Since Faith is taking AP US History this year, we decided to see what American history we could discover in DC. We got to sleep in a bit since all museums don’t open until 10 AM. After eating some bars we brought from home, we braved the chill and walked to The American History Museum. We passed the Air and Space Museum and the Natural History Museum on our way across the mall. Both had huge lines before 10 AM opening time. We were fortunate to have no wait when we arrived right at opening at the American History Museum. This map helped us plan what to see: Museum Map.
American History Museum – THE Place to Discover American History in DC
The American History Museum is three floors with two wings per floor. Very few people are going to see everything in one day. Faith wanted to visit the American Presidents and First Ladies plus American Democracy on the main level. Much more popular than our other choices, we breezed through the Entertainment Nation exhibit just skimming it to avoid all the crowds. I go to the American History Museum every time I visit DC and am still discovering new exhibits and learning from ones I’ve seen many times before. Instead of trying to cram everything in one trip, prioritize your top few sections and plan to come back again.
We left around noon since we had Library of Congress timed entry tickets for early afternoon and wanted to see the Eastern Market and get lunch. An Uber was less than $10 and got us where we needed to go in a fraction of the time walking or public transport would have. I love that on our map apps we can put in the option of walking, public transport or ride share to get an overview of the time it will take. You’ll often see that it’s only a few minutes longer to walk than take public transport. I would always rather walk and see things than have to wait for a subway or bus. In this case, our hunger and time constraints made an Uber our best choice.
Eastern Market – A Taste of DC History
The Eastern Market has been operating in the Capitol Hill district of DC for 150 years. A large brick building houses butchers, bakers, seafood, flowers and more. On the weekends, the streets surrounding the market have dozens of vendors with everything from vintage clothes, art, jewelry, fresh produce, and even pickles (which are delicious). This is my second visit to The Eastern Market and I never seem to have enough time to explore everything. The Capitol Hill area has great restuarants and shops beyond the Market and is deserving of at least a half day of exploration. We did a little browsing, ate a simple lunch of fries and a chicken sandwich, and then headed to the Library of Congress for our timed entry.
Read here for more on the Capitol Hill Neighborhood.
The Library of Congress – Our Written History
Just a little over a ten minute walk from the Eastern Market to the Library of Congress brought us past colorful row houses, parks, and then grand federal buildings. Even though we had a timed entry that I had managed to secure that morning, we still waited about 30 minutes in line as bags were checked upon entry. We had a great view of the capital during our wait. Established in 1800, The Library of Congress has over 173 million items including books, woodblock prints, and digital info. We spent about an hour strolling through the gorgeous building and enjoyed a special photography exhibit.
National Portrait Gallery – A Surprising Place to Learn History in DC
A bright sunny afternoon we decided to explore more of the architecture of DC. We passed the Supreme Court and headed to Union Station. Popping our heads in to appreciate the architecture we then headed next door to the Postal Museum. Thirty minutes or so exploring more about the importance and history of our postal service was worth the time. We walked on to the National Portrait Gallery first taking a break in the beautiful atrium. We stayed on the ground floor getting an overview of early American history as we looked at portraits of prominent figures influencing our history through the early 20th Century. The National Portrait Gallery stays open until 7 pm making it a nice place to end your day of museum hopping. It’s located in the Penn Quarter and surrounded by great restuarants. We ended our day with some Italian food around the corner before our walk back to the hotel.
Read about the DC neighborhoods we explored HERE.
