Sites and Fun in Washington DC

There’s so much to see and do in our nation’s capital, Washington, DC that it is almost impossible to see them all in a single visit. However, that did not stop my wife and youngsters from trying to cover everything on our recent vacation. 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 stay 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 five to stay without absolutely blowing the old budget. We ended up selecting the American Inn in Bethesda, MD and are very pleased with our choice. It is not the most glamorous hotel in the region but very convenient, clean and affordable. So, we highly reccomend it when looking for Bethesda hotels.

Then, on to the tourist sites we enjoyed. Naturally we started with the famous Countrywide Monuments and Memorials. These included the Lincoln Commemorative , the Jefferson Memorial,the Washington Monument, and the Arlington National Graveyard . There were several more as Washington is a city of monuments and commemoratives. Many are found on the National Mall but others are pretty spread out so 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 3 different branches of official Presidency buildings.When sightseeing in Washington, D.C, the regime, the Capitol and the high Court are key places to go to. Touring these galvanizing buildings will help you understand more about our executive 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 located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW. To order a tour you should 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 ahead.

At the east end of the nation’s Mall stands the majestic U. S. Capitol Building. Due to raised security, the Capitol is open to the public for steered tours only.

The one thing you will need to do for sure is take plenty of pictures as you tend to think that you are going to remember everything as you are so impressed at the time but believe me, your memories have a tendency to fade and it is always better to have some pictures to help bring those memories into sharp focus. I’m not one of those food photographers but wish I was to have better captured some of the beauty we saw on ths trip

Also, in addition to the typical traveller attractions mentioned above, you will find the Washington, DC area has some of the best eateries 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.