The nation's Capitol - Washington, D.C. - is a place to see inside and out. There's a never-ending variety of things and places to see and experience.

Among the indoor delights are the many and varied dazzling Smithsonian and private museums, art galleries, theaters and public areas in the Supreme Court, Library of Congress and the halls of Congress.

The Supreme Court's Authority of Law

But there's also good reason to head outdoors to appreciate other sights, including the many memorials around the Tidal Basin - the Lincoln, Jefferson, Martin Luther King Jr., Vietnam Veterans, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt memorials and more - to the towering Washington Monument, Capitol Mall, Wharf area fish market, Arlington National Cemetery and the Capitol grounds.

Historic D.C. is a place to visit on foot, and it's easy to access. The Metro system provides easy travel from inside the city and from Arlington and Alexandria, both just across the Potomac River in Virginia.

The heart of D.C. is the outdoor National Mall, which stretches about 2-1/2 miles between Capitol Hill at the East end and the Lincoln Memorial at its West. Part of the allure is the architecture, from the classic elegance of the Lincoln and Jefferson memorials and White House to the raw power of the Martin Luther King, Vietnam Veterans and Korean War Veterans memorials. There's great diversity, too, from the simple elegance of the towering Washington Memorial to the varied architectural styles of the Hirshhorn, American Indian and African Art museums, Corinthian themed Supreme Court and the aptly named Smithsonian Castle.

While all are appealing during the day, they take on different auras at night. The Capitol is impressive by daylight but is even more ethereally elegant after dark. And viewed from Capitol Hill, the 555’5” tall illuminated Washington Monument seems to glow like a gigantic exclamation point.

Changes are constant in D.C. Multi-story housing units now dominate the Southwest/Capitol Waterfront district, also the location of the new DC United Soccer Stadium and, for the past decade, Nationals Park, home of the Washington Nationals baseball team. But more impacting are the memorials along the Tidal Basin. While the Jefferson and Lincoln memorials are elegant and the Vietnam Memorial evokes painful emotions, the Roosevelt and King memorials offer different personalities of the people they honor.

During my visits to D.C., including two in the past two years, I've enjoyed places I savored nearly 50 years ago while in the Navy stationed at the Navy Yard. Old friends include the National Gallery of Art, Arena Stage, Library of Congress, National Art and Space Museum. During recent visits, places like the Newseum, International Spy Museum, National Museum of American History and Supreme Court have been among fresh attractions. Places I know took on new meaning, including the dazzlingly delightful U.S. Botanic Garden, with its resplendent display of plants, bushes and trees, and a behind-the-scenes tour of Ford's Theatre that provided insights of Abraham Lincoln's cowardly assassination.