kford127636's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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Washington, D.C.

Water Gate at the Watergate Complex

Before Nixon, "watergate" meant canals.
Washington, D.C.

NIST Newton Apple Tree

A clone of a cloned tree that was so important it allegedly had its own guards.
Washington, D.C.

Mary's Garden

An overlooked oasis of quiet on the grounds of Washington's monumental basilica.
Washington, D.C.

National Cathedral Bell Tower

There’s a special club house at the top for the bell ringers.
Washington, D.C.

Cuban-American Friendship Urn

The only National Monument ever to go missing for nearly 50 years then resurface in a dump.
Washington, D.C.

Chinatown Barnes Dance

The unique traffic pattern named for an influential urban planner is also known as the Pedestrian Scramble.
Washington, D.C.

Barbie Pond on Q Street

A rotating cast of guys and dolls in front of a Washington, D.C. building.
Washington, D.C.

Ruins of the Columbian Cannon Foundry

These recently uncovered walls are all that's left of Washington, D.C's first defense contractor.
Washington, D.C.

Washington Monument Lightning Rod

The monument's pointy aluminum tip has been melted down by repeated lightning strikes.
Washington, D.C.

Uncle Beazley the Triceratops

A celebrity from the late Cretaceous period.
Washington, D.C.

Daguerre Monument

Go take a picture with the inventor of the daguerreotype photographic process.
Washington, D.C.

District of Columbia Center Point

A little marble compass above George Washington's (empty) tomb in the Capitol marks where D.C.'s four quadrants intersect.
Washington, D.C.

The Highest Court In the Land

There just so happens to be a court even higher than the U.S Supreme Court: a basketball court in the building itself.
Washington, D.C.

FDR's Bomb Shelter

The first presidential bomb shelter was located in an old vault under the Treasury, connected to the White House via tunnel.
Washington, D.C.

Volta Laboratory & Bureau

Helen Keller once broke ground on this historic center for the study of technologies to benefit the hearing impaired.
Washington, D.C.

Eritrean Cultural Civic Center

Daily lunch spot for many of Washington, D.C.'s cab drivers.
Washington, D.C.

The Cuban Embassy's Hemingway Bar

When it opened during the final years of the embargo, all the drinks and cigars were free.
Washington, D.C.

Capitol Air Conditioning Towers

"Congress may voluntarily remain in session throughout the summer, in order that our Congressmen may be protected from the intolerable discomforts and dangers of the ordinary outdoor weather!”
Washington, D.C.

Maine Avenue Fish Market

The oldest continuously operating fish market in the United States.
Washington, D.C.

The Unabomber's Cabin

It was once the base for a series of domestic terror attacks.
Washington, D.C.

Serenity Statue

This poor little statue is the most vandalized memorial in Washington.
Washington, D.C.

Temperance Fountain

A much-maligned monument to teetotalism.
Washington, D.C.

Watergate Steps

Decades before the scandal, this staircase on the river was a literal "water gate."
Washington, D.C.

Kilroy Was Here

There’s a hidden military meme engraved on the World War II Memorial.