If you like George Washington’s Mount Vernon, try
George Mason’s Gunston Hall
The estate owned by founding father and fourth generation Virginian, George Mason, consists of 550 scenic acres of land along the Potomac River where the Mason family cultivated traditional Virginia crops, corn and tobacco. The chief author of the Bill of Rights, Mason was also a slave owner. The historic home and museum takes a look at the complicated history of owning more than 100 men, women and children. $5-$10
If you like the Spy Museum, try the
DEA Museum
There are no shrines to Breaking Bad’s Hank Schrader here, but you’ll find exhibits chronicling the Drug Enforcement Administration’s absorbing history. Discover how illegal drugs, medicine and drug laws have affected our lives. Current exhibits feature the issues of drug trafficking, opioid addiction and the former crack epidemic. Free
If you like the Natural History Museum, try the
Children’s Science Center Lab
This family-friendly find is inside Fair Oaks Mall and features STEM activities, such as creating concoctions at the Experiment Bar, learning to use a robotic arm, tinkering with building materials, and observing seahorses and lionfish in the Aquatic Life exhibit. Through a partnership with University of Maryland, kids helped design every aspect of the facility. $13
Coming Soon
National Museum of the United States Army
The U.S. Army will open a museum at Fort Belvoir that honors 240 years of the military branch’s distinguished history. There will be three main sections—Soldier Stories, Fighting for the Nation and Army and Society—plus, the Fighting for the Nation galleries will each cover a period in the Army’s history, beginning with the Revolutionary War and ending with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Planet Word
At a time when fewer Americans read for pleasure, newspapers are shutting down and writing is often dashed off in a text or tweet, a new museum called Planet Word will open in the National Historic Landmark Franklin School on 13th and K Streets in D.C. with the goal of engaging visitors with the power of words. In 10 galleries, visitors will give speeches, sing songs, listen to poetry, explore the language of advertising and enjoy jokes and puns. In the auditorium, the museum will host poetry slams, book talks and discussions about everything from what is a lie to whether emojis are a language.
