If you’re looking for easily accessible tours, active citizen engagement, and observable instances of our country’s history on every corner, D.C. is the place to go.
I was home schooled for the latter half of my middle school years. So, as a replacement for the typical eighth-grade field trip, my mom took us on a voyage to Washington, D.C.
Surprisingly, anyone can contact their U.S. senators and receive a free guided tour of the Capitol from one of their assistants. This must be done months, if not more than a year, in advance. With the addition of other guided adventures, narrated bus tours, and historical monuments to visit, we stuffed our itinerary for the week to the brim.
During our 2016 trip, we focused on seeing the city and touring as many government buildings and museums as possible. I would love to return during an active political event, such as a future presidential inauguration or a major protest. I would love to expand my experience of the city by seeing democracy in action on the streets, participating in citizen engagement efforts like petitions or protests, and watching historical events happen.
The day before our expedition began, we boarded a Southwest Airlines flight to Dulles International Airport late that night. We hurriedly took a cab to the Fairfield Inn and Suites hotel, eager to sleep off the six-hour flight and general airport discordance.
We started the week on a double-decker bus tour through the city. Headphones were provided at the door so we could listen to the live audio narrator on board, who continuously pointed out statues and government buildings along the way on a two-hour loop, per the bus route.
It was the summer before the 2016 presidential election, and the city was bustling with herds of teenagers traveling as one in blue or red flat-brim hats, with either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump’s name next to “2016” embroidered on their respective colors. There was an egregious surplus of carts carrying merchandise displaying either candidates’ campaign slogans, including a few vendors who included other items like light-up sticks and stuffed animals.
Day two included our private tour of the Capitol, underground tunnels, Senate chamber, House of Representatives, and the historical Cabinet Room, used by the founding fathers. My favorite memory of the trip was seeing the different parts of Congress in action.
When we were escorted to U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio’s office, he wasn’t there, but a House of Representatives meeting was playing on a monitor attached to a flexible arm on the wall. One of their three assistants informed us that most congresspeople watch everyday proceedings for their chamber on a monitor in their office to keep up with their respective current events.
The assistant guiding us said even Oregon's representatives typically only attended in person for proceedings of highly anticipated legislation, where they chose to include their vote, or where footage is most likely to be broadcast.
Later that day, during a group guided tour of the Senate, we were led to a balcony in the room where we could watch the proceedings. The guide intently informed us that if we spoke out or sat down on the chairs in the balcony, it was considered a form of protest, and we would be escorted out of the building.
We watched the proceedings for 10-15 minutes, after which our guide led us to the exit, conveniently on the other side of the gift shop.
For day three, we were goal-directed to some statue, but once we took our first journey on the subway system, it quickly turned into my mom and me just exploring the city.
We planned a trip to the Mint and chose whatever historical sites we felt like visiting off of my mom’s paper list, which she carried with her the entire trip.
Starting around 8:30 a.m., we walked 27 blocks from where the bus dropped us off to the Mint for our tour that morning.
During our stroll, we quickly learned that the locals jaywalked in herds. Experienced daily commuters just chose when to go, and everyone else followed, giving cars no other option than to stop for the wall of people in front of them. I had never been in a metropolitan area where it didn’t seem as if groups of people were fighting to the death to get where they were going, let alone working together in such an organized fashion to subvert traffic laws.
The tour of the Mint was entirely conducted on an above-ground walkway through many rooms with giant printers dispensing large sheets of money to be cut apart as we watched. Our guide informed us that when there is a misprint or miscut, the bills are shredded, and the shreds are collected to make items in the gift shop.
We walked through the conveniently located gift shop as he pointed us towards the exit. I was astonished at the sight before me: wall to wall, almost everything was adorned or filled with shredded money. They weren’t exaggerating. I still have the sleeping mask I got that day, which encases said shreds with a dollar sign printed above each eye on the flexible plastic exterior.
When we finally got through the checkout line and out the door, it was only 10:25 a.m. We had a whole day left to explore the city. Picking a place about four miles away to get some brunch, we headed for the nearest subway entrance.
We were greeted by marble flooring, clear and intuitive signs pointing to every connecting route, restaurants inside the mezzanine, and wide staircases to accommodate massive crowds of passengers going up or down. The subway system was cleaner than even most government buildings in the area.
If you can think of an issue, the subway's infrastructure was built to address it.
My only other subway experience was throughout a trip I took with my mom to New York when I was 7. D.C.’s subway was a far cry from the grimy, unregulated mariachi band chaos I experienced back in 2009.
Day four included our tour of the White House, the only place we visited where the gift shop was at the entrance instead of the exit. As it was the last year of his presidency, I got a small plush of the Obama’s dog Bo.
I don’t remember much of this other than being required to take the self-guided tour through multiple other random buildings on a highly regulated path before arriving at the White House itself. Concrete paths on the surrounding campus landscape connected the buildings. With security everywhere you looked, they observed all the visitors intently, assuring they didn’t stray outside the stanchion posts and touch anything they weren’t supposed to.
On our last day, we briefly visited some museums before catching a late afternoon flight home, but I remember little other than looking up to see plane models hanging from the glass ceiling in the National Air and Space Museum and a plethora of large crystals in a case on the second floor of the Smithsonian.
Having taken multiple political science and history classes since then, I know I would be able to appreciate the informative part of these tours much more today than 13-year-old me did.
My visit was filled with many educational experiences, but I would love to return to see political events with public engagement in real time, explore all the museums we glanced over in depth, and just wander the city.
Washington, D.C.
Where: The Capitol, The Mint, The White house
What: Experience America’s democratic processes firsthand while enjoying all there is to explore around you.
Official website: https://washington.org/
Hours: The city is always there waiting for you; government building hours vary.
The best way to get there is to fly into Dulles International Airport. I personally have had great experiences with Southwest Airlines.
Admission: Government building tours vary.
Where to eat and stay: For a more reasonable nightly rate, stay near the hotels on the outskirts of D.C. and travel to the sights during the day.
Resources:
Get information on things to do in D.C.
Learn how to contact your senator for a private tour of the Capitol.
Take a tour of the White House.
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