Just Fred Loc: Darwin's Waiting Room

You didn't say for how long you would be visiting the nation's capitol. As you can tell from the multiple pages of replies, there's an awful lot to see!

My recommendation is to prioritize! Unless you're driving (and even then), a trip to the Udvar-Hazy Air & Space Museum extension is going to eat up the better part of a day. So will traveling to National Harbor, if all you're interested in photographing is The Awakening. I'd map out a plan, probably starting out on the Mall: Lincoln Memorial, the war memorials, Washington Monument and the White House. Then head east, and take in the museums which border the Mall on each side: National Gallery of Art (East and West buildings), National Museum of Natural History, National Museum of American History, National Air and Space Museum, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, and more.

Speaking of gardens, there are a number of gardens maintained by the Smithsonian Institution in and around the museums.

I'd then start moving in a circle, or more appropriately, in a radiating range westward. You'll hit Georgetown, the Kennedy Center, Watergate, Whitehurst Freeway, and Foggy Bottom (the area of the State Department). If you head across Key Bridge or the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge, you'll come into Rosslyn VA. Rosslyn has skyscrapers; D.C. law states no building can be higher than the Washington Monument. You might be able to go up in one to take an elevated photo of the city.

Slightly south of Rosslyn you'll find the Marine Corps Memorial and the Netherlands Carillon. A short way further will find you at Arlington Cemetery, where you can photograph the Tomb of the Unknowns, the John F. Kennedy grave and the Changing of the Guard. Still further, and you'll be at the Pentagon, still the largest office building in the world.

If you're adept and fast-moving (not likely, as D. C. has some of the worst traffic in the country) the above should take you about a week.

SteveR Loc: Michigan

Try to get a good view of the Pentagon. The outside and view above is quite a view. You can't see ANYTHING inside.

taxman Loc: Cleveland, Ohio

If you'll have a car and are looking for some nature venues, check out Great Falls, Catoctin Mountain Park, Huntley Meadows Park.

newtoyou Loc: Eastport

How about some drone pics of the Pentagon? hah!!!

Just Fred Loc: Darwin's Waiting Room

Followed by some "insider" pics of the Arlington County jail?

newtoyou Loc: Eastport

Were any of you near the Pentagon on 911? I was. No wonder they are so " gun shy".

craig.j.tucker

I would put Dupont Circle on the list. Some great architecture there (also home to Kramer Books)

Union Station is worth look, also

Spectre Loc: Bothell, Washington

Pat, on my trip back in May, I walked 11 miles the first day, 7 & 8 the next two. I was by myself so felt a little venerable at night so only shot daytime.

Spectre Loc: Bothell, Washington

This was my first stop. Arlington! Two mass gravesites. I walked everywhere. Eleven miles the first day. Eight and seven the next two.

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MDI Mainer

One of my favorite spots in DC to visit and photograph, easily accessible by car and usually not crowded with tourists (or locals for that matter), is the U.S. National Arboretum. About 450 acres of azalea, boxwood, daffodils, daylilies, dogwoods, holly, magnolia, and maple. Major garden features include: aquatic plants, the Asian Collections, the Fern Valley Native Plant Collections, the Flowering Tree Collection, the Flowering Tree Walk, the Friendship Garden, the Gotelli Conifer Collection, the Introduction Garden, the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum, the National Capitol Columns, the National Grove of State Trees, and the National Herb Garden. There is a spectacular koi pond around the visitor center building. One time I witnessed a bald eagle swoop down and nab a mature koi. The eagles nest on the arboretum grounds.

For more info visit:

https://www.usna.usda.gov/

https://naeaglecam.org/

LarryFB Loc: Depends where our RV is parked

I have been to Washington DC numerous times, I have even spend 18 months living in Falls Church, working 12 of those months in the Pentagon, and the other 6 months at Jefferson Plaza in Crystal City.

I arrived in DC in January 1985. After getting settled for about two weeks, I, my wife, and our two daughters starting exploring the area. Now, I wanted to go the the National Archives, the Library of Congress, and the DAR Library for genealogy research. The first chance I had to do anything like that was in August! I only say that to illustrate just how much there is to see in that area!

Since I am a mechanical engineer and was working as a Civil Servant for the Navy in California, one of the first times I went to DC, I was off work at about 3:30 in the afternoon and went to the Air and Space Museum. I took me about 5 hours to walk through the place. I didn't stop for a long time at any of the galleries, and I did eat in their cafeteria. But I barely had enough time to grasp the amazing exhibits that were there.

My point is simply that there is so much to do and see in the DC area, it is a wonderful area (dispite the weather), there is a lot to see and do, there are a lot of places to go and see the history of this country, and, even in 18 months living there, it wasn't enough time to see and enjoy everything!