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Additional National Mall Stops
National Mall, DC, June 2026 Walking through the National Mall area, we passed by other points of interest that we did not spend very long at or are not large enough to warrant a post. On the way to the Ulysses S. Grant Memorial, we had to pass by the United States Bontanic Garden. Across…
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Smithsonian Castle 250th Anniversary Celebration Exhibit
National Mall, DC, June 2026 The first blog was about the Smithsonian Castle itself. This blog is focused on the 250th Anniversary Celebration Exhibit. What I found very interesting was that most of the exhibit were originals not reproductions. For example, the declaration of independence was not a replica. Because the items were the real…
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Smithsonian Castle
National Mall, DC, June 2026 This was the first time the Smithsonian Castle has been opened when I was in DC. As part of the 250th Anniversary celebration, the castle was opened for this summer only. So, the castle ended up being on both John and my list of things to do. From my understanding,…
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Additional Memorials
National Mall, DC, May 2026 This post is dedicated to the other memorials not already in a blog. The John Paul Jones monument commemorates him as a war hero and founder of the navy. His crypt is in the Chapel at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. You can read more about the memorial on…
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National Zoo (5/5)
Smithsonian’s National Zoo, DC, June 2026 The last area to visit was the lower left portion of the map. This is the American Trail and Amazonia. The first thing we saw were River Otters. These are the kind that we saw in Yellowstone. They are adorable. The otter got tired of picture time (or too…
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National Zoo (4/5)
Smithsonian’s National Zoo, DC, June 2026 At the north end of the park, they have the Elephant Trail, Africa Trail, Visitor Center, Main Entrance, Asia Trail, and Bird House. The Africa Trail was closed for renovation, and we skipped the Elephant Community Center. Next, we headed for the most important thing in the National Zoo;…
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National Zoo (3/5)
Smithsonian’s National Zoo, DC, June 2026 Across from The Reptile House, they have the frog pond. The house John grew up in had an in-ground pool where the lining had eroded away. We did not have the money to repair it, so it basically became a giant terrarium with turtles and bullfrogs. Some time later,…
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National Zoo (2/5)
Smithsonian’s National Zoo, DC, June 2026 We are still towards the bottom of the map. This and the next post will be slightly out of order. The Reptile house is in the middle of the primate area, but that will be in post 3 of 5. At the south (lower) edge of the primate area,…
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National Zoo (1/5)
Smithsonian’s National Zoo, DC, June 2026 We have visited the National Zoo in a long time. We have visited the National Mall and other Smithsonian museums more recently than the zoo. From the map, the zoo does not look that big, but Kate’s Fitbit showed that we walked about 5.5 miles (13,000 steps) at the…
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Washington Monument
National Mall, DC, May 2026 Like the Lincoln Memorial, we have been to the Washington Monument multiple times. We tried to get tickets to up to the top, but we were unable to acquire them. FYI – the free tickets are given out really fast, as in gone in microseconds. If you plan on visiting…