In Two Days

Note: For this itinerary, you should call in advance for restaurant and ticket reservations.

Your second day takes you to several powerhouse museums in the Penn Quarter and as many Smithsonian museums as you can handle on the National Mall, with time set aside for a little Declaration of Independence, courtesy of the National Archives. You begin and end in the Penn Quarter, thanks to the 9am opening of the Newseum and the 7pm closing of the American Arts Museum and National Portrait Gallery (most museums are open 10am-5:30pm.) When you get to your after-lunch schedule, you'll likely have to choose from the menu of Mall museums I suggest. At tour's end, you'll be in the heart of a neighborhood known for its many cocktails and dinner options. Suggestion: Purchase advance tickets to tour the Newseum, and book reservations at Central for lunch and at Proof for dinner. Start: Metro on the Green or Yellow Line to Archives-Navy Memorial-Penn Quarter station; or on the Red Line to the Judiciary Square stop, exiting at 4th Street.

1. Newseum

This mammoth museum debuted on April 11, 2008, and the word is "Wow!" Its glass-fronted, seven-story, block-long-and-wide building grabs your attention. Is it truly "the world's most interactive museum," as it proclaims? Maybe so: 14 galleries, 15 theaters, two broadcast studios, and 130 interactive stations invite visitors to explore 5 centuries of news history. You can put yourself in the reporter's seat in an interactive newsroom, play the NewsMania game to test your knowledge of news events, or be "on the scene" at a dramatic moment in history, through an amazing 4-D theater experience. Awesome.

Walk 1 block over to 7th Street, cross Pennsylvania Avenue and proceed to Constitution Avenue to reach the entrance of the National Archives.

2. National Archives

Area residents are slow to catch on, but the National Archives has gradually been transforming itself into a multimedia complex, mounting major exhibitions, screening documentaries, and hosting talks by contemporary authors. Its finest feature, however, will always be its display of the original Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution, and Bill of Rights.

3. Take a Break --  Central Michel Richard

Treat yourself to a lobster burger, cassoulet, or steak au poivre, accompanied by an apricot sour or a glass of fine wine. Reservations are a must -- this is one of the hottest restaurants in the city. As you'll discover, its popularity has as much to do with the party atmosphere as with the top-notch cuisine. tel. 202/626-0015.

Re-cross Pennsylvania Avenue, walk down 10th Street, and cross Constitution Avenue to reach the entrance of the National Museum of Natural History.

4. National Museum of Natural History

This is a so-much-to-see, so-little-time venue, especially given the fact that this is the largest natural-history museum in the world. Do take a gander at the Hope Diamond and other gems and minerals, and don't miss the fossil collection and the dinosaur hall. But if your time is limited, visit two of the museum's newer exhibits. The 23,000-square-foot Ocean Hall, the museum's largest permanent exhibit, aims to explain the essential connection between oceans and all life. Displays include a life-size replica of a North Atlantic whale and an 1,800-gallon-tank display of coral reef. "Butterflies + Plants: Partners in Evolution" is two exhibits in one. Partners in Evolution explores the relationship between plants and insects and animals, while the Butterfly Pavilion is aflutter with live and colorful butterflies, allowing visitors to walk in their midst. The Butterfly Pavilion is the Smithsonian's rare exhibit that charges admission. Tickets cost $5 for children, $6 for adults, every day but Tuesday, when admission is free but a timed ticket is still necessary.

From here you can go next door (in a manner of speaking) to the National Museum of American History or stroll across the Mall to visit the Freer Gallery and/or the National Air and Space Museum. You decide.

5. National Museum of American History

This ponderous museum is much improved after a mighty renovation and retooled approach: Lots of live musical and theatrical performances play up American history and culture, the whole point of the museum. You won't have time to view everything on display, but certain things you shouldn't miss: the magnificent, original Star-Spangled Banner, now on display in its own multistory, glass-paneled gallery; 10-foot-high, glass-paned artifact walls showcasing choice items from the museum's three-million-piece collection, from an 1815 tavern sign to Helen Keller's watch; and a favorite, Julia Child's kitchen, moved from the famous chef's home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to its permanent niche here.

6. Freer Gallery

This handsome building, with its Italian Renaissance architecture and arched courtyard, is devoted to Asian art, with one major exception: its Whistler holdings. Visit the spectacular Peacock Room, so called for the golden peacock feathers that Whistler painted upon the walls of the room, which was once part of a friend's London town house (the friend was most displeased). Continue through other chambers of the gallery to admire ancient jade objects, early Buddhist sculpture, Islamic art, and a wealth of Asian works.

Continue down the Mall toward the Capitol to find your next stop.

7. National Air and Space Museum

This testament to human ingenuity houses a vast display of the machines we've created to fly through air and space. And yet, one of this museum's enduring attractions is something that puts those human accomplishments in perspective: the Albert Einstein Planetarium (you'll need a ticket to enter). It coaxes you to wonder about the dimensions of the universe.

Cross the National Mall, then Pennsylvania Avenue and make your way up 7th Street to find your next destination.

8 and 9. National Portrait Gallery and American Art Museum

Before this building was even finished, in 1867, it had already served as a Civil War hospital and as the site of Abraham Lincoln's second inaugural ball. Upon completion, the building housed patent offices, whose clerks eventually issued patents to Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison, and 500,000 other inventors. The Smithsonian took over the Patent Office Building and remodeled it before opening two-museums-in-one in 1968.

Fast-forward to 2006, and an even more intense renovation to the museums, which just happened to coincide with the remarkable renewal taking place in the museums' surrounding Penn Quarter neighborhood. The reopening of the National Portrait Gallery and the American Art Museum in July 2006 signified nothing less than a rebirth, and the city staged a celebration to herald this much-improved bastion of "American Originals." The museums and their vast displays do America proud, representing the nation's spirit and people at their best in every artistic genre, including presidential portraits, folk art, photographs, Latino art, African-American art, and paintings by the masters, from Gilbert Stuart to Georgia O'Keeffe to modernist Aaron Douglas. Go.

10. Take a Break --  Zola or Proof

Shoot, you've got so many good restaurants around you. Exit to G Street and you'll see Proof (tel. 202/737-7663), a wine-centric eatery that attracts young urbanistas, here to flirt and munch on pork confit and flatbreads. Exit to F Street and you'll see Zola (tel. 202/654-0999). In the same building as the Spy Museum, Zola plays upon a sleuth theme in its decor. The American cuisine's for real, though, and highly recommended.