Washington, DC

I lived about 45 minutes from Washington, DC for over 50 years (yikes!). When I realized I wasn’t going to be able to travel outside of my area last summer, I knew there was a lot of exploring I could do in my own backyard.

I actually lived in Washington, DC for a couple of years and worked there for six. I’ve explored around over the years. But the truth is, you start to take things for granted when it’s always there. And new places have been built over the years.

So I set a plan and decided to start exploring in one of the most powerful places in our land, if not the world, Washington, DC. While we may not always agree with the power that this place yields (politics, politics, politics) there’s no denying that just driving into the city evokes that feeling of grandeur. But first you must understand how to approach this place. After all, it is like no other place in the world.

We had so many things to explore while visiting Washington, DC that I broke it up into two parts. Remember, I am merely doing a very brief overview.

Chinatown

Chinatown in Washington, DC is small in comparison to others I’ve visited. San Francisco was the most authentic I’ve seen in relation to true Chinese culture. While in DC’s Chinatown, we ate at an okay restaurant not really worth noting. We mainly snapped pictures quickly before hopping back onto the hop on/hop off bus. As you can see by the picture below, there is a Metro stop right at the main gates.

United States Botanic Gardens

The kids really like the botanic gardens and we’ve been there several times both summer and at Christmas time. So I’ve included some pictures of both. Thankfully, we have not been there when the corpse flower was opening but my kid crew would like to, not me.

They have several programs open to the public. Some you need to register in advance and others you can catch on the same day. There was a cooking event going on one of the times we were there. We also listened in on a talk about the cocoa bean. Pretty cool. Below is the entire crew plus my husband. He works in DC so he joined us at the end.

 

The display they had for Christmas 2016 was pretty neat. They used all natural material to create replicas of the historic buildings in DC, right down to the White House. I would like to go again sometime but the line snaked well outside the building. Definitely a very popular exhibit.

                   National Museum of Natural History

This is a classic folks and one that you must visit if you come to DC. Think Hope Diamond, huge elephant, and so much more. There is so much to see here and it could easily take you two days to cover it all. Especially if you come in spring or summer. Any and everyone who has lived in DC for a while has taken a class field trip here. Either themselves or with their kids. I’ve done both. I came here with my class as a child and I’ve visited several times with my own children.

There is a butterfly pavilion and lots of hands on activities for kids. There are also many, many collections and exhibits. There are also guided tours and guided activities going on all the time. Have you ever held a tarantula? Well here you can do just that (eeeeeek!). There are also live tarantula feedings to observe. Don’t miss this museum.

National Museum of African Art

The National Museum of African Art has a interesting history. It was originally known as the Museum of African Art. It was located in a townhouse that had been the home of Frederick Douglass, the African American abolitionist and statesman. But in August 1979, the museum became part of the Smithsonian Institution.  They have several events going on every day and some neat exhibits.

National Air & Space Museum and NASA

I will finish today’s post with two agencies that are near and dear to my family. Why? Because I worked for the Federal Aviation Administration and my husband worked for NASA.

If you are into anything having to do with flight, then this place is your go to. You will find everything from the ’50 years of Apollo’ to the first airplane. There’s even the lovely freeze dried ice cream for you to buy at the gift shop (which is actually quite good albeit pricey}.

I didn’t take a single picture of the museum that day as it was soooo crowded and I’ve been there many times. What you see above are stock photos. But I do have three crew members who became astronauts at their dad’s workplace on ‘Bring  your child to work day’ so I will leave you with that 🙂