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Volume 3, Number 2, March 2005
THE Latest
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D.C.: More than museums
While Washington, D.C., the site of APA's 2005 Annual Convention, is known for its array of free museums and monuments, there's more to the city than U.S. history. Check out some of these free or low-cost attractions, all accessible via the Metro, Washington's subway system. To plan your trip using public transportation, visit www.wmata.com/tripplanner/.
 Shop for fresh produce and arts and crafts at colorful Eastern Market, which has been in continuous operation on Capitol Hill since 1873. Don't miss the delicious crab cakes or blueberry pancakes at Market Lunch, a restaurant in the South Hall. Metro stop: Eastern Market; www.easternmarket.net or www.easternmarketdc.com.
Take in a free show at the John. F. Kennedy Center For the Performing Arts's Millennium Stage. Every weekday at 6 p.m., the Kennedy Center puts on a free dance, drama, concert or other arts performance. Metro stop: a short walk from Foggy Bottom; www.kennedy-center.org/programs/millennium.
Walk in the footsteps of jazz great Duke Ellington on a historical walking tour of Shaw and the U Street Corridor, the neighborhood where Ellington grew up. Once known as "Black Broadway," the area clubs frequently boasted performances by premier African-American performers, such as Cab Calloway and Dizzy Gillespie. Cultural Tourism D.C. offers a guided, $12 "Before Harlem There Was U Street" walking tour of the neighborhood as well as a free self-guided walking tour brochure. While there, pay a visit to the nation's only African-American Civil War Veterans Memorial and Washington's landmark restaurant, Ben's Chili Bowl, a family-owned business that's been serving up chili, hot dogs and burgers since 1958. Metro stop: U Street/African-American Civil War Memorial/Cardoza; www.dcheritagetours.org, www.benschilibowl.com and www.afroamcivilwar.org.
Sip coffee and browse an independent book store in trendy Dupont Circle, home to unique shops, Beaux Arts architecture and countless restaurants. Metro stop: Dupont Circle.
Visit the site of President Abraham Lincoln's assassination, Ford's Theatre, which is still a working playhouse. Metro stop: Metro Center; www.nps.gov/foth.
Eat Ethiopian, Turkish or Brazilian in Adams Morgan, a D.C. neighborhood bustling with diverse restaurants and bars. Metro stop: several blocks from Woodley Park-Zoo/Adams Morgan; www.adamsmorgan.net.
Take a relaxing stroll at the newly renovated United States Botanic Garden, the nation's oldest continuously operating public garden. The garden features tropical plants in its conservatory year-round as well as annuals in its outdoor garden, Bartholdi Park. The garden is located near the U.S. Capitol building. Metro stop: Federal Center; www.usbg.gov.
Visit D.C.'s newest memorial, the National World War II Memorial, dedicated last summer and located on the National Mall, a green space popular for jogging and sightseeing. The memorial is within walking distance of the Smithsonian museums and many other memorials, including the Vietnam Veterans and Korean War Veterans memorials. Also nearby are the Lincoln, Jefferson and F.D.R. memorials. Metro stop: Smithsonian; www.wwiimemorial.com, www.si.edu and www.nps.gov/nama.
Go undercover at the anything-but-ordinary International Spy Museum, an interactive trip through the history of espionage. Learn how British and American code-breakers helped win World War II and how FBI agents caught spy Robert Hanssen. Admission is $12. Metro stop: Gallery Place/Chinatown; www.spymuseum.org.
For a list of other attractions, see www.apa.org/convention05/tourism.html or www.washington.org.
—D. SMITH BAILEY
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