Washington D.C. Area Attractions

Even if you've never visited Washington, D.C., you know its images well: the stately White House, the Washington Monument with its pencil-point nose thrusting into the sky, the wedding-cake tiered dome atop the majestic Capitol, and the gleaming white columns of the Lincoln Memorial. When you get here, you will see for yourself that the capital's famous monuments stand strong and unswerving, where they were planted decades and centuries ago. The very presence of these and the many other significant landmarks in this white marble town remind us of the constancy of our government and the strength that lies within our country's history. Tour these sites and be reassured that democracy is alive and well in the land. Such an experience is reason enough to come to Washington, D.C.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial
900 Ohio Drive • Washington DC 20024 • 202.426.6841
Located along the famous Cherry Tree Walk on the Western edge of the Tidal Basin near the National Mall, this is a memorial not only to FDR, but also to the era he represents. The memorial traces twelve years of American History through a sequence of four outdoor rooms-each one devoted to one of FDR's terms of office.

Lincoln Memorial
900 Ohio Drive • Washington DC 20024 • 202.426.6841
This beautiful and moving testament to the nation's greatest president attracts millions of visitors annually. Like its fellow presidential memorials, this one was a long time in the making. Although it was planned as early as 1867--2 years after Lincoln's death--it was not until 1912 that Henry Bacon's design was completed, and the memorial itself was dedicated in 1922.

National Gallery of Art
4th Street & Constitution Avenue • Washington DC • 202.737.4215
Housing one of the world's foremost collections of Western painting, sculpture, and graphic arts, spanning from the Middle Ages through the 20th century, the National Gallery has a dual personality. The original West Building, designed by John Russell Pope (architect of the Jefferson Memorial and the National Archives), is a neoclassic marble masterpiece with a domed rotunda over a colonnaded fountain and high-ceilinged corridors leading to delightful garden courts. It was a gift to the nation from Andrew W. Mellon, who also contributed the nucleus of the collection, including 21 masterpieces from the Hermitage, two Raphaels among them. The ultramodern East Building, designed by I. M. Pei and opened in 1978, is composed of two adjoining triangles with glass walls and lofty tetrahedron skylights. The pink Tennessee marble from which both buildings were constructed was taken from the same quarry; it forms an architectural link between the two structures.

National Museum of American History
On the National Mall, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, N.W • Washington DC • 202.357.2700
This museum and its neighbor, the National Museum of Natural History, are the behemoths of the Smithsonian, each filled to the gills with artifacts American History deals with "everyday life in the American past" and the external forces that have helped to shape our national character. Its massive contents range from General Washington's Revolutionary War tent to Archie Bunker's chair.

The Capital
On Capitol Hill at the east end of the Mall • Washington DC • 202.225.6827
The Capitol is as majestic up close at it is from afar. For 135 years it sheltered not only both houses of Congress, but also the Supreme Court and, for 97 years, the Library of Congress as well. When you tour the Capitol, you'll learn about America's history as you admire the place in which it unfolded. Classical architecture, interior embellishments, and hundreds of paintings, sculptures, and other artworks are integral elements of the Capitol.

The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW • Washington, DC 20500 • 202.456.7041
It's amazing when you think about it: This house has served as a residence, office, reception site, and world embassy for every U.S. president since John Adams. The White House is the only private residence of a head of state that has opened its doors to the public for tours, free of charge. It was Thomas Jefferson who started this practice, which is stopped only during wartime. Public tours of the White House are available for groups of 10 or more people. Requests must be submitted through one's Member of Congress and are accepted up to six months in advance.

National Air and Space Museum
Independence Ave at 4th Street, SW • Washington, DC 20560 • 202.357.2700
This museum chronicles the story of the mastery of flight, from Kitty Hawk to outer space. It holds the largest collection of historic aircraft and spacecraft in the world--so many, in fact, that the museum is able to display only about 20% of its artifacts at any one time. To supplement its space, the National Air and Space Museum is opening an extension facility, the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, at Dulles Airport, to display many more. The center, which is scheduled to open in late 2003, will also serve as the Air & Space Museum's primary restoration facility.

National Zoological Park
3001 Connecticut Avenue NW • Washington, DC 20008 • 202.673.4800
Truly one of the world's greatest museums with an enormous collection that includes Egyptian, Greek and Roman art and artifacts; European and American paintings, sculpture and decorative arts; 20th century art, Asian and Middle-Eastern art and antiquities; arms and armor; musical instruments; and textiles. There is no doubt that the Metropolitan Museum of Art holds one of the best art collections ever assembled.

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