Washington D.C.

Although I am not as big a fan of D.C. as I am of San Francisco, both my trips to D.C. have been interesting. Not to mention the amazing Ethiopian food available there. Last time when we went in Fall we participated in the Insanity Rally organized by Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart.

This time the family reunion made it special. The heat was a torture though. A good decision we made was to book the hop-on hop-off tour. The bad decision was sightseeing in the day time. The hop-on hop-off tour is only available from 9am - 6pm, so there weren't many options. Unless you want to do a 3 hr night tour. I would have liked the night tour if it was also a hop-on hop-off tour. But the idea of a time restricted tour did not appeal to us. If you can, I highly recommend touring the city at late evening and night. Leave the daytime for museums, which are plenty and free. Even though the city is full of free museums and monuments, the private museums are also worth a look.

Day 1: National Geographic Society Museum

This private museum has an entry fee of $8, but NGS members get a small discount. Their photography exhibits are free of cost. Of the two photography exhibitions. one was along the periphery of the museum building behind glass walls. Bad idea, especially with the glaring sun behind us. The other exhibition inside the building on M Street was great. This picture of Churchgate Station during peak hours was my favorite.

The Samurai exhibit that we saw was beautiful. The Titanic exhibition was good too, but you can find it anywhere. The museum mostly has moving exhibits, so it's good to check the reviews before going.

Day 2: Smithsonian

The Smithsonian museums are all great, but the Air and Space museum is the most popular one. And obviously for good reason. Tons of models on display, multiple exhibits on Wright Brothers, Amelia Earhart and other pioneers. Also a few educational exhibits cover the entire gamut. When I visited D.C. last time we went to the International Spy museum. With an entry fee of $13 (2 years ago) it seemed pricey, considering the tons of free museums in the city, but definitely worth a visit. If I get a chance to visit D.C. again I want to visit the private "Newseum". 

Day 3: Monuments

Like I said earlier, if you can do this at night time go for it. Or visit D.C. in April/May (when it's extremely crowded!!!). The heat can kill you. Most monuments are open until midnight. Start with the Lincoln memorial.

Walk to World War II memorial. This is definitely worth watching at night.

Next stop is the Washington monument. It was still closed for reconstruction, so we couldn't go to the top, but if you want to go to the top make it your first stop in the morning. They stop letting people in sometime in the afternoon.

You can then do the Jefferson memorial and MLK memorial. The heat forced us to skip these monuments and instead we went to see the White House... from outside. You can book an inside tour, although the bookings have to be made well in advance (6 months to 21 days) through your member of Congress (if you are an American citizen).

Day 4: Mount Vernon and U.S. Capitol

Next day we cabbed it to Mount Vernon to visit the George Washington estate. Aesthetically I love the Oak Alley Plantation in New Orleans more, but it doesn't have the kind of history that this estate has. The rooms were tiny, but the estate is huge consisting of gardens, barn, tombs, distillery, etc. The estate sits on the Potomac river, which makes it all the more inviting. 

Don't forget to visit the education center. Below is a picture from the education center depicting George Washington taking his oath as the President of the United States.

The Capitol building looks beautiful at night. We went in the evening and spent a few hours there for the right light and reflection. The 4th of July celebration preparations had already begun, so the podium was blocking some of of our view. S was still able to get some very nice clicks.

Day 5: Old Post Office Tower

Because the Washington Monument was closed, we went to the Old Post Office Tower for a 360 degree view of the city. The tower has an old building charm. From the 12th floor you can view the city from all angles. On the 10th floor you can see the bells that are used for ringing from the 9th floor by the ringing society. You can also check the Washington Ringing Society's website for more details on the ringing schedule. Also, don't forget to take a picture with the President (using Photoshop) in the building.

Finally, even though we did so many things, many still remain on my list. Some of these include:

1. Sunset parade/evening parade: Need reservations in advance for guaranteed seating. General admissions also available.
2. African drummers and dancers perform at Meridian Hill Park on Sunday evenings.
3. National Cathedral
4. National Gallery of Arts/Sculpture Garden
5. Shenandoah National Park. They also have a Night Skies program that seems interesting.
6. Kite flying festival.

Maybe our next visit will be in April.