After you are done with the US Capitol Tour, walk towards the Washington monument by taking the Jefferson Drive. On the way you would come across the National Air & space museum. A wonder museum if you are a space buff. Couples of years back a new Air & space museum was open on the outskirts in neighboring Chantilly, Virginia near the Dulles airport. The new museum is free but they charge 14$ for parking. Not sure if the shuttle bus from DC downtown to the museum is free, please check it out. Both the museums are worth visiting.

Things that you would see are:

• Touching a piece of moon
• Various airplanes & spacecrafts
• Various science exhibits

I think Air & Space museum is one of the most popular museums among visitors and hence the queue gets long.

After the tour, exit through the museum on Independence Avenue and you would pass through various federal buildings like the FAA, DoE & DoA. On the intersection of Independence Ave & 14^th st SW is the Holocaust Museum & the Bureau of Engraving & Printing. Not a must see unless you really what to know what that sucker Hitler did to the people in concentration camp. Make a left on to 15^th st SW also called as Raoul Wallenberg Pl SW (you would see the Washington Monument to your right). Basically you are walking towards the tidal basin where the Jefferson memorial is located. Tidal basin is the inlet of Potomac River surrounded by Jefferson Memorial & Franklin D Roosevelt memorial.

The Thomas Jefferson Memorial is a presidential memorial in Washington, D.C. that is dedicated to Thomas Jefferson, an American Founding Father and the third president of the United States.

Facts & Trivia

The inscriptions on the inside walls of the monument

“I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.” - taken from a September 23, 1800, letter by Jefferson to Dr. Benjamin Rush.

“Almighty God hath created the mind free…” - taken from a letter to Dr. Benjamin Rush, September 23, 1800.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, that to secure these rights governments are instituted among men” - taken from the Declaration of Independence, 1776.

“God who gave us life gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that his justice cannot sleep forever.” - taken from A Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom, 1777.

“This it is the business of the state to effect and on a general plan.” - taken from a letter to James Madison, August 28, 1789.

“I am not an advocate for frequent changes in laws and constitutions, but laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind.” - taken from a letter to Samuel Kercheval, July 12, 1810

Enjoy the museum, sit on the steps & enjoy the view of the Washington monument that stands like a needle in the middle or take a peddle boat on that tidal basin. Tidal basin is also surrounded by cherry trees that blossom during the spring season and it is called the cherry blossom festival. It’s a wonder sight to see the trees with pink & white flowers.

Tour time - 2 to 2.5 hrs

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