So for this year’s Wild Women’s Weekend, Hallgirl1 and I are headed to Washington DC for the extended weekend. These weekends tend to be time to get away and visit another city and do some sightseeing for rather odd or unusual pieces of a city.
Here are our options so far (or at least the ones that jump out at me)
There is also the Segway tour, that although I’d LOVE to do it, was so expensive I’m not going to list it (my brain shut down when I saw the price).
We’re not interested in doing the who History of Our Country thing, and we’ve visited the majors like the Smithsonian and the Holocaust Museum. We even got the DEA Museum in Arlington, although that was many years ago.
So, what are we missing? We’ll be there Friday through Sunday in September.
If you haven’s seen inside the Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress, you should do so. They have guided tours, or you can just wander around the public areas. Across the road from that is the new visitor center of the Capitol, which I saw being constructed, but haven’t been inside yet. (I have been in the Capitol, and it’s worth seeing: I think you need to get on a guided tour these days.)
-The national portrait gallery has an exhibition on video game art until the end of september.
-The stairs from the exorcist is in Georgetown.
-Do the zoo, but do it in the late afternoon.
-Gravelly Point is a park right by Reagan airport where you can watch the planes fly in.
-A bar called Rock and Roll Hotel (NOT a hard rock cafe) has drunken spelling bee on friday nights.
-For a “wild women’s weekend” you would probably avoid bars in Georgetown or Dupont and check out bars on U St. or Adam’s Morgan (where there’s a bar called Madam’s Organ).
-Old Town Alexandria in Northern Va, just across the river has ghost tours too, and iirc for cheaper.
-The library of congress always has a neat exhibit that oft goes overlooked.
-I really like the Postal Museum next to Union Station as a quick museum (like, 30 mins). It’s free but not to be confused with the Old Post Office, which is a different building and the second tallest building in DC with a fee to go to the top and scan the panorama.
Speaking as a former employee of a US intelligence agency, I say skip the Spy Museum. Not a great site.
I have a few suggestions, although they may not be to everyone’s taste:
Dumbarton Oaks, in Georgetown. The site of the conferences that lead to the establishment of the United Nations, now an art museum. The collection is worth seeing, especially the pre-Columbian artifacts housed in a literal jewel-box of a building. However, the real attraction at Dumbarton Oaks is the exquisitely manicured gardens surrounding the mansion.
The waterfront area in the southwest of the city, home to a number of produce and food markets and restaurants.
The C&O Barge Canal along the banks of the Potomac.
When I lived in the area, I would take guests down to the city on their first night to see the city after dark. The Capitol, the White House, the Jefferson and Washington Monuments can all be seen well enough in passing, but we always parked and went into the Lincoln Monument. During the day it is impressive enough, but at night the place send the hairs on the back of your neck straight upright.
I’d like to second skipping the Spy Museum and checking out the Newseum. Also, there are bus tours specifically for seeing the monuments at night and it is so different from seeing them during the day with all of the crowds. Cooler too. Have a great time!
If you like long walks, I’ve always enjoyed starting in Dupont Circle and walking down Massachusetts Avenue past all of the foreign embassies. It’s a lovely area. Another great walk is to start around Rosslyn (get a burger at Ray’s Hell Burger, or some empanadas and gelato at Boccato), across the bridge, and over into Georgetown. Old Town Alexandria is great for walking, too; stop at Eamon’s for excellent fish and chips.
Also, one thing you must, MUST do for food is Julia’s Empanadas. Tasty empanadas! Cheap empanadas! Oh how I love them so!
Pizzaria Paradiso is great, too, if you like beer. There are several locations, including Old Town Alexandria and Georgetown.
If you want a good place to eat around the Smithsonian, go to Teasim. Oriental food, and a lot of tea. Great food, less expensive, and less crowded than the dining opportunities at the actual Smithsonian.
Also, an important tip, since you didn’t ask: If you’re going to ride the metro and not get a full day pass, be sure to get a SmarTrip card instead of using a paper farecard. Paper farecards come with a $1 per trip surcharge. Also, you can save money by traveling at off-peak metro times.
I disagree with the people who say to skip the Spy Museum. It’s a whole lot of fun, if you have any interest in the subject.
Given all the embassies in the city, there might be some fun in picking a couple of random foreign countries and seeing if they have cultural centers or exhibits going on.
To my knowledge, embassies very rarely have any events that tourists would be interested in or could gain admission to. Occasionally they may associate themselves with an event that’s already going on. For instance, they may choose to associate themselves with a museum exhibition related to their country that was already set up. They may choose to have somebody from the embassy attend and may arrange a reception for the opening of the exhibition. They may even have the reception in the embassy. This is so rare and so specific to the event that it’s very unlikely that you could find an event by checking on a couple of random countries. I don’t know that any country has a “cultural center” in Washington, whatever that may be.
Go to the US Army Medical Museum…after some of the most stomach turning exhibits you can imagine, you are greeted by a sign…“Have Lunch In Our Cafeteria”!
Ford’s Theater at closing time-many people report feeling very strange there (I cannot verify).
Never been there, but once or twice a week I think of a good band name, and sure enough someone has usually taken it on MySpace. Madam’s Organ is one of the few “bar names” that I thought should exist that really do.
As a 26-year veteran of the newspaper industry, I say skip the Newseum and go to the Spy Museum. I’ve been there four times and it’s awesome. The building is Gus Hall’s old townhouse and the former headquarters of the American Communist Party. Yeah, they devote too much space to Man From U.N.C.L.E.-type dross, but they have videotaped interviews with the principal players in major spy scandals, lots of beautiful spy hardware from the glory days, I love their gift shop, and it’s a fun date!
And have you been to the Hirshhorn or the National Gallery? The standing collections are wonderful and they get top touring exhibits. The National Portrait Gallery/Museum of American Art is a lot funner than it sounds. And what Wild Women’s Weekend would pass on the National Museum of Women in the Arts?
The Uptown Theater is one of the last of the great old movie houses. They usually show monster hits to their best advantage.
The Parkway Deli in Silver Spring is a world-class deli. Frankly, I prefer it to the Carnegie Deli.
Up-and-coming bands make a point of stopping at the 9:30 Club, and you should, too. Dave Grohl hangs there when he’s in town, even though he’s part owner of the Black Cat a few blocks away.
Jazz snobs swear by Blues Alley in Georgetown.
The grooviest coffeeshop/bookstore? Tossup between Busboys and Poets (14th and U) and Politics and Prose. Base your decision on who has the better guest speaker that night.
There is a remarkable statue of Einstein on the grounds of the National Academy of Science. I cannot explain precisely why, but I’ve always found it profound to look at. Perhaps you will, too. It’s just north of the Lincoln Memorial / Vietnam Memorial.
Boccato is in Clarendon, not Rosslyn.
Ford’s theatre is interesting. There are walking spy tours you can take. There are tours of the Diplomatic Reception rooms in the state department. The library of congress building is incredibly beautiful inside.
My wife and I enjoy tramping around TheodoreRoosevelt Island- a very short walk from the Rosslyn Metro Station in Arlington. We can actually walk there from our home. It’s a swampy island (with trails) in the Potomac (between DC and Arlington) with a surprising amoung of wildlife and a big statue of Teddy Roosevelt. No bikes and cars allowed- the only way to access it is a footbridge from the Arlington side. Great place for a picnic or just a pleasant walk.
Back when I briefly lived in DC, mumble years ago, one thing-to-do for visitors was getting Ethiopian food, as D.C. had lots of good restaurants, and few other cities did.
I quite like the Phillips Gallery in Dupont Circle if you’re into art, esp. art of the 20th century. They usually have interesting shows, although I haven’t been in quite some time (even though I’m a member).