Washington, DC has so much to offer, not the least of which is free entry to the museums of the Smithsonian Institution. We set aside two full days to explore downtown DC and ‘The Mall’, a museum and memorial-rich area of the District spreading from the Lincoln Memorial to the U.S. Capitol flanked by museums lining Constitution and Independence Avenues.
We took to the Tidal Basin by paddleboat on Tuesday morning. It was a windy and somewhat chilly day for April in DC, but seemed sunny and warm to us. As the only boat on the water, we had pure views of the Jefferson Memorial, Washington Monument, and Washington skyline. There is limited three-hour parking by the dock and at that hour plenty of available spaces welcomed us.
