HI everybody,

Next week I'll be in DC for just a day, and while most of that Wednesday will be occupied by business stuff, I will have the few hours before 11am to play around with. I will be staying on my own time zone in a hotel near Dulles, so I should be up really early, probably at around 4am. And could be in downtown DC easily by 7am.

The weather forecast does not look too good for next week, and as I have been to DC a couple times and did "all" the walking around the Mall, in the White House area and in Georgetown, I though it would be better to focus on staying indoors.

The downtown venue I have to go to is the Willard Hotel near the Treasury, so that would be my actual starting point on that morning.

While this means that there is no decent time for any meaningful sightseeing as most museums I checked do not open before 10am, I found out that the Smithsonian Castle opens already at 8:30am. And their current exhibitions do raise my interest.

Would that be a good idea to explore?
Or is there anything else (well, I know there is a LOT else) worth exploring during the early hours?

Any suggestions welcome - also for "non-museum" activities or places.

Yikes, sorry for not tagging the post with proper location.

Hi Cowboy - Welcome back to DC!

You've already mentioned one of my museum suggestions and that is the Smithsonian Castle. Absolutely worth a visit and at that time in the morning, it'll be relatively peaceful. DC is starting to buzz with visitors now. Cherry Blossom festival started last week but you're a little early for the blooms given the cold winter season. I'll assume from what you said that you've already done whatever monuments around the mall you're interested in seeing.

Second suggestion is the Library of Congress which opens at 8:30 am. LOC is directly accessible by bus (sorry, not sure which one but it goes down Pennsylvania Ave). Finally, the Newseum (opens at 9 am) is less than a 15 minute walk from the Willard.

Non Museum Suggestions:

Breakfast and browsing at Kramerbooks and Afterwards - opens 7:30 am. Great indie bookstore, one of the few left in DC. On Connecticut Ave a short walk from the Dupont Circle metro (take red line from Metro Center, brief walk from the Willard)

or

Espresso and book browsing - Across the street from Kramerbooks is Dolcezza which serves some of the best coffee in the city.

or

Tea and Breakfast at Teaism - there is one in Dupont Circle (opens 8 am) and one at Penn Quarter (opens 7:30 am) which is closer to the Willard, less than a 15 minute walk to 8th and E Streets NW

obxgirl,

Thanks a LOT!
You made my day - well, at least my Wednesday morning