Upper Northwest Neighborhood, Washington

The English-style, neo-Gothic National Cathedral is purported to be the sixth largest cathedral in the world. It took 83 years to build, from 1907 to 1990. Even today, the work on the stone carvings and the stained-glass windows is ongoing.The original design was created by George Federick Bodley and Henry Vaughn but when they died within 10 years of the first stone being laid, it was later modified by Boston architect Philip Hubert Frohman. The top of its central tower is one of the highest points in Washington. It is the burial site of President Woodrow Wilson and Helen Keller. The Cathedral is part of the Episcopal Church but holds many interdenominational events and services.

Located at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, the National Museum of Health and Medicine was established during the Civil War as the Army Medical Museum, a center for the collection of specimens for research in military medicine and surgery. In 1862, Surgeon General William Hammond directed medical officers in the field to collect "specimens of morbid anatomy . . . together with projectiles and foreign bodies removed" and to forward them to the newly founded museum for study.Today the museum features exhibits on the human body, Civil War medicine and military medical history. Visitors can see the world's largest collection of microscopes, an early X-ray of the human body and General Daniel Sickles shattered leg bone. The museum's most famous artifacts relate to President Abraham Lincoln and his assassination on April 14,1865 by John Wilkes Booth. On display is the bullet fired from the Deringer pistol which ended the President's life, the probe used by the US Army Surgeon General to locate the bullet, pieces of Lincoln's hair and skull, and the surgeon's shirt cuff, stained with Lincoln's blood.

Washington's only Presidential Museum is the house where Woodrow Wilson lived with his wife from 1921 until his death in 1924. His public career and his life as a private citizen are featured in an impressive collection of White House objects, gifts of state from around the world, family items, and personal mementoes. Furnished as it was in Wilson's time, the fashionable 1915 house just off Embassy Row is a living exhibit of modern American life in the 1920s-from sound recordings to silent films, from flapper dresses to zinc sinks.

Anderson House was built between 1902 and 1905 as the winter home of Ambassador Larz Anderson and his wife. The Late Renaissance Revival style home contains many of the original decorative European and Asian art works as well as original furnishings. As the headquarters of the Society of the Cincinnati, composed of male descendants of Revolutionary War officers, the museum has Revolutionary War artifacts and the Society of the Cincinnati Library.

US Naval Observatory was established in 1830 as the Depot of Charts and Instruments. Today it is a premier authority on astronomical data and earth orientation. The US Naval Observatory is also responsible for providing the information necessary for safe navigation in air, space and at sea. Home of the atomic clocks, which keep the most precise time on the planet.

This 11-foot bronze statue depicting soldiers from various armed service honors the African-Americans who served in the Union forces during the Civil War. The names of the black servicemen and the white officers who led them are engraved into semi-circular walls at the site.

The Hillwood Museum and Gardens showcase the 25-acre estate and unique art collection of Post cereal heir and businesswoman Marjorie Merriweather Post. She collected imperial Russian fine and decorative arts and the museum also features her extensive series of eighteenth-century French works of art.

Visitors can see the combination of art and science at this institute devoted to holograms, lasers and high technology. The collection includes the world's largest hologram.

The Islamic Center is an educational, religious and cultural institution as well as the most widely known Mosque in Washington. Highlights include a 160 foot minaret, a library and a notable mosaic with inscriptions from the Koran.

ATTRACTION IS PERMANENTLY CLOSED.Washington Doll's House & Toy Museum presents a collection of mostly Victorian age dolls, toys and games. The museum director is a noted author and is often on hand to sign copies of her books.