Around Town: Things to Do in Washington DC

If you have never been to Washington DC, the 254^th ACS National Meeting & Exposition will be a great opportunity for you to explore free access to museums, memorials, and famous landmarks at the cornerstone of US history. The Constitution of the United States originally granted the federal government 10 square miles of land to control directly. A series of compromises lead to the selection of the area that became Washington, which is now the only city in America that answers directly to the feds. (Yes, this occasionally causes some conflict.)

While you’re at the national meeting, here are some tips on getting around DC and things to do while you’re in town.

Bring a map

The layout of DC was designed in 1791 by Pierre Charles L’Enfant, who started with a beautifully simplistic grid of north-south streets (named numerically) and lettered east-west streets (named alphabetically). He then added wider diagonal avenues and traffic circles, as was the fashion of the day, before anyone conceived of over 600,000 people living in a city.

The resulting layout can be baffling to modern tourists (and some locals), so keep your map handy!

Getting around

Washington, DC, is a walking city. It is relatively flat, and it is hard to go more than a block without seeing something interesting.

Here are some other ways to get around if you’d rather not be on foot:

ACS Shuttles are free and get you to the Convention Center and official ACS hotels.

Bike: DC’s bikeshare has over 300 bike stations all over the city. You can sign up for one trip, 24 hours, 3 days, or more.

Bus: With over 11,000 stops in the DC metro area, the DC Circulator ($1.00), and MetroBus ($1.75) can get you just about anywhere.

Subway: The MetroRail system is easy to use and is a straight route to many of the area’s landmarks. You’ll need a SmartTrip® card to get both in an out of the subway, as fares are based on how far you travel.

Taxis, Uber, and Lyft can take you anywhere but will be pricier than the other transportation options.

Sights to see

Memorials

The beauty of the memorials and their park-like surroundings make it easy to forget that they are tributes to some of our nation’s greatest influences, as well as the men and women who died protecting us. For visitors who lost loved ones in the wars, they can be an overwhelming experience.

It is well worth  a trip down to the National Mall to see the Lincoln Memorial, the Albert Einstein Memorial, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the Reflecting Pool, the Korean War Veterans Memorial, the DC War Memorial, the Memorial to the 56 Signers of the Declaration of Independence, the World War II Memorial, and the Washington Monument.

On the western end of the Mall, head south around the Tidal Basin to see the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial, the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, the George Mason Memorial, and the Thomas Jefferson Memorial.

Visit the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution at the National Archives. Just north of the National Mall is the National Portrait Gallery. The National Zoo is located in the Woodley Park area. The best way to get there is via metro rail. Take the Red line to the Woodley Park/Zoo station.

Other great museums that come at price include these (in order of closest proximity to the Convention Center):

• National Museum of Women in the Arts ($10)
• Madam Tussaud’s ($17.60+)
• International Spy Museum ($14.95-$28.95)
• Newseum ($22.46 with valid college ID)
• National Geographic Museum ($15.00)
• United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (FREE)

If you’re looking for something unexpected, obscure, or just plain weird, check out Atlas Obscura.