I haven't lived in the District long enough to have a routine weekend or "usual" hangouts. Let's be honest, my first month here involved weekends holed up in my apartment watching crappy television and movies on my Netflix instant stream, calling my best friend and telling her I wished she would move here (which sadly, will not happen.) As time goes on (has it really been six months?), I'm slowly beginning to develop my own DC Favorites, that's more than just "hey, I walked past the White House for the millionth time." (While, yes, it's pretty awesome to take a mid-day lunch break from work and take a stroll past the White House like it's no big deal, there's more to DC than that.)
The first thing that comes to mind, (besides the monuments) is my all-time favorite museum, that I think probably gets overlooked, The Newseum.
Yes, this is one museum you must pay for, but it is 100 percent worth it, particularly if you work in/with the media, like I do. I walked out of my first visit with a year long membership, which I can honestly say was money well spent for unlimited visits, and to attend members-only events (I'm going to hear the lead meteorologist from Hurricane Katrina speak in a few weeks, I'm really excited.)
There are so many great exhibits, from a spectacularly done 9/11 exhibit, a showcase of Pulitzer Prize winning photographs, and an exhibit about how major events in the world were covered (examples include the Oklahoma City bombing, the fall of the Berlin Wall, etc.). My favorite exhibit actually is the daily headlines from newspapers all 50 states, and various countries around the world. It's amazing to look at, and compare what each state or country believes is "important news" for the day. It's just fascinating to see similarities across the world, and realize how similar we all are on some levels, while noting huge differences in how we cover our media at the same time.
Plus, the view is fabulous, and how cool is it that they film This Week with Christiane Amanpour for ABC News there? Enough of my rambling, but I highly suggest you take a detour from the Smithsonian museums, and check out this amazing place!
The awesome view.
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