 |
Washington,
DC USA
The
District of Columbia is a Federal District coextensive with the
city of Washington, which is a planned city — one of the most
beautifully designed and distinguished cities in the world.
Its
site, at the mouth of the Potomac River, was selected in 1790 as
the capital of the United States and was designed by Major Pierre
Charles L'Enfant as a grid with intersecting diagonals emanating
from the White House and Capitol. This pattern still defines
this cosmopolitan city whose features are a major world tourism
attraction (over one million per year) and include an elaborate
system of parks and broad tree-shaded thoroughfares with open vistas.
The
city has changed its boundaries over the years but now occupies
69 square miles, including 8 sq. mi. of water surface, with a culturally
and socially diverse population. No longer a city of "Northern
charm and Southern efficiency", far more than the nation's capitol,
it's a vibrant and exciting place to live, work, and visit.
|
Local
Neighborhood Attractions
Where
to begin talking about the location of our hotel? A search with
the Switchboard.com "What's
Nearby" feature found over fifty businesses classified as restaurants
(okay, fifty-one and that includes places like McDonald's) within
a quarter-mile of our hotel. There are over thirty museums
and monuments located within one mile. The Hyatt Regency Washington
is a five minute walk from the United
States Capitol building and from Union
Station, which is not only an AMTRAK and Metrorail station but
also a beautifully restored Beaux Art building now containing shops,
restaurants, and a large food court. Metrorail,
our subway system, is clean, quiet, safe, easy to navigate, and
is generally considered the best way to get around the city. The
two nearest Metro stations to our hotel are Judiciary
Square and Union
Station.
There
are many fine restaurants in the immediate
Capitol
Hill neighborhood. A ten-minute walk will take you to
the National Mall —
the wide, grassy swath that runs from the Lincoln Memorial in the
east to the Capitol grounds in the west and is lined with Smithsonian
attractions and other museums. At this distance from the hotel
you will find the National Gallery
of Art, and the Library of Congress.
The stacks of the Library are closed to the public but you
can request books in the reading room under the rotunda of the Jefferson
Building, which you should visit just for its beauty. A number
of the Library's holdings are on display — the collection includes
largest printed encyclopedia in 5,040 volumes, five Stradivarius
violins, original sheet music of Beethoven, Brahms and Mozart —
in regularly changing exhibits.
Within
a 15-minute walk, you can reach the always popular Air
and Space Museum, which needs no further explanation but it
should be noted that the Samuel P. Langley Theater shows spectacular
IMAX films daily and there are several shows per day in the Albert
Einstein Planetarium. The National
Archives are also at this distance, where you can view The Declaration
of Independence, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Emancipation
Proclamation and the Treaty of Paris. Chinatown is also 15
minutes from our hotel.
Among
other places in the DC
Downtown neighborhood within walking distance of the hotel are
the National Building Museum and
the United States Supreme
Court. The Building Museum is fronted by eight of the
largest Corinthian columns in the world. Housed in the Pension Building,
with its 15-story Great Hall, its exhibits focus on various aspects
of architecture, building and historic preservation. The museum
also presents lectures, films, family programs and workshops. At
the Supreme Court, oral arguments are held Monday through Wednesday
during the first two weeks of each month, October through April,
and are open to the public. You can also see the courtroom
when court is not in session.
Numerous
white or gray classical government buildings, embassies, and fine
homes help define the city's beauty. West
Potomac Park extends from the Lincoln Memorial and encompasses
the Tidal Basin with its famous Japanese cherry trees. Rock
Creek Park covers almost 1,800 acres of natural woodlands and
extensive recreational facilities.
Many
of the Smithsonian Museums not already
mentioned are also within reach by foot and the majority of the
rest are near Metrorail stations. Most people are well aware
of the museums and monuments but there are more
interesting places to visit that are less known.
|
