Сhіскеп Саsіпо

One of the most popular things to do with children in Washington, the Museum of Natural History explores the natural world with permanent and changing exhibits to interest all ages. From the minute you walk in, you're greeted with enormous, eye-catching displays, beginning with the huge African elephant in the rotunda.

Favorite exhibits include the renowned Hope Diamond and the dazzling collection of gems and minerals around it, and Ocean Hall with its stunning underwater photography and replica of a 45-foot North Atlantic Right Whale.

The National Air and Space Museum is one of the world's most popular museums, with a collection of history-making air and spacecraft that includes the original 1903 Wright Brothers Flyer and Charles Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis, the first plane to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.

More recent flight history is represented here by the Apollo 11 command module, part of the first manned lunar landing mission. Permanent and changing exhibitions illustrate the science, history, and technology of aviation and space flight, covering topics like the use of air power in both world wars, the space race, flight pioneers, and up-to-the-minute flight and space technology.

The 555-foot white shaft of the Washington Monument is a familiar icon of the National Mall, and a beautiful sight, especially when mirrored in the long Reflecting Pool at its foot. Construction of the obelisk to honor the nation's first president did not proceed smoothly. The plan was approved by Congress in 1783, but ground wasn't broken until 1848.

When the tower reached 156 feet in height in 1854, political wrangling and lack of funds stopped the project for several years, and the Civil War caused further interruption so that the tower was not capped until 1885, when it was finally completed by the Army Corps of Engineers.

The White House is the official residence of the President of the United States. The home of every president except George Washington, it was originally built by James Hoban in 1792, and after being burned down by British forces in 1814 was rebuilt in 1818.

Although tours of the interior that include the East, Blue, Green, and Red Rooms; the Ballroom; and the State Dining Room must be reserved well in advance through your Congressional office or embassy, every tourist to Washington will want to see this iconic building, at least from the outside.

At the center of the National Mall is the huge Washington Monument. Continuing east from the Washinton Monument, you'll find many of Washington's most important museums. This includes the National Museum of African American History and Culture, The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, The National Gallery of Art, the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, the National Museum of Asian Art, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, and others. These museums are all free of charge but a couple require a reservation, which gives you a timed admission.

The National Mall is a spacious swath of lawns and pools that form a wide greenbelt from the Capitol Building to the Lincoln Memorial, and it is the site of many of Washington's landmark buildings, monuments, memorials, and museums. Most prominent at its center point is the Washington Monument. This is the best place to get an overview of the entire area. It's a high point and allows you to see from one end of the Mall to the other.

Since its completion in 1922, the Lincoln Memorial has been the scene of several historic events. In 1939, when the all-white Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) refused to let celebrated African American singer Marian Anderson perform at a concert in nearby Constitution Hall, President Franklin Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt arranged for her to give an open-air concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, attended by 75,000 people and broadcast to millions of radio listeners.

Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous "I have a dream..." speech from the memorial steps in 1963, again making history here.

The best-loved of all Washington's memorials, the Lincoln Memorial stands at the far west end of the mall, separated from the Washington Monument by the Reflecting Pool. At its center is a 19-foot marble statue of a seated and pensive President Abraham Lincoln surrounded by 36 columns, one for each of the states that existed at the time of Lincoln's death.

This is the most famous work designed by noted sculptor Daniel Chester French. Jules Guerin painted the murals on the inside walls, showing important events in Lincoln's life.