10 Best Secret Places in Washington, D.C., USA

We lived in D.C. for 27 years. That gave us a lot of time to explore the place, which led us to discover some little known but nevertheless out standing places worth a visit. Here they are:

• Baltimore, MD, about 30 minutes by train from D.C.'s Union station.

• The view of cherry blossoms from a window table in the restaurant in the National Gallery of Art's East Building.

• The Fort Totten Red Line Metro station. The Red Line Metro station is located above ground on top of the walls of Ft Totten which was built in defense of Washington DC in the American Civil War. Continuing north on the Red Line, the next stop is Silver Spring, and if you know where to look, you can catch a glimpse of the mansion that that was the headquarters of the General commanding the Confederate Army's invasion of Washington, D.C. His forces never reached Ft Totten.

• US Senator John F Kennedy's house in Georgetown.

• Dunbarton Oaks mansion, museum, and gardens (Georgetown) hosted a historically famous post WWII conference that established the framework for the post war world economy.

• The Vietnam Memorial at night. Yes, you have heard all sorts of horrible, and true, reports of crime running amok in the USA, but crime is very highly localized. I think the statistic is that 15% of the street blocks in the country account for 80% of the crime, The lesson is, stay out of those places, and crime is no problem. That's why we never had any reason not to go to the Vietnam Memorial at night. This is a safe zone.

• The US Capitol Building, view from the West Portico at night. Trump's attempted coup on 1/6/21 may have closed this. But if possible, this is the best view in Washington DC. You must do it twice; in daylight and at night Do not miss it.

• The National Medical Museum, Silver Spring, MD. See a pickled leg with elephantiasis; the skin of the “tattooed man”; and the Civil War medical school's pickled examples of gun shot wounds, gangrene, and much more.

• The Grand Ballroom of the Mayflower Hotel. A major setting for Inaugural Balls.

• The National Arboretum