There’s so much to see and do in our nation’s capital, Washington, DC that it is kind of very unlikely to see them all in a single visit. However, that did not stop my wife and children from trying to cover everything on our fresh holiday. Here are only a few of the highlights we experienced on that vacation.
Our first challenge before we even left home was finding an affordable place to remain in the Washington, DC area. For the most part, hostels are pretty high priced in that area and make it difficult to find the best place for a family of 5 to stay without fully blowing the old budget. We ended up selecting the American Hotel in Bethesda, MD and are awfully happy with our choice. It is not the most glamorous hotel in the area but awfully convenient, clean and affordable. So, we highly reccomend it when looking for Bethesda hotels.
Then, on to the traveller sites we enjoyed. Naturally we started with the famous State Monuments and Memorials. These included the Lincoln Commemorative , the Jefferson Memorial,the Washington Monument, and the Arlington National Graveyard . There were many more as Washington is a town of monuments and memorials. Many are found on the National Mall but others are pretty spread out so that you will get an excellent walk exercise if you plan to visit them all on foot as we did. (I admit I had to visit my Sacramento podiatrist when I got back home to deal with some foot pain from so much walking)
Next came our tour of the three different branches of official Government buildings.When sightseeing in Washington, D.C., the government, the Capitol and the Supreme court are key places to visit. Touring these inspiring buildings will help you understand more about our govt and its history. Plan ahead and find out about schedules and special events. The state is the home and office of the President and is found at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW. To arrange a tour you have to make a request through one of your members of Congress. Group tours are held Tuesday through Sat. from 7:30 a. m. through 11:30 a. m. And are scheduled one month in advance.
At the east end of the nation’s Mall stands the majestic U. S. Capitol Building. Because of increased security, the Capitol is open to the public for led tours only.
The one thing you will want to do for sure is take a large amount of pictures as you tend to think that you will remember everything as you are time but believe me, your memories tend to fade and it is always better to have some pictures to help bring those memories into sharp focus. I’m not a Commercial Photographer but wish I was to have better captured some of the beauty we saw on ths trip
Also, as well as the typical tourist attractions discussed above, you may find the Washington, DC area has some of the finest restaurants in the country. I suppose this may be due to all of the important politicians that live there as well as the many dignitaries that visit the area and need to go out to eat.
Well, that rather sums up our trip and I can only hope that you get the opportunity to visit the Washington, DC area.