The DC Traveler

Besides the skating rink at the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden, skaters can find several other outdoor ice skating rinks around Washington, DC to enjoy some holiday skating fun around.  Lace up your skates and enjoy outdoor skating at any the of the ice skating rinks listed below.
All the rinks offer skate rentals, and charge under $8.00 for ice time. Check the rink’s website for hours and fees.  Most are open Christmas and New Year’s Day.
Pentagon Row Outdoor Ice Skating …read more

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Experience the unique holiday charm and colonial history at a evening candlelight walking tour of historic Old Town Alexandria, Virginia. 
The self-guided tours include four historical building.  On the walking tour are:

Gadsby’s Tavern Museum – a colonial tavern and meeting place.
Carlyle House – Alexandria’s only stone Palladian-style house dating back to 1753.
Lee-Fendall House, the home of the Lee family, and son Robert E. Lee. The urban plantation house was built in 1785 and restored to its early Victorian elegance.
Old Presbyterian Meeting House – In 1772, a small group of Calvinist who had split from the Church of England, …read more

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After 8 years of construction, the much anticipated, costly ($600+ million) and highly needed U.S. Capitol Visitor’s Center is scheduled to open on December 2, 2008.  The grand opening date is exactly 145 years to the day, after the placing of the statute, the Statute of Freedom, was placed on the top of the completed dome in 1863.
The new 580,000 sq. ft. underground center will offer visitors two orientation theaters, showing a 13-minute video about the Capitol Building and American democracy.   Additionally, the building hosts several gifts shops and multiple (and much needed) restroom facilities.
A few of the notable artifacts …read more

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If you have already toured the inside of the US Capitol Building, perhaps, now that the weather is starting to get a bit more bearable, it’s the perfect time to take an outside walking tour of the most recognizable landmarks in Washington, DC.
George Washington laid the Capitol’s cornerstone in 1793 and since it opened in 1800, it’s been the center of American power and government. 

The building needed to be partially rebuild after the British burned parts of Washington, DC in 1814.  In the 1850s, the Capitol building was expanded, with the massive dome top statue, Freedom being …read more

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America’s first President, George Washington, was a whiskey maker. 
During the American Revolution, run was the alcohol drink of choice. Around 90% of the alcohol consumed by the American colonies was British rum, imported from the West Indies.
In the 1790s, whiskey was quickly becoming the alcohol of choice for Americans, moving rum from the number one spot, mostly due to a higher cost for the British impost and, partly from a sense of nationalistic pride (whiskey was made locally, using American grain).
As a result in the change of taste,  thousands of distilleries were built  by 1800, but most were small operations …read more

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Not to be confused with the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, where visitors can watch as millions of dollars gets printed, the Treasury Building is the showcase building of the U.S. Treasury Department in Washington, DC.

The role of the Treasury Department is to manage Federal finances and collects taxes through the IRS, as well as Federal duties and taxes. When money gets spent by the government, it’s the Treasury Department that writes the check.  
It’s also is responsible for producing currency, coins and postage stamps through the Bureau of Engraving and the U.S. Mint.
The Treasury Dept. also manages the …read more

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The Spirit Cruise Line is a Washington, DC floating landmark that offers lunch, dinner, moonlight and Sunday brunch cruises aboard the Spirit of Washington. Cruise around the Potomac and Old Town Alexandria while enjoying the sites, or take the Spirit of Mount Vernon on a half-day round trip cruise to George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate. 

The 3 indoor decks of the ship are surrounded by windows, and provide room for over 500 dining guests.  Each level also has a dance floor and popular dance music spun by the ship’s DJ.  Lunch and dinner cruises usually have live music reviews, that get …read more

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My mother didn’t get the chance to visit Washington, DC until she was in her mid-70s.  But by that time, her ability to get around on foot, as well as her stamina, was a bit limited.  But that didn’t stop our plans to see all the big sites in Washington, DC.

I played tour guide for my parents as we visited multiple museums, memorials and other attractions.  But long walks, from one end of the National Mall to the other (2.2 miles each way), plus the extra walking inside a few museums, was out of the question for Mom. 
I tried to …read more

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Want to see a huge selection of ornamental cherry trees in all their glorious full bloom, but prefer to avoid the crowds at the Tidal Basin this weekend?
Then try a visit to the 450-acre U.S. National Arboretum in Washington, DC. 
The park has over 2,000 cherry trees on their grounds representing 230 different species, varieties and cultivated forms of ornamental cherry trees. Plus there’s additional flowering plum and apricot trees.
And many of the trees are in full bloom this week.  Here’s a link to an Arboretum pamphlet that describes their self-guided park tour.
U.S. National Arboretum3501 New York …read more

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A piece of submarine history is floating in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor and is open to the public for tours.  The submarine is the USS Torsk, a WW-II Navy submarine. It made two war patrols in the Pacific theater during World War II and remained active until 1968.
The Torsk operated out of Pearl Harbor from where it began its missions, patrolling off the Japanese coast in 1945
While on her second patrol, the Torsk sunk three Japanese ships, including two frigates that ended up being some of the last enemy warships torpedoed during the war.  The boat then became a trainer for …read more

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