Washington DC: Tourist Attractions

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We’ve said it before, but we really can’t believe it’s taken us so long to go to DC - especially since it’s just a few hours away! Seeing the Capitol Building and the Washington Monument felt so surreal because I am so used to seeing them in books and on TV (especially since I’m a school teacher and teach about them!) yet it was my first time in real life. Although there were crowds of people everywhere, it wasn’t nearly as bad as I expected, especially because we went during spring break!

Although it wasn’t crazy touristy, it was really time consuming and expensive to find parking. We wondered after the fact if it would have been cheaper just to use the subways. We didn’t research enough into it beforehand! I didn’t realize that basically all of the museums as well as the Capitol Building and the Washington Monument are in the same area called the National Mall. That definitely made everything easier to locate!

We were really excited to check out all of the museums, and we went to the National Air and Space Museum, Natural History Museum, and Hirshhorn Museum (my favorite!!), which were all free and no problem getting into. Most museums are free but some do have an entrance fee or extra exhibits for a cost, so make sure you double check the prices. We also went to The Holocaust Museum, which was free but you need to reserve tickets online the morning of, just because of the high volume of people who go to that museum each day. It was easy to get the tickets, and so worth it! It was the best museum we’ve been to, and it honestly changed me forever. I’ve always been super sensitive to the holocaust and have tried to learn as much as I can about it, but seeing the exhibits in real life was incredibly moving.

One thing we did for the first time (and loved!!) was get electric scooters. They are all over the city and you use an app on your phone to unlock them. Our friend Mark convinced us to try them and it was so fun! It took me a while to get used to it but Nick was a natural. Nick used to ride a Razor scooter to his classes when we were at college together so it was fun to see him on a scooter again!

- Jess