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I’m going to be in Washington DC for a conference. I get in late Sunday night (Jan 30th) and don’t need to be anywhere until noon on Monday (Jan 31st). Which leaves a very small window of time, but would anyone like to meet for cocoa or breakfast on Monday? I’ll be in the capital hill area. Alternatively, does anyone have any “must see” suggestions for 3-4 hours of downtime in that area? (A tour of the monuments and meetings in the capital building itself are part of the organized plan for the week.)
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The Smithsonian? There are free museums of Natural history, History, the National gallery, the Hirschorn (sp?) modern art museum all right on the mall there.
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If you would like to visit the site where Mr. zgator proposed to Mrs. zgator, you should go to the Natural History Museum. It's easy to find the spot - there's a big blue rock there marking the spot. They even named the rock after the event. I was hoping she would say yes, so they named it the Hope Diamond.
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I live right outside DC and would love to meet somewhere for cocoa. I think there are other Virginians around Hatrack; I just can't remember them off the top of my head...
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I went to the holocaust museum. Once I just saw the temporary instillations. The other time I saw the permanent instillation. It is huge. It was a very worthwhile experience.
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My favorite is the Air & Space, but I have a growing fondness for the American Industry exhibits in the Castle building and the "Information Processing" exhibit down in the basement somewhere. Original Apple computer with a wooden case. A TRS-80 model 1. One of the Lisa computers.
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Go by and see the National Law Enforcement Memorial while you're there, Dana. It usually isn't included in most tours "whirlwind" circle of all the sites, unfortunately...
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The Smithsonian is very much fun - fascinating -
I'd ask you to do some marching in your bare feet as a commemoration to the one time I was there on a rally (marching in my bare feet - long story), but it's far to cold and you'd get frozen piggies. Brrrr.
H'come you're gonna be in deecy?
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I was hoping I'd have more time for unrelated stuff either before or after, but the flights didn't work out that way.
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I preface all of my DC tourism posts by saying that the Washingpost online is a great source. Their entertainment guide has tons of reviews (both professional and user) of restaurants, museums, shopping and everything else you can do in the Washington area. I strongly suggest checking it out (you may have to register, but it's free).
The Smithsonian is probably the place to go, there's a lot of stuff in a fairly small area. I'd suggest the new American Indian Museum, but be warned that you have to get tickets ahead of time.
Another museum that's not too far from the Mall is the International Spy Museum. Lots of interesting facts and gadgets. It's not part of the Smithsonian, so it does cost money - but you don't generally have to get tickets ahead of time anymore.
Posts: 959 | Registered: Jan 2002
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DKW, I wish I had a way to get that Monday off. I'd love to come down to DC to meet you for breakfast.
One thing you might want to do, if you've never done it before, is visit the National Cathedral . It is truly amazing and beautiful. It is theoretically smaller than St Patrick's Cathedral in NYC, but to me it seems much larger. (Probably because there are no skyscrapers around it to dwarf it like St P's is dwarfed.) Anyway, it's on Wisconsin Ave, just outside of Georgetown, and well worth the trip if you have any way of getting there.
Reasons to visit:
1. The amazing triptych over the front entryway entitled "Ex Nihilo". 2. The stained glass window dedicated to the Apollo missions (even has a moon rock incorporated into the design). 3. The exquisite mural depicting the burial of Jesus in St. Joseph's Chapel in the lower level. Also the incredible carved ornamentation in the Bethlehem Chapel on that same level. 4. The Bishops garden (a wonderful walled herb garden on the ground of the cathedral. Beautiful year-round, but best in the spring/summer.)
Posts: 6394 | Registered: Dec 1999
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Hmmm. I was going to stay in the Capitol Hill area and avoid the transportation issue. But that is very tempting.
*checks link*
They aren’t open ‘til 10 on Mondays. How much time would I have to allow to get back to the capitol building by noon?
Posts: 9866 | Registered: Apr 2002
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To be safe, I'd give myself 30 minutes by car, but in light traffic it shouldn't take that long. Note, too, that the grounds are probably open before the actual cathedral opens its doors. Depending on the weather, you might be able to check out the garden and the triptych before 10 AM.
And if you can't make it this visit, let me know when you're back this way and I'll give you a personal tour.
Oh, and on that note, if you and Bob ever want to visit south central PA, I have a guest room that's just begging to be someone's "home base" while they explore the area. (Philly, York, Baltimore, DC, Frederick (MD), and Hershey Park are all within day-trip distance) (different days, of course). Posts: 6394 | Registered: Dec 1999
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I don’t think I’ll risk it this trip. I won’t have a car, so I’m at the mercy of the metro, and I wouldn’t want to be that rushed getting back. Sightseeing is no fun when you’re too worried about timing.
But I’ll definitely take you up on that tour on another trip. Bob is plotting an easternly vacation sometime in the next year or so. (For some reason, my family always traveled west. I’ve been in every state west of the Mississippi except Alaska, but I’ve never been to the east coast.)
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Having lived in D.C. for entirely too many years, it becomes difficult to reccomend seeing any of the sights. However, with much effort involved, I've managed to restrain my inner cynic and come up with a list of sights that should not be missed:
Vietnam Memorial. This is an absolute must. If you've never been before, it will overwhelm you. It's that powerful.
National Gallery of Art (East & West Wing) Three blocks from the Capitol.
Skip the Air & Space there's nothing to see there! (Stop!!! No cynic's here!!!) The Air & Space museum is lovely the first time you see it. The repeated visits due to visiting family, school field trips, and general boredom tend to dull its grandeur.
National Museum of Natural History. Wonderful museum. I love taking my daughters to this one. The mammal wing was just completely renovated.
Remember, due to security measures, all museums will have a bag check in effect, and metal detectors.
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We're leaving right after church today. Bob's traveling for work on the same days I'll be gone (not to the same place, unfortunately) so Smokey's having a sleep-over at a friends' house.
I have no idea if I'll have Internet access, so this may be goodbye until Thursday. So long, adieu, auf wiedersehen, etc.
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Well, I didn’t get to see the law enforcement memorial. We did a walking tour and by the time we finished with Washington, Lincoln, Vietnam, Korea, WWII, and FDR it was 10:30pm, 5° above zero, we’d already walked over 5 miles and our tootsies hurt. Wimps, I know. Also, no one in the group knew for sure where it was, and we didn’t have a map. *sigh* Maybe next trip.
It was a great trip, though. There were 58 of us, from all over the US and Liberia. Also one guy who was there as a member of the New York conference, but was actually from Zimbabwe. The UMC building is right next to the Supreme Court. It’s the only non-governmental building in (I think) a four-block radius, and it was used as a staging ground for civil rights marches and for protests during the farm crisis in the 80s. Very historic.
On Monday we went to a great Ethiopian restaurant in the Adams-Morgan neighborhood. Our fearless leaders wanted us to see some Washington neighborhoods outside of Capitol Hill, so we took the Metro to Columbia Heights and then walked about a mile to the restaurant. We got menus, but nobody knew what to order, so the owner suggested that he just bring out a mixture of stuff and we agreed. We had lamb and beef and chicken and eggs and lentils and spicy chickpea puree, all picked up with the fingers and wrapped in spongy flatbread. Much to my surprise, since I detest legumes with every fiber of my being and usually can’t manage to choke down more than three bites without gagging even when I’m trying to be polite, I really, really, liked the chickpea puree. And the lentils were good too. They had mustard in the sauce.
Dinner lasted about 2 ½ hours, so it was getting late, and some people decided to take taxis back to the hotel. The rest of us wandered around the neighborhood a bit and then got ice cream cones, which we ate on our way back to the metro stop. I had strawberry and coconut ice cream in a chocolate-dipped waffle cone. And when the air temperature is well below freezing, your ice cream doesn’t melt, so you can enjoy it slowly. Yum.
On Wednesday we met with some members of the House of Representatives. I was very impressed by several of them, and only one was kind of a jerk. One of them (not the jerk) married a UMC clergywoman a year or so ago. I almost asked him if he had any advice for Bob, but I decided that would be frivolous. Posts: 9866 | Registered: Apr 2002
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quote: On Monday we went to a great Ethiopian restaurant in the Adams-Morgan neighborhood. Our fearless leaders wanted us to see some Washington neighborhoods outside of Capitol Hill, so we took the Metro to Columbia Heights and then walked about a mile to the restaurant. We got menus, but nobody knew what to order, so the owner suggested that he just bring out a mixture of stuff and we agreed. We had lamb and beef and chicken and eggs and lentils and spicy chickpea puree, all picked up with the fingers and wrapped in spongy flatbread. Much to my surprise, since I detest legumes with every fiber of my being and usually can’t manage to choke down more than three bites without gagging even when I’m trying to be polite, I really, really, liked the chickpea puree. And the lentils were good too. They had mustard in the sauce.
Meskram! I love that place.
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