Washington, D.C.
Fireworks Safety Zone on the National Mall
On the Fourth of July this area will transform into a Pompeii-like storm of falling embers and ash.
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Places I've been
Places this traveler has marked as been there.
Washington, D.C.
Capitol Bollards
The 5.5-mile ring of steel posts around the Capitol Building is one of the largest (and most uniform) of its kind in the world.
Washington, D.C.
Legislative Bell System
An ear-piercing buzzer calls lawmakers to a vote with a series of long and short rings to form coded messages.
Washington, D.C.
Senate Corncob Capitals
Corn-inthian columns with a uniquely American take on neoclassical architecture.
Washington, D.C.
Man Controlling Trade
A muscular Art Deco monument represents the struggle between regulators and unbridled markets.
Washington, D.C.
D.C. War Memorial
An overlooked memorial honoring the local Washington residents who died in World War I.
Washington, D.C.
White House Helipad
Disks are rolled out onto the south lawn to absorb the impact of Marine One's wheels like giant coffee coasters.
Washington, D.C.
International Temple of the Order of the Eastern Star
Obscure Freemasons still live in D.C.’s largest private residence.
Washington, D.C.
Embassy Gulf Service Center
Behind an abandoned storefront is an example of pioneering 1930s gas station architecture.
Washington, D.C.
Inaugural Parade Center Line
A line of blue paint marks the route of the inaugural parade.
Washington, D.C.
Georgetown Waterfront
The little-known, 300-year history of the area includes former lives as a bustling tobacco port, parking lot, and industrial dump.
Washington, D.C.
Rayburn House Office Building
One critic described it as "middle Mussolini, early Ramses, and late Neiman-Marcus." Another called it an architectural "natural disaster."
Washington, D.C.
The K-9 of the Korean War Veterans Memorial
Those with a sharp eye can find the hidden image of a German Shepherd on the memorial's Mural Wall.
Washington, D.C.
Washington City Canal Outfall
A portal into the bricked up canal that runs through the heart of Washington D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Watergate Gas Station
This seemingly out-of-place gas station by the Watergate hotel was once described as the most expensive gas station in the world.
Washington, D.C.
Knife Edge
Architecture lovers won’t stop touching the National Gallery's 19.5 degree marble prow.
Washington, D.C.
Churchill and Mandela Call and Response
When it comes to handsignals (and colonialism) rock always beats scissors.
Washington, D.C.
Abandoned Drawbridge Control Room
The hidden offices underneath Memorial Bridge have been locked up since 1976.
Washington, D.C.
Carousel on the National Mall
Washington's iconic carousel has a nice piece of Civil Rights history.
Permanently Closed
Washington, D.C.
Government Printing Office
Need a hardcopy of the 50-title Code of Federal Regulations? This is the place.
Washington, D.C.
Civil War Nurses Memorial
A bas relief commemorates the "Nuns of the Battlefield" who cared for soldiers on both sides of the conflict.
Washington, D.C.
Willard Hotel
Legend has it that President Grant’s frequent drinking in the lobby gave rise to the term “lobbyist.”
Washington, D.C.
Kilroy Was Here
There’s a hidden military meme engraved on the World War II Memorial.
Washington, D.C.
Maine Avenue Fish Market
The oldest continuously operating fish market in the United States.
