Washington D.C.
My Visit to Washington D.C.
Washington D.C., as our nations capitol is a great place to visit. There are so many sites that it is hard to tell about them all on this site. On my visit, I couldn't even go to all of the sites, because there so many. But the ones I did go to are the Smithsonian Institution, the Newseum, and many of the National Monuments in Washington.
Newseum
The Newseum is the worlds only interactive museum dedicated to news, and the newest in Washington D.C. It takes you behind the scenes to see and experience how news is made. You can trace the history of news from spoken stories of ancient times to todays information explosion. You can look at the front pages of over 70 newspapers around the world. You could even try being a news anchor or an on-the-scene correspondent. It is very fun at the Newseum and a highly recomended attraction.
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian is one of Washington D.C.'s main places to visit. It consists of five buildings - the National Air and Space Museum, the National Museum of American History, the National Museum of Natural History, the National Museum of African Art, and the National Museum of American Art.
The National Air and Space Museum has the largest collection of historic air and spacecraft in the world. This was an awesome place to visit. I was able to see the original Wright flyer, the "Spirit of St. Louis", the Apollo 11 command module, and touch a pice of lunar rock.
The National Museum of American History collects and cares for more than 17 million artifacts. I didn't see them all, but some of my favorites are the original Star Spangled Banner, Ford's Model-T, and Dorthy's ruby slippers. The museum has collections of our national heritage in technology, industrial developement, military history, and much more.
These were just my two favorite museums, but I visited them all and had a very enjoyable time.
National Monuments
Obviously, Washington D.C. is known for it's many tributes to past presidents and wars. Some of my favorite memorials include the Jefferson Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the Washington Monument, and Arlington National Cemetary. Arlington National Cemetary is home to more than 243,000 of our military personell who have died fighting for our country. You can also see the final resting spot of John F. Kennedy and his family. Probably the most famous memorial is the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. In this black granite memorial there are the names of 58,196 soldiers who died or remain missing in the Vietnam War. It is a wondrful site and will bring a tear to your eye when you see it.