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Outside the British Embassy on Washington’s Embassy Row is Winston Churchill, a statue with a foot in two countries. Churchill’s father was the Duke of Marlborough. But his mother was an American from Brooklyn, NY. So, when it came time to commemorate Churchill’s…

OK, let’s end this myth once and for all:  Washington, DC was never a swamp. Only one percent of today’s city could ever be defined as swamp, and that was spread out over six different sites. That’s not to say it didn’t feel…

The most unusual memorial to a president in Washington, DC is the one to our 26th chief executive. Theodore Roosevelt gets an entire island to his memory. Located in the Potomac River between Georgetown and Rosslyn, Va., Theodore Roosevelt Island is a…

Until last month our country had no national memorial commemorating World War I.In 1919 Congress debated constructing such a memorial, but aside from creating the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, nothing was done. So, after the war it was up to…

Everyone knows where the president lives. But few know that the vice president also has an official residence.Historically the office of vice president was rather unimportant. John Nance Gardner of Texas, known as Cactus Jack, who gave up the powerful position of…

Arlington National Cemetery is the resting place for people from all walks of life, including some accomplished actors.Lee Marvin was a popular character actor from Broadway to television to the big screen. He was in numerous movies including, The Dirty Dozen and had an…

Washington National Cathedral is one of my favorite places to take visitors. Styling itself as a House of Prayer for All People, it is a masterpiece of gothic architecture, stained glass, music, hand carved wood, and wrought iron.Regrettably it’s closed right…

Washington’s cherry blossoms attract thousands of visitors (but not in 2021) to the city. But visitors BEWARE the National Cherry Blossom Festival does not necessarily coincide with cherry blossoms blooming! Make no mistake, the Festival is a blast — a parade, fireworks,…

One of the newer sites in Washington is the Dwight D Eisenhower Memorial. It’s in a very convenient location for many visitors. Across the street from the Air and Space Museum and diagonal from the National Museum of the American Indian. And just…

The Federal Triangle section of Washington exudes the power of our democracy. Wedged between 6th and 15th Streets and Pennsylvania and Constitution Avenues, the ten buildings of Federal Triangle are exactly what you’d expect from structures that are meant to convey strength, confidence,…

While visiting the Washington National Cathedral’s Bishop’s Garden, I came across a plaque commemorating the donation of the garden’s sprinkler system by the family of Frank Gardiner Wisner. The name seemed familiar.Frank Wisner is responsible for some of the most reprehensible…

On the four corners of Lafayette Square across the street from the White House are statues of heroes of our Revolutionary War, without whom, victory would have been very difficult. And they all have one thing in common: None of them were American.Marie-Joseph…

On Sheridan Circle along Embassy Row one is surrounded by elaborate Gilded Age mansions that have been converted into embassies. They’re the site of elegant parties and diplomatic intrigue.But this is also the site of the only act of state-sponsored terrorism…

Albert Einstein, everyone’s favorite physicist contemplates the universe from his perch on the lawn of the National Academy of Science on Constitution Avenue in Washington, DC.Einstein’s best known for developing the theories of relativity and quantum mechanics and numerous other…

In Lincoln Park on Capitol Hill the life of Mary McLeod Bethune is remembered by this sculpture. If you’ve been exploring Washington, you may recognize this sculpture has the distinctive style of Richard Berks, whose also did the Albert Einstein statue…

One of the things I like best about the WWII Memorial is that it remembers everything and everyone that made victory possible. Because the war wasn’t won by only those in combat. It took a monumental effort on the home front to…

A demon lives in this house. Or at least one did in 1973 when the movie the Exorcist was filmed in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington.The Exorcist was a huge hit. Not so much a horror story as a theological…

Protests happen every day in Washington.  Some are big with hundreds of thousands of marchers.  Others are just one person with a sign.Regardless of size, it’s one of the things I love about this city – seeing people gather to exercise their…

Its summertime and whether you’re at the beach or by a lake you may be looking for a good book. So, I thought I’d share with you what I think are some of the best books about Washington, DC.At the top…

The Department of Labor building at the base of Capitol Hill in Washington, DC is nothing special to look at. Built in the 1970s, it’s about as uncreative as a government office building can be. But the person it’s named after is…

The Beatles to the US by storm in 1964. For a country still mourning the tragic death of its young president, the arrival of the Fab Four was a joyous occasion. Two days after they first appeared on the Ed Sullivan show…

Washington, DC is at the confluence of power, money, and politics. So, it’s a natural setting for some great movies. Now lots of movies take place in Washington, but not all of those are filmed here. Brooklyn, Baltimore, and Richmond often stand in…

For members of Congress who are not wealthy, and there are fewer and fewer of those these days, finding an affordable place to stay in Washington is a challenge. Being a member of Congress pays well, $174,000 a year. But you must…

It was hot the morning of June 17, 1864. At the Washington Arsenal munitions were being made for the Civil War. Twenty-one young women, wearing the constrictive clothing of the time, dresses with high collars and hoop skirts, were sitting at…

When you think of the birth of the information technology industry, you usually think of Seattle or Silicon Valley. But you should really think of the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, DC because this is where the earliest forms of computing start.In…

On Capitol Hill in Washington, DC’s in Stanton Park you won’t find a statue of Edwin Stanton, but you will find one of Nathanael Greene.Greene was from a prosperous Quaker family from Rhode Island. And he is probably one of the…

Franklin Square is back! Now rechristened Franklin Park, this long-neglected green space managed by the National Park Service, underwent a $20 million renovation paid for by the city.And the result is wonderful. The five acres were regraded to make it accessible for…

Not all of Washington, DC’s landmarks are on the Mall. In the Anacostia neighborhood the landmark is the Big Chair. Standing over 19 feet tall, this is one on the world’s largest chairs. It’s been a focal point of the neighborhood since 1959. The…

The case of KGB Col. Vitaly Yerchenko remains a Cold War spy v. spy mystery. He defects to the US then months later re-defects to the USSR. Did he change his mind, or was that the plan all along? Learn the full story here.

Stanton Park is named after secretary of war Edwin Stanton who presided over the army in the Civil War. But the statue in Stanton Park is not Edwin Stanton. Surprisingly, there is no statue of Stanton in Stanton Park. But let’s be honest: It would…

With the brilliant white sarcophagus overlooking the nation’s capital; the guard marching twenty-one steps in front of it; the inspection of the relief sentinel, and the crowds staying a respectful distance away, the scene at the Tomb on the Unknown…

This is one of the best views of Washington, DC’s skyline belonged to one of our nation’s great heroes – Frederick Douglass.Douglass was born enslaved in southern Maryland. He escapes and becomes the leading speaker and writer of the abolitionist movement. In…

David Farragut stands over the square named after him in downtown Washington, DC. Unlike most of the park statues in DC, Farragut’s not on a horse. That’s because he was in the navy where sitting on horses was not done much.Farragut had…

Washington is a city full of traditions. Such as inaugurations, state funerals, and Congressional dysfunction.And the holidays are no different. Since 1913 there have been public celebrations of Christmas in Washington.Washington’s holiday season begins on the Ellipse with the lighting of the…

One of the first things people ask me when they talk about visiting Washington is whether they can visit Black Lives Matter Plaza. The answer is always: Of course! The two-block stretch of 16th Street by the White House has…

One of my favorite things to do in Washington is trying to guess who’s in a passing motorcade. The president’s motorcade is easy to spot: Two identical limousines flying the US and presidential flags with a large number of support vehicles. Unfortunately, the…

In Washington, we know how to do big events. Between marches and international meetings, we have lots of practice. But nothing beats an inauguration. While we’re months away from inauguration day, there’s lots to do to prepare. Above carpenters from the Architect of the…

Here’s something you don’t see every day: A fifteen foot blue rooster. After spending eighteen months crowing over London’s Trafalgar Square, Katharina Fritsch’s “Hahn/Cock,” landed in Washington in 2016. Strutting on the roof of the East Wing of the National Gallery of Art,…

You’ve probably driven by this memorial dozens of times and not noticed it. Between Memorial Bridge and National Airport (on your right heading south of the GW Parkway) is the Lyndon Baines Johnson Memorial Grove. Dedicated in 1977, three years after the…

One of the highlights of any family’s tour of Washington is seeing Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, the pandas at the National Zoo. But unlike other animals there, the pandas aren’t owned by the zoo. Here’s the story of cute pandas and…