WASHINGTON, D.C. is only a short drive from Old Town Alexandria. In the beautiful capital city visitors can see memorials to WWII, the Vietnam War, the Korean War, the U.S. Navy, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, and Franklin D. Roosevelt. All of these outdoor memorials offer beautiful vistas of the city.

Congress participants may especially want to visit the Navy Yard on the banks of the Potomac and the U.S. Navy Museum. See artifacts of the nation’s early navy, including the original top mast of the USS Constitution. The museum has models of the sailing navy, paintings, maps, and tributes to naval war heroes and significant naval battles. A Military ID is required at the gate to the Navy Yard.

If one prefers indoor exhibits, visit the Navy Memorial and the U.S. Archives right across the street. See the Smithsonian Museum complex that includes the Air and Space Museum. Other attractions include the U.S. Bureau of the Mint, the Holocaust Museum, the National Museum of the American Indian, the Black History Museum, and the Library of Congress.

MOUNT VERNON, VIRGINIA – HOME OF PRESIDENT GEORGE WASHINGTON

Start your tour of Mount Vernon at the Education Center where visitors can learn about George Washington’s life as a surveyor, a military officer, president, and owner of a large plantation. Tour the two-story home where he and Martha Washington lived and entertained dignitaries from across the nation and around the world. The furnishings are exactly as they were in Washington’s day. Walking across the grounds, you can see gardens, outbuildings, the kitchen and smokehouse, blacksmith shop, and slave quarters. Visit the wharf on the Potomac where slaves caught baskets of shad. Your visit is not complete without a walk through the slave cemetery and a view of Washington’s tomb.

Optional pre-Congress events

TUESDAY - 18 OCTOBER 2022

Optional tour: 0900 – 1500 National Museum of the Marine Corps with Lunch at Tun Tavern

Opened in 2006, the Museum of the U.S. Marine Corps hosts 500,000 visitors yearly. Multi-media exhibits include static exhibits, walk-through exhibits, videos, and life-size dioramas. Visitors can see aircraft, vehicles, weapons, uniforms, and artifacts while learning about the U.S. Marines in the War for American Independence, the Quasi-Wars, World War I, World War II, Korea, and the Vietnam War.

$ No charge for admission; No-Host lunch at Tun Tavern.

If you are going us, send a note to nous.congress2022@gmail.com and say "Going to USMC"

WEDNESDAY - 19 OCTOBER 2022

* Optional Tours 1 -

1000 – 1200 Old Town Alexandria Waterfront Guided Walking Tour by Peter Pennington
1200 - 1300 Gather at Gadsby’s Tavern for Lunch with presentation by President Madison on the state of the military 1814
1330 – 1430 Afternoon Torpedo Factory Tour and History of the Torpedo Factory by Dr. David Winkler
1430 – 1500 Alexandria Waterfront Archeology - Presentation by City of Alexandria Archeologist

A WALKING TOUR OF HISTORIC OLD TOWN WATERFRONT, ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA

Naval Order Companion, Peter Pennington, invites Companions and guests to join him on a walking tour of the Waterfront, Old Town Alexandria among buildings and streets dating back to the 18th and 19th Centuries. Today you can see parks, restaurants, and a marina, a site that was once a thriving port which even had shipyards and an aeroplane factory. During morning coffee (“elevenses,” as the Brits would say), there will be a close examination of the seaborn raid on Alexandria in August 1814. Next, during lunch at Gadsby’s Tavern built in 1770, President James Madison will give his assessment of the U.S. in 1814. We shall then visit the Old Navy Torpedo Factory and learn the history of this building that now houses artists’ studios. Last, the Alexandria archaeologist will present a talk on the current status of the 18th Century vessels recovered during building works on the Waterfront.

If you are going us, send a note to nous.congress2022@gmail.com and say "Going to Gadsby's"

* Optional Tours 2 – Arlington National Cemetery

1400 - Uber/Carpool Hotel to & from Arlington Cemetery

Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, is the country’s largest military cemetery and is the final resting place for more than 400,000 military veterans and their immediate family members. The cemetery conducts up to 30 funerals every weekday.

Arlington National Cemetery is the home of several well-known historic sites, including the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier where every hour visitors can see the Changing of the Tomb Guard Sentinels from the elite 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment. Another point of interest are the gravesites of President John F. Kennedy, President William Howard Taft, Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, world champion boxer Joe Louis, monuments to the two Space Shuttles, Columbia and Challenger, and a number of the Tuskegee Airmen.

Arlington House, the former residence of Robert E. Lee, sits on a hill overlooking the cemetery. The federal government converted the grounds to a burial site for Civil War soldiers. The preserved historic home is open for public tours daily.

If you are going us, send a note to nous.congress2022@gmail.com and say "Going to ANC"

THURSDAY - 20 OCTOBER 2022

Optional tour - Annapolis & U.S. Naval Academy (USNA)

0800 – 1600 USNA Tour – variable costs ($15 box lunch or $32 buffet) plus transportation (TBA)
0800 depart Alexandria hotel to USNA
0900 arrive and commence tour of Chapel, Crypt, Museum, Viewing of Midshipmen Lunch Formation, Hopper Hall (Award Presentation), then [Box Lunch or Academy Club buffet]
1500 depart visitor center for return to Alexandria Hotel
1600 arrive Alexandria Hotel

Travel to Annapolis, the historic capital of Maryland on the Chesapeake Bay. Visit the campus of the U.S. Naval Academy established in 1845 on the Severn River. Watch the midshipmen in their noon formation. Tour Hopper Hall named after Rear Admiral Grace Hopper. Visit the chapel and see the Crypt of John Paul Jones. The U.S. Naval Academy Museum displays many artifacts of naval history – the model ship exhibition on the second floor is among the best in the world.

If you are going us, send a note to nous.congress2022@gmail.com and say "Going to Annapolis"

FRIDAY - 21 OCTOBER 2022

Optional: British Officers Club of DC (Formal Dinner Black Tie/Mess Dress) Country Club of Fairfax

If you are registered to attend in-person, you'll have heard from Peter Pennington with an invitation to attend.