A very cute garden path to walk through. They have lots of whimsical displays to peak your child's interest and at the end there is a wonderful "foot piano" made out of 9 metal pedals that you can jump on.
Campus is absolutely gorgeous in the fall, I highly recommend a stroll through north campus and a stop here at the statue of a Spartan. It's great for photo-ops, you can climb right up and give him a kiss if you want!
**The Map has this location slightly off. The statue is just west of Spartan Stadium at the loop of Chestnut Rd. It's right in front of the Marching Band's Practice Field and across from the Red Cedar River.
A cute little collection of historical buildings, including a one-room school house. The Village hosts weekly concerts in the summer and the adjoining park/pavilion has a farmer's market weekly. Groups can rent the pavilion also, it fits ~250 people and has a large field behind it for games or picnics.
Right at the heart of old campus, with beautiful buildings and landscapes surrounding. The MSU carillon features 49 bells and is capable of playing the full range of literature composed for the instrument. The first ten bells were installed in Beaumont Tower in 1928. Thirteen additional bells were added in 1935 to make the instrument a carillon. The bells are played by the Tower Guard at random times, though I believe they are supposed to play every day at noon. Any Tower Guard member can take you on a tour to the top, I had a roommate that played so we got the inside scoop and were up top while she played!
It really is the best of the Smithsonian museums. So many interesting exhibits, some unapologetically sciency! Plus, there is a McDonalds inside...a really expensive one, but still better priced than any of the other food courts in the Mall museums.
While it's great to see the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, the lines here can be quite long. The amount of people roaming about is comparable to the rest of the museums on the Mall, but because there are so few items to look at it feels much more crowded and time-consuming. The building is beautiful, inside and out.
Kennedy Center guided tours are free to the public, just walk-in and catch the next one, they start every 10 minutes from the lower level by the large gift shop. The tour is very good, shows you all around the theater including the presidential box. They also have free daily concerts. Most of them are kind of odd, but it's worth checking out. They are held in the back foyer that overlooks the river and I believe they are at 5 or 6pm.
I saw the Nutcracker Ballet here one Christmas season and that was quite enjoyable despite being in the very back row of the balcony. Truly, not a bad seat in the house!
There is a free shuttle service that will take you to and from the Foggy Bottom Metro stop.
The Lincoln Memorial is probably the most majestic of the monuments in DC. Walking up the steps to meet Abe is such a cool experience. I've found that the National Park Service Rangers that work here are extremely knowledgeable and enthusiastic about sharing info.
I love the Jefferson Memorial. It is a little out of the way compared to the other monuments in town, so driving is preferred. The best part about this one is that you can walk all the way around, inside and outside uninhibited. There is also a cute little gift shop downstairs (little known fact!).
One of the better "President's homes." You can buy tickets and check-in at the gift shop. The tour starts with a video giving a little background and then you begin the walking tour across the grounds and into the house. The tour guide we had was wonderful, very knowledgeable and fun. Once they have taken you through the main house you are set loose to explore some more, including the "basement" kitchens and slave quarters. They also have quite a few extra things going on around the grounds, including a period cooking demonstration, an archaeological dig site, and more. They have taken great care to restore this home to be an accurate portrayal of when Madison lived there.
Highlight: the view from Madison's library/study. Amazing, I can see how he was inspired to write the constitution from there!