Washington, D.C., is a beautiful city of broad avenues, impressive government buildings, inspiring monuments, thought-provoking museums and spacious parks. The names you've heard all your life are there: Lincoln Memorial, the U.S. Capitol, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Washington National Cathedral, Washington Monument, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. No traveler could mistake this city for any other.
And all the everyday details remind you that the local industry is government: cars with diplomatic plates, official guards at entrances, vast regiments of briefcases swinging along the avenues.
Along with the trappings of power and ambition, Washington, D.C., is a cosmopolitan city filled with a population of transient but well-educated residents, a never-ending array of interesting (and mostly free) events, and world-class eats. It's a beautiful city, too, full of stately white buildings, museums and galleries best recognized as national institutions. The many children who visit, either with school groups or with their families, receive a fascinating introduction to the nation's past and an overview of its governing structure. Washington, D.C., shows itself well as the nation's capital.
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