D.C. Sightseeing

I've lived outside the Washington D.C. area for over 6 years now. To my embarrassment, I've seen little of D.C. I have no excuse. It's easy to drive down to the Greenbelt station and take the Washington Metro (their subway system) into the capital. From there, you can easily take one of the hop on - hop off tours. Yesterday, I mended my ways somewhat. Initially, I planned to take the afternoon tour of the Washington memorials with Grayline Tours. I dithered so much that by the time I arrived at Union Station, the bus had already left. Luckily, there was another company called Old Town Trolley. They run 3 routes that cover all the main sights in D.C. As I was late getting out to D.C., I decided to ride the green route trolley (that route covers Union Station) its entire route. I found the driver/guide to be very knowledgeable and friendly. He told people when tours were available of the building that houses Congress. He also told which museums were closed for renovation (the Smithsonian had one that was closed). Trivia question I learned: who has the tallest statue in D.C.? Answer: Lady Freedom. She stands 19 feet 6 inches. A law was passed that no statue in D.C. can be taller than Lady Freedom. After taking their green route tour, I decided to take their orange route tour. This tour covered embassy row (62 embassies line this one stretch of road), Georgetown, the National Cathedral (did you know there is a gargoyle with the face of Darth Vader on it?) and the National Zoo (they have problems with the pandas in that all they want to do is eat and sleep i.e. they apparently aren't very interested in creating any baby pandas). The driver on this tour was particularly impressive as he was able to name every embassy on embassy row. I bet that took some memorization.

The third tour (a shuttle actually) which they offer which I didn't have time for is the one that takes you to Arlington to the tomb of the unknown, where John and Robert Kennedy are buried and where the Marine Memorial is. I plan to get back there sometime so I can see those.

Each tour on the trolleys took approximately 1 hour and 10 hours minutes (except for the Arlington tour). The company promises to stop at each stop on their routes every 30 minutes. The tours start at 9 a.m. and stop at 5:30 p.m. The cost is $32 for an adult. I don't know what it would cost for a child. I'd definitely recommend the Old Town Trolley. I found both their tours very interesting and informative. They also have the advantage that you can hop on and hop off as much as you want during the day. Their website is: http://oldtowntrolley.com/Washington-DC/.