How This Shutdown Might Affect Your Trip to DC

photo uploaded to flickr by Simon CocksYou've probably heard a far bit about the budget jostling on Capitol Hill recently. Now I imagine most of you don't hang out in bars where C-SPAN is on round the clock, so you may not be totally up on all the ins and outs, but there's a very real chance that by the close of buisness March 4th, the Federal Government will be operating without a budget.

To grossly oversimplify the issue, the Federal Government authorizes and appropriates funds on a yearly budget. Once that budget runs out at the end of the Fiscal Year (Sept 30), Congress and the President can approve a temporary extension, or Continuing Resolution (CR). This is what the Government has been operating under since October, and the current one runs out March 4th. On that day, thanks to Art. I, Section 9 of the US Constitution (look it up yoursefl!) and the Anti-deficiency Act, it is now illegal for the Federal Government to pay its workers, outside of essential folks. The Congressional Research Service recently wrote an excellent report (.pdf) if you're a government affairs junky.

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WalkingTown DC: 5 Tours To Take In

photo uploaded to flickr by TravlrI love WalkingTown DC (ok, fine, and BikingTown DC). Every spring and fall, Cultural Tourism DC pulls together various Museums, tour guides, historical societies, community groups, and othjer entities less definable and offers over 100 free bike and walking tours. Frankly, if you're in town and not taking in at least one of these, you're really just wasting your time in Washington.

But what to do? With so many to choose from, which to pick. Well, everyone is different, but here's the five I would (and hopefully will) do if I had some free time Saturday and Sunday:

note: be sure to check Cultural Tourism DC's website for full info. Some tours require reservations.

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Weekly Washington: Happy Birthday, Smithsonian!

photo uploaded to flickr by SDCDeaCerteThe Smithsonian celebrated their 164th Birthday this week, commemorating the anniversary of when Congress finally pulled their thumb out of their rear and acted on James Smithson's bequest. Or, as they put it; "After ten years of spirited debate and extensive compromise, it was on August 10, 164 years ago today, that President James K. Polk signed a bill presented by the United States Congress establishing the Smithsonian Institution." You say tomato, I say...

Like most local bloggers, I’ve been excited to watch the birth of DC’s latest local news juggernaut, TBD.com. I’m looking forward to seeing how this turns out, especially since DC Like a Local is one of TBD’s 100-plus blogs in their Community Network. This week in tourism news they take one for the team and review DC’ s On Location Tours as well as examine why their building is periodically taken over by tour groups.

The District’s slow movement to get our two statues into Statuary Hall gets stalled. Again. Some Representatives led Rep. Dan Lungren (D-CA) think I should only be represented by one statue, instead of two, as I am not a resident of a state. Funny how Rep. Lungren is cool with me paying all of my income taxes, nor do I remember him saying I only had to do half a deployment when I was in the Navy.

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Urban Legends of the Lincoln Memorial - Who Is Buried Here?

photo uploaded to flickr by NCinDCYears ago, when I took the exam to become licensed in Washington, DC as a tour guide, I was struck by one of the questions (actually, by many of the questions, but that’s a topic for another time). This particular section was photo identification, where you saw a picture of a landmark and answered a series of questions about it. Peering into the thrice photocopied test, I made out what was a blurred but yet still recognizable Lincoln Memorial. Among the other questions I had to answer: “Who is buried here?”

Now, that has puzzled me to this day. Was it a trick question, designed to tease out guide’s credibility for urban legends? Or did, honest to God, a Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs employee think that Lincoln was actually buried here?

If so, he or she must be in good company. I only get the question sporadically, but this must have been popular at some time, as it litters message boards throughout the Internet. Is Abraham Lincoln buried in the Lincoln Memorial? Or, more broadly, was the Memorial designed to someday be a tomb for Lincoln and foiled at the last minute?

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Stuff Around Town - What's Going On When You're in Town

One of the challenges I face in helping folks out with visiting DC is keeping my information current. I think I do an adequate job of highlighting off the beaten path options as well as new ways of exploring the traditional attractions, but I don’t scratch the surface of what’s going on here. We try to catch new museums and new exhibits as they come, but it’s a big city with a lot of stuff going on; there’s just no way we can hope to be comprehensive about all the things going on in Washington when you plan to be here. We don’t even try.

Which can be a bit of a bummer, as there’s always something going on in DC. It’s easy to troop to a few museums and snap a picture outside the White House and think, “Gee, this city sure is busy but between herds of tourists and thousands of cars with Maryland tags, does anyone actually live here?” Well, of course we do, and the best place to get the sense of the city’s life is to leave the Mall and check out some of the other things going on in town.

I try to highlight a few from time to time, but I’m not set up to keep a comprehensive calender of all things Washingtonian. And why should I, as other folks already do so (and better than I could)? So without further ado, here’s where I go to find out what’s going on on any particular time in Washington:

1. Since you’re probably going to be at one or more of these institutions anyway during your trip to DC, go ahead and check what’s going on while you’re here. Catching a special event at one of these places can be a lot more fulfilling and enriching than just staring blindly at another exhibit:
    A. Smithsonian - Includes Air and Space, American History, Natural History, etc.
    B. Library of Congress
    C. National Gallery of Art
    D. U.S. Capitol - This is actually the link to the US Capitol Historical Society’s calender.
    E. White House Visitor’s Center - You have to click through to their schedule. Which is, of course, a pdf that changes seasonally.
    F. Ford’s Theater - The day time presentation is perfectly fine, but check what’s showing while you’re in town. It’s a far more civilized way to see the Theater.
    G. National Mall and Monuments - The National Park Service’s calender of events.

2. Cultural Tourism DC: Getting off the Mall a bit, I recommend Cultural Tourism DC. These folks focus on bringing the “other” DC to people’s attention. They represent over 230 different museums, community organizations, historic sights, etc. and serves as a clearinghouse for all manner of activities. Be sure to check their calender for the dates you will be in town.

3. Free in DC: You’d be hard pressed to find another city with so many free things going on. The trick is hearing about it in the first place. Fortunately, Amy Melrose over at Free in DC has done the ground work for you. Her blog is a compendium of all sorts of free (and under $10) events going on.

4. Local News Outlets:
    A. Washington City Paper: By far the best local coverage of DC.
    B. Washington Post: While the Post confuses “local” with “greater Mid-Atlantic Region”, it is the dowager Empress of local coverage. Fine, I’ll include it here.
    C. DCist: Online reviews of current exhibits, events, etc. Along with local news and some interesting (at the very least) comments.
    D. WeLoveDC: Another excellent blog about DC happenings, both news and events.

While you probably won’t check out all of these, clicking through to a few of them will allow you to have a much richer and interesting visit to Washington. And hey, it’ll give you a little more to talk about back home than the standard tourist experience. You friends will appreciate it. Heck, they might even sit through your slide show.