February 19, 1999

So you're convinced you have seen the sights of Washington. You've toured the White House, visited the famous monuments, gaped at the Hope Diamond, and shopped at the same stores you have at home. But the nation's capital has an array of unique and fascinating sights off the beaten tourist path that can reveal a side of Washington of which even longtime locals are unaware.

Start with a jolt at the National Museum of Health and Medicine. Located on the grounds of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center on Georgia Avenue, N.W., the museum chronicles the efforts of physicians and researchers to battle disease and injuries. Be warned, however, that some exhibits are graphic and not for the squeamish, displaying organs, fetuses, and body parts preserved in glass jars. A current exhibit examining that state of battlefield medicine during the Civil War includes artifacts, operating tools, and even bones displaying saw marks. It also explains why disease claimed more soldiers' lives than did bullets. Fragments of Abraham Lincoln's skull are on display in another exhibit, as is the bullet that killed him. Nearby visitors can gape at a portion of John Wilkes Booth's bullet-ridden spine.

But perhaps you have something a little more placid in mind? A surprise awaits in the middle of Embassy Row in the 3100 block of Massachusetts Avenue, N.W. There, sheltered from the traffic, is the Kahlil Gibran Memorial Garden. This small park, reached by a small bridge, combines Western and Arabic symbols, while the benches are engraved with quotes from the poet's writings.

Across the street from the garden is the U.S. Naval Observatory. Try to plan a visit for Monday evenings, when at 8:30 90 lucky people get the opportunity to gaze through its largest telescope. But get there very early-90 people makes for a surprisingly short line. Also on the grounds of the observatory is the Vice President's house, but you will need an invitation from Al or Tipper Gore to see it up close.

Just off Dupont Circle, and near several large hotels, is another one-of-a-kind museum, the National Museum of Jewish Military History. Located, coincidentally, in a building that formerly housed APA offices, the museum commemorates Jewish soldiers who have fought in wars for the U.S. It contains weapons, posters, and memorabilia, among them a camouflage yarmulke. The museum is open every day but Saturday.

Washington's historic Georgetown neighborhood reveals several interesting sites beyond its trendy shops and fascinating architectural styles. Start a visit at beautiful Dumbarton Oaks near 30th and R streets, N.W., a late-Georgian style estate once owned by Vice President John C. Calhoun. Its last owners, Mildred and Robert Bliss, gave the estate to Harvard University to be used as a study center for Byzantine civilization and medieval humanities. A 1963 addition to the original mansion, built in 1800, houses an extensive pre-Columbian art collection. In 1944 the house was the site of the conference that led to the founding of the United Nations.

Behind Dumbarton Oaks are gorgeous formal gardens that should be resplendent in mid-May. At historic Oak Hill Cemetery, which adjoins the estate, you will find the graves of such luminaries as Edwin Stanton, Lincoln's Secretary of War; unsuccessful presidential candidate James G. Blaine; and William Wilson Corcoran, who built the cemetery and gave Washington a priceless gift, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, near the White House.

Across from the cemetery on R Street, you can reconnect with the 20th century by walking past the home that resembles a French chateau, which is the residence of Washington Post publisher Katherine Graham. Imagine the history-shaping discussions and parties that have gone on within those walls.

Continue your tour by walking a few blocks south at 1644 31st Street, N.W., to Tudor Place, a mansion designed in 1816 by William Thornton, architect of the U.S. Capitol, for Martha Parke Custis, a granddaughter of Martha Washington, and her husband, Thomas Peter. Custis built the house with money she inherited from George Washington's estate, and it contains an extensive collection of Washington family memorabilia. There is also a letter from George to Martha written while he was in Philadelphia in 1775. The house is open for tours Tuesday through Sunday by reservation only; phone: (202) 965-0400.

Then continue your Georgetown "tour" by heading south to 3307 N Street, N.W. Another classic Georgetown residence, the home was built by William Marbury in 1812 and was the home Senator John F. Kennedy bought for Jacqueline while she was in the hospital following the birth of Caroline, their first child.

For a major change of pace, head to M and 34th streets, N.W., near Georgetown University's campus. There you will find the famous "Exorcist steps." Judge for yourself whether they are as terrifying in real life as they appeared in the movie. The story in the film was "based on" events that took place in Georgetown.

About a mile north of downtown Washington, you can within a few blocks get a mini-tour of the world in the city's most diverse neighborhood, Adams-Morgan. Centered around 18th Street, and Columbia Road, N.W., the neighborhood got its name from the two elementary schools that once served the area: Adams for white children and Morgan for black children. Today, despite nearly two decades of gentrification, it still boasts a staggering array of unique restaurants, shops, and galleries that highlight the cuisine, art, and culture of many African, Asian, European, and Latin American countries.

Adams-Morgan is also home to many of the city's hippest bars and clubs, which makes finding a parking space nearly as difficult as discovering the Holy Grail. Take a cab.

Just a few blocks from APA headquarters is the home where Mary McLeod Bethune lived while she worked in Franklin Roosevelt's administration. The house at 1318 Vermont Avenue, N.W., displays her furniture and artifacts, while the former carriage house is home to the National Archives of Black Women's History. The creation of a statue of Bethune in Lincoln Park near Capitol Hill marked the first such commemoration of a black woman in the mostly black city of Washington.

Back in the heart of Washington's tourist center is a building that for decades has piqued the public's curiosity but was off limits to visitors. The ornate, mostly second-empire style Old Executive Office Building, often called the "wedding cake building" by Washington locals, has been open for tours, albeit on a very limited basis, for the last few years. A compendium of almost every 19th century architectural idea, the building houses the Vice President's offices, those of the National Security Council, and several other Executive Branch offices. It is also the site where Fawn Hall carried out her infamous shredding job to cover up the paper trail that would have revealed the NSC's cover-up of profits from the illegal sale of weapons to Iran, which were then used to assist the Nicaraguan contra rebels. Hall shredded so many documents she broke the shredder. Free tours are given every Saturday from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. but require appointments.

Of course, no capital as important (and self-important) as Washington can be free from scandal. Inquiring minds can gain some insight into one by walking by 517 6th Street, S.E., the Capitol Hill townhouse where Senator Gary Hart's presidential ambitions came to an inglorious end. Having challenged the media to prove rumors that he was having an affair, the Miami Herald caught him and friend Donna Rice spending a day and night together in the house. He withdrew from the White House quest three weeks later.

While hardly off the tourist track, visitors whose scandal appetite is whetted by sites made infamous by Hart and Hall can also stop and ponder the Tidal Basin where the "Argentine firecracker," exotic dancer Fanne Foxe, jumped out of the car of powerful Ways and Means Committee Chair Wilber Mills of Arkansas and dove into the water. She was apparently eluding police, who had stopped the congressman for speeding. A lucky photographer captured the scene on film. Mills didn't seek reelection.

Unfortunately, another site that also will live in infamy, the Oval Office, is off limits to most tourists.