I am going to be in Washington DC (the city) for a week at the start of September.
I know its the murder capital of America, so I will have to be careful, but I was wondering if people had any advice of what to avoid, what to see etc.
Or, as I haven’t been to the US since childhood, what I should look out for there.
It hasn’t been the “murder capital” for years. New Orleans, St. Louis and Detroit are worse for murder rates, and a whole bunch of cities rank worse on composite violent crime indices.
If you have any measure of the street smarts that are applicable to most any major city, I expect you’ll be fine.
Oh we have already decided to see the Excorcist stairs, and Johnny Rockets.
You’re visiting another country and planning ahead to visit a chain hamburger joint?
We have Eddie Rockets in Ireland. It will be amusing to eat in Johnny Rockets, it’s sister.
Did it get better, or they got worse?
When I lived in the area, I had a lot of family coming down for a visit. I got in the habit, on the first day they were there, of taking them down to the city and seeing all the landmarks by night. The Capitol, White House, Washington Monument, and Jefferson Memorial we’d just drive by, but we’d go in to the Lincoln Memorial, which feels almost haunted after dark. Nowadays, I’d probably go through the WWII memorial as well.
Going in to the other monuments could wait for day.
The museums are wonderful. The Air and Space Museum’s Udvar-Hazy center is pretty far outside the city (near Dulles Airport) but is worth a jaunt if you can make it; I think (but am not sure) there’s a shuttle to it from the “main” A&S museum. Oh, and all the Smithsonian museums are free!
The zoo is nice too though if you go on the Metro, go one stop past the one labelled “Zoo” - the walk to the zoo entrance is easier!
Union Station is fun - yeah, it’s mostly a huge shopping mall now but the architecture is nice.
The Smithsonian, of course.
And National Geographic’s headquarters.
If you like Art, DC has tremendous art museums. There are also lots of neat “obscure” museums, like the National Building Museum.
I always make a point to go to Old Town Alexandria, and go to the Torpedo Factory (an artist enclave).
Georgetown has lots of shopping / nightlife.
The National Zoo is nice, if you like zoos.
The National Cathedral is also worth visiting.
Stop and get Ethiopian food in Adams-Morgan.
I could easily spend the whole week just wandering the different parts of the Smithsonian. Maybe catch a National’s game if they’re in town. The standard monuments, of course. Not sure if Robert E. Lee’s house is available to tour, but Arlington National Cemetery is pretty much in his yard. Maybe catch the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
Both.
Everyone so far has pretty much nailed it. It won’t be hard for you to stay out of bad areas. With the exception of a couple of music venues, most of the fun stuff in DC will keep you out of sketchy territory.
The Smithsonian is great, and free(!!). Though everything they do sell - food, souvenirs, special exhibit tickets - is hideously overpriced. I’ve spent hours wandering through the American Art Museum/National Portrait Gallery. They have a Norman Rockwell exhibition through January which I’m told is fantastic; it’s also very close to Chinatown so you should be able to pick up a cheap and tasty lunch while you’re out there.
Downtown DC doesn’t really have a nightlife. Museums all close at 5pm. For fun things to do in the evening, try the already recommended Adams-Morgan.
The Eastern Market flea market/farmers’ market is quite an experience if you like that sort of thing, and is all day Sunday. It appears that they now have live music in the early afternoon, which I didn’t know about it but definitely sounds neat.
I agree with beowulff - definitely go to Old Town Alexandria if you get the chance. I especially recommend going on a Friday or Saturday, spending the afternoon at the Torpedo Factory and then getting dinner on King Street (the sort of main thoroughfare). You pretty much can’t go wrong with the restaurants there, and afterward you can walk around and people watch and listen to the street musicians.
Other than that… Dress for warm weather. It should still be nasty hot in early September. Don’t try to tour the various monuments in the day time. And enjoy!
or Dupont Circle, or the area around the Verizon Center which has all sorts of restaurants etc. nearby.
Not only that but, as in most “dangerous” cities, your chances of being murdered simply walking down the street or going to a tourist attraction are almost zero.
I lived in Baltimore, another perennial contender for highest murder rate, for 8 years, and what you learn pretty quickly is that most murders happen in particular neighborhoods, usually poor neighborhoods. Also, many murders are associated with other, ongoing disputes related to things like family or neighborhood disagreements, arguments over money, battles over drug turf, etc. Not exactly the sort of situation you wander into on your typical vacation.
In Baltimore, of 250-300 homicide victims every year, about 70-90 percent are poor black men in the 15-40 age range. The chance of some corn-fed tourist getting murdered on a trip to an Orioles game is probably about the same as it would be in Kansas City or Anaheim or Boston, i.e., almost non-existent.
I always think it’s hilarious when someone coming in to Baltimore to check out the Inner Harbor, or Washington to visit the Smithsonian, expresses reservations about the murder rate.
If you are a foodie, the Mitsitam Café in the National Museum of the American Indian is surprisingly great. It is odd for me to say that about a food court.
At least a half-dozen different indigenous tribes prepare and serve their own food so you can sample through dozens of different offerings, from vegetarian maize salad to hearty buffalo stew. I went on my last day and wished I had discovered it earlier; I would have made it a daily lunch stop with all the varieties they had to offer.
I was there a few weeks ago for the first time. We saw all the monuments, the White House, and a couple of the Smithsonians (American history & natural history). All worth the trip.
What I was most pleasantly surprised with, though, was Thomas Jefferson’s home (Monticello). It’s not cheap ($22 per person), but my group found it fascinating.
Oh yeah, it was 102 degrees the day we went; I drank $12 worth of Gatorade* just walking around.
Have fun!
mmm
*$3 a bottle
Just to clarify: Monticello is actually nowhere NEAR Washington DC. Well, if you’re coming from the other side of the Atlantic it might qualify as near, but it’s at least 130 miles. Now, that part of Virginia is quite lovely and the time we visited Monticello we found it fascinating… but it is a hike from DC.
If you get a chance go into the Library of Congress. It ain’t your neighborhood library - it is a Holy Temple of Books, with architecture to match. Beautiful!
And I’ll second the “food court” at the American Indian Museum. The food there is not merely great “food court” food, it’s great food.
ETA: The Jefferson Memorial is a long walk from the Mall and most of the other monuments. Just FYI.
Holy crap, you’re right. I got all caught up in my vacation memory excitement.
Sorry!
mmm
Head out past Alexandria and visit Mount Vernon, George Washington’s estate. It is about a 20 minute drive from D.C.