Washington DC
Washington DC is located near the middle of the eastern coast of the USA. It is 230 miles south of New York City, less than an hour drive to Baltimore and slightly more than two hours to Philadelphia. The city is near the vast Chesepeake Bay about 100 miles inland from the Atlantic Ocean. The surrounding landscape is nearly flat with some gently rolling hills and shallow valleys. Summers can get quite warm with temperatures often exceeding 80 degrees F during June through August. Winters can be quite cold with temperatures intermittently falling below freezing from December through March. They get a modest amount of precipitation evenly distributed throughout the year. Occasional Atlantic storms can bring deluges or can dump large amounts of snow on the area in the winter.
Washington DC is more than a city but not quite a state. It is a "district" created by the Congress of the United States in 1790 as a place to meet and transact their affairs of government. It was originally a ten-mile, square of land straddling the Potomac River between Virginia and Maryland. They called it the District of Columbia and named the new capital city, to be constructed within, Washington in honor of our founding father and first president.
There is a lot to see in Washington DC and most of it is free. You can tour the US Capitol Building, the White House, the Supreme Court and many federal government agencies like the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (where they print the money) and the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) (where they shoot a machine gun). You can visit the Washington Memorial, the Lincoln, Jefferson and Roosevelt Memorials. You can see Arlington National Cemetery, the Vietnam memorial, the Korean War memorial and the Battle of Iwo Jima memorial. You can even spend several days touring the many parts of the Smithsonian Institute, one of the largest and finest collection of museums in the world. None of it will cost anything!
Washington DC offers many historical and educational attractions, a variety of cultural and entertainment activities, plenty of multi-ethnic dining experiences and an array of shopping opportunities. Outside of the city, there are many civil war battlefields within a short drive; and President Washington's home at Mount Vernon is just south of DC. The port city of Baltimore and Anapolis, home of the US Naval Acadamy, are within an hour drive. Even Piladelphia and New York City are within a half-day drive.
|
