Sightseeing Sunday: Weird Things to Do in Washington, DC

The Big Chair — A 19.5-foot replica of a Duncan Phyfe dining chair at 2101 Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue SE, built by Bassett Furniture in 1959 as an advertisement for the Curtis Brothers furniture store and once billed as the world’s largest chair. The original Honduras mahogany chair rotted outdoors and was replaced in 2006 with an identical brown aluminum version. Weird Roadside & OdditiesNot visited yet

National Capitol Columns — Twenty-two sandstone Corinthian columns standing alone in a 20-acre meadow at the U.S. National Arboretum. They held up the U.S. Capitol’s east portico from the inaugurations of Andrew Jackson through Dwight Eisenhower, were removed in the 1958 expansion, and were re-erected here in 1990 on a foundation built from the Capitol’s old front steps. Historic SitesNot visited yet

Darth Vader Grotesque — High on the Washington National Cathedral’s northwest tower, a limestone bust of Darth Vader peers down over the city. He came from a 1980s National Geographic World draw-a-grotesque contest for kids: 13-year-old Christopher Rader’s design took third place and was installed in 1986. Bring binoculars. Technically he’s a grotesque, not a gargoyle. Weird Roadside & OdditiesNot visited yet

Albert Einstein Memorial — A 12-foot, roughly 4-ton bronze Einstein by sculptor Robert Berks, seated casually on a granite bench outside the National Academy of Sciences and holding papers engraved with his famous equations. The circular dais in front of him is a star map of thousands of metal studs marking the planets and stars on dedication day, and visitors traditionally climb up for a photo in his lap. Weird Roadside & OdditiesNot visited yet

Giant Transformers — Two roughly 10-foot-tall, two-ton metal Transformers — Bumblebee and Barricade — built from recycled motorcycle and car parts, standing outside a townhouse at 3614 Prospect Street NW, with a smaller Optimus Prime up on the roof. Installed in 2021 outside Georgetown University brain scientist Newton Howard’s home, they’ve survived years of removal orders and neighborhood legal fights. View them from the sidewalk. Weird Roadside & OdditiesNot visited yet

Old Stone House — A blue-fieldstone house built in 1765, before the United States existed — the oldest structure on its original foundation in Washington, D.C. A 19th-century sign wrongly claimed it had been George Washington’s surveying headquarters, and the legend probably saved it from demolition. The National Park Service runs it as a house museum. Historic SitesNot visited yet

The Exorcist Steps — The steep stone stairway at Prospect and 36th Streets, made famous by the climax of the 1973 film The Exorcist. Built in 1895 alongside the Capital Traction Company car barn, the steps were recognized as a D.C. landmark and official tourist attraction in 2015, with a plaque at the base. Weird Roadside & OdditiesNot visited yet

Washington Monument — The 555-foot marble obelisk honoring George Washington — the world’s tallest stone structure and the world’s tallest obelisk. Construction stalled for decades partway up, which is why the stone changes color about a third of the way up the shaft. When it was completed in 1884, it was the tallest building in the world. Historic SitesNot visited yet

Capitol Stones — Hundreds of sandstone and marble blocks from the U.S. Capitol’s old east front, some dating to the post-1812 rebuilding, stored in piles behind a Rock Creek Park maintenance yard for decades after the 1958-62 renovation — an unofficial, unmarked ruin beloved by urban explorers. The site was fenced off around 2020, and starting in 2022 the stones were moved to storage at Fort Meade, where the public has no access. Historic SitesFORMER

Bureau of Engraving and Printing — The working federal plant where U.S. paper currency is printed — one of only two facilities that do it (the other is Fort Worth, Texas). The free guided tour walks an enclosed gallery above the production floor, so you watch real bills get printed, inspected, cut, and stacked into bricks. Factory ToursNot visited yet

Maine Avenue Fish Market — An open-air seafood market where vendors sell fresh catch and steamed blue crabs from floating barges on the Washington Channel. It has operated continuously since 1805 — Thomas Jefferson was president when it opened — making it the oldest continuously operating fish market in the United States. Food & TV LegendsNot visited yet

Titanic Memorial — A 13-foot red granite figure of a man with arms outstretched, honoring the men who gave up lifeboat places so women and children could survive the Titanic. Funded by $1 donations from more than 25,000 women, designed by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, and unveiled by former First Lady Helen Taft in 1931. Film fans will recognize the pose from the bow scene in Titanic. Historic SitesNot visited yet

Ben’s Chili Bowl — A counter-service landmark opened in 1958 by Ben and Virginia Ali in a former silent-movie theater on Black Broadway, next door to the Lincoln Theatre. It’s the counter that made the chili half-smoke — a smoked sausage under mustard, onions, and secret-recipe chili — famous as D.C.’s signature dish, and it holds a James Beard Foundation America’s Classics award. Food & TV LegendsNot visited yet