What Else Is There to See?

◀ The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is the country’s official memorial to our 35th president. It has three theaters, an opera house, a concert hall, and a movie house. Flags from more than 100 countries hang in the Hall of Nations. The Hall of States displays a flag from each of the 50 states.

The Organization of American States (OAS) has its headquarters in Washington. It was founded in 1948 to promote peace and cooperation among the countries of North and South America. Inside the building there’s a courtyard with banana, coffee, rubber, and papaya trees. ▶

◀ The International Spy Museum has a huge collection of espionage items. There’s a 1777 letter from George Washington, in which he authorizes a spy network. The museum also displays a car just like the one James Bond drove in the movie Goldfinger.

The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum shows the history of the Holocaust. That’s what we call the persecution and murder of millions of Jews and others when the Nazis ruled Germany from 1933 to 1945. ▶

◀ The Smithsonian’s Discovery Theater presents classic stories and folktales. These are told through puppet shows, storytellers, dancers, musicians, and mimes. 

▲ Where in the world is Explorer’s Hall? It’s inside the National Geographic Society Building. You can touch a tornado there, or learn about Earth and its people on an interactive display.

▼ You could pedal a paddleboat on the Tidal Basin, take a mule-drawn barge ride on the C&O Canal, or go to Rock Creek Park, 1,750 acres that wind through Washington.

History comes alive at Ford’s Theatre. That’s where John Wilkes Booth shot President Abraham Lincoln on the night of April 14, 1865. Lincoln died the next day, and the theater went out of business. It was restored to its original beauty and reopened 103 years later, in 1968. Now you can see a play there and explore a collection of items owned and used by Lincoln. ▶