Fraunces Tavern

In 1783, having secured his new country's independence from Britain, George Washington assembled his officers and bade them farewell in the Long Room at Fraunces Tavern, a bar and restaurant in lower Manhattan. While the ground floor still operates as a restaurant, the upper floors of Fraunces Tavern are given over to a museum focused on colonial and early-independence New York, with pride of place given to the Long Room and the Washington connection. In a city full of world-class, a-lifetime-isn't-enough-to-see-it-all museums, Fraunces Tavern is charmingly small and narrow in scope. And there's something utterly delightful about seeing a lock of GW's hair a stone's throw from Wall Street.