doing DC: the national portrait gallery

One of the great things about moving to DC is having so many things to do for FREE. I don't know about you, but I love the word free. I would do a lot of things if they were free. Because there is so much to do, I typically spend my off time roaming around the city, collecting the tour guides as I go to display to all my friends as a way to say, "See? Look at all the things we can do!" 

However, one of my main problems about having all of these options is never being able to sort through what is actually good and what is worth skipping. Since one of my most used search terms for Google is "What to do in DC today" I've decided to start a series dedicated to highlighting the best parts of our Nation's Capitol, hopefully to help you make better use of your time when you visit. 

First up, I'm going to do my favorite art museum - the National Portrait Gallery. 

The one museum I've wanted to visit in London and still haven't is the National Portrait Gallery. The fact that America has one too totally blew my mind for a minute - okay you can feel free to call out the Midwestern-ness of that statement. Anyway, I typically get claustrophobic after two hours in a museum (seriously, you can ask my mom and my friend Anne who I basically ushered out of the Louvre as we went on hour 4 because I just couldn't take it anymore) but I could spend all day in this place. I've been twice and I still haven't seen all of the portraits. 

Currently, they're doing a series called "One Life: Grant and Lee" that is fascinating - and I'm not a Civil War person at all. There are tiny books filled with photographs of confederate soldiers and other pictures as well as these portraits like the one above. Look at that frame! Am I the only one awed at that frame?

Then you've got the permanent exhibit of American Presidents. Every President has his portrait hanging in this building, even the truly obscure ones like Millard Fillmore. Yep, that's a real name of a real president. Our 13th president to be exact. Please tell me I wasn't the only one that said "Who in the hell is Millard Fillmore??" 

If the above picture looks at all familiar (which is should), it's because this is the portrait of George Washington that was used to create the image for the quarter. It was only started but never completed, and there's a matching one of Martha Washington that is just of her face as well. Everyone should thank Martha for commissioning these portraits. 

There's so many more portraits that I would love to post, but if I did, there'd be no reason for you to go! 

Visiting the NPG is extremely easy. Take the Red Metro line to Gallery Place Chinatown. It's directly off of the stop. Entry is free because it's one of the Smithsonians, and attached to the NPG is the American Museum of Art, so it's two museums in one! Hours are 11:30am-7pm Mon-Sun. You can take pictures in most of the galleries. One piece of advice - I wouldn't bring a backpack if at all possible, because you'll have to wear it on your front like a baby holder. They do this to make sure you're not up against a wall and accidentally scrape against a painting. They do have some storage though if you feel comfortable leaving your items there.

*all photos taken by me with my trusty iPhone