A storm rolled in somewhere between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial, and Ryan Trahan and Haley were on bikes when it happened. Rain jackets on, pedaling hard, trying to reach the shelter of the memorial’s wide stone steps before the downpour turned serious. That moment – wet tourists, borrowed gear, a tour guide named Jeff somewhere behind them securing the bikes – turned out to be one of the better parts of day two of their top 10 tourist attractions series.
The pair had flown in from Florida, still carrying the memory of Disney World from the day before. Washington D.C. was next on the list. They dropped their luggage at a nearby hotel and noticed immediately that the city moves differently. Bike lanes everywhere. Scooters weaving through. The National Mall stretched ahead of them like something designed with a ruler and a long argument about symbolism – because, according to tour guide Jeff Miller, it essentially was.
Why Jeff Miller might be the best reason to visit D.C. on two wheels
Jeff Miller, a D.C. cycling concierge, met them with bikes, helmets, water bottles, and snacks already packed. His first stop was the Washington Monument, where he explained that at one point it was the tallest structure in the world – until the Eiffel Tower was built. He walked them through the construction, stone by stone, and the precision of it stopped Trahan mid-sentence.
From there, Jeff led them past newly installed bison sculptures outside the Smithsonian, pointed out Albert Einstein sitting in bronze among the trees, and eventually brought them to the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial. By the Thomas Jefferson Memorial, Trahan had noted that it holds one of the few direct sightlines to the White House in the entire city.
At the Lincoln Memorial, still damp from the rain, Jeff stood beside the engraved text of the Gettysburg Address and explained that a ‘score’ means 20 years – making Lincoln’s opening line a quiet way of saying the country was 87 years old when he delivered those words. Trahan found himself emotional. Haley said it out loud first: she had been looking at Lincoln’s words from the bike and felt the weight of how far things had come.
Ben’s Chili Bowl, a 92-year-old woman, and a half-smoke that has its own regional identity
Lunch was at Ben’s Chili Bowl, a D.C. institution that has operated for nearly 70 years, according to the restaurant’s own history. The building is currently under renovation, with the counter preserved and the floor kept intact – ‘we had to modernize to get the new plumbing, the new electric, the new infrastructure to last another 50 to 60 years,’ said Ben Ali Jr., whose family has run the restaurant since its founding.
Ben Jr. recommended the chili half-smoke without hesitation. ‘The chili half-smoke is indigenous to Washington D.C.,’ he said. Trahan ordered one. Haley got the chili bowl. The temporary location across the street was packed. The food came out fast.
After lunch, Jeff suggested they eat outside, which opened up a conversation with Virginia – Ben Jr.’s 92-year-old mother – who was seated nearby and offered her own verdict on the meal in a single word: ‘Amazing.’
The afternoon continued at Union Station, a quick detour Trahan had wanted to make since crossing America by train in an earlier series. Then came the U.S. Capitol building, where Jeff pointed out that the entire dome is cast iron. A vote was actively taking place inside – visible by the light bulbs lit up in the dome. They found a spot where the Capitol and the Washington Monument lined up behind them at 360 degrees and stayed longer than planned.
At the Smithsonian – the largest museum complex in the world and free to enter, according to the institution itself – Trahan and Haley worked through the ocean hall, the mammal exhibits, a T-Rex skeleton, and eventually arrived at the Hope Diamond, a 45-carat stone surrounded by a crowd of people trying to get close. They also stopped at the National Archives to see the Declaration of Independence, which Trahan noted was written in considerably smaller handwriting than expected.
The moment the scorecards came out
Back at their airport hotel that evening, Trahan and Haley rated Washington D.C. across three criteria: experience, scenery, and magic. Experience earned an eight. Scenery landed at five. Magic – where Haley held up a nine – finished the scoring. Washington D.C. totaled 22 points, putting it just one point behind Disney World in second place on their running list.
Haley’s reasoning for the high magic score was specific. ‘I feel like the magic is truly captured,’ she said. ‘The whole point of these monuments is to create something larger than life to try to symbolize and represent the meaning that someone or something had.’ Trahan agreed and locked in nine.
They finished the evening eating wings dipped in mumbo sauce – a D.C. staple – before setting an early alarm for the next destination.
Virginia, 92, had already said everything that needed to be said
Virginia, the mother of Ben Ali Jr. and a living part of Ben’s Chili Bowl’s nearly 70-year story, sat near the temporary renovation location while two tourists ate their half-smokes and debated monument rankings. She watched them for a moment and offered her assessment of the food they were eating. One word. She didn’t elaborate.
The storm that nearly derailed the bike tour had long cleared by then. What was left was a dry afternoon, full monuments, and a ranking system Trahan and Haley are still building – one city at a time. Jeff Miller had handed over the bikes, packed up the snacks, and sent them toward the Smithsonian on foot. The Washington Monument was still visible through the museum windows as they walked the hall of mammals.
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This article was reported in June 2026.
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