April 9, 1976
Page 10348
A PRACTICAL VISITORS GUIDE TO WASHINGTON
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, the March issue of Changing Times carries what I think is a very useful practical guide to visiting Washington during the Bicentennial.
The Bicentennial will attract a record number of tourists this year. To assist our colleagues in guiding constituents who will visit Washington for the first time this year, I ask unanimous consent that the Changing Times article be printed in the RECORD.
There being no objection, the article was ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as follows:
SO YOU'RE COMING TO BICENTENNIAL WASHINGTON
(A practical guide to what's going on, where to stay, how to get around)
Two hundred years ago there was no such city as Washington, or even a District of Columbia. Today this metropolitan area of 3,000,000 is more than just the nation's capital. It is every American's city, a living symbol of our country's history and aspirations and, naturally enough, a prime point of bicentennial interest.
Because so many readers are planning bicentennial pilgrimages to Washington and because Washington is Changing Times' home base, we offer here some suggestions to make your visit easier and more rewarding — not necessarily where to find familiar sights or national shrines but practical pointers of the sort you can get only from friends who live where you hope to visit.
First, be assured that every part of Washington is making special plans for you. The Smithsonian Institution, the world's greatest complex of museums, has 23 separate bicentennial projects. These include "A Nation of Nations," the Smithsonian's largest exhibit ever, at the National Museum of History and Technology; "Our Changing Land" at the National Museum of Natural History; "1876 — A Centennial Exhibition," a Victorian extravaganza at the Arts and Industries Building; the opening, on July 4, of the $40,000,000 National Air and Space Museum, its biggest museum yet. And out on the Mall the Smithsonian's and National Park Service's Festival of American Folklife, from June 16 to Labor Day, will feature 5,000 participants in what premises to be an unmatched celebration of folk song, dance and crafts.
There will be a sound-and-light exposition, "Our Capitol: Freedom Speaks," on the steps of the Capitol every night, weather permitting. Across the lawn, the Library of Congress features a major exhibit on the theme "To Set a Country Free." Still another sound-and-light show will be given at Mount Vernon.
Museums are everywhere in Washington, and virtually all will have bicentennial offerings. These include the National, National Portrait, Hirshhorn, Corcoran, Freer and Renwick art galleries, the Folger Shakespeare Library, the Museum of African Art, the B'nai B'rith Museum featuring "The Jew in Revolutionary America" and the museum ofthe Daughters of the American Revolution, housing one of the finest and least-known collections in the city.
There also will be such new developments as Constitution Gardens, a beautiful park and rest area on the north side of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, the National Visitor Center at Union Station (scheduled to open in July, even though it won't be fully complete) and the Visitor Orientation Facility, a 300-seat theater at the Washington Monument. The National Zoo, one of the places in Washington that are truly fun to visit, is being completely renovated. Moreover, the zoo's director, Dr. Theodore Reed, has predicted that the celebrated Chinese pandas will produce an offspring this year.
A key point to recognize: You can't see everything in one visit, not even if you spend all summer. So plan your time carefully and save something for future visits.
WHEN TO COME
Spring undoubtedly is Washington's finest season. The weather is mild and the Japanese cherry trees, azaleas and dogwoods are in bloom. April (particularly the first two weeks) traditionally brings the heaviest tourist influx. Get ready for crowds any time of year, but don't come in April without confirmed reservations. This year the same holds true for summer: The weather may be hot and humid, but the capital will be overflowing with tourists. And July 4 promises to be a record breaker.
Autumn is a choice time, often overlooked. October weather is usually dry and mild. You'll find less waiting in line, more personal attention, a wider selection of accommodations, ideal weather for touring historic and natural areas in nearby Virginia and Maryland. Winter isn't bad, either. Crowds are lightest then, temperatures rarely go below freezing, and much of the sightseeing is indoors anyway.
BEFORE YOU COME
Write to your congressman about your trip. He'll send useful literature. Give plenty of notice and ask him to get you on the early morning VIP White House tour that lets you proceed without standing in line. If you want to watch Congress in action, stop by your congressman's office soon after you arrive because it's the only place to get the gallery pass you'll need. His staff members may also be able to furnish suggestions on seeing the city, telephone for appointments at executive agencies if you have business and want to avoid the bureaucratic runaround, and tell you about congressional committee hearings open to the public.
Write to the Washington Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, 1129 20th St., N.W., Box 1976, Washington, D.C. 20036, and ask for Tourist Information Booklet and Bicentennial Calendar (issued quarterly). Make the bureau an early stop, too (9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday); its counselors will help you get oriented and answer your questions. Another key stop should be the Bicentennial Information Center in the Great Hall of the Department of Commerce, which the National Park Service will operate throughout the year.
Do a little reading in advance (see the box on page 28 for recommendations). It will pay to learn when particular places are open. Most government offices operate Monday through Friday only, from 8:30 or 9 a.m. to 4:30 or 5 p.m., but there are exceptions. The White House is open to visitors only from 10 a.m. to noon, Tuesday through Friday, Saturday until 2 p.m. The popular Bureau of Engraving and Printing tours are conducted three-and-a-half hours in the morning and one-and-a-half hours in the afternoon. A few places — Library of Congress, National Archives, Smithsonian, Lincoln Memorial and Jefferson Memorial — are open both days and evenings, particularly in spring and summer.
Get a good map of the Washington area before you come and circle the places you intend to visit. AAA maps and most oil company maps of Washington are good. One of the best is the D.C. Department of Highways map; to get it, write to MAPS, Rm. 519, Presidential Bldg., 415 Twelfth St., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20004, and enclose an 8 by10 inch envelope with 26 cents postage.
WHERE TO STAY
One strategy is to stay as close as possible to the downtown sightseeing territory, which generally speaking, means the Capitol-to-Lincoln Memorial axis. Another idea is to stay out in the suburbs, where you can retreat to a motel swimming pool after a footwearying day. Or stay even farther away, near one of the towns shown in the map on page 27.
In town motels are numerous, including units of the Howard Johnson, Holiday Inn and Quality Inn systems. Close in or in the suburbs, be sure to have reservations and prepare to pay bicentennial-stimulated rates. If possible, you should plan to come on weekends, when business and convention trade is lightest.
Several of Washington's best and more expensive hotel addresses are within four blocks of the White House: Hay-Adams, Sheraton-Carlton and Statler-Hilton; the older Mayflower is nearby. Others in this class are the Madison, Embassy Row, Loews L'Enfant Plaza and Watergate, all newer. Convenient and comfortable are the Washington, Jefferson and DuPont Plaza. The 900-room Hyatt Regency, at the foot of Capitol Hill, opens this spring. Moderate-priced downtown hotels include the Pick-Lee, Park Central and Burlington. Two small, quiet inns are the Tabard and Gralyn.
Three Marriott motor hotels occupy prime locations on the Virginia side of the Potomac River, a stone's throw from Washington. They offer attractive plans for families and couples, including free shuttle service to the Tourmobile on the Mall. Another alternative is the Guest Quarters hotel, with one location near the Watergate in Washington and another in nearby Alexandria. Units here consist of a bedroom with two double beds, living room with dining space and equipped kitchen; there is also a swimming pool available.
Still other possibilities are presented by Holiday Hosts (Box 1108, Langley Park, Md. 20787), which coordinates lodgings in 100 private homes and apartments in the District, suburban Maryland and Virginia. All units are inspected before being listed, and prices are modest: $10 single, $15 double, plus $5 for each child over 16, $3 for those under 16, usually including continental breakfast. Some hosts offer babysitting, too, for a fee.
The Convention and Visitors Bureau's Official Bicentennial Housing Information Service will provide information by phone on room availability and rates but won't make reservations. Unfortunately, the number (202-737-6666) is not toll free.
Public campgrounds within reach of Washington are at Greenbelt and Catoctin, Md., and Prince William Forest, Va., all operated by the National Park Service, and at Burke Lake, Va. Write to the Washington Area Convention and Visitors Bureau (address on page 25) for its camping leaflet.
HOW TO GET AROUND
Forget about driving. Downtown traffic is confusing and difficult for the visitor at any time, impossible during rush hours. In fact, don't come downtown before 9:30 a.m. if you can help it, and get out before 4:15 p.m. To make things easier, a fringe parking shuttle bus service is being operated from the huge parking lots at Robert P. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, on the east side of Washington, and at the Pentagon, west of the city in Virginia. You can purchase one-day tickets ($1 per adult, 50 cents for children under 12) to cover roundtrip bus service to several stops along the Mall and the National Visitor Center and transfers to regular D.C. buses. Beefed-up Metrobus service along key routes from the suburbs to the Mall is planned, too, so visitors can leave their cars in motel parking lots or at some of the big suburban shopping centers.
If you take the shuttle bus, the fare also applies to Tourmobile tickets (normal fare is $2.50, $1.25 for children under 12), an open bus service sponsored by the National Park Service that offers an ideal orientation to the monumental heart of Washington. You can get on and off all you like at 12 stops, including Lincoln Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, Washington Monument, White House, Smithsonian buildings, Bureau of Engraving and Printing, National Gallery of Art, the Capitol, the Kennedy Center and Arlington Visitor's Center. There also is a separate Tourmobile tour from the Arlington Visitor's Center to Arlington Cemetery; your best bet is to get a combination ticket ($3.50; children under 12, $1.75, without discount) for both trips.
If time is limited and you want a good once-over-lightly, Gray Line features a time-tested halfday guided bus tour for $11.75 (children $6) and an all-day trip for $25.25 (children, $13). Gray Line will pick you up at your hotel and return you to it. So will Carey Limousine of Washington, which furnishes licensed tour guides in Cadillacs for $15 per hour (with a three-hour minimum) for up to seven people, or $14 per hour in sedans (with a two-hour minimum) for as many as five.
You can hire a taxicab by the hour, too, for a negotiable fee, usually about $5.50. The driver is not supposed to provide a lecture, but there is nothing to prevent you from asking questions.
Washington's 9,000 cab drivers as a rule are courteous and honest. You can find a cab almost anytime, except during rush hours or when it rains or when you're in a hurry. Fares are based on a zone system rather than on a meter charge. Don't hesitate to ask about fares when you get into a cab.
On the Potomac River, the Wilson Line operates three new 103-foot catamarans from the Washington waterfront down the river to Mount Vernon, with historical narration on the way and fast food service available. The whole trip takes four hours, including time ashore to tour Mount Vernon. Potomac Boat Tours runs a shorter trip, about 50 minutes, from the Lincoln Memorial dock. A recent addition to the scene is the Dandy, a well-operated luncheon and dinner boat running from Alexandria up the Potomac as far as the Kennedy Center.
For bicyclists a dozen bikeways cover more than 50 miles through the parks of Washington on both sides of the Potomac (all the way down to Mount Vernon on the Virginia side) and on the scenic Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Towpath. Tenspeeds are for rent at four National Capital Park installations. One is at Thompson's Boat Center just above the Kennedy Center, with plenty of parking space available. Another is at the Washington Sailing Marina south of National Airport (where you can rent a sailboat, too).
You can get a free ride aboard a double-decker London bus that shuttles between the Smithsonian's Museum of History and Technology and the National Portrait Gallery. If you come to town late enough in the spring, you may even get a chance to ride the first five-mile section of Washington's new subway system.
EATING AND SITTING
Plan your lunch and rest stops for each day's itinerary. Try to eat someplace interesting and to rest where you can still absorb some aspect of the Washington scene — Lafayette Park across from the White House, perhaps, or Farragut Square, DuPont Circle or the Capitol grounds. At the White House and Washington Monument, there are two of the best improvements of the year.
Instead of standing in line for hours, you now pick up a ticket giving an assigned visiting time. For the White House tour, you then may wait in bleachers on the Ellipse, where entertainment is provided. At the monument, you can visit the new Visitor Orientation Facility while waiting.
Sidewalk cafes have become a Washington institution in recent years. One popular spot is Bassin's, at Fourteenth and E streets, N.W. A number of others are on Pennsylvania Avenue between the White House and Washington Circle. Most are reasonably priced, as are the two Sholl's cafeterias, the YWCA cafeteria, Hot Shoppes, Blackie's House of Beef and the fifth floor lunchroom at the Hecht Co. department store (three blocks from the National Gallery of Art).
The Washington Hotel Roof, overlooking the White House, makes a pleasant luncheon stop. Moderate-priced favorites near the Capitol are A&K (Greek-American) and Mike Palm's. You can rub shoulders with federal workers and sometimes spot a high official pushing his own tray at cafeterias in the Supreme Court, Commerce, Justice and State departments, and congressional office buildings. The National Gallery of Art, which for years has had a popular (and overcrowded) cafeteria, is opening a new cafeteria this summer. Fast food facilities on the Mall are at the Museum of History and Technology and Constitution Gardens. For standup eating, there are plenty of curbside vendors serving hot dogs and like fare; one stand, at Connecticut Avenue and K Street, N.W., offers quiche Lorraine and onion soup. The National Zoo this year is opening a new air conditioned restaurant as well as an outdoor pavilion specializing in knockwurst and draft beer and an ice creamery called The Scoop.
For sightseeing sitting down, take in a session, if you can, of the Supreme Court, the House or Senate, or a congressional committee. These are not often as exciting as you'd like, but they do show how the government does its work. Check "Activities in Congress" daily in the Washington Post and "Tomorrow in Washington" in the Washington Star. Or stop at the Public Citizen Visitors Center, a Ralph Nader operation, at 1200 Fifteenth St., N.W. (659-9053), where the slogan is "Don't just look at Washington — look into it!" and the specialty is tips on public hearings dealing with consumer, environmental, civil rights, aviation and other public issues.
ENTERTAINMENT AND EVENINGS
Washington has no shortage of entertainment and cultural activity. The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is a showplace in two senses, with free guided tours and a free bicentennial exhibit as well as concerts, films, opera and theater. The Arena Stage, near Washington's waterfront, ranks as one of the country's foremost regional theaters. Ford's Theater, where Lincoln was shot, has been restored to its original appearance and offers topflight theater, too (with discount tickets for families, senior citizens and students). In summer big name performers appear at Wolf Trap Farm, the first national park for the performing arts in suburban Vienna, Va.
From June 14 through Labor Day, a free musical review called "Great America" will be given nightly, except Monday, at the Sylvan Theater on the grounds of the Washington Monument. For other events, consult "Carousel" in the Washington Post every Friday, "Calendar" in the Washington Star each Sunday and "Where and When" each month in Washingtonian magazine.
Save at least one evening to join the crowds browsing in the colorful Georgetown quarter, where you'll find a variety of restaurants and shops on M Street and Wisconsin Avenue, and many notable discotheques and late evening pubs like Clyde's and the East India Club.
BICENTENNIAL BUYS
Try to leave Washington with worthwhile mementos rather than tourist rubbish. You can do it best by buying in the museum shops — National Archives for matted prints of old Navy ships, facsimiles of the Constitution, Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights; National Gallery of Art for reproductions of famous paintings; Library of Congress for recordings of Robert Frost, T. S.Eliot and other famous poets reading their own poetry, some of the finest folk song recordings and turn-of-the-century posters; Interior Department for Indian crafts; Philatelic Division at the Postal Service for choice copies of all recent stamps at face value; National Geographic Society for books on theCapitol and White House; the bookstore at the Commerce Department for government books and maps; Museum of African Art for fabrics, jewelry, beadwork and sculpture; National Zoo for ceramic animals, panda puzzles and stuffed toys; Mount Vernon for boxwood plants and flower seeds from George Washington's own garden.
ONLY THE BEGINNING
There is so much else to see and do. If you have the connections, try to get invited to lunch at one of Washington's best known clubs, such as the Metropolitan, Cosmos, National Press, Army & Navy and Capitol Hill (the Republican stronghold). Visit the Woodrow Wilson House, left just as the late President knew it, and Dumbarton Oaks, one of the most enchanting places in Washington, with landscaped gardens surrounding museums of pre-Columbian and Byzantine art. Go see Turkey Run Farm, McLean, Va., wherea costumed family performs typical colonial farm chores from hand plowing to spinning and weaving.
Get out of Washington to explore the surroundings. Across the Potomac River, Virginia maintains its own George Washington Bicentennial Center at Alexandria, the well preserved and restored historic seaport. You could spend a full day to advantage seeing Alexandria's shops, restaurants, shrines and the unique Torpedo Factory Art Center. And beyond it lie Fredericksburg, Richmond, Williamsburg and Charlottesville, which are all notable bicentennial destinations.
Great sights are everywhere, waiting to be perceived. It's one thing, for example, to be part of the horde streaming through the Capitol. But take time to see the Capitol not only as a seat of legislature but as a mammoth museum of history and art, where you will find paintings by Stuart, Peale, Sully, Bierstadt and Seth Eastman, and sculpture by Daniel Chester French, Saint-Gaudens, Jo Davidson and Gutzon Borglum. Absorb these words and you will find a deeper appreciation of the setting and its meaning.
IS IT SAFE?
This question is often asked, a bit less frequently now than formerly. It is a fair question, too, just as it is a fair question when you contemplate visiting New York or San Francisco or St. Louis or any great city unfamiliar to you.
And the answer is, "Yes, it is safe if ..."
It is possible to get your pocket picked in Washington, or to be mugged or have a purse snatched or a car stolen.
But, as elsewhere, such things are unlikely to happen to you if you stay normally alert and don't do dumb things. That is, if you don't leave valuables in unlocked hotel rooms, don't leave an unwatched car unlocked, don't wander at night into dark neighborhoods you know nothing about, don't allow total strangers to "befriend" you, don't go on the prowl for diversions you wouldn't patronize in your own hometown.
If you just do the ordinary, rewarding things that thousands upon thousands of people come to Washington to do every single year — things like seeing the sights, visiting the historic places, exploring the galleries and museums, enjoying the exhibits and cultural events, refreshing your sense of what it means to be an American — in all likelihood you will be as safe as you are at home.
Take those precautions and you will go home enriched in memories and ennobled in the knowledge that all you have seen belongs in part to you, as your share in the story that this bicentennial celebrates.