hornetsnest's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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Places visited in Negril, Jamaica
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Washington, D.C.

Potomac Park Flood Levee

This mysterious structure by the Washington Monument is a flood barrier designed to protect the White House against rising waters.
Washington, D.C.

NASA Full Scale Wind Tunnel Propeller

While most wind tunnels test scale models, the "Cave of Winds" was large enough for actual airplanes.
Washington, D.C.

Georgetown Waterfront

The little-known, 300-year history of the area includes former lives as a bustling tobacco port, parking lot, and industrial dump.
Washington, D.C.

Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office Museum

Before founding the American Red Cross, Clara Barton had a tremendous humanitarian impact by locating thousands of missing soldiers.
Washington, D.C.

Capitol Air Conditioning Towers

"Congress may voluntarily remain in session throughout the summer, in order that our Congressmen may be protected from the intolerable discomforts and dangers of the ordinary outdoor weather!”
Washington, D.C.

Water Gate at the Watergate Complex

Before Nixon, "watergate" meant canals.
Washington, D.C.

Reading Room at the Folger Shakespeare Library

Home to a vast and influential collection of Shakespeareana.
Washington, D.C.

Knife Edge

Architecture lovers won’t stop touching the National Gallery's 19.5 degree marble prow.
Washington, D.C.

Navy Yard Railroad Gun

One of the largest artillery pieces in the world sits in a Washington D.C. parking lot.
Washington, D.C.

National Cathedral Bell Tower

There’s a special club house at the top for the bell ringers.
Washington, D.C.

Carousel on the National Mall

Washington's iconic carousel has a nice piece of Civil Rights history.
Washington, D.C.

The K-9 of the Korean War Veterans Memorial

Those with a sharp eye can find the hidden image of a German Shepherd on the memorial's Mural Wall.
Washington, D.C.

Willard Hotel

Legend has it that President Grant’s frequent drinking in the lobby gave rise to the term “lobbyist.”
Washington, D.C.

Chinatown Barnes Dance

The unique traffic pattern named for an influential urban planner is also known as the Pedestrian Scramble.
Washington, D.C.

Abandoned Drawbridge Control Room

The hidden offices underneath Memorial Bridge have been locked up since 1976.
Washington, D.C.

Treasury Department Cash Vault

Where the U.S. government kept its actual treasure, before Fort Knox.
Washington, D.C.

Bare-Chested George Washington

Perhaps the most scandalous statue of America's first president.
Washington, D.C.

Watergate Steps

Decades before the scandal, this staircase on the river was a literal "water gate."
Washington, D.C.

Amelia Earhart's Lockheed Vega

The "lovely red Vega" of the legendary record-settling pilot.
Washington, D.C.

Maine Avenue Fish Market

The oldest continuously operating fish market in the United States.
Washington, D.C.

Theodore Roosevelt Island

The national park was once a plantation estate.
Washington, D.C.

Lincoln Book Tower

A three-story tower of books about Abraham Lincoln is one of the more unusual monuments to the president.
Washington, D.C.

The Mutilated Currency Division

An obscure public service from the U.S. government that redeems burnt, moldy, and soiled old greenbacks.
Washington, D.C.

The Mary Surratt Boarding House

The house where John Wilkes Booth conspired with his co-conspirators.