Washington, D.C.

Getting there

After a nauseating 4-hour ride on an Apex bus that we boarded on East Broadway, we arrived in Washington, D.C.'s much smaller Chinatown & began our 10-minute walk to the Harrington Hotel on 11th Street, NW. Why, you ask, is it designated "NW"? The District is divided into quadrants, at the center of which is the U.S. Capitol Building, the seat of Congress, our legislative branch. Actually, to be more precise, an inlaid star on the floor of the Rotunda (where Presidents lie in state) marks the true center of the quadrants. But I digress...

The Harrington

To its advantage, the Harrington Hotel is extremely well-situated, being within walking distance of places like Ford's Theater, the Old Post Office, and the National Mall, just to name a few. Considering its convenient location amidst several major tourist attractions, the hotel is very economical indeed. In addition, the front desk provided the most useful neighborhood map of D.C. that I could get my hands on for this trip. However, economical hotels are not without their drawbacks.

The Harrington is unassuming, but undeniably worn. Having arrived two hours earlier than check-in time, we left our luggage at the front desk, where, instead of tucking the suitcases we'd left in their trust in a safe place behind the desk, the concierge left our luggage sitting in the lobby, unsecured and unattended. Our luggage was moved only after we expressed our security concerns. And upon returning to the Harrington a mere three hours later, my suitcase was delivered to our room bearing streaks of fresh white paint with no recourse to be had from hotel management. But enough about the lousy, apathetic service...

The rooms are quite spartan at the Harrington, which is fine for visitors like us, toursists who are out and about for most of the day. With the antique tub, the tightly spaced bathroom, and the permanently stained bed sheets, I came to think of the Harrington more as a hostel than a hote. And I came to be very glad we thought to bring our own bedding – pillowcases especially, since I disturbed a creepy crawler when I uncovered the bedspread on the first day. Like I said, there are drawbacks to a poorly-maintained, if frugal and conveniently-situated, hotel.

Ye Olde Post Office

After a quick lunch at the Harrington, we took a short, self-guided walking tour to get our bearings, and our first stop was the Downtown Welcome Center. Do not be fooled by the name – the Welcome Center is actually a souvenir shop! However, at the bus tour sales counter outside, we did pick up a pretty nice color map of D.C., which guided our walk to the Old Post Office Pavilion.

Today, the Old Post Office is not nearly as impressive as it had to have been when it was first built (in 1899). In fact, as a testament to the velocity of technology at the turn of the 20th century, the planned demolition of the Old Post Office Building was stalled only by the Great Depression - a mere three decades after it was built!

Today, within Washington’s first skyscraper (at a mere 12 stories!), you'll find a smattering of small shops and typical mall fare, nothing too impressive – that is, until you get to the observation deck in the Clock Tower. Sitting on Pennsylvania Avenue, midway between the Capitol Building and the White House, the Old Post Office has a truly breathtaking, 360-degree view of the city. Not to mention that you’ll get a great sense of direction for the town from up top. The Post Office closes at 10:45pm in the summer, but I’d recommend paying it a visit during the daylight hours on a clear day for the best view.

International Spy Museum

We visited the popular International Spy Museum on F Street NW, where we arguably had the most fun…and definitely paid the most to visit! (Admission is $16; most public venues in D.C. are free.)

The museum’s focus on the role of espionage in national and global history glorifies the covert profession, displaying an array of spy instruments, including weapons, vehicles, bugs, and cameras (in a pair of glasses? a cigar? a block of wood!?), and profiling famous spies (Josephine Baker!) and cases. From the ancient Greco-Romans, to the American Revolution & Civil Wars, to the ensuing World Wars and the Cold War, the Spy Museum transcends time to explain spy codes, technologies, and methods. There's even a minor exhibit on those valiant messengers (and the secret fear of every New Yorker), the pigeon.

It’s recommended that visitors allot up to two hours to fully traverse the Spy Museum, but that assessment is overly conservative; I’d give the museum up to four hours for those who want to walk through, read, and try everything! A special favorite of mine was a program that showed the makeup tricks of the spies, some of which disguised a young woman as an infirm old man, and a middle-aged man as a non-descript, age-indeterminate, complete non-entity. Another interesting exhibit was the "code" that sprung up between prisoners during the Cold War. Unfortunately, while the Spy Museum is only a block away from FBI Headquarters, all FBI tours have been indefinitely suspended. But you can learn about former FBI agent, Robert Hanssen's, spying at the International Spy Museum instead.

Monuments on the National Mall

And after a mediocre dinner at a so-called Mongolian buffet in Chinatown, we took a nighttime stroll to the west end of the National Mall, starting at the White House. From there, completely underestimating the distance, we walked to the Washington Monument, where we sat to admire the Lincoln Memorial and to catch a second wind. We then walked to the WWII Monument and admired the fountain before walking alongside the Reflecting Pool, passing the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on our way to the Lincoln Memorial.

The Lincoln Memorial was as grand as ever, and, atop the stairs, Lincoln held court with plenty of late-night visitors. There were fewer visitors at the exhibits that had an entrance at the foot of the stairs, where myriad audio and video multimedia showed the life and times of Lincoln, as well as those of his memorial monument.

Although we had planned to complete the circuit around the Reflecting Pool and see the Korean War Veterans Memorial on our way back, we learned just how “way leads on to way.” Being thoroughly exhausted by the long walks to the Washington & Lincoln Memorials, we took a cab back to the hotel instead.

The Smithsonian: National Zoo & NARA

After breakfasting up the block from Ford’s Theatre, at the serpentine counter of a 1950’s-era diner throwback, the Waffle Shop, on 10th Street NW, we took the Red line on the Metro to Cleveland Park, the recommended stop for the National Zoo. (The other stop, Woodley Park/Zoo, is also about 4 blocks away from the Zoo, but is an uphill hike.) On the walk to the Zoo, we frugally stopped into a neighborhood supermarket for some bottled water, which, considering the 100-200% markup we found at the Zoo, we highly recommend to all Zoo visitors.

As with all other Smithsonian attractions, the National Zoo has free admission. Inexplicably, the Visitor Center at the Zoo charges $1 per printed map. Since there are so many guide markers and maps across the Zoo, the map isn't exactly a necessity; but for those who like a guide to hang on to, you can print the map here. We were able to pick up a stray map inside the zoo & to complete the karmic cycle, we gave it away on our way out of the Zoo. By far, my favourite exhibits were the Giant Panda Habitat and the Animal Nursery. Also, be sure to catch a daily animal feeding and/or training session if you can!

Our last stop before dining at the Hard Rock Cafe was the National Archives & Records Administration, which is part of the Smithsonian consortium, and home to historically invaluable documents such as:

• the "Perot" Magna Carta of 1297 (no longer on display)
  
• the Declaration of Independence
  
• the Constitution, including the Bill of Rights
• Barry Faulkner's murals (Declaration - Constitution)
• the Emancipation Proclamation
• and so much more.
  

The line to enter the Rotunda holding the "Charters of Freedom" (consisting of the Declaration and the Constitution) can be a good wait. However, once you are allowed past the gates, mind the guards' counsel - do not be fooled (or bullied) into thinking that you must wait on line to view all the documents. There is no line, and the documents are not in any particular order - chronological or otherwise - so locate your targets and sidle up to view them! The most popular documents, of course, are the headliners - the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

The Smithsonian: National Air & Space, Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden & National Museum of Natural History

We first dropped by the National Air & Space Museum, where we caught a free 11:30am IMAX in the Einstein Planetarium, called The Stars Tonight. The show is naught but a primer on the night sky, and novice astronomers would do better to skip the show & spend more time in the "Exploring the Planets" exhibit.

Another permanent exhibit worth noting here is "WWII Aviation," which is good for American history buffs as well as aviation enthusiasts. My favourite exhibit, however, was on temporary loan from the National Museum of American History; an exhibit called "Treasures of American History." This exhibit, housing iconic items of American history, is divided into four sections:

• "Creativity & Innovation"
  Including: a Stradivari violin; Dorothy's ruby slippers; Bell's telephone; Edison’s light bulb; the oldest surviving Levi's; Eastman's Kodak camera; part of ENIAC; R2-D2 and C-3PO from Star Wars; the Liotta-Cooley Artificial Heart; a Röntgen X-ray tube; Colt's revolver; samples of Fleming's original Penicillium notatum mold, plutonium, and Salk's polio vaccine.
  
  
• "American Biography"
  Including: Helen Keller's "touch" watch; an autographed Babe Ruth baseball; Andrew Jackson’s uniform; Susan B. Anthony’s red shawl; Margaret Mead’s dress; Ed Roberts’ wheelchair; Sandra Day O’Connor’s judicial robes; Cesar Chavez’s union jacket; Louis Armstrong’s cornet; Marilyn Monroe’s kidskin gloves; and Muhammad Ali’s boxing gloves.
  
  
• "National Challenges"
  Including: George Washington’s uniform & sword; a slave tag; a model of Whitney's cotton gin; Lewis and Clark’s compass; gold from Sutter’s Mill; Lincoln’s top hat; a suffrage sash & pin; FDR's Fireside Chat microphone; a Japanese internment camp sign; and the Greensboro lunch counter.
  
  
• "American Identity"
  Including: Bradford's silver cup; Torah mantle of one of the first synagogues in San Francisco; Jefferson's Bible; an early Teddy Bear; Kermit the Frog; the M*A*S*H signpost; the 60 Minutes stopwatch; and Archie Bunker’s arm chair.

After NASM, as we walked down Jefferson Drive SW, we opted to cross through the Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden, which owns over 11,000 pieces of modern art (late 19th century Impressionism through Post-Modernism of the 1960's) and contemporary art (1960's to present).

As part of the Smithsonian family, the Hirshhorn charges no admission fee; however donations are accepted. The Hirshhorn Museum & Garden is said to house rotating exhibits in order to showcase its rather extensive collection, and the Garden in particular seems to be a natural spot to seek a bit of respite from the town's tourist hustle. In front of a fountain within the sunken garden, you'll find a number of wrought iron lawn furniture, as well as a smattering of park benches throughout the rest of the garden. You'll find it hard to resist settling in a shady spot to admire the sculptures tastefully spread throughout the garden.

At the National Museum of National History, we missed a three o'clock Tarantula feeding due to the renovation of the Orkin Hall and some poorly worded directions to the temporary "Bug Corner. " Instead, we stood on line at the Gems & Minerals section of the Hall of Geology. The main attractions? The Star of Asia sapphire and the Hope Diamond.

Truth be told, the 300+ carat sapphire known as the Star of Asia was a mite disappointing. Pictures of the star sapphire don't convey the actual blue color; however, the 6-pronged star-shaped pattern, known as asterism, is an astounding natural phenomenon caused by the presence of slender needles of the mineral rutile.

The Hope Diamond, on the other hand, a sight to behold. Even the display is a work of art. Thought to have originated from a mine in Golconda, India, this diamond has passed through the hands of France's Sun King (Louis XIV), Louis XV, and Louis XVI, who gifted the then 100+ carat, "French blue" gem to Marie Antoinette. It is through a series of thefts, inheritances, sales, and artful trimming, that the 45-carat Hope Diamond as we know it today finally found a home within the Smithsonian Institution through a donation from diamond merchant Harry Winston. (For information on the curse of the Hope Diamond, read & research online, as the Smithsonian does not deal in speculation on this.)

All said, my favourite was neither of those gems, but the 128-carat Tiffany Diamond. Almost thrice the size of the Hope Diamond, this is one of the largest yellow diamonds ever mined in the entire world. What began in South Africa as a 287-carat yellow diamond was cut to its current size, and set in Jean Schlumberger's "Bird on a Rock" design, accented by a gold and platinum, diamond-encrusted bird with a ruby eye. On loan to the Smithsonian to celebrate the establishment of The Tiffany & Co. Foundation Collection, an endowment for "the acquisition of important and unusual gemstones to be displayed...[at the] National Gem Collection Gallery," the Tiffany Diamond will be at the National Museum of National History until September 2007.

After the Hall of Gems & Minerals, we took a stroll to the U.S. Capitol Building, the heart of the District's quadrants. On this sunny Saturday, there were wedding photographers and tourists aplenty. We decided against trekking up the steps or admiring the rotunda in favor of simply gawking at the Neoclassical silhouette. By the time we walked back to the Harrington, we were wishing we had taken a bike tour instead!

Dining at Ristorante Tosca

For our last dinner in D.C., we visited the more upscale Ristorante Tosca for a taste of Northern Italian fare. As a main course, I had "grilled pork tenderloin in a rosemary and Porcini mushroom crust" accompanied by "olive oil poached artichokes, sautéed black kale and black truffle sauce," which was quite delectable. I also tried a bite of "grilled rack of milk-fed veal" with "roasted garlic potato purée and asparagus timbale" off a friend's plate, but I liked the pork better. At Tosca, the pale pastel decor and lush carpeting provides an elegant and cozy meal for every individual table. And best of all, the service at this three-star restaurant gets five stars in my book!

As with all weekend trips, the trip ended with a bus ride home, with a complimentary detour in Philadelphia. But for $35 roundtrip, I really can't complain. I only wish the drivers were less aggressive...it marked the first time I've ever been carsick - I can't say I enjoyed that! On my next trip to D.C., I must remember to visit the National Aquarium and Arlington National Cemetery. I'd love to see JFK's "eternal flame" and the Changing of the Guards!