
10 new tourist attractions in washington, d. C.
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FUTURES AT THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION Housed in the newly reopened 19th-century Arts and Industries Building, the oldest on the Smithsonian campus, this free 32,000-square-foot installation
displays inventions from the past and various visions for what lies ahead. “Past Futures,” for instance, includes an Alexander Graham Bell experimental telephone and Buckminster Fuller
geodesic dome. Among the looking-ahead exhibits: a robot that assuages loneliness, a video game you play by using your eyes, ways to improve the environment, including a water harvester that
sucks liquid from the air. Say one word to describe your own future, and an imaginative artwork plays a personalized light show based on your answer. FUTURES marks the 175th anniversary of
the Smithsonian Institution, and runs through July 6. VISIT: 900 Jefferson Drive SW; 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (until 7 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays), closed Tuesdays. TOURS OF THE CAPITOL After
two years of visitation restrictions due to COVID, guided visits to the U.S. Capitol Building start up again on May 30. The excursion includes the domed Rotunda, lined with paintings
depicting various moments in U.S. history, and National Statuary Hall, home to marble and bronze statues representing the states that sent them. VISIT: As with the White House tour described
above, tickets must be obtained in advance from a member of Congress — though at this time each is allowed to assign constituents to only one tour a week. Find more information, or sign up
for the Capitol Visitor Center’s live virtual tours (offered Monday–Friday at 9 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.) by 4 p.m. the day before. See visitthecapitol.gov for more information.
Courtesy Western Market and photographer Emil Moldoveanu GREAT FOOD D.C. has become a world-class dining destination, featuring cuisines from American farm-to-table to hundreds of ethnic
options. Western Market, on Pennsylvania Avenue near the White House, houses nearly a dozen casual eateries, serving authentic Venezuelan, Japanese and Guatemalan dishes and more. Capo
Italian Deli is known for its super subs and cocktail bags to go, including the Fauci Pouchy (vodka, elderflower, mint, lemonade, grapefruit). Coming soon: Greek street food at Alikito,
Sushi Onkei and Expat, a sports-betting bar with food options. Local star restaurateur Ashok Bajaj (upscale Bombay Club, La Bise, Rasika and more) has opened the more affordable Bindaas
Foggy Bottom and Bindaas Rolls & Bowls near the National Portrait Gallery, both dishing out the street food of India washed down with a mango lassi yogurt drink. And celebrated chef José
Andrés, known for feeding refugees and disaster victims via his nonprofit World Central Kitchen, is drawing fans of Iberian comfort food to his fun and funky Spanish Diner. It’s in the
nearby retiree mecca of Bethesda, Maryland, close to super shopping and the Bethesda Metro stop. Charles O. Cecil/Alamy Stock Photo NATIONAL NATIVE AMERICAN VETERANS MEMORIAL This new
memorial on the grounds of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian celebrates the usually unsung participation of Native Americans in every branch of the U.S.
military. Designed by former Marine Harvey Pratt, of Cheyenne and Arapaho heritage, it consists of an imposing stainless steel circle — the Warriors Circle of Honor — mounted on an elevated
stone drum. Family members and others can tie cloths for prayers and healing on four lances that are incorporated into the design.