Sights

National Museum of African art

type:	Museums
World66 rating:	[rate it]
address:	950 Independence Avenue
tel:	202 357 4600

National Museum of the American Indian

The National Museum of the American Indian is an institution of living cultures dedicated to the life, languages, literature, history, and arts of the Native peoples of the Western Hemisphere.  The five-story, 250,000-square-foot, curvilinear building is clad in a golden-colored Kasota limestone that is designed to evoke natural rock formations that have been shaped by wind and water over thousands of years. The museum is set in a 4.25-acre site and is surrounded by simulated wetlands . The museum’s east-facing entrance, its prism window and more..

type:	Public Buildings
World66 rating:	[rate it]
accessibility:	Wheelchair access, print materials, sign language interpreters, closed captioning, braille ATM
tel:	202-633-1000
openingHours:	0 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily; closed December 25.
url:	www.nmai.si.edu
address:	4th St. and Independence Ave., S.W. Washington, D.C. 20560

Korean War Veterans Memorial

South of the Reflecting pool, with symmetry to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, is the Korean War Veterans Memorial.  The memorial is an involving path that reminds visitors of the multi-national force which fought to keep Korea free.  The war, being as deadly in terms of American lives as Vietnam, lasted a difficult three years, and marked the first major combat action of troops under the United Nations.

The memorial is in a generally triangular shape, with statues of soldiers of all branches of the military marching in the center.  Quotations and a pool of more..

type:	Memorials
World66 rating:	[rate it]
address:	French Drive, SW
tel:	202.426.6841
openingHours:	8:00 AM to 11:45 PM
url:	www.nps.gov

Vietnam Veterans Memorial

Probably the most moving memorial in the district, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial is site of great reverence.  Dedicated in 1980, architect Mya Lin designed the memorial to be a scar upon the land of freedom.  The memorial famously displays the 58,249 names of every soldier, men and women, killed or missing in Vietnam, organized by year, from 1959 to 1975.

The memorial is inauspicious, and may not be immediately visible when ariving from the mall, as the wall is carved into the side of a rise.  Entering the memorial visitors decend down along the "V" shaped more..

type:	Memorials
World66 rating:	[rate it]
address:	Bacon Drive & Constitution Ave.
tel:	202.426.6841
openingHours:	8:00 AM - 11:45 PM
url:	www.nps.gov
email:	national_mall@nps.gov

National Archives

The National Archives - Home to the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. Yes, the originals. Unfortunately, under special lights to prevent deterioration, they are hardly legible. But still, seeing these great documents in the flesh can be a profound experience. Their words are the basis for "the American Dream." But the Archives are more than just a place for Americans to say "yea for our system of government." The National Archives and Record Administration exists ". . . to ensure ready access to essential evidence . . .that more..

type:	Museums
World66 rating:	[rate it]
address:	Pennsylvania Ave. at 7th St., N.W.,
tel:	800-234-8861

Washington Monument

Washington Monument
photo by: Joseph Hollick

The Washington Monument is the largest monument, and the most recognizable point on Washington's skyline. Finished in 1885, it is the the largest masonry structure in the world.  While it offers the highest view of downtown, at 555 ft., be sure to be there early as they day's tickets, free as always, are handed out at 8:30 AM.  Reservations are available by phone at 1-800-967-2283 from 10 am to 10 pm EST.

type:	Memorials
World66 rating:	[rate it]
tel:	202.426.6841
openingHours:	9:00 am to 4:45 pm daily
url:	www.nps.gov
address:	On the Mall, at 15th St.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Perhaps the most powerful museum in the district, the Holocaust Museum is as much an experience as it is a collection of artifacts.  There is one path through the museum that takes the visitor from the beginnings of Nazi Germany on the top floor, down to the liberation of the concentration camps by allied soldiers.  The museum is not recomended for children, and most video footage is positioned to be out of sight to those under five feet.

The museum is free like the other Smithsonians, but requires timed tickets as the number of people inside the museum at any more..

type:	Public Buildings
World66 rating:	[rate it]
address:	100 Raoul Wallenberg Placce
tel:	(202) 488–0400
openingHours:	10 a.m.–5:30 p.m. every day including weekends, Closed only on Yom Kippur (October 13, 2005) and Christmas Day (December 25, 2005)
url:	www.ushmm.org

Lincoln Memorial

Lincoln Memorial
photo by: Joseph Hollick

The Lincoln Memorial at the west end of the Mall is a shrine to the nation's sixteenth president, Abraham Lincoln. It was built to resemble a Classical temple. Lincoln led the U.S. through its only civil war and was assassinated soon after the war's end, on April 14th, 1865. The defeat of the Southern states, which had seceded from the United States ("the North"), ended the institution of slavery in America. John Wilkes Booth, a noted actor and a Southern sympathizer, shot Lincoln at Ford's Theater. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered his "I have a dream" more..

type:	Memorials
World66 rating:	[rate it]
openingHours:	Open 24/7, closed December 25
url:	www.nps.gov

The White House

The White House
photo by: Joseph Hollick

Home of American presidents since John Adams, the White House has always served as the center the executive branch of the government.

The White House is best viewed from either the north, Pennsylvania Avenue, or south, E St., sides.  The south side has the better known round oval office overlooking the Ellipse, a large round park that is part of the National Mall.  Tours of the House are free, and visitors should contact their Member of Congress about arranging one.  Visitors should also not that tours are first come first served, and subject to more..

type:	Public Buildings
World66 rating:	[rate it]
url:	www.whitehouse.gov
address:	1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
openingHours:	Tuesday through Saturday, 7:30 am to 12:30 pm
tel:	202-456-7041

Hillwood Museums and Gardens

type:	Museums
World66 rating:	[rate it]
address:	4155 Linnean Avenue NW
open:	Tues-Sat: 9am-5pm

National Museum of Natural History

National Museum of Natural History - bones, bones, and even more bones. You like dinosaurs? They've got 'em. Well, their skeletons, anyway, along with those of countless other animals, alive and extinct. The lobby of the museum is a great rotunda with a life-like statue of an elephant in the center, surrounded by ionic and doric columns. There's an insect zoo, and the Hope Diamond. But natural history isn't about just non-human things, there's also exhibits on the cultures of Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Word to the wise: if you hate being around hordes of screaming kids, more..

type:	Hotspots
World66 rating:	[rate it]
address:	10th St. and Constitution Ave., N.W
tel:	(202)357-2700

National Gallery of Art

The National Gallery of Art was created by the U.S. Congress and opened 1941. Its collections consist entirely of private donations. The West Building houses European paintings and sculpture from the thirteenth through nineteenth centuries and American art. In the East Building of the Gallery, one finds art of the twentieth century and space for ever-changing special exhibitions. An underground corridor with a moving walkway connects the two buildings. The sales shops are a personal favorite, full of great reproductions and books. Free. 10am-5pm (Mon.-Sat.), 11am-6pm (Sun.). more..

type:	Hotspots
World66 rating:	[rate it]
address:	Constitution Ave., N.W., between 3rd and 7th Streets
tel:	(202)737-4215

National Museum of American History

Stuffed Buffalo at the National Museum of American History
photo by: Patrick Morrissey

National Museum of American History - this is the place if you want to see highlights of the American experience up close. Science, technology, social issues, and culture...and a hall filled with gowns the First Ladies wore [those would be the wives of the American presidents - we're still waiting for the office of First Gentleman to come into play]. The creation of the atom bomb figures prominently in the exhibit "Science in American Life" and there's also some intriguing information on the history of birth control in this country. Other exhibits include ones the Information more..

type:	Hotspots
World66 rating:	[rate it]
address:	14th St. and Constitution Ave., N.W.
tel:	(202)357-2700

Corcoran Gallery of Art

type:	Museums
World66 rating:	[rate it]
address:	500 17th Street, NW
tel:	202 639 1800

Jefferson Memorial

Jefferson Memorial from the Tidal Basin
photo by: Patrick Morrissey

On the shore of the Tidal Basin is found an elegant monument to the author of The Declaration of Independence and the third president of the United States, Thomas Jefferson. The rotunda style is based on the rotunda Jefferson built at the University of Virginia, in turn based on the Pantheon.  The memorial is most beautiful in the springtime when the cherry blossoms that are planted all around it are in bloom, but this it is most visited.

type:	Memorials
World66 rating:	[rate it]
tel:	202.426.6841
openingHours:	Open Daily 8 a.m. to midnight, closed December 25
url:	www.nps.gov
address:	East Basin Drive SW