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Best DC Tourist Sites
bonniebogle
bonniebogle Jan 12, 2009

Many people will be coming to Washington, DC for the first time, and we want them to have a blast! We need ideas on great sites, museums, tourist destinations, activities, restaurants, and bars not to miss. Post ideas here if you have them! We'll them get these up on the website.

7 Comments
tourist trail
sime
sime Jan 18, 2009

Looking at the map, I see a cluster of major sites quite close to the convention center, particularly towards the river. I'm wondering how soon it will get dark after 4pm, whether it's possible to take in a few of these sites before dinner one evening.

Hey Simon, We'll post some
bonniebogle
bonniebogle Jan 24, 2009

Hey Simon,
We'll post some more information on this to the DrupalCon DC site soon. Most of DC's biggest attractions (national monuments and the Smithsonian museums) are in walking distance from the conference, and the monuments are great to check out at night too : )

Bonnie

The National Zoo, though a
incanus
incanus Jan 28, 2009

The National Zoo, though a little further away than most attractions from the convention center, is a great tourist spot.

If you're interested, my wife, who is a former "primate interpreter" for the National Zoo, is giving a free, casual tour when are back in town: See the <a href='http://dc2009.drupalcon.org/node/648">forum post for more info.

To get to the zoo, you can take the Red Line to either Woodley Park or Cleveland Park, then walk either north or south on Connecticut Avenue for about ten minutes. Both stops are about equidistant, though coming south from Cleveland Park is a slightly downhill. Either way, you can't miss it!

I'll try to post more suggestions soon, as I lived in DC for three years and really enjoyed exploring its history and culture while I was there.

Favorite Monument - Einstein
mtapman
mtapman Jan 28, 2009
  • Favorite Monument - Einstein Memorial outside the National Academy of Sciences and directly across Constitution Avenue from the Vietnam Memorial.
  • Favorite Nighttime Monument - Iwo Jima over near Rossyln (across the river to the west) or the Korean Memorial just to the southeast of the Vietnam Memorial
  • Favorite Museum - the new Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum (way out west near Dulles) or closer in the American History Museum
  • Favorite Walk - around the Tidal Basin near the Jefferson Memorial
  • Favorite Restaurant(s) - Matchbox (pizza in Chinatown), Rasika (Indian in downtown), Soul Vegetarian Cafe (vegetarian near Howard University on Georgia Ave.), Ben's Chili Bowl (chili, including vegetarian, near the 9:30 Club, good music)
Restaurant listing
domesticat
domesticat Feb 4, 2009

Tyler Cowen's newest set of listings for ethnic dining in DC came out in January: http://www.gmu.edu/jbc/Tyler/tyler_cowen.htm

I'm guessing we could find a few restaurants on that list for adventurous eaters, especially since we'll all be close to Chinatown.

All these things sound
sime
sime Feb 4, 2009

All these things sound awesome. I personally will join any whistlestop tours and cool restaurants. No time for longer excursions :(

Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum
jvinci
jvinci Feb 14, 2009

mtapman briefly mentioned the Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum--Here's why you should go.

The Udvar-Hazy Museum is the relatively new annex to one of the most popular sites on the mall--the National Air and Space Museum. The Udvar-Hazy Museum has an amazing collection of aircraft including:

The Enola Gay (Famous for ending World War II)
The Enterprise Space Shuttle (Full size shuttle that was used to test gliding capabillities)
The Concord
And my favorite... The SR-71 (The coolest looking and and one of the fastest flying airplanes ever).

It's about 30-40 minutes away, but if you like airplaines it'll be well worth your time. You might be able to take a shuttle from the National Air and Space Museum's "National Mall Building," otherwise there's a $12 parking charge.

http://www.nasm.si.edu/
http://www.nasm.si.edu/UdvarHazy/