Fun with a Capital ‘F’

By
Appears in the July 2021 issue.

Lincoln Memorial

Happy Birthday, dear country: On the 4th of July the United States will celebrate its 245th birthday.
Though the National Park Service canceled the annual Independence Day parade in Washington, D.C., this year, the holiday fireworks display will still be launched from both sides of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, making July a splendid time to visit our nation’s capital.

Most venues—from museums to restaurants to sports stadiums—have returned to full capacity, and Reagan National Airport recently expanded with the debut of a new 14-gate concourse. (It replaces the oft-
maligned Gate 35X, where regional flight passengers were shuttled by bus to their remotely parked planes.)
Washington first-timers should make a point to visit the National Mall and its many monuments and memorials, including the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, and Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial.
Return visitors may wish to visit three new memorials that have opened in the last year: the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial designed by architect Frank Gehry, the National Native American Veterans Memorial on the grounds of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, and the National World War I Memorial in Pershing Park.

Washington’s location on two rivers—the Potomac and Anacostia—provides plenty of waterfront to enjoy. Head to Capitol Riverfront (capitolriverfront.org) to watch a Nationals baseball game, stroll the Yards Park boardwalk or marvel at the dancing fountains in Canal Park. And be sure to spend a few hours at the Wharf (wharfdc
.com) with a kayak or standup paddleboard rental or a seafood lunch from the Municipal Fish Market.
A number of new D.C. hotels offer rooftop terraces as well as scenic vistas: Take in views of the U.S. Capitol from Cambria Hotel Washington D.C. Capitol Riverfront (cambriadccapitolriverfront.com), gaze upon Embassy Row mansions from the Ven at Embassy Row (thevenembassyrow.com), or glimpse the White House and Washington Monument from Kimpton Banneker Hotel (thebanneker.com).

Photo courtesy Washington.org