Three Days in Washington, D.C. on a Budget | My First Solo Trip

This was my first long trip alone. A year and a half after coming to the United States, I finally set foot in the capital. The trip was a success: I saw what I meant to see, came back alive, and lost nothing. From here, my age of exploration began.

Day one

I left New York at nine in the morning on a four-and-a-half-hour bus. I started at Union Station; the outer corridors were beautiful in the afternoon light.

By metro I went to the Washington Monument, the tallest building in the city. From the top you look over the whole layout and the monuments become real in space. Below, a floor tells the monument’s history; the elevator down shows commemorative stones set in the walls.

I walked south to the Tidal Basin, looked across to the Jefferson Memorial, then west past the World War II Memorial, along the long pool to the Lincoln Memorial — the statue is handsome. The pool holds a reflection of the Washington Monument; at sunset it is especially fine.

Along the river to the Kennedy Center, where the performances are free. January 19 was MLK Day, so it was Black gospel. I had never heard it live. Interesting.

Day two

In the morning, the Capitol, the Library of Congress, the Supreme Court — solemn, immense architecture: the Capitol dome, the Library’s carved marble. An imperial weather. Note that the Main Reading Room is open only from 2 to 3 p.m.

In the pool in front of the Capitol, a crowd of gulls: some lying on the ice in the sun, some thrashing in the water to bathe, some walking the ice. I sat and watched for a long time. What do gulls care for international affairs, or immigration policy? To them the Capitol is only a larger house.

In the afternoon, the Air and Space Museum: huge planes; the Wright brothers’ first machine larger than I had imagined; a lunar module and space suits. Cool, all of it.

Day three

At noon, the National Museum of American History. I had meant to glance and leave. It was unexpectedly good: real cars, trains, subway cars, ships, weapons. The way it tells history is both large and small — two hundred years through five families in one house. I liked that.

In the afternoon, the Natural History Museum. I hope the Hope Diamond is not a bright blue; to the eye it is closer to black. A machine made a primitive version of my face. I could not recognize myself. Hard to bear, honestly.

The trip made me less attached to personal gains and losses. In that long history I am only dust. Might as well get fries at the wharf.

Note: I paid no admission at any of the places above. Washington is genuinely good for traveling broke.