Ford - Frommers EasyGuide to Washington D.C. 2015

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ISBN 978-1-62887-084-8 (paper), 978-1-62887-085-5 (e-book)

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Editor: Pauline Frommer

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AN IMPORTANT NOTE

The world is a dynamic place. Hotels change ownership, restaurants hike their prices, museums alter their opening hours, and busses and trains change their routings. And all of this can occur in the several months after our authors have visited, inspected, and written about these hotels, restaurants, museums, and transportation services. Though we have made valiant efforts to keep all our information fresh and up-to-date, some few changes can inevitably occur in the periods before a revised edition of this guidebook is published. So please bear with us if a tiny number of the details in this book have changed. Please also note that we have no responsibility or liability for any inaccuracy or errors or omissions, or for inconvenience, loss, damage, or expenses suffered by anyone as a result of assertions in this guide.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Washington, D.C.based freelance writer Elise Hartman Ford has written for The Washington Post, Washingtonian magazine, Ladies Home Journal, National Parks magazine; the travel websites Home & Abroad, MapQuest, and AOL Travel; and countless other national, regional, trade, and online publications. Ford is the author of several other guidebooks in addition to this one, and the author as well of the travel app Washington, DC A to Z.

ABOUT THE FROMMER TRAVEL GUIDES

For most of the past 50 years, Frommers has been the leading series of travel guides in North America, accounting for as many as 24% of all guidebooks sold. I think I know why.

Though we hope our books are entertaining, we nevertheless deal with travel in a serious fashion. Our guidebooks have never looked on such journeys as a mere recreation, but as a far more important human function, a time of learning and introspection, an essential part of a civilized life. We stress the culture, lifestyle, history, and beliefs of the destinations we cover, and urge our readers to seek out people and new ideas as the chief rewards of travel.

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Arthur Frommer

The Best of Washington, D.C.

T he sun has come up, dappling the surface of the Potomac. It warms the front plaza of the Supreme Court Building, where visitors stand in line awaiting their chance to attend an oral argument. Sunlight splays across the National Mall and pours through the south-facing windows of the Oval Office, where the President works away at the problems of the day. Commuters of all sorts, from diplomats to nonprofit wonks to corporate execs to shopkeepers, spill from cars and buses and Metro stations onto sunlit downtown streets armed with briefcases, coffee cups, smartphones, and newspapers. They rub elbows from sunup to sundown, in the halls of Congress, in Penn Quarter restaurants, in Georgetown shops, in bars along 14th Street. The city bustles. Bustle with it. Its a beautiful day.

Each day dawns anew in this city of magnificent intentions, as Charles Dickens once called it. Maybe this will be the day that Republican and Democrat legislators hammer out a deal on a campaign finance reform bill or that President Obama welcomes world leaders to the White House for a Middle East summit. Or maybe todays the day that you fulfill your own intentions, sublime or otherwise, of setting eyes on the original Declaration of Independence, perhaps, or tasting something called a half-smoke, or listening to a jazz concert in the same place where Duke Ellington once performed. Things happen here that can happen nowhere else on earth. Youre in Americas capital, and this city and this day belong to you. Best get crackin!

The most unforgettable Washington, D.C. Experiences

Watching the Supreme Court in Action: Behind the stately marble facade of the Supreme Court Building, the nations nine black-gowned justices reveal their intellectual brilliance and individual personalities as they listen to and question both sides of an argument. Will the famously silent Justice Thomas talk today? Is the notably aggressive Justice Scalia really so blunt? Only one way to find out: Wait in line for entry and a coveted seat inside the Courtroom. See p..

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Visiting Your Senator or House Representative: If youre a U.S. citizen, take advantage of your constituent status and stop by your senators and/or representatives office on Capitol Hill to offer your two cents on current issues. Pick up passes to the Capitols Senate and House chambers and attend a session to observe your elected politicians at work. Make sure youve reserved Capitol tour passes online and tour the Capitol. See p..

Bicycling Past the Potomac River and Around the Tidal Basin: Rent a bike and cycle the paved bike/pedestrian path that extends 11 miles from the Lincoln Memorial to the Maryland border (through Rock Creek Park). Or head the other direction, following the combination of street, sidewalk, and pathway that encircles the Tidal Basin. Youll enjoy a view of the Potomac River, Rock Creek, and spectacular Washington sites on either side of you as you make your way. For a really epic ride, follow the pathway past the Lincoln Memorial, cross the Arlington Memorial Bridge to the trail on the other side, and pedal the 19 miles to Mount Vernon. See p..