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I’ve been to Washington D.C. a few times and it definitely belongs in the category of “I doubt I’ll ever be able to really ever see everything there.” For a few of these top five pieces, like for example Kansas City, you would get enough of the local flair that even if you were there for only a weekend, you’d feel like you got a sense of what the town had to offer. Admittedly, only living in a city for extended period of time can truly give you a feel of the place. However, there are places where even if you live there, seeing everything would be near impossible. Manhattan, Paris, Los Angeles, London and Washington D.C. fall firmly on those lists for me as the amount of museums, memorials, events and different pieces of culture abound in all those places (and I’m sure many more cities as well.)
So, that said, here are things that I’ve seen in D.C., or would like to see in future trips. To answer your question, yes, I do plan on cheating and listing many things as “one” thing.
Walk “The Exorcist” Stairs
A perfect example as “The Exorcist” stairs probably only mean something to horror film fans, but they have such a striking visual feel that I feel most people will recognize them and feel the hairs rising on the back of their neck. It’s a fleeting feeling though, which is why hitting the bars in the Georgetown neighborhood after this brief tour makes the trip worthwhile.
Check out the young core of players at Nationals Park
Right now, I think the Washington Nationalsare the most exciting team in baseball. Once veterans Jayson Werth and Michael Morse join Bryce Harper to make a slugging heavy outfield to go with first baseman Adam LaRoche and defensive wiz Ryan Zimmerman in the infield, pitching phenom Stephen Strasburg and a couple other rotation youngsters like Jordan Zimmerman and Gio Gonzalez, every game will have a cool angle. Pick up a ticket and enjoy yourself.
Pick a Smithsonian, Any Smithsonian
What interests you? They have a Smithsonian for that. Art, space, history, design and even the U.S. Post Office have museums dedicated to them. Even those simple segments don’t tell the full story, like for example “art” that includes exhibits like “The Art of Video Games,” and “Inventing a Better Mousetrap: Patent Models from the Rothschild Collection.”
Explore the National Mall
The National Mall in the middle of Washington D.C. is not only a big park to just enjoy the day and maybe play softball with the local baseball stars, but has several different memorials, including the Lincoln Memorial, Thomas Jefferson Memorial and the Washington Monument. Of course, those listed are just the presidential ones; there are also memorials devoted to those who fought for our country (and who we remember and thank over the past Memorial Day) including memorials for WWII, the Korean War and the Vietnam War.
Hike around Manassas National Battlefield Park
Those wars were all fought outside the U.S., but just 30 miles outside the city there is the Manassas National Battlefield Park. The main page of the park gives you an idea of the importance of the site, as the south won the Battle of Manassas, and for a short time, a divided U.S. looked more real than it ever had.
Any suggestions for things that I missed? Any additional recommendations for the area? Just let me know in the comments.
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This is a fun site, but this article was not fun. A staircase? A battlefield? Huh? If you really want to know what is going down in DC let me know, I can do an article re-write. I’ll tell you where you can really hang!