Things to do in Ashburn

Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center

The Steven · Udvar Hatch Center is a branch of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, located in the Chantilly District of Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, just south of Washington Dulles International Airport. In October 1999, Steven Udvorhazy, a Hungarian immigrant and co-founder of the International Leasing Finance Corporation, donated a $65 million collection to the Smithsonian Institution. Because the pavilion is more spacious, some of the large exhibits of the National Air and Space Museum, such as the Blackbird reconnaissance plane, the Enola Gay B-29 bomber that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, and the Concorde airliner, are stored here.

Hyper Kidz Ashburn

K1 Speed Dulles

No. 1 of Best Things to Do in Washington D.C.

Washington Monument

The Washington Monument stands in the center of the National Mall. Built to commemorate George Washington, the first president of the United States, it is an obelisk approximately 169 meters tall, standing out prominently in the predominantly low-rise urban landscape of Washington, D.C. Construction began in 1848, but was halted for over twenty years due to funding shortages. The federal government then took over the project, and construction was finally completed in 1884. Because the two sections of stone were sourced from different periods and locations, their varying degrees of weathering have resulted in a distinct color dividing line on the monument, a clear marker of this turbulent construction history. The monument is entirely simple, devoid of elaborate carvings, and tapers to a four-sided pyramidal apex at the top. The tower is hollow inside, with nearly two hundred commemorative stones embedded in its inner walls, donated by various states, cities, organizations, and countries across the United States. One particularly special stone is a Chinese inscription donated by a person from Ningbo during the Qing Dynasty. The inscription is taken from a passage praising Washington in *Yinghuan Zhilue*, a work by Xu Jiyu, a renowned official of the late Qing Dynasty, and is the only Chinese inscription among these commemorative stones. Inside the tower, there are nearly nine hundred spiral steps, but these are not open to visitors. The only way to reach the top is by elevator, which takes about 70 seconds to reach the observation deck at a height of approximately 150 meters. While downhill ride the elevator, pay attention to the commemorative stones flashing by on the inner walls. The observation deck has two viewing windows in each of the four directions: east to the U.S. Capitol Building, west to the Lincoln Memorial, south to the Jefferson Memorial and the Tidal Basin, and north to the White House. Daily access to the tower is limited, so advance reservations are recommended.

Algonkian Regional Park

Holiday Inn Washington-Dulles Intl Airport by IHG

Regal Dulles Town Center

No. 1 of Night Attractions in Washington D.C.

National Mall

The National Mall is a green park in the center of Washington D.C., stretching approx. 3 km east to west, extending from the Lincoln Memorial in the west to the United States Capitol in the east, and is often called America's Front Yard. This rectangular area is lined with numerous Smithsonian museums, as well as cultural institutions such as the National Gallery of Art and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. The most iconic structure on the mall is the Washington Monument, standing in the center. To the west of the monument, a long reflecting pool leads to the Lincoln Memorial, and to the east is the dome of the United States Capitol. The World War II Memorial, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial, and many other commemorative facilities are scattered throughout, which, together with hundreds of monuments and sculptures in the surrounding area, form a memorial axis that encapsulates the historical memory of the United States.

Leesburg Animal Park

Lowe's Home Improvement