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Visiting DC, any recommendations?
I’m going to be in Washington, D.C. for the next week (give or take a day). I’ll be staying in Arlington, VA and plan on utilizing public transportation while I’m there.
Any unconventional recommendations or things I should know?
When I visited DC, I awoke around 6 pm one weekday morning, unable to fall back asleep. After tossing and turning for half an hour, I decided I'd rather be anywhere else than in bed, so I put on some clothes and sneaked out of the hotel room so as to not disturb my friend.
The morning has a completely different vibe: students are walking to class; federal employees are marching to work with their badges, suits, and briefcases; and tourists are still asleep. The national mall is virtually empty, the monuments untouched by pedestrians. When I approached the Lincoln Memorial, there was only one other person around. Inside the memorial, there were only three of us: me and the custodians.
Besides that, the bonsai garden is pretty cool.
Definitely going to check out Sweet Science, I didn’t pack my coffee equipment so I’m going to need a place to fill that gap. Thanks for the reccs!
What's 01.03?
I spent an entire day inside the Smithsonian's human evolutions exhibit, and it was life changing.
I had grown up with a lot of intelligent design mumbo jumbo, and seeing actual physical evidence for evolution laid out chronologically was incredible.
Some of the lesser known museums are still extremely good. If you have any chance to line up a docent-led tour of the National Museum of Health and Medicine, do it. The secret to this and other small museums is to call and see if you can get the docent-led tours. They give you so much more insight than simply walking on your own and reading placards.
The highlight for me when I visited was the Smithsonian Aerospace Museum, well worth a visit!
The one in DC is really, really nice. And its companion, the Udvar-Hazy near Dulles Airport is mind blowing.
Grew up in Northern Virginia. The DC area is a great place to visit.
DC is easily one of the best areas of the country in terms of what it can offer. You can spend days just working through the various Smithsonian museums. The Museum of Natural History is probably one of the best in the world and features amazing displays, including the largest diamond in the world.
I would highly recommend checking out Afghan Bistro. Not in DC proper but it's not too far and it's excellent food.
Don't forget the Library of Congress either, especially since you can't just visit on a whim; You need to reserve a timed-entry pass in order to be let inside. It's up there on my to-do list if I'm ever in DC because I've heard from a few friends who live/work in DC and N.VA that it's great.
Hadn’t even heard about the Hirshhorn, might go tomorrow after visiting the National Mall, they have reservations available that line-up pretty well time-wise. Thanks!
Thanks!
I went to most of the major Smithsonian museums including the Museum of Natural History (had to go twice to fit it all in), Museum of American History (unfortunately wasn’t able to do very much of this one), Museum of African American History and Culture, the National Postal Museum, the Hirshhorn, and the American Art Museum (only museum open past 5:30).
I really enjoyed the Yayoi Kusama exhibit at the Hirshhorn, the Infinity Rooms feels so ethereal in a way that photographs just can’t capture (not that that stopped me from snapping a couple).
I was quite impressed by the National Postal Museum. There’s so much more there than I expected. And while I was in the area, I tried Sweet Science. I got a café au lait and a latte. Their coffee is delicious though they’re a little pricey (a bagel was $7).
I had totally intended on checking out specific restaurants, but when the time actually came to it, it ended up being whatever was in the area. There was one particular stand-out restaurant and that was Palette 22, their food is incredible and they have bottomless brunch for $28—and the surrounding neighborhood of Shirlington was really quaint. I also had the best chicken sandwich I’ve ever had in Union Market at Lucky Buns.
I think one of my favorite things to do was when I went to the Lincoln Memorial at midnight, super chill. There was still quite a few people there, but after about two hours it cleared out. The Metrorail and the buses are closed by then, so I had to get a Lyft out of there, but it was worth it.
In the surrounding area, I’d done the Washington Monument, though I think the elevator down is faulty, the windows are supposed to go transparent to show the contributed stones, but only one panel actually seems to clear up. Sadly, I never got around to anything else in the National Mall (other than the Lincoln Memorial).
There’s a lot that I wasn’t able to do, but I had a really good time. I’m definitely planning on making my way back up there—though next time I’m going to stay in DC proper rather than on the outskirts.