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Tourists willing to venture a few miles out of the district to Fairfax, Va., will be rewarded by another of the area's unusual institutions, the 68-year-old National Firearms Museum. Run by the National Rifle Association, it has one of the country's largest collections of rare and historical guns. More than 2,000 are on display, including those that belonged to Napoleon (an 1800 double flintlock fowler shotgun), Annie Oakley, Theodore Roosevelt and Dwight Eisenhower, says senior curator Doug Wicklund.
On view through the end of 2006 is a special exhibit called the "Arsenal of Democracy," which honors World War II veterans with a display of firearms used in battle. Wicklund points out that about half of the museum's visitors are at least 50 years old and carry vivid memories of some of the country's most significant recent wars. "Like so many other museums in the Washington area," Wicklund sums up, "we're a hidden treasure waiting to be discovered."
WHERE TO FIND THEM
•International Spy Museum
800 F Street N.W.
202-393-7798
Adults: $14; seniors (65 or older): $13; children 5 to 11: $11; children under 5: no charge
Open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. April through October; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. November through March
•Marian Koshland Science Museum
6th and E streets N.W.
202-334-1201
www.koshland-science-museum.org
Adults: $5; seniors (65 or older) and students 5 to 18: $3
Open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day except Tuesday
•National Museum of Health and Medicine
6900 Georgia Avenue (at Elder Street N.W.)
202-782-2200
www.nmhm.washingtondc .museum
Free admission
Open 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
•Folger Shakespeare Library
201 East Capitol Street S.E.
202-544-4600
Free admission
Open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day except Sunday
•National Museum of Women in the Arts
1250 New York Avenue N.W.
202-783-5000
Adults: $8; seniors (60 or older) and students over 18: $5
Open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday; noon to 5 p.m. Sunday
•National Firearms Museum
11250 Waples Mill Road Fairfax, Va.
703-267-1600
www.nra.nationalfirearms.museum
Free admission
Open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
•Websites for Washington tourist and museum information
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