photo uploded to flickr by Mr. T in DC
Ahh, springtime in Washington. Between sweltering summers and cold, wet, and icy winters (if not normally mistaken for Buffalo's), spring and fall are DC's most pleasant times of year.
Unfortunately, I'm not alone in thinking this. Every year, millions of folks come down to the Mall, the Zoo, Arlington Cemetery, and other high traffic areas to take in the cherry blossoms and just enjoy the beautiful spring weather. So many, in fact, that I'm enjoying the relative peace and quiet of New York City right now. Times Square is almost pastoral compared to the British soccer riot that the Mall entrance to the Metro is during Cherry Blossom season.
So what to do if you come to DC, have seen the Cherry Blossoms, and don't want to mix it up with the crowds again? Let's take Arlington National Cemetery as an example. I can't say enough good things about that place. Whether you take theTourmobile, walk the main loop, or explore some of the other themes we've suggested, you can't helped but me moved by the weight of sacrifice and grandeur that permeates the place. That is, until you've been jostled with several thousand of your new friends trying to get a glimpse of the Changing of the Guard.
So save Arlington for the fall, when you can give it the attention it so richly deserves, and come visit another DC final resting place, Historic Congressional Cemetery. Tucked away in the back end of Capitol Hill (also known as the awesome part of the Hill), Congressional predates Arlington by over half a century. Never formally run by Congress, it served as ade facto National Cemetery until Arlington stole their thunder.
And that's fine. Part of the charm of Congressional is that it is, in many ways, very much still alive. Arlington's stately grandeur is appropriately enshrined, guarded for that matter 24 hours a day by armed infantrymen. At Congressional, the dead let their hair down a bit. Besides continuing as an active cemetery, Congressional fulfills what was once a commonplace role for urban graveyards; that of a public park. Maintenance is partly funded by fees from users who bring dogs there, local kids romp about, and neighbors just out for a stroll stop and chat among the tombstones. Before the advent of large urban parks (think Central Park in New York), cemeteries often provided the only green space available in dense urban areas. Congressional resuscitates and preserves that tradition, as well as providing a fitting home for generations past.
All fine and good, but why should you come? Well, the history of Historic Congressional Cemetery extends well beyond the local Capitol Hill community. Congressional got its start as the parish burial yard of Christ Church on G St. SE, between 6th and 7th. In Peter L'Enfant's original plan of Washington, graveyards were to be away from the urban center; a break in tradition from European and early American concepts where people were buried in church yard (think Trinity Church in New York), in dense in-fill lots (think Granary Burying Ground in Boston), or in the church itself (Westminster Abbey being the most famous example).
Among it's many other challenges in starting a new nation, the new Congress quickly found that they had to deal with members croaking far from home. They turned to Christ Church, who allowed Congressmen to be interred at the burial ground, and Congress provided cenotaphs, or monuments, for each of their own. While many of these remains were eventually returned home, 19 Senators and 71 Representatives are still buried here. And although it is no longer the fashion for Congressmen to die in DC (and those that do normally return home), the Cemetery occasionally is the still final resting place of Congressmen. Representative TomLantos, the only Holocaust survivor to serve in Congress, has recently been laid to rest here.
Besides members of Congress, Congressional is also home to John Phillip Sousa, the "March King"; J. Edgar Hoover, longtime director of the FBI; Matthew Brady, famed photographer of the Civil War; Eldridge Gerry, only Vice President to be buried in the District and the source of the term "gerrymandering", and many others. And while I could tell you much more, I don't want to ruin the surprise. Free tours are available every Saturday during the Spring, Summer, and Fall (check website to find start/end dates) at 11 am. If you can't make it then, the Cemetery offers self guided cell phone tours (pdf) or stop by the gate house to pick up a pamphlet on one of the many specialty tours. Subjects include the War of 1812, significant women buried here, Native Americans, and several others.
The office is open 9-5:30 Monday through Friday, and 10-1 on Saturday. However, unless there is a funeral, the grounds are open until dusk every day. To get here, take the Orange/Blue line to Potomac Avenue and walk up Potomac to 17th St SE. The Cemetery is the large plot of land filled with grave markers and dead people.
Friday, August 13, 2010 at 11:35AM 
photo uploaded to flickr by SDCDeaCerteThe Smithsonian celebrated their 164th Birthday this week, commemorating the anniversary of when Congress finally pulled their thumb out of their rear and acted on James Smithson's bequest. Or, as they put it; "After ten years of spirited debate and extensive compromise, it was on August 10, 164 years ago today, that President James K. Polk signed a bill presented by the United States Congress establishing the Smithsonian Institution." You say tomato, I say...