I made my third trip to Washington, DC, but the first time I’d spent any time for vacation. Some of the things we saw during the trip:
Smithsonian Air and Space Museum
The National Air and Space Museum is one of the most popular museums for a good reason, and you absolutely must get (free) timed tickets for. Part of it has been under reconstruction for a few years, with some items moved to another facility. However, there’s still a lot to see ranging from the early history of flight to planetary exploration. The photo above is an F1 engine from Apollo 11, recovered by a Bezos expedition and donated to the museum. The immensity is readily apparent, as was the hand assembly. ***** Allow 3-4 hours, Free, timed-tickets essential. (There’s plenty to see, it just gets overwhelming with crowds.)
National Museum of African American History and Culture
This was fantastic and overwhelming and, somehow, busier than the Air and Space museum. Normally when we visit museums, especially if it’s at opening, we’ll go all the way to the topmost floor and work our way down. This helps avoid crowding that occurs at the early stuff. I quite enjoyed the extensive tribute to entertainment.
The Concourse exhibits downstairs are a history of the slave trade. Because of the interest, they often close access until crowds thin out. Unfortunately, once you’re in, there’s no room to take in the exhibits without bumping into someone. Worse, there’s a flow as they try to allow more people in. As stationary crowds make me uncomfortable, I powered past the first section to where it thinned out. If I went again, I’d immediately head for this section so I could spend more time at the beginnings (rather than being pushed through). ***** Allow 4 hours, Free, timed tickets essential.
National Museum of the American Indian
This was an afternoon visit to fill in a day after doing a White House tour (more on that later). The architecture of the building and grounds are worth enjoying. (Photo above is inside, looking up at the pier. During certain hours of the day, sunlight through prisms casts rainbows on the wall. This is another place where they tell you go to top and work your way down.
The most interesting section was the history of (mostly broken) treaties, and there are a lot. I should also mention the cafe is good, albeit super expensive (as you would expect in this venue). **** Allow 2 hours, tickets are a $15 suggested donation each.
Planet Word
This was a recommendation from Kiri, and it was a fun visit to fill some time in the afternoon. The propaganda exhibit was super interesting but also really long to stand in one spot. **** Allow 1.5 hours, $15 suggested donation, you can walk-up.
FDR, MLK and Jefferson Memorials
These memorials are all on the south loop, which I’d not been to before. **** Allow 20 minutes (Jefferson), 60 minutes (FDR), 30 minutes (MLK) Free. There are toilets in the Jefferson and FDR areas. You can continue around to the National Mall.
National Building Museum
The National Building Museum was a very relaxing place to wander around. The current exhibit on Capital Brutalism (as in “architectural style”) looked at refactoring some buildings to be more people/residential friendly. **** Allow 2-3 hours, $15 suggested donation per ticket. Walk-ups are fine.
White House self-guided tour
This was one of two tours that we signed up for (months in advance) via our congressperson’s office. Once through the three layers of security screening, we could wander among the periphery of the rooms, asking questions of any of the National Parks Service folks there. Most of the surrounding area is heavily cordoned off. When we returned late in the evening, we couldn’t find anywhere unencumbered to take a photo of the exterior. (For contrast, in 2016, I was able to bike up to it.) **** Allow 1 hour, Free, advance tickets required.
Complementing this was a trip to a nearby museum, The People’s House, which has more interpretive exhibits, as well as a replicate Resolute Desk that you can sit behind and look important. There were two incredibly interesting sections: 1) a simulation of the presidential cabinet. They iterate through an event with actors playing cabinet members (using information from transcripts) propose a solution, and you get to decide, then find out what was really done. Examples would be the Great Depression (where solutions include everything from stabilizing banks to creating jobs through the Civilian Conservation Corps) and Cuban Missile Crisis. 2) another exhibit where you can learn about the different staff who keep everything running. (There were a few dozen of these to choose from.) The pastry chef, for example, has been there over thirty years. ***** Allow 2 hours, $15 suggested donation per ticket.
Capitol Tour
The Capitol Tour was the second option scheduled through our congressperson. We arrived at her office – which surprisingly one can simply walk into the appropriate building without an appointment — and met an intern who guided us around. This was a nice way to get in and around, going via the subterranean walkways and general crowd avoidance. One of the additional components is going into the house chamber. The House was not in session, and we were limited to a few rows of the overlook, but no electronic devices were allowed (so no photos 🙁 ). **** Allow 1.5 hours, Free, advance tickets required through your congressperson.
Library of Congress
This was a last-minute booking to fill in the morning of our final day in Washington, DC. We checked out of our Air BNB, dropped our bags at a Luggage Hero site, then came back to enjoy walking through the public areas of the Library. **** Allow 1.5 hours, Free, timed ticket required.