trekkieturtle's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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Washington, D.C.

Carousel on the National Mall

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

The Preamble in License Plates

The preamble to the U.S. Constitution written entirely from vanity license plates hangs in the Smithsonian museum.
Washington, D.C.

Capitol Bollards

The 5.5-mile ring of steel posts around the Capitol Building is one of the largest (and most uniform) of its kind in the world.
Washington, D.C.

The Highest Court In the Land

There just so happens to be a court even higher than the U.S Supreme Court: a basketball court in the building itself.
Bethesda, Maryland

Walter Reed National Military Medical Center

FDR's Art Deco hospital tower was hopelessly inefficient.
College Park, Maryland

College Park Airport and Aviation Museum

The world's oldest continuously operating airport was founded by the Wright Brothers.
Greenbelt, Maryland

Greenbelt Historic District

A relic of FDR's brief foray into utopian urban planning.
Lanham, Maryland

NASA Goddard Rocket Garden

A lawn full of retired spacecraft on display at one of NASA's first research labs.
Annapolis, Maryland

John Paul Jones' Crypt

Rediscovered after a century, the father of the American Navy was reinterred in something dredged up from Davy Jones' Locker.
Cockeysville, Maryland

Beaver Dam

A swimming hole in the historic industrial quarry that supplied the marble for the Baltimore Washington Monument.
Ellicott City, Maryland

Enchanted Forest Theme Park

Remnants of a storybook amusement park hidden behind a strip mall.
Ellicott City, Maryland

Daniels

An eerie, decaying ghost town destined to fade into the forest.
Ellicott City, Maryland

Thomas Isaac Log Cabin

A former pillar of the Black community in Ellicott City.
Baltimore, Maryland

'Man/Woman'

Public opinion is still divided on this enormous sculpture in front of Baltimore's Penn Station.
Baltimore, Maryland

George Peabody Library

It's not hard to see why the historic Peabody Conservatory of Music's library has been described as a "cathedral of books."
Baltimore, Maryland

Phoenix Shot Tower

Once America's tallest structure, now a Baltimore landmark.
Baltimore, Maryland

Fell Family Cemetery

Wedged between two sets of row houses is an awkwardly located family graveyard.
Baltimore, Maryland

The Horse You Came In On Saloon

A 200-year-old bar with a cheeky name claims to have served Edgar Allan Poe his final drink.
Baltimore, Maryland

Edgar Allan Poe's Grave

The trials and tribulations of marking Poe's grave.
Baltimore, Maryland

Davidge Hall

One of the oldest anatomical theaters in the U.S. still in use was once the site of an infamous cadaver riot.
Arbutus, Maryland

The Arbutus Oak

The 320-year-old tree that greeted General Lafayette and rerouted an interstate highway.
Halethorpe, Maryland

Maryland's 3rd Congressional District

A winding district gerrymandered into the shape of a mantis.