We bought Fodor's "Washington, D.C. 2007" when we decided to move out here, and we (well, mostly me, but Jason's being a great sport) are trying very hard to get every "must see" checked off in the next two years. First stop was the National Zoo, which is actually part of the Smithsonian Institute. And, like all of the Smithsonians (and the vast majority of sites in the area), admission is FREE! This is mama panda, Mei Xiang, who delivered the prize of the zoo, Tai Shan in July 2005. When we were there in June, they thought she might be pregnant again. But, they discovered in July that it was a false pregnancy. Regardless, she was taking it easy on the hot morning that we visited by napping in her inside enclosure. The other two pandas were outside eating bamboo.
So far we have been to the following Washington area tourist attractions:
- National Gallery of Art, West Building (the only painting by Leonardo da Vinci on display in the Western Hemisphere, Ginevra de' Benci, has a front and back and is showed in a columnar display case.)
- Library of Congress (I did not know this was started from Thomas Jefferson's personal collection - although that was mostly lost in a fire. The Gutenberg Bible is one of the most famous pieces currently in the Library.)
- Corcorcan Gallery of Art (I was there to see the last day of the Modernism display. I don't know how much of the regular exhibit was out.)
- Holocaust Museum
- Lincoln Memorial
- Vietnam Veterans Memorial and Vietnam Women's Memorial
- The White House (we went on an interior visit the day before Thanksgiving and had the aforementioned Garden Tour in October)
- Ford's Theatre and Peterson House aka The House Where Lincoln Died (These are a block from my office. I am amazed everytime I walk by them - mostly that they're now next door to The Hard Rock Cafe.)
- International Spy Museum (This one is not free, but worth the price of admission. The pile of poo hidden camera was a favorite! So was learning there are 25,000 spies in the metro area.)
- National Archives (I walk past this almost every day to/from the train. In addition to the Constitution, Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights, we saw one of the few copies of the Magna Carta. I just read that it's no longer on display, but it is up for auction if you have $30 million and are interested.)
- National Portrait Gallery and Smithsonian American Art Museum
- C&O Canal/Great Falls (sort of a mini Niagra Falls: we watched from the Maryland side, which is "Canada," while the Virginia side is like "New York," for those of you familiar with the real thing.)
- Washington National Cathedral (we went on a guided "Gargoyle Tour" which was tons of fun.)
- National Christmas Tree on the Ellipse (there is also a giant Menorah and a fire pit with "Yule Logs")
