Travel Tips: Washington D.C.

DAY 1:

I have a weird obsession with cemeteries. It's not like they freak me out, I actually think they're really beautiful. We went to Arlington Cemetery very first, and, with the advice from my friend Della, we purchased tickets to ride the tour buses that drive around. The cemetery is larger than you can even comprehend, and it's actually quite steep. Since we had to do so much walking the rest of the day, I was really glad we bought the tickets ($8/pp, I think?). There are a few hop-on/hop-off stops. You can skip past some stops or visit them all like we did. First stop was the Changing of the Guard and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. We also stopped at JFK's gravesites, The Arlington House, and various other memorials. You wouldn't believe the quiet reverence of the Kennedy gravesites. It's a humbling experience.

Next we took the Metro to the Smithsonian Station. Apparently a lot of the museums are connected underground. We entered the Freer Gallery and exited from a completely different building. It kind of threw us for a loop. The Smithsonian Castle and the galleries surrounding it, we not all that entertaining. If you don't have much time, I vote you skip these.

The Hirshorn Museum was probably the only art museum that Travis liked. It had a lot of interactive installments mixed with paintings and we both found it pretty cool. I had been to the Nevada Museum of Art and various Utah art galleries, but this was my first major art museum since I had taken my art history classes and it meant so much more. I've never been a huge fan of Mondrian or Bacon, but seeing pieces from such famous artists made me giddy. It's worth a look.

There were few tourists at the cemetery and at the other galleries/museums. We didn't really even see many walking around. But when we walked into the Air & Space Museum, we discovered where they all were. It was packed. Seeing the size of the missiles, rockets, and some of the planes was interesting, but overall, I found it quite boring. I think I was expecting something different after seeing Night at the Museum 2, though I don't know what. By the time we made it through the whole place, we kind of looked at each other and said, "Huh. That was kind of lame." Personal preference, I suppose.

We skipped the American Indian Museum and headed to the reflecting pool in front of the Capitol Building. We walked up closer to the building and took lots of pictures, but we never went inside. From there we walked to the National Archives. This is where we had our National Treasure moment in a room much smaller and darker than I imagined. There aren't supposed to be any lines and the security guard kept telling us to stop forming lines, but I don't know how else you're supposed to see everything without waiting in line behind others…? It really was cool to see the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence with the original giant John Hancock signature.

There's a Metro station near the Archives. It took us a few minutes to find, but we followed the crowds and headed home for the day.

DAY 2:

We started Day 2 at the Holocaust Memorial Museum. I had heard about the museum when I was in Middle School and have wanted to go ever since. We paid $1/pp to purchase the tickets online ahead of time. I hear that tickets go fast depending on the season and time of day. I wanted to guarantee my entrance so I went ahead and bought them before we even left Salt Lake. There are a few exhibits you can see without tickets, but the main ticketed exhibit is really what the museum is all about. I had high expectations and they were fully met. That memorial can be a life changer. I'd recommend it for adults and older children.

Next we took the Metro to The National Gallery of Art. I was in heaven. Travis was bored out of his mind. I had done something to my back the previous night and I was having the hardest time standing. It was the worst day to have such bad back pain. We had to stop and sit on a bench in almost every room of the art gallery and then we sat on the benches in the NGA Sculpture Garden. Unfortunately, this pattern of stopping every 5 minutes to sit, continued through the whole day. Bless Travis for putting up with me! But anyway, I highly recommend the NGA & Sculpture Garden for fans of the arts.

We skipped the National Museum of Natural History. I think Travis was a little disappointed, but when it comes to dinosaurs and the like, we kind of had this, "been there, done that" mentality. I'm sure Utah doesn't have near the exhibits of the National Museum, but I've seen a lot and we just didn't have the time for every museum. I had also planned on skipping the National Museum of American History (sounds boring), but my sister-in-law told that her one regret from her D.C. trip was that she didn't have more time for that particular museum. I'm glad she said something because it ended up being our favorite museum. They had the original ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz, a Nauvoo temple sunstone, one of Abraham Lincoln's hats, and a host of other ridiculously awesome things. It was so cool. Go there. You're bound to find something interesting.

Next we walked to the Washington Monument and took pictures. Because of an earthquake the previous year, it was closed for renovations. We walked a little further and took pictures of The White House from afar. That was as close as we felt like we needed to get. We spent a few minutes just chilling at the WWII Memorial before we walked to the Vietnam Memorial. There wasn't much a view for that walk because the main Reflecting Pool had been drained for repairs (apparently we picked a bad time to visit). The Vietnam Monument is just as cool in real life, however.

Keeping up with my movie-scene mindset, I was thinking of Legally Blonde when we got to the Lincoln Memorial. I think the reason they filmed that scene at night is because during the day place is packed. There were people everyone - on the steps, in the shop, and near the statue. It was still cool to see in person. After a few failed attempts at a good selfie, a nice family offered to take our picture and we returned the favor. A nice woman had done the same thing at the Washington Monument. I like that.

Surprisingly (or maybe not so surprising at this point), the closest Metro station to the Lincoln Memorial is the Arlington Cemetery Metro. You can either cross the bridge over the Potomac for some awesome views like we did, or hit up the Foggy Bottom Station directly north of the monument. Both are about a mile walk from the Memorial. You could also try the Smithsonian Station, which is even farther but there are other things you could see (like the Korean War Memorial and/or Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial) along the way. Or, you could just save yourself the hassle by paying for a trolley or Segway tour!

It was a long day, but it was amazing.


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