I will be in Washington DC tomorrow (10/26/24)- any suggestions?

[Matt in California]

I had some meetings in DC this week and was able to get away for an hour today. I looked here on the forum, and people suggested going to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History and visit the General Motors Hall of Transportation. Yes, there is a Model T there

Here is a short video that I made: https://youtu.be/3BkPjXtuTGA?feature=shared

Anyone have other suggestions for tomorrow. My flight leaves early evening.

Matt

[DHort]

Go to Air and Space to see the Enterprise.

[RVA23T]

Go to Baltimore and get some crabcakes!
G & M Restaurant is good and has a bakery dessert case in the back.
Nick's Fish House is also great! on the water in Baltimore.

[Matt in California]

Go to Air and Space to see the Enterprise.

Thanks for the tip. I just looked it up and I need to reserve passes and there is none available for tomorrow. ;(

[RVA23T]

Actually, if you don't want to leave DC, I think you can take the Water Taxi and cruise the Potomac through DC on it from Georgetown to Old Town Alexandria (also a nice walking area at the harbor and the Torpedo center has neat shops, just buy a day pass.
Simple search of DC Water Taxi will bring it up. But crabcakes in Baltimore....I'm torn, and 5hrs away now!

[Matt in California]

Actually, if you don't want to leave DC, I think you can take the Water Taxi and cruise the Potomac through DC on it from Georgetown to Old Town Alexandria (also a nice walking area at the harbor and the Torpedo center has neat shops, just buy a day pass.
Simple search of DC Water Taxi will bring it up. But crabcakes in Baltimore....I'm torn, and 5hrs away now!

Richard, you are mentioning things I would’ve never thought of. It looks like Baltimore is two hours each way using public transportation. That will not fit my schedule.

The water taxi sounds interesting. Anything related to Model Ts beyond what I posted above?

Matt

[RVA23T]

Unfortunately I can't think of T stuff. The spy museum is there as well. You also can't go wrong with even the Art museums on the mall!
The Zoo is ok but by mid morning the animals are inactive usually so lots of people milling around but there are new Pandas.
Enjoy what should be a nice day.
I'm curious to hear what you get to see.


To any one traveling like this, you should/could share roughly where and when, I'm sure lots of mtfca folks would like to meet up and share their area and a T or two.

[jiminbartow]

Washington DC is geared more toward the history of our country. In regards to things related to Ford, go see the Lincoln Memorial. It is very inspiring (that’s the best I can do for Ford (Lincoln) related items).

When I was stationed in DC, I kept being drawn back to George Washington’s uniform in the Smithsonian. Imagine it being worn by him out in the field of battle on horseback! It was displayed on a mannequin the same size and appearance of Washington. In 1974 they had it displayed in front of the campaign tent he used during the Revolutionary War along with his massive mess kit (for civilians, dining set). He was very tall (6’-2”) for the period and there were very few that he looked up to.

See also the Declaration of Independence. It is very faded and hard to read, but it is the original written by Thomas Jefferson and signed by all of the founding fathers on pain of death if America lost the war. As Ben Franklin put it: “We must all hang together or assuredly, we shall all hang separately”. The education system back then must have been superior to ours today. The penmanship, grammar and spelling were impeccable. Jefferson wrote it with a goose feather quill pen. I can’t come close to the beauty of his writing with the best, most modern writing utensil. Have fun. Jim Patrick

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[TeveS-Nor Cal]

There is a T snowmobile conversion in the Postal Museum

[John Codman]

The problem with Washington DC is that there's too much to do or see. I agree with a visit to the National Archives to see many of our historical documents. If the line isn't too long the Washington Monument is a great take. I really like the Arlington National Cemetery; running military cemeteries is one thing that our government does extremely well. My problem is that it's hard for me to leave. I just want to thank everyone who gave there life or a part of it, in the service of our great country.

[jiminbartow]

When I was in the Marines, I was stationed at Henderson Hall, next to Arlington National Cemetery from October to December, 1974 while attending MSG School (Embassy Duty School). You can believe I spent a lot of time exploring the cemetery as well as the Smithsonian Museums and national monuments.

[Marc Roberts]

Too late for Matt, at least for this trip, but how about Ford's Theater? Another favorite of mine that most people don't know about is the National Building Museum.

[OilyBill]

I highly recommend Ford's Theater, and the house across the street where Lincoln finally died early the next morning. It is an incredibly moving piece of history. There is a museum in the bottom of Ford's Theater that is absolutely amazing!

[Matt in California]

Thanks for everyone’s input!

I ended up going back to Smithsonian national Museum of American history and then revisited the mall and headed to Ford’s Theater. (I don’t think there there’s any connection between Henry Ford and the Ford stater, but perhaps his name became very recognizable because of it.)

There are number of things that stood out to me about Washington DC: very clean (I didn’t see any graffiti, litter, etc.) very good public transportation, every museum I went to was free, the weather was perfect. (maybe I just lucked out, but clearly not the desert I come from). Being someone that loves the early 1900 era I was just dumbstruck with all the buildings so so amazing. Here on the West Coast I don’t see much of the for architect that you see in DC block after block. Clearly, DC is designed for tourist, I lucked out and that I had to be at a conference and didn’t need to spend much money.

Smithsonian- On my second visit, I moved pretty quickly, knowing that I had to head to the airport mid afternoon. I didn’t have a chance to read or ponder many of the artifacts. But this one really caught my attention!

The Old Post Office Clock Tower
I was talking to someone who I saw wearing Hot August Nights T-shirt. He mentioned I should go here and it was definitely worth it. Here is a short video: https://youtube.com/shorts/ghlEMdRHifM?feature=shared

Ford’s Theater
Here’s a short video I made of my visit there: https://youtube.com/shorts/d38eww9t6KY?feature=shared

Capital Mall
Here is a short video I made over the few visits that I made: https://youtu.be/K1a75-vpAG8?feature=shared

Thanks again for everyone’s input. Lots to think about for the next time. But I think this will be helpful for others going to DC. I hope to go to the postal museum and see the converted Model T next time.

[Matt in California]

I saw this in the Smithsonian and found it effective! When I am driving and not I feel guilty:(

[Norman Kling]

During the early 40's gas was rationed, and new tires were not available so car pools were recommended. We even moved in with my grandparents for a while so dad and grandpa could ride together. They worked together and only lived about 2 miles from work. Our house was about 10 miles away and it was rented out during that time.
Norm

[Matt in California]

Norman,
Thanks for sharing your experience. It is always important to hear the sacrifice that people made in war times. And hopefully we can avoid war in a more diplomatic way in the future. And to the point of cars, WWII caused a lot of Model T to be repurposed and recycled.

Matthew