As I mentioned in my earlier post about Discon III, Wednesday afternoon at 4 PM (opposite the Opening Ceremonies, alas), I’ll be part of a panel of locals sharing our favorite sites and sights in Washington, DC. Since nobody wants to take notes in a panel, I’m posting my suggestions and the relevant links here. Enjoy!
(Metro: The Orange/Blue Lines’ Capitol South Station is one block south of the LoC)
Can’t miss the Peacock Room!
Only “cemetery of national memory” founded before the Civil War.
Burials include multiple 19th century congressmen who died in office (most marked by Benjamin Latrobe cenotaphs), J. Edgar Hoover, John Philip Sousa, Peter Doyle (Walt Whitman’s partner), Elbridge Gerry (only signer of the Declaration of Independence buried in DC), Belva Ann Lockwood (first woman attorney to practice before the Supreme Court), Push-Ma-Ta-Ha (Choctaw Chief), Cokie Roberts, Chief Taza (Apache Chief)
Revival of the cemetery after a period of decline is credited to the K-9 dogwalkers, who pay an annual fee for the privilege of walking their dogs at the cemetery.
The cemetery is also home to two Healing Totem Poles and a crossbar created by the Lummi Nation and other North American tribes from 2002-2004 to symbolize national healing in the wake of 9/11.
(Metro: The Orange/Blue Lines’ Potomac Avenue Station is three blocks west of the cemetery)
(Metro: The Blue Line’s Arlington Cemetery Station)
Moon Rocks! The Jerusalem Thorn! The graves at Glastonbury?
(Metro: The Red Line’s Cleveland Park Station is the closest, but it’s a real hike.)
Basilica of the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception
The Beanie is a Washington landmark. Also, check out Catholic University’s Hogwarts vibe on your way up the hill.
(Metro: About a block from the Red Line’s Brookland Station. You can see it from the station.)
Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle
Patron saint of civil servants—he was a tax collector.
(Metro: Midway between the Red Line’s Dupont Circle and Farragut North Stations. Turn east on Rhode Island Avenue, and it’s in the middle of the block.)
Unauthorized copy of the Adams Memorial by Augustus Saint-Gaudens, erected to memorialize the family of Civil War General Felix Agnus, now resides in the National Courts Building (717 Madison Pl NW, Washington, DC 20439) on Lafayette Square.
From the Post article: “It got the nickname “Black Aggie” and was the subject of superstitious folklore. It was said that a witch was buried underneath. The eyes of the figure were said to glow red. Jump in its lap at midnight, and you would die within two weeks.
“In 1967, the Agnus family, believing it to be a Saint-Gaudens-approved replica, donated the work to the Smithsonian. When it was determined to be a knockoff, it was given to the General Services Administration, which in 1987 moved it to the courtyard of the National Courts Building on the east side of Lafayette Square.”
(Metro: About a block and a half southwest of the Orange/Blue Lines’ McPherson Square Station.)
The original (the Adams Memorial at Rock Creek Cemetery is also supposed to be haunted. (Metro: The cemetery is between the Red Line’s Georgia Avenue Station and the Red/Yellow/Green Lines’ Fort Totten station, but it’s a significant walk from both.)
Enchant Winter Wonderland at National’s Park
(Metro: The Green Line’s Navy Yard Station is just a block from Nats Park)