
Oops, one more thing again - Baltimore's Inner Harbor is also worth a visit.  The Baltimore Acquarium is spectacular!
 
Hope that helps.
 
George P.