This place is special. It has an amazing story and historical significance. The food is good and…read morethe atmosphere is great. This place will engage all 5 senses.

Cool place. Not sure if it is always a self guided tour but…read morethere are enough plaques to explain what you are looking at. I do wish there was an audio or a person guiding the tour option. I only met one staff member. She was really informative. Next time I'm in town, I'll eat in the restaurant next door.

This is truly a beautiful museum and it's free!! we have gone a few times both in the summer in the…read morewinter with visiting family and also just entertain our toddler, son . They have a wonderful kids exhibit, and sometimes they have activities like a craft or a reading time. There's also things for them to enjoy and run around doing without really getting in the way of the adult exhibits. What that said I haven't even begun to finish my experience at the museum because it's quite vast and I'd probably need to come solo to do so. All the staff and volunteers are fantastic. Very friendly. There's ample parking. I would very much recommend visiting if you're in the Fort Belvoir area.

Very well thought out and curated museum on the history of the US Army and its role in different…read moreperiods of US history. I appreciated the focus on personal service member stories and getting to learn more about individual soldiers. The theming of the main exhibit spaces around different conflicts was well done, creating a dynamic and interactive museum. It's a massive space with lots to learn so you can easily spend a whole day here, plus it's completely free! Both of my parents are Army veterans and it was great to be able to hear their stories as well when visiting the museum.

What a great historical place! Impressive collection of George Washington's items. Our tour guide…read morewas wonderful, informative and responsive, and with a sense of humor! Enjoyed our visit and learning about the roots of the Mason's society very much! Highly recommend when in the area!

I am not super into history but my fiancé is, so I brought him here for Valentines Day. They have…read moreguided tours for $20 and it was an interesting time, with a few secrets and cryptic things sprinkled in. Our tour guide was knowledgeable and funny, making it keep my interest for the hour. There are many floors with a nice observation deck at the top to see Alexandria and Maryland across the river.

We were on a brief trolley tour of Arlington Cemetery and saw views of Arlington House from below…read morewhen standing at the JFK gravesite and again soon thereafter when the bus stopped for those having time to access it from the upper entrance for a tour. Since we were limited on time, we had to forgo touring it further during this trip, but will look forward to future visits and take the opportunity to explore further.

The former home of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. The house was closed since it was at the end…read moreof the day, but it was enormous and grand. It overlooks the Capital area and the grounds are hallowed.

Located across from the Fashion Centre in Pentagon City, The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)…read moreMuseum is excellent and a worthwhile visit. It's also free. Plan on taking an hour for your visit. But to enter the museum, you must go through airport-style security, i.e. show your ID, take all the stuff out of your pockets (plus take off your belt if you are wearing one) and go through a scanner. This makes sense because this also the headquarters of the DEA. Security is so tight that even after going through the scanner there's another security checkpoint at the elevators that go to the DEA offices (the museum is on the first floor so there's no need to take an elevator). The museum itself is clean, modern and attractive with lots of interesting exhibits. I liked the interactive exhibit where you role play as an agent seeking to nab the supplier of drugs that are dropped off at a car wash. I was kinda surprised to see a photo here of the sheriff from the Washington State community I grew up in picking/confiscating poppies in a field. I really appreciated that the language used in the exhibits was objective and matter-of-fact. You don't see hysterical 1930's-style Reefer Madness propaganda. I was the only museum visitor during my time there. Ironically, after I left the museum, I saw a woman wearing a government badge smoking a joint out on the sidewalk nearby (to be fair, I don't know if this lady was a DEA employee).

DC is always good for museums, and if you watch Law & Order or any other police shows on TV, this…read morefree museum is a good spot to spend an hour if you're in the Arlington area. Located in the lobby of the DEA building, I had to go through a security checkpoint to get in. The space itself is small, but doing the interactive exhibits makes it a full hour. The majority of the museum consists of static displays of items such as DEA raid jackets, weaponry and equipment as well as items seized during raids of (in)famous criminals. They also have various educational posters about drugs, their history and street names. It is similar to the DARE programs a lot of us took in Elementary School. The best part is the interactive exhibit where you get to take part in a simulated surveillance operation. The options and paths in the exhibit are pretty well organized. This museum would be better if there was someone, at least a Public Affairs Officer around for questions..or even cooler, a masked agent to talk about activities.

It's a very small museum above the Apple store, so it is nice that this historic library was able…read moreto be used for a couple of functions. Since this page is just on the museum, it's pretty small. There are a couple of interesting things of note about the school system mostly and some old photographs. It's nice the space exists and there was a guide available to answer questions, but it takes about 10-15 minutes to walk through. It's free, it's air-conditioned, and it's nice a little exhibit on the city itself exists, but I wouldn't really recommend going out of your way to see it. There are also bathrooms, a place to sit, and a small gift shop. I do feel like the beautiful exterior of the building doesn't match the plainness inside, but that was probably lost on some renovation. If you've got a minute and are already shopping for Apple products, it's worth popping upstairs.

I visited the DC History Center last weekend, when - because of the ongoing government shutdown -…read morethe museum I wanted to visit was closed. I had read about it in a "So the thing you want to do in DC is closed..." article, and I was thrilled to learn about it (I wondered why I hadn't heard of it before)! First thing that stuck out to me? The center is in an amazing historic building! The Carnegie Library was built in 1903 and served as a public library for DC until it was closed in 1972. It was the first of the city's four Carnegie libraries and the first desegregated public building. The classic architecture is pretty stunning. However, the building hasn't been a library since 1972. And now, most of it is ... an Apple Store?! The main level of the building has been an Apple Store since 2019. The Apple symbol is even in the marble in the exterior of the building. When I walked in, I was really thrown off. I looked around for signs and it seemed like the DC History Center might be upstairs, so up I went. When I got upstairs, I was greeted by a staff member, who explained there were two galleries upstairs and one in the basement. One of the galleries is the DC Hall of History. It's basically a long, narrow room with a timeline explaining DC's history. No artifacts, just a timeline on a wall. A little underwhelming. The larger gallery housed a much more interesting exhibit: "Class Action: Education and Opportunity in the Nation's Capital," which tells the story of Black education in DC (public schools, segregation, desegregation, Black higher education in the city). The exhibit was interesting, much larger than the DC Hall of History, and quite interactive. The last gallery (the one in basement) has a series of 16 reproductions of photographs of the building's history. It was interesting to learn about the history of the building, but it's not a large gallery or exhibit. Overall, I enjoyed learning some DC history I didn't know, but the center isn't a replacement for any of the history museums in DC. I wish it had artifacts and more than just photographs. But it's interesting and worth a quick visit if you're in the area and have some extra time. You can make your visit quick without missing anything (I can't imagine anyone spending more than an hour here; I probably spent closer to a half hour), so it's a good little museum to fit in between visits to other DC sites. Especially as it's free to visit!

In addition to the museum at Fort Ward there is also the park. And it is a nifty little park. There…read moreare rifle trenches and bombproofs and historical stuff like that going on. Then there are practical things too, like a 0.6 mile loop paved looped that goes around the park that sees a decent amount of foot traffic - walkers and runners getting some exercise in. They also have pavilions for picnics and an amphitheater. They often have free events at the amphitheater (like a Jazz show over Memorial Day). The park section also has a dog park. According to websites online, the dog park is the grassy area to the east side of the entrance. It is large and semi-fenced. But don't bother to look for signs that specifically designate the dog park area when you are there. I lived close by and was there almost every day and never found any signs that designated the dog park. Regardless, it is a good place to take your dog to play fetch and allow for a nice space to run. Of course you have to trust your dog off leash because it isn't totally fenced and it is right along Braddock Road. There are typically people coming in and out with dogs. Not normally many, but during nice weather, particularly on weekends, the whole outdoor park can get a bit busy with people. There is also free and easy parking access. I recommend the park at Fort Ward as a nice place for a stroll (with our without your dog), a picnic, some relaxing, & enjoying good weather.

I was not too keen at first to be taking a group of 50 odd 8th graders to see a fort. And neither…read morewere they. I was presently surprised! While there isn't much left of the fort walls themselves, they have a good stock of military instruments and displays that are interesting reminders of the struggles our country has faced. And the kids ended up pretending that they were back in the Civil War fighting! =P Its worth the trip out as a nice outing for kids.

Hidden little piece of history in plain sight. I drove by numerous times until one day I noticed…read morethe little white house. Inside is a step back in time. I took my 12 year old niece and we were both educated on the life and the struggle the students had to endure to get an education. The restoration and items within made it truly interesting. Great, knowledgeable guide.