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looks like a flimsy glider – it’s quite astonishing to think this could have started the air age.
The museum also has a stratospheric selection of space memorabilia to fire the imagination.
Neil Armstrong’s space suit from the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969 is on display, along with the command module and moon rock.
Meanwhile sci-fi fans will love the X-wing Starfighter that appeared in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and a pair of prosthetic ear tips made for Leonard Nimoy to portray Mr Spock.
The museum is fascinating, bringing the high-flying world of air and space travel to life – and best of all it’s free.
Founded by a legacy from British chemist James Smithsonian, the Smithsonian museums and galleries are all gratis and include art, natural history and American Indian artefacts.
One venue that isn’t free but is worth a visit is the International Spy Museum. Inside I channel my inner secret agent as a “spy volunteer” with the codename Evergreen.
We spy rookies are put to the test with secret missions, and after failing to catch some KGB operatives, I discover I’m more Oh, Oh No than 007.
James Bond’s Aston Martin DB5 takes pride of place in the foyer. First driven in Goldfinger in 1964, it’s loaded with machine guns, tyre slashers, oil jets and an ejector seat.
Shaken and stirred, I venture upstairs to see the tools and techniques of spycraft and learn about the famous secret agents who shaped the world of espionage.
Outside in the autumn sunshine, the leafy US capital with its elegant tree-lined boulevards, mid-rise buildings and imposing monuments in honour of its famous presidents is waiting to be explored.
While DC is very walkable, there are bus and bike tours to see the sights along the National Mall. A highlight is the Washington Monument, a pale obelisk needling the sky in honour of the first US president George Washington, along with the elegantly domed Thomas Jefferson Memorial.
While the closest I get to the White House is peering through the railings, it still looks splendid, set in manicured grounds with Secret Service personnel guarding the perimeter.
To the west of the city lies fashionable Georgetown, known for its university, boutiques, bookshops and bars. Founded in 1789, Georgetown
University has had some illustrious students including Bill and Hillary Clinton. The campus retains some of the original 18th and 19th-century buildings, the imposing Flemish-style Healy Hall with its tall clocktower being the most impressive.
Movie fans will remember that the university featured in The Exorcist, and I climb the steep steps nearby where Father Karras plummets 75 steps to his death in the movie’s climactic ending.
Then it’s time for a beer at Martin’s Tavern which has entertained some distinguished guests during its 88-year history.
Tucked inside the pub is the Rumble Seat where John F Kennedy drafted his inaugural speech. He also proposed to Jackie in booth three. Lyndon Baines Johnson, Harry Truman, George W Bush and disgraced president Richard Nixon were all frequent patrons too.
Talking of discredited presidents, Georgetown is also home to the famous Watergate Hotel. Still functioning as a hotel with paying guests, I assume my chances of a peek inside the room used in the 1972 Watergate break-in are slim, but the concierge tells me it is unoccupied. I’m shown to the Scandal Room, formerly room 214, which conjures up the spirit of the 70s with binoculars, a reel-to-reel tape recorder, typewriter and safe.
The bathrobe is even embroidered with the words ‘cover up’.
This is the hotel room where co-conspirators Howard Hunt and Gordon Liddy hid out as burglars attempted a break-in at the Democratic National Committee in The Watergate Complex. The walls are festooned with front pages detailing the scandal and Nixon’s resignation, plus posters from the movie All The President’s Men telling the story of the journalists who broke the story of America’s biggest scandal.
Illicit speakeasies thrived in America during the Prohibition Era but had a renaissance in the Noughties so I’m keen to sample these cool, clandestine bars. Many have unmarked entrances and hidden doors so are hard to find.
The Gibson at 2009 14th Street NW is only accessible through an unmarked door. Once inside, the dim lighting, secluded enclaves and a long wooden bar create a hushed, intimate atmosphere and I perch on a bar stool for a whiskey-based cocktail called We Are The Weirdos, Mister.
Also on 14th Street is Chicken + Whiskey, which appears to be a fried chicken joint but I walk to the rear and through a refrigerator door to discover a speakeasy with 99 whiskies. Visiting speakeasies adds to the fun of a night out in DC but food is also high on the menu. The Surveyor restaurant at the Thompson Washington DC hotel is a classic supper house serving traditional
dishes such as calamari, steaks and crab cakes.
At The Grill on Market Square SW, the menu focuses on woodfired cooking, with line-caught tuna steak and the local ribeye beef being my highlights for lunch.
In the Navy Yard area, Michelin-starred Bammy’s is a chilled Caribbean restaurant, and while the decor is nothing special the food is, especially the jerk chicken, Caribbean-style shrimp and grits, collards and plantains.
Buzzing from its close proximity to power and bulging with museums and monuments, Washington DC guarantees the wow-factor, but the lively pockets outside the city centre are full of surprises too.