Don't overlook a visit to Great Falls Tavern along the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal/Patrick Cone

Every year millions of people visit America’s emotional and political center, the District of Columbia. It’s here that the relics of liberty are housed, along with the center of government. A walking tour of the National Mall and Memorial Parks must be on your list when you’re visiting.

Then it’s off to any, or all, of the 19 Smithsonian sites, including the Air and Space, American History, and Natural History museums. Don’t forget the American Art, Hirshhorn, and Portrait Gallery museums, either. Also don’t overlook the Jefferson, Roosevelt, World War Two, and Korean War memorials, or the emotional scene at the Vietnam War Memorial. Admission is free for this, the world’s largest collection of artifacts, artworks, and museums.

Then, pack a picnic dinner and sit along the Reflecting Pool, take a trip up the Washington Monument, or sit on the western steps of the Lincoln Memorial as the sun sets over the Potomac River and the rest of a country dedicated to freedom and liberty. You can easily spend a week in this unique city, seeing the sights.

For a side trip, head to Georgetown with its centuries-old buildings, shops, and restaurants, but take a break for history after dinner, and visit the Tidewater Lock nearby—Milepost 0 on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. For over 100 years this 184-mile waterway fed coal, farm products, and lumber from as far away as Pennsylvania to market along the Potomac. Grab your walking shoes and head along the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park to a number of points of interest nearby, including the Boathouse at Fletcher’s Cove (where you can rent a bike, canoe, or boat) and watch the broad Potomac glide by to your left.

Fourteen miles upriver, don’t miss the Great Falls Tavern Visitor Center (one of seven visitor centers) where you will see the narrow locks that allowed boats to head upstream, bypassing the tumbling waters of these majestic falls.

The tavern, which opened for business in 1831, is a grand, three-story structure. You’ll see that over a century of use the ropes that pulled the long boats through the locks have even worn deep grooves in the red granite stone blocks. Finally, book a mule-drawn ride in a replica packet boat for a step-back in time, and reflect on our nation’s history.