Bumbling Around Washington D.C.

We spent Sunday through Tuesday in the District of Columbia after a wedding in Charlottesville. It turns out that twenty-four hours was a perfect amount of time to see everything we wanted to. Depending on how many museums you want to hit up, you may want more time.

Memorials/Monuments

So I’m not really sure the difference between memorials and monuments, but I know we saw a variety of them in the National Mall. We were really pleased at how close together everything was, making it easy to Metro or taxi into the city and go on foot from there! I’ve got my favorites below.

Washington Monument

As of September 19th, the Washington Monument was reopened. Three years of renovations, and our timing couldn’t have been better! Something I never knew about the monument was that there’s an elevator inside. And, since the National Mall is considered a National Park, the National Park Service is in charge here. It was odd seeing park ranger uniforms in this metropolis, but they were very helpful in informing us that if we stood in line at 8:30 AM, we could receive free tickets up the monument! Over 500 feet up, the Washington Monument is the tallest structure in D.C. and was built during the Civil War! We loved going up it:

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Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial

Korean War Veterans Memorial

I really enjoyed this on: with very realistic statues slogging through the brush, it was easy to picture what these soldiers had gone through.

Vietnam Veterans Memorial

This memorial is hard to encapsulate in a single picture, but it was so powerful seeing such a long wall made up of names. You can even take a rubbing of a name if you want. I quite like this memorial.

Lincoln Memorial

Even at dusk, there was a crowd at the Lincoln Memorial, but we enjoyed the Gettysburg Address on the wall and, of course, the impressive statue of the man himself.

Museums

There are so many museums in DC, and a large number of them are free to the public! We went to only three, because our legs were ready to give up on us, but we enjoyed them!

Smithsonian National Museum of American History

Rife with really cool exhibits, we wandered the history of transportation in America, strolled past a BatMobile, and saw Dorothy’s much-used Ruby Slippers. Below is Captain America’s shield, Wolverine’s claws, and other comic book paraphernalia. We really enjoyed our time in America’s past.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

This museum is huge, and really well designed. Each floor is a different stage of World War II and how it relates to the Holocaust. A really striking museum, it is definitely harrowing and worth a visit!

National Archives Research Center

We saw the actual, real life, Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights. However, they guard these things like jealous hawks and refuse to allow any pictures. Also, they’re over two hundred years old and much-faded. But, how cool that I saw the actual Declaration of Independence!? Certainly worth a stop.

Final Thoughts

Overall, we enjoyed our trip to DC, but spent less time there than expected. It was cool to see what we saw, but now we feel no need to return any time soon!