Join the president and urinate on the constitution display.

And try to find Bush's military records at the Pentagon.

By the end of that two weeks, you should have found parking.

There are only two on display but one of them is the original Apple--It has serial # 2 or 3.
I used to work there and have actually touched the holy relic. Other than being dusty it is pretty cool.

**Go for a weekend walk/bike ride on the C&O Canal tow path or in Rock Creek Park
**Walk up and down Embassy Row (Mass Ave NW)
**Have a beer, or four, at Brickskeller's
**Go to Eastern Market on a Saturday morning for French Toast or early Sunday afternoon for the fish fry
**Watch the planes take off from National Airport at Gravelly Point
**Toodle around the Tidal Basin in a paddle-boat
(with excellent views of the Jefferson Memorial and Washington Monument and okay views of the White House)
**Watch the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
(These guys are hardcore, out there in their wool dress uniforms on miserably humid summer days.
I read that during Hurricane Isabel the soldiers were offered the chance to forgo "walking the line"
and not a single one did. They were out there the whole time the storm came through.)
**Take in a free Millennium Stage concert at the Kennedy Center
**Visit the Botanical Gardens or the National Arboretum
**Get take-out and sit in Dupont Circle watching the world go by in the form of all the people moving through the circle (and get Larry's Ice Cream afterwards)


That should last you for a few days, at least.

You are my God

Also note that the exceptionally beautiful and harmless looking fiberglass fenceposts that surround the White House are, actually, slip-on covers for *solid* hardened steel posts which are anchored down to solid bedrock (just guessing ).

I saw the results of a car hitting one of 'em by accident. Let's just say the post didn't move - but the pretty fiberglass shell did.

made me wonder how many other hidden security measures I didn't notice.

Check out the National Air and Space Museum while you're at it. There are two centers now: one of them is on the same grounds as the rest of the Smithsonian, and the other one is right by Washington-Dulles International Airport.

Both have their pros and cons, of course, so see both if you can. The Dulles one seems to be more for housing the actual aircraft nowadays, but this includes the Space Shuttle Enterprise, an SR-71 Blackbird, and a whole bunch of planes from World War II (mostly German, Japanese, and American; yes, the Enola Gay is among them).

I will say, seeing the German planes -all of which sport a swastika on the tail, as they did then- is actually a chilling experience if you weren't personally living during the time of World War II. I think it's because it makes the whole thing seem somehow more real.

As you can probably guess, I went there for the first time recently, and if you think I'm getting all fanboyish about the place, you should see my wife's reaction.

Spliffdaddy, I've been looking for an appropriate thread to respond to your signature line. I guess this is it - sorry Nicko.



The truth? Back it up, please. The U.S. has taken away more freedom than the rest of the world combined � via its third-world rate of incarceration.

Canadians free stranded Americans in Afghanistan: http://www.strathconas.ca/News/canucksrescueyanks.htm

Canadians help free American hostages in Iran:
http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia....ticleId=FET_E74

Canadians free American trapped at south pole:
http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2001/05/0...ctic_bas_010503

Canada�s history of military intervention:
http://www.generationwoman.com/arti...p3?story_id=172
and ..
http://www.canadianembassy.org/ca/global/role.asp

We're not looking for a pat on the back. Just a little candor.

If you guys ever want to pony up and spend some money on your military, you could do the world a noble service by stopping the US incarceration of the world.

My guess is that you'd rather spend your money providing more complimentary heroin shooting galleries for your population, or investing in an online, web-based system where your people could place themselves on months-long waiting lists for routine surgeries without leaving their homes.

Back on topic, please. And I'm moving this to the lounge, since it's not really political.

They are called "bollards" and there is a 12" diameter steel pipe that is sunk into the ground with concrete to a depth of 6' and then *filled* with concrete as well. The pretty little covering is just bolted on. And they have these things all around the Capitol as well.

I was looking for something to do this weekend, and that sounds better than anything I could come up with.

Visit the 18th Street Lounge, home of the Thievery Corporation.
Great place to chill.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/w...ofile&id=796137

It's awesome (if you make it in)

-t

That is why you stay in Virginia, and then take the subway into DC.

At least that is what I do when I go .

I've yet to go myself, but I hear the Holocaust museum is a must-see (bring a hanky, they say).

If you like pre-Columbian art (as I do), check out the Dumbarton Oaks museum in Georgetown.

Chinatown. Eat dim sum in Chinatown.

Ride the Metro. The stations' architecture and lighting is very calming. Check out the Wheaton Metro station -- it has the longest escalator in the Western Hemisphere. (Rosslyn and Dupont Circle are not far behind.)

tooki

DC does not have a subway, it has a metro! Hrmph!



tooki

You better tell them. They really think they do !

-t

I'd suggest one of each of the beers on the menu.

Other things:

--go to Ben's Chili bowl at 1:30 in the morning. Eat.
--Free shows at Fort Reno
--The Spy museum (pretty pricey for this town. We're used to free museums)
--Grab a beer and a sweet grilled cheese at Stoney's (a wonderful old-man bar that has been around forever. Best bartender in the city.)
--Come help me paint my house or put down new slate pavers

Not to mention you can spot rats the size of small dogs in the place.

don't try to drive anywhere between the hours of 0600-1000 and 1530-1800

or plan to sit in traffic for a few hours

and don't EVER try to go 95 south on a friday afternoon...(I have the distinct pleasure of wasting a few hours every friday trying to get home....yay)

my 2 cents

can you tell I hate traffic?

And Georgetown has neither.

The National Gallery

All of Arlington Cemetary -- not just the Tomb of the Unknown, but the Kennedy gravesites, the Rbt. E Lee home...

Go into Maryland for crabs.

Go into Virginia for the Shenandoah Valley, the Civil War battle sites, the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Adams Morgan has good restaurants. Can't vouch for the dim sum in Chinatown, though -- I don't recall the food in Chinatown being very good, tooki! Outside DC, though, theres areas of decent Chinese food.

There's the Mall and all the Memorials, too. Jefferson, on the Tidal Basin. The WWII,new. The great Roosevelt memorial. And the Vietnam memorial, of course.

You might be able to catch some good music out at Wolf Trap. I'd recommend that you get the local paper for the events, maybe even a travel guide like the Lonely Planet or what not.

You used to be able to get a haircut in the Senate barbershop! Senators and staffers got priority of course... I'd be surprised if that was still open to the public at all, though.

have a good trip.

Hey! I was right! DC doesn't have a subway. They have plenty of SUBWAYs, though!


In the many visits I've made to DC, and the semester that I lived there, I've never seen a rat in the metro, much less big ones, much less multiple ones.


Hehe. But they do have a SUBWAY shop. LOL.

tooki

I did, I think my brother may even have a picture of it.

The thing was HUGE.

I sent an email to him asking about the picture. Me and him went up there around 98/99? To see the Star Wars display in the Smithsonian. We also got permission to go in the back rooms of the Smithsonian to check out some guitars. The main one he wanted to take pictures of was Prince's cloud guitar. At the time he was helping with Prince's main web page.



It was pretty cool to be able to round around the back rooms. We got stopped a couple times so we could show them our passes.

DC's Chinatown is nothing special. Don't bother.

As for other things to do in DC...

I enjoy the bike trails - there are plenty of them, and they're quite relaxing on the weekends. My favorite is the Mt. Vernon trail - good view of all the monuments, and it goes literally right by Reagan National Airport!

Eh, if you have never been to a Chinatown it's ok.

If the DC Chinatown is the only one you know...I feel truly sorry for you. Philadelphia's isn't really anything special, but even Philly's Chinatown is leaps and bounds better. Of course, there's nothing like New York's, or East Hong Kong (aka San Francisco)...or China itself. But still...

Incidentally, I'm Chinese, so I guess I'm a little bit pickier about such things.