So much to do! by aimeewoods
The museums in the Mall area (aka downtown DC) usually change two or three of their exhibits each month so there's always something new to see. The greatest thing is that most of the places you visit are free! Aside from seeing the national monuments, I highly suggest visiting the National Zoo (free admission) and the Holocaust Museum. With the Holocaust Museum, I advise you get tickets ahead of time via the internet: http://www.ushmm.org/ or by telephone ($2 convenience fee) since they often run out of tickets by 10am.
Another fantastic site is the National Aquarium in Baltimore. The admission price used to be $13; however, I'm sure it's gone up in the past 5 years. You can often find discount tickets around the city.
Finally, the Cherry Blossom Festival in March is the next best thing to actually seeing it in Japan.
