I cashed in some frequent flier miles for my trip to Washington DC over Columbus Day weekend. I flew into DC's National airport - when your plane lands from the north, you get an awesome view of downtown DC. I stayed in 2 hotels for this trip - the Omni Shoreham for the first part, and the George Hotel for the second part.
October 9
Went to the National Zoo. It's like most other zoos I've been to, but the National Zoo is unique in that it includes pandas - considered the feature attraction in this zoo. I spent about 4 hours in the zoo. Later in the afternoon, I visited National Community Church in Ebenezers Coffeehouse. I also got some metro station pictures along the way - some metro stations have really looooong escalators.
October 10
Stopped by the US Navy Memorial, then headed over to the Natural History Museum. The museum has the Hope Diamond exhibit, as well as lots of glowing rocks. There is a small garden next to the museum with a metal tree and big fountain - worth a visit. In the evening, I joined a bicycle tour group to bike to the monuments. This is a great way to spend an evening in Washington DC - the monuments are lit up at night and look great. Biking is the way to see all the monuments as they are placed far apart. Check out the mistake in the Lincoln memorial.
October 11
Visited the National Building Museum, including the Lego exhibit. The Lego exhibit consists of models of the most famous skyscrapers in the world, built entirely of Legos. Very nice and well done. It also includes models of proposed but not built skyscrapers. I'm surprised there are no models of the Taipei 101, Seattle's Space Needle, or Toronto's CN Tower. The Museum also had an exhibit about Palladio and how his drawings of Roman temples inspired the design of many government buildings and monuments in the US, such as the Archives Museum, US Capitol, US Supreme Court, Lincoln Memorial, and Jefferson Memorial. I then visited the observation deck of the Post Office Pavilion. It is a way to get a panoramic view of DC and is an alternative to the Washington Monument. The Post Office Pavilion does not require advanced tickets and has no lines; however the Washington Monument has better views, especially of the White House. I spent the evening including dinner in DuPont, a lively neighborhood in DC.
October 12
Visited the Air and Space Museum. This museum has lots to see, and includes life size models of rockets and airplanes. I also saw Legends of Flight in 3D, a film documenting technologies and lessons learned in aircraft design, and how they apply to the newest aircraft - Airbus A380 and Boeing 787. This movie also makes you feel like you're flying in the pilot's seat. Afterwords, I had lunch at the American Indian Museum - food here is highly rated because it represents Native foods found throughout North and South America. I had the pulled buffalo sandwich.
