Kid Friendly

The somber sight of hundreds and hundreds of white crosses lined up across a green lawn is a striking visual and brings into sharper focus the debt of gratitude owed to our nation's military heroes. It’s no surprise that it’s called “our nation’s most hallowed ground.”  Final resting place of President John Kennedy and thousands of American servicemen and women. The Changing of the Guard occurs on the hour each hour October through March, then occurs every half-hour April through September.  Tour bus services operate throughout the day; tickets can be purchased for the bus at the cemetery.

The site of the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln in April of 1865 has been open to the public since 1968.  The building itself has a colorful history, having started as a Baptist church.  After Lincoln’s assassination, the theatre was closed, but served intermittently as a museum, office space and storage facility.  A restoration effort started in 1954 brought the theatre back, and theatrical events still performed on its stage.  At the museum located in the theatre, you will find artifacts related to the assassination, including the gun and knife used by John Wilkes Booth in the attack.

Start off the morning with sunrise at the memorial, when you can sit on the top step of the Lincoln with a view to the east and watch the sun rise over the Washington Monument and the U.S. Capitol with light reflected in the Reflecting Pool.

Monument to 16th President, Abraham Lincoln. The stairs to the memorial entrance are a good exercise opportunity for young legs. Have the kids check out Lincoln's hands; the sculptor's daughter was hearing-impaired, and it's believed he placed Lincoln's hands in the American Sign Language symbols for Lincoln's initials. The columns around the Memorial are so big that five adults could not grasp hands all the way around.   The word "future" is misspelled as "euture" in the Second Inauguration speech that's carved on an interior wall of the memorial.

The memorial was modeled after the Temple of Zeus at Olympia and other Greek masterpieces.  The building is made of limestone from Indiana and marble from Colorado.  Lincoln's statue is made from marble from Georgia.

Home and final resting place of America's 1st President, George Washington. During the time that Washington lived here (more than 45 years), Mount Vernon was an 8,000-acre plantation, which was divided into five farms; each was a complete unit. The farm where Washington and his family lived was called the "Mansion House Farm," and is the part of the plantation that we refer to today as "Mount Vernon." Washington inherited the property from his older half-brother, who named the property in honor of his commanding officer, Admiral Edward Vernon of the British navy.

A newly-renovated visitors' center includes interactive displays, short films and high-tech, immersive experiences that appeal to children.

With hundreds of historic aviation and space artifacts on display, including space capsules from America's first astronauts, Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis, and the Wright Brothers aircraft, this museum is among the most popular in the country.  You can explore the history of flight, how things fly, learn about the effort to land a human on the moon, experience a flight simulator and many other interesting subjects.  The museum also has a five-story IMAX theater.

The National Children's Museum will open in 2012, building on 30 years of experience as the Capital Children's Museum.

Among the displays: The Star Spangled Banner that served as inspiration for Francis Scott Key, Mister Rogers' sweater, and First Ladies Exhibit.

"Treasures of American History," a collection of more than 150 objects from the museum, are on display at the National Air and Space Museum during construction at the American History Museum.

One of the Smithsonian's newest museums on the Mall, this one specializes in exhibits that celebrate and commemorate the ideas and experiences in Native life and history.  Its mission is to advance knowledge and understanding of the Native cultures of the Western Hemisphere.  The exhibits include materials from North, Central and South America as well as the Caribbean, and include clothing, baskets, textiles, precious metals, featherwork, ceramics and other objects that are associated with Native life.

The Old Post Office Pavilion offers a 360-degree view of Washington, from the observation desk of the 315-foot granite Clock Tower.  That's the second highest vantage point in DC; the Washington Monument is taller by 240 feet.  The Clock Tower also houses the Congressional Bells, which were a gift from Great Britain to the U.S. Congress for the country's bicentennial.  The bells are rung on special occasions as well as Thursday evenings.

Tickets can sometimes go quickly for a trip up the Washington Monument. You can take a tour of the Bell Tower for a wonderful view of the city without a ticket or the wait.

The design for the U.S. Capitol was selected through a contest in the late 1700s; the prize was $500, won by an amateur architect, William Thornton.  It was built mostly by the labor of free and enslaved African Americans.  The cornerstone was laid by George Washington; the building was completed in 1826.  There are 365 steps leading up to the west front of the Capitol, the same number as days of the year.

I am happy to provide Idahoans who come to our nation's Capitol with a tour of the building. Staff members are available by reservation for tours starting at 10:30 a.m. Monday through Friday. The last tour begins at 2:30 p.m. Please make arrangements at least seven days in advance of your visit. My office has a special Kids' Capitol Tour brochure with a Scavenger Hunt.

The U.S. Capitol Guide Service also offers tours. You must pick up free timed tickets (one per person present) at a kiosk located in the southwest corner of the Capitol Grounds, at 1st and Independence, SW, across from the U.S. Botanic Gardens. Tickets are handed out daily and cannot be reserved. Tours operate Monday through Saturday.

It took 83 years to build the Washington National Cathedral, officially completed in 1990.  It is the second-largest cathedral in the U.S. and the sixth largest in the world.  It is the highest point in Washington, at 676 feet, atop Mount St. Alban.  As is the practice with other cathedrals throughout the world, architectural errors were purposefully incorporated into the design to show that man is less perfect than deity.  These errors are highlighted in the tours offered by the Cathedral.  The great organ in the cathedral as 10,650 pipes.  There are 200 stained-glass windows, including a space-themed one with a moon rock embedded in it. You can also find Darth Vader on one of the outside carvings (top-cent, northwest tower)

The Cathedral offers several guided tours that may be of interest to children. One tour is directed at the gargoyles that are depicted throughout the cathedral. The tours are offered seasonally on certain days from April to October. You can view other tour options at the Cathedral's website.

Washington Youth Garden
(202) 245-2726

3501 New York Avenue, NE, Washington, DC

No admission charged