City Walks: Washington, D.C.: 50 Adventures on Foot

By Christina Henry de Tessan

Skip the tour bus and experience the nation’s capital on foot with this guide to walkable Washington!

City Walks: Washington, D.C. provides an insider’s view of the United States’ capital city, from historical landmarks to hot spots. Each page in this ebook outlines a self-guided walking adventure, complete with detailed map and local secrets.

Pick any page and start exploring—and discover the best places to eat, drink, stop, shop, rest, walk, and play.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Jul 28, 2009
• ISBN: 9780811873963

Book preview

KEY TO WASHINGTON, D.C. WALKS MAP

1. National Mall—Smithsonian Castle

2. National Mall—Southeast Museums

3. National Mall—Northeast Museums

4. National Mall—National Gallery of Art

5. U.S. Capitol Building

6. Capitol Hill

7. Union Station

8. Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.

9. The White House

10. Lafayette Square

11. Foggy Bottom

12. Kennedy Center

13. Washington Monument & Lincoln Memorial

14. Tidal Basin

15. East Potomac Park

16. Eastern Market

17. Washington Navy Yard

18. Lincoln Park

19. Penn Quarter

20. 7th Street, N.W.

21. K Street

22. Dupont Circle

23. Connecticut Avenue Shopping

24. Connecticut Avenue Night-crawl

25. Dupont’s Gallery Row

26. Embassy Row

27. P Street Nightcrawl

28. 17th Street Nightcrawl

29. 16th Street

30. Meridian Hill Park

31. Logan Circle

32. Logan Circle Nightcrawl

33. Shaw & New U

34. U Street Nightcrawl

35. Howard University

36. Kalorama Heights

37. Adams-Morgan & Mount Pleasant

38. Adams-Morgan Nightcrawl

39. Historic Georgetown I

40. Historic Georgetown II

41. Dumbarton Oaks Museum & Gardens

42. Georgetown Shopping

43. Georgetown Nightcrawl

44. Georgetown University

45. Foxhall

46. Woodley & Cleveland Parks

47. Upper Northwest

48. Washington National Cathedral

49. Arlington National Cemetery

50. U.S. National Arboretum

1

NATIONAL MALL—SMITHSONIAN CASTLE

The backbone of the country’s cultural and scientific repository, the Smithsonian Institution was an 1846 bequest from an English scientist; it is widely believed that he willed his fortune to the struggling democracy as a postmortem snub to the British crown. This walk includes four of the Smithsonian’s 16 public museums.

METRO: SMITHSONIAN, BLUE & ORANGE LINES

Head north on 12th Street and turn right on Jefferson Avenue to go east. The Freer Gallery of Art (1; 1100 Jefferson, S.W.) is a granite safe box containing Asian art and paintings by Asiaphile James McNeill Whistler. Next door, the professorial Smithsonian Castle (2; 1000 Jefferson, S.W.) houses an all-purpose visitors’ center for the institution’s museums. Exit through the building into the quadrangle, a landscaped garden staked by the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery (3; 1050 Independence, S.W.) on your right and the National Museum of African Art (4; 950 Independence, S.W.) on your left. Circling back to the castle, follow the shady path to the Arts & Industry Building (5; 900 Jefferson, S.W.), a pinup of Victorian architecture that served as one of the Smithsonian’s first homes back when the Mall was a railroad yard instead of a national centerpiece. Today, the museum displays technology exhibits akin to the presentations of the industrial era’s beloved world fairs. Across the street is another antique monument, the Carousel (6; Jefferson & 9th, S.W.), a pin-striped canopy of gilded horses and sea creatures. Backtrack to the Smithsonian Metro station.

2

NATIONAL MALL—SOUTHEAST MUSEUMS

Not just a tweed-suit dust collector, the Smithsonian museums that inhabit the southeast corner of the National Mall capture cultural attitudes and the advancement of science.

METRO: SMITHSONIAN, BLUE & ORANGE LINES

Follow Jefferson Drive east past the Smithsonian Castle. Before 7th Street, you’ll come upon the Joseph H. Hirshhorn Museum (1; 700 Independence, S.W.), a fittingly controversial stage for contemporary art. Directly across the street is the affiliated Sculpture Garden (2; Independence S.W.), a walking meditation through large-scale depictions of realism and abstractions. Cross 7th Street to the National Air & Space Museum (3; 400 Independence, S.W.), which proudly documents humanity’s exploration beyond the clouds in a space age–confident building. Don’t miss Apollo 11’s command module, Charles A. Lindbergh’s Spirit of St. Louis, and the Wright brothers’ Flyer. Virtual tours of the universe are held in the museum’s Albert Einstein Planetarium. Proceed across 4th Street to the Mall’s newest member, the National Museum of the American Indian (4; 300 Independence, S.W.), a building that invokes the undulating landscape of the American West surrounded by the sculpting forces of running water. Inside, artifacts and academic efforts preserve the American indigenous cultures. Cross 3rd Street to the U.S. Botanic Garden (5; 100 Maryland, S.W.), originally a complex of greenhouses that supplied the congressional offices with bouquets and greenery. Today it is a living plant museum, including a water garden dedicated to the nation’s first ladies and a Victorian-style conservatory. After visually feasting on the flowers, escape the crowds via the Federal Center Metro station (3rd &