Washington DC for sci fi and fantasy fans
There’s a lot you can say about Washington DC — and we know, not all of it’s good. For most outside the beltway* our little city is synonymous with just one thing: crazy politics. But we don’t want you to get the wrong impression, because we’ve got culture, too! Really. No, seriously. And for science fiction and fantasy fans, we’re almost a mecca. Okay, maybe not, but imagine your Comic-Con cred if you tell your fellow line buddies outside Hall H that you’ve seen a few of these sights.
The Space Shuttle Enterprise
Yeah, we’ve got that. It’s spent years locked away in a hangar at Dulles airport but is now on display nearby at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center — an annex to the National Air and Space Museum on the Mall — located about 40 minutes outside Washington. And bonus! You can visit the hangar were parts of Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen were filmed. Public transit to Dulles is tricky… your best bet is to start at the Air and Space Museum downtown and pick up one of their shuttle guides for details on how to get out Udvar-Hazy Centr. Better yet, if you’re flying through Dulles, make it a stop into or out of town.
The Exorcist Steps
Fantasy and horror more your thing? Not a straight science fiction guy? Okay. Then the power of Christ compels you to visit this movie landmark in Georgetown, one of Washington DC’s upscalest neighborhoods. Avoid these suckers in high heels, while drunk and if Linda Blair is around. They’re pretty steep. Take the Circulator (those red busses you see every where) to get to Georgetown and head ove to 36th St and M St NW . The trip is $1 each way.
Dupont Circle
Remember the landmark series The X-Files? The predecessor of modern long-arc serial science fiction dramas like Lost and Fringe ? Sure you do. In the series, Dr. Kurtzweil, the informant for the Syndicate, has an office just off this historic thoroughfare. Dupont connects so many Washington DC streets we can’t keep them all straight… no pun intended, but Dupont is also Washington’s oldest and best-known gay hotspot. The circle is right off the Red Line, though you’ll need to take the Q Street exit and walk south (the only other exit is closed for the next year). History aside, Dupont is also just a great place to sit on a sunny day, and the free wi-fi will keep you entertained if the people watching doesn’t.
The Willard Room
This 3000 square foot banquet room at the Willard Intercontinental Hotel in downtown Washington was the scene of a premature celebration in The Minority Report . This hotel has more than a bit of science fiction history attached, though — Martin Luther King penned his “I Have a Dream” speech as a guest here and Mark Twain wrote two books while staying at the Willard in the 1900s. At 1401 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, a room in the hotel will put you close to the White House and another science fiction setting: Federal Triangle, where the Reagan Trade Building doubled as The Minority Report’s Department of Pre-Crime.
The National Archives
Located just off the National Mall, behind the National Gallery, the Archives played a prominent role in the first National Treasure movie (aside from all the scenes in the building, a lot was shot outside, on Pennsylvania Avenue, too). Okay, it’s not fantasy or sci-fi, but will you give us alternate history? While you’re there, soak up some real history. The Archives hold not only the Declaration of Independence, but the United States Constitution and the Magna Carta, too. Admission is free, but get there early — there’s a line for entrance during tourist season in the spring and summer.
The President’s Gallery
The painting of Theodore Roosevelt at the Portrait Gallery in Chinatown featured prominently in the Ben Stiller and Amy Adams fantasy adventure-comedy (their words, not ours) Night at the Museum 2 . Other Smithsonian artifacts that inspired the film’s writers were Dorothy’s ruby slippers in the American History Museum and the T-Rex skeleton in the Natural History Museum, all within walking distance of each other on the National Mall (hit the Portrait Gallery first by taking the Yellow / Green Line to Chinatown, then walk south down 7th Street to hit up the other museums).
*Washington DC is surrounded by a six-lane highway affectionately known as the Beltway. It’s also called “oh my God why am I driving on this thing” or, alternatively, at rush hour, “damnit, I’m so sick of sitting on this thing.”
—Justin McLachlan
