Things To Do Washington DC
Vacation Ideas

This is a great trail for foot or bicycle and you can go as far as you want cause this trail runs for 185 miles all the way to Cumberland MD.

A riverside trail with great views of the Washington skyline is the Mount Vernon Trail. It runs along the Potomac River on the Virginia side. This is a nice scenic 18 mile long multi-use trail.

The Tidal Basin is a small inlet of water near the the Jefferson Memorial and the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial.

There's a 2 mile trail around the Tidal Basin with overlooks that provide excellent views of the water and the famous Washington cherry blossom trees.

There are plenty of jogging and biking paths that run through the park from the Potomac River to the Maryland border. Exploring the park will reveal old 1860's era fortifications which were part of the defense structures that fortified the capital during the Civil War.

The park rangers have lots of programs for all ages. There are children's programs where the rangers guide the kids as they explore and learn about the animals, birds and plants in the park.

You can go on a ranger-led horseback ride along the banks of Rock Creek. Join rangers and astronomers for a night time viewing of the stars and other heavenly phenomena. Or take in a showing of the constellations at the park's Planetarium.

But today the theater is an official National Historic Site. It's been restored and is once again an operational theater. You can enjoy a wide variety of performances of famous plays, debates, humorists and musical performances.

You can take a tour of the theater and also visit The Lincoln Museum. At the museum you can see historical artifacts such as Lincoln's coat, the Derringer used by the assassin Booth and the bloodstained pillow used by Lincoln as he died from his head wound. You can continue the Lincoln theme by visiting the Peterson House across the street. This is where Lincoln was taken after he was shot and he died here.

The Space Race exhibit chronicles the race into outer space between the U.S. and Russia. Some of the things you can see here are a 1957 era three-stage launch vehicle, Jupiter-C rocket which was America's first satellite and an original Hubble Test Telescope.

At the How Things Fly exhibit you can see a Boeing 747 fuselage. Have fun with hands-on interactive displays and live demonstrations about flight. You can see lunar rocks, the Wright brothers plane, the Apollo 11 command module and the Spirit of St. Louis. These are just a few examples of the hundreds of cool stuff to see at The National Air and Space Museum.

Many of the over 400 species are on the endangered list. The African Savanna has cheetahs, gazelles, hippos and other animals from the grassland regions of Africa.

The Great Ape House is popular with its howler monkeys, gorillas and other great primates. You can see lots of lions and tigers, birds, bears and giant pandas.

The National Zoo covers 163 acres, houses some 2,000 animals and features wonderful galleries, gardens and museums. It's one of the most popular spots in Washington and draws visitors from all around the world.

The architecture of the old buildings draw me into them, with so many decorative touches that are no longer done on buildings any more. You can walk where George Washington or Abe Lincoln or John Kennedy once walked. The Smithsonian museums are a huge draw in DC.

My personal favorite is the American History one. The recent renovations turned out great, and have made the exhibit more up to date and more hands-on for kids. I also really enjoy the National Gallery--seeing some of those paintings is like meeting the real people! Washington DC is such a great vacation experience.

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