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Showing results for tags 'The Mall'.
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we will be in dc for a few days in just over a month. staying in a hotel near the convention center. days will be spent taking the kids to the smithsonian museums. interested in recommendations for places for dinner in relatively easy reach of the convention center area where parents can eat interesting food and kids can be pleased as well. easiest ways to please them: grilled meats, roast chicken and similar. the menus of le diplomate or maydan, for example, seem like they might be doable, as would any good thai or other southeast asian place sans long lines. also interested in any decent lunch within easy reach of the museums. thanks in advance! -
Of importance to tourists: Many people know that Consitution Avenue runs east-west on the north side of the Mall, and Independence Avenue runs east-west on the south side of the Mall. But just south of Constitution Avenue runs Madison Drive, and just north of Independence Avenue runs Jefferson Drive. Witness: This is the rectangle delineated by: 3rd St NW on the east side 15th St NW on the west side Constitution Ave NW on the north side Independence Ave NW on the south side Many locals know this, but very few people know *this*, and it's absolutely essential for tourists to memorize: Running parallel on the south side of Constitution Ave is Madison Drive (one-way, east-to-west) Running parallel on the north side of Independence Ave is Jefferson Drive (one-way, west-to-east) You can see this clearly on the map, but how on earth do you memorize the street names? Easy! Madison hugs Constitution, and James Madison largely wrote the Constitution Between Constitution and Madison, running east-to-west, are: * National Gallery of Art, East Building * National Gallery of Art, West Building * National Gallery of Art, Sculpture Garden * Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History * Smithsonian National Museum of American History * Smithsonian National Museum of African-American History (The Washington Monument is just west of this point.) Jefferson hugs Independence, and Thomas Jefferson largely wrote the Declaration of Independence Between Independence and Jefferson, running west-to-east, are: * U.S. Department of Agriculture (not a tourist attraction) * Smithsonian Metro Station * Freer Gallery of Art * Smithsonian Arthur M. Sackler Gallery of Asian Art * Smithsonian S. Dillon Ripley Center (not a tourist attraction) * Smithsonian Castle (only a minor tourist attraction, but a nice building from the outside) * Enid A. Haupt Garden (an absolutely lovely place to sit for a rest) * Smithsonian National Museum of African Art * Arts and Industries Building (not a tourist attraction) * Hirshhorn Museum of Art * Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum * Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian Do this tour, and you'll have pretty-much done the Mall. If you still have trouble, just think top-to-bottom, and think of Michael Jordan (Madison / Jefferson). For tourists walking the mall, the streets from 3rd St NW to 15th St NW go *up* in numbers as you're walking east-to-west. You've got this down now. Write me if you need more information. Cheers, Rocks donrockwell@dcdining.com PS - If you're on foot (which you should be), stay on Madison and Jefferson, and *do not walk on Constitution and Independence* - there's absolutely no need to do so, as the entrances to all the attractions are in the middle of the Mall. There are other things nearby you can see, such as the Archives, the Capitol, and if you're really ambitious, the Lincoln Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, the White House, the Einstein Memorial, etc., but this rectangle will keep you busy for two full days, I promise you. Need food? Eat at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History (trust me, and get tickets in advance for reservations in order to get into this museum).
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The National Museum of the American Indian is one of four stunning pieces of modern architecture within walking distance of each other on The Mall (the others being the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the National Air and Space Museum, the East Building of the National Gallery of Art, and the Hirshhorn Museum). This new exhibit will be running for four years! --- "Americans" (Tweaked)
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As some of you may have seen, the only charity that I'm currently working with - actively working with - is Operation Honor Our Heroes (please read that post). Remember that Operation Honor Our Heroes is going to have a huge exhibit over Memorial Day Weekend, between the Korean War Memorial and the Reflecting Pool - a prime piece of real estate. Here is the problem: 10,000 flags are being shipped up from Austin, Texas, and arriving at Dulles. There are also coolers, gas tanks, a generator, volunteers, soldiers' families, etc., that need to be shuttled to-and-from the Mall. A moving van is being rented to take care of the flags, but we need a pick-up truck (or, if we can't find one, a cargo van) for those five days. Can anybody spare one? It doesn't need to be nice (other than that soldiers' families will be in it); in fact, the bigger, and more beat up it is, the better. This shouldn't be someone's personal vehicle that will be sullied if it gets one small dent - it needs to be somewhat heavy duty. Can anyone help? American Airlines is being kind enough to transport the flags under what's known as a "Dignified Transport" - this is where an announcement is made to passengers, and water cannons salute the plane as it taxis to the runway: the very same level of honor as if the plane was transporting a deceased soldier (yes, they make that announcement to the passengers, about a fallen American hero accompanying them on the journey). To summarize: 1) Please read the Operation Honor Our Heroes post. 2) Can someone donate a pickup truck or cargo van, and *not* sue the organization if it gets a dent in it? I'm not saying it will; I'm just saying it will be heavily used during this five-day period, and doing good works the entire time. It is every bit as valuable a donation as if you wrote a check. 3) The organization is chronically underfunded - the founder has donated $15,000 of her own money this year (she has donated at least $100,000 over the past five years). If you wish to donate to the families of fallen American soldiers, please consider this a golden opportunity. I will be donating $200 today to help cover the cost of the moving van, or for whatever they need the money for the most. I have thoroughly vetted this organization, and 100% (yes, 100%) of your donations go *directly to operations*. There are no paid employees; only volunteers - your contribution will go directly towards funding this Memorial Day event - I hope everyone down on the mall this Memorial Day stops by to see it, and if Christi-Ana is working (she is my personal assistant), please tell her you're a friend of mine. Here is the location of the display (keep in mind, this is during *THE* Memorial Day festivities, with Operation Rolling Thunder there, and everything): And here is a minute-by-minute schedule of activities: MEMORIAL DAY VOLUNTEER SCHEDULE.pdf And some more information for volunteers WHICH ARE STILL DESPERATELY NEEDED, ESPECIALLY THURSDAY AND FRIDAY: OHOH Volunteers.pdf Christi-Ana's phone number is (817) 995-9215, and her email is info@honorheroes.org - she urges everyone to call or write her, and in fact, you should contact her directly instead of going through me, as she's President of the organization (not the founder who has funded it, but the President who works around the clock - I have never met someone with more energy than Christi-Ana Crews). --- You know what? Even if you want nothing to do with donating money, or volunteering, even something as simple as tweeting about this post will help the message get in front of the right people, and will only take a moment of your time (thank you to ol_ironstomach, whose Facebook post helped the organization in a large, tangible way). There is *nothing whatsoever* in this for me, by the way (I hope I didn't need to say that).
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For those of you wanting to visit the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History - in particular, to see the Hope Diamond - there is some important information at this webpage: Dec 17, 2015 - "Hope Diamond Will Be Temporarily Off Display During Renovation" on newsdesk.si.edu Between now and June 30, 2016, the gallery (the newly renovated Harry Winston Gallery) is only open on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays while renovations are being completed. Beginning July 1, 2016, it will be open on a permanent basis. While the Hope Diamond is beautiful, worth seeing, and one of the most famous diamonds in the world, I've never taken a visitor to the "gems and minerals" section of the museum when they haven't liked *something* - be it a ruby, or a piece of quartz, or meteorite - that they didn't like more than the Hope Diamond. The response is always something like, "Yeah, the Hope Diamond was great, but the <X> was *absolutely incredible*!" and <X> can be any of a dozen different things *just in that one section of the museum*. My hope is that the refurbished Harry Winston Gallery will play up the intrigue behind the diamond instead of the diamond itself, because the actual gem is (in my opinion) surpassed by numerous specimens in that area. Anyway, it's worth going out of your way to see.
