Another Washington D.C. Thread

I live outside DC and go in regularly with kids. Metro has good days and bad days (and good weeks and bad weeks) but it's great for what you're doing. If you stay in Old Town, you can take the yellow line right into DC, and you can roll your stroller right in, you don't even have to fold it. Metro is probably your best bet for the baseball game, to be honest. Just change trains at L'Enfant Plaza to the green line for two stops. We just did a similar tour to what you're doing with visiting family and had no problems. Much easier than looking for parking everyday.

For Mount Vernon - they have a spy app game now that reminded me of Agent P in Epcot. It was HOT the last time we were there so we didn't get all the way through, but your kids will probably like it. They don't allow food at Mount Vernon and do check bags to look. There is a food court, but plan ahead for the baby! http://www.mountvernon.org/mobile-apps/the-agent-711-revolutionary-spy-adventure-app/

Consider a bus tour for the monuments - there are often groupons. The Jefferson Memorial and FDR memorial are further away from the others, so those are good to hit on a day you're on a bus. The buses often go to Arlington Cemetery.

If you were to decide to go to the zoo, or if anyone else reads along, if you take Metro to the zoo, take Metro to Cleveland Park stop, walk DOWNHILL to the zoo, then walk DOWNHILL to the Woodley Park metro to go "home". Since the zoo is built on a hill, this will minimize some of the hills.
 
Great thread! I grew up in Maryland so went to DC for field trips, concerts, etc many times. Now I live in NYC and have been back to DC a handful of times. I've never taken my kids, though, and am thinking about taking them down on the train during a school break next year. I vaguely remember what I liked there as a kid but it's good to hear current recommendations.

OP, I would recommend picking up the National Parks Junior Ranger book that a PP recommended. The kids have to complete a certain number of activities about the park they're visiting, then they take their completed booklet back to the ranger and are given a badge & "sworn in" as Junior Rangers. We did this in Philadelphia when we visited the Liberty Bell & Independence Hall and my then-7-year-old really liked it. Makes the historical sites/monuments more interesting for younger kids.
 
Anyone care to critique our trip?? This trip is Aug 3-7, it's myself and my 14 year old son. This is a very rough draft saved in my phone lol!

Arrive Thurs

*lyft to hotel From BWI 1:25-3,checkin around 3, grab a bite to eat
*lyft to Arlington Cemetery 5-530


Fri
*Eat bfast around hotel or founding fathers
*Lyft to 9:30 tour @ 317 Russell Senate Office Building Capital Tour
*Lyft to Natural History Museum (eat lunch there) get here around 11-12 stay till 3
*Lyft/walk to American Indian museum 330-530
*lyft to old elbitt grill for dinner
*lyft to hotel

Sat
*lyft to Lincoln Waffels by 830
*10:00 Ford Theater (arrive 945)
*12 lunch Hard Rock Cafe reservation
*lyft to Newseum 1-500
*530 lyft to Potbellys for quick bite to eat
*walk to 420 l'enfant Plaza
*630 monument night tour
*lyft to hotel after tour

Sun
*Lyft to Mount Vernon Washington homestead (8-9)
*Grab brunch (930-1100)
*tour homestead
*3-4 lyft back to hotel area
*430-6 eat burger tap and shake (?)

Mon
*Up early to fly out (BWI)

If we have time:

Crepeaway for dessert/snack 2001 l st NW
Air n space
National Geographic
 
We (me, husband, and sons:17,12,12) visited DC for a full week in June, and we could have used a few more days! Here is what we learned:

1. We rented a townhome in the SW Waterfront area, which was walkable to everything on the mall. For everything else, we used Uber XL (about $8/ride). There were several chain hotels between the townhome and the mall, but I do not remember which ones. This was a safe, accessible area and I highly recommend!

2. Contact your representative/senator's office a few months in advance to set up a private tour with an intern. We were able to use the tunnels that run between the buildings, see rooms not shown on the general tour, and we were given passes to enter the House and Senate chambers. A very memorable day!

3. Visit the Newseum. There is a charge, but the tickets are good for 2 consecutive days. They had an amazing collection.

4. Skip the hop on/off buses. We have loved them in other cities, but our experience was meh in DC. So much is walkable, and we felt we wasted a lot of time sitting in traffic. We bought 2 day passes, and never made the full loop.

5. The Air and Space Museum has the most amazing volunteer docent squad. Hunt them down and stick with them.

6. If you have a rental car, a day at the Udvar-Hazy (the "other Air and Space"), next to Dulles in Chantlly, VA is a must-do. The Space Shuttle Discovery, the Enola Gay, Apollo 11 (undergoing rehab, we almost overlooked it but for a discreet sign), a Blackbird, Concord... you get the idea!

7. On our last night we took an Uber to the WW II Memorial at dusk. We walked around the Washington Monument, the WW II Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial as the sun set. Very moving and memorable.

8. Rent the audio tour ($5/person) at Ford's Theater. It makes the place come alive!

Obviously, it was a great week. It was hot, but we are from Georgia, so heat doesn't scare us! There is so much to see and do. Have fun!

Can I ask for more information on the townhouse you rented? We always stay in a hotel but I would like to know more about renting a townhouse with more space :). Thanks!
 


Anyone care to critique our trip?? This trip is Aug 3-7, it's myself and my 14 year old son. This is a very rough draft saved in my phone lol!

Arrive Thurs

*lyft to hotel From BWI 1:25-3,checkin around 3, grab a bite to eat
*lyft to Arlington Cemetery 5-530


Fri
*Eat bfast around hotel or founding fathers
*Lyft to 9:30 tour @ 317 Russell Senate Office Building Capital Tour
*Lyft to Natural History Museum (eat lunch there) get here around 11-12 stay till 3
*Lyft/walk to American Indian museum 330-530
*lyft to old elbitt grill for dinner
*lyft to hotel

Sat
*lyft to Lincoln Waffels by 830
*10:00 Ford Theater (arrive 945)
*12 lunch Hard Rock Cafe reservation
*lyft to Newseum 1-500
*530 lyft to Potbellys for quick bite to eat
*walk to 420 l'enfant Plaza
*630 monument night tour
*lyft to hotel after tour

Sun
*Lyft to Mount Vernon Washington homestead (8-9)
*Grab brunch (930-1100)
*tour homestead
*3-4 lyft back to hotel area
*430-6 eat burger tap and shake (?)

Mon
*Up early to fly out (BWI)

If we have time:

Crepeaway for dessert/snack 2001 l st NW
Air n space
National Geographic

You might want to skip Founding Farmers (that's what you meant, right?) It got a ZERO star review by the Washington Post food critic. I was also unimpressed.

I'd make sure to get reservations for Friday night dinner, if you haven't already. Old Ebbitt is ok, but I think there are far better options out there.

Where is your hotel?
 
Also, I don't think Arlington Cemetery is open that late. You might want to reconsider the 5:30pm time.
 
First off - where is your hotel? That will help us gauge your time schedule
You can save some $ by using public transport from BWI (MARC train to Metro) depending on exactly where your hotel is. Let us know if you're interested and we can give you specifics.

Arrive Thurs
*lyft to Arlington Cemetery 5-530
You can also get to Arlington Cemetery via Metro, there's a stop right there. Given that you'd be taking Lyft during rush hour, driving will be slow and Metro may be the better bet.
Cemetery is open until 7pm so you're OK there. You'll probably want to take the bus tour once there. Otherwise it's a LOT of walking and you'll be hard pressed to see everything with your arrival time and the 7pm closing. Last bus tour departs at 6, you'd want to get there NLT 5:30 to get in and get tickets. It's definitely a tight schedule if your plane is late or it takes you longer than planned to get from BWI to hotel.

Fri
*Eat bfast around hotel or founding fathers
*Lyft to 9:30 tour @ 317 Russell Senate Office Building Capital Tour
*Lyft to Natural History Museum (eat lunch there) get here around 11-12 stay till 3
*Lyft/walk to American Indian museum 330-530
*lyft to old elbitt grill for dinner
*lyft to hotel
Agree to skip Founding Fathers, reviews lately have been pretty bad and I'm not hearing much good in general about it other than it's a novelty.
Lyft at 9:30 - again you're in rush hour so consider metro (depending on how close your hotel is to a station) or allow a little more time for driving again depending on hotel location.
From Capital Tour, walk down the Mall to Natural History (unless you have a disability that prevents you from walking a mile or so). There's a lot to see on the Mall and walking is the way to go. Lunch there is nothing special, American Indian has the best food by far of the Smithsonians. Are you aware that Dinosaur Hall there is closed for renovation until 2019? From Natural History walk back to American Indian - great museum. Right next door to it is Air and Space and it's open until 7:30 that evening so you can spend a little time there and do a later dinner.
IF you only want to do 2 museums that afternoon, walk from the Capital tour to American Indian and eat lunch there. Then continue on to Natural History. No backtracking.
Old Ebbitt Grill will be busy on a Friday night so be prepared for a wait.

Sun
*Lyft to Mount Vernon Washington homestead (8-9)
*Grab brunch (930-1100)
*tour homesteadl
Sunday Brunch at Mt Vernon Inn doesn't start until 11:00. Don't know if reservations are needed or just advised. You can get a meal in the food court starting at 9:30 but that's nothing special like the Inn serves.
When you buy admission tickets at the Estate, you get a time for the House tour. As more people come (esp on weekend) the later the tour time is. If you're eating at the food court I'd buy tickets before eating and specify when you want the house tour. Is shouldn't take more than 30-45 minutes to eat then 10-15 to walk up to the house from there. If you're doing brunch at the Inn that opens at 11, you probably want to do the house tour as soon as you get there, then go back and eat. After eating, see the rest of the plantation.

Mon
*Up early to fly out (BWI)

If we have time:
Crepeaway for dessert/snack 2001 l st NW
Air n space
National Geographic
Don't know how early your flight is but you'll be traveling during prime rush hour. Could be slow going so allow plenty of time to get there.
National Geo is not close to anything. The exhibits are often interesting but usually pretty small. Not sure this is worth it given the limited amount of time you're here. By allowing only a couple hours in a couple Smithsonians, you're only skimming the surface of those museums.

Have a great trip! Current forecast is hot and humid (upper 80's into low 90's), typical DC summer weather. With the humidity, believe me it will feel HOT! Maybe rain Friday on so be prepared for that possibility.
 


You might want to skip Founding Fathers (that's what you meant, right?) It got a ZERO star review by the Washington Post food critic. I was also unimpressed.

I'd make sure to get reservations for Friday night dinner, if you haven't already. Old Ebbitt is ok, but I think there are far better options out there.

Where is your hotel?

Thanks so much! It's in Dupont Circle area
 
First off - where is your hotel? That will help us gauge your time schedule
You can save some $ by using public transport from BWI (MARC train to Metro) depending on exactly where your hotel is. Let us know if you're interested and we can give you specifics.


You can also get to Arlington Cemetery via Metro, there's a stop right there. Given that you'd be taking Lyft during rush hour, driving will be slow and Metro may be the better bet.
Cemetery is open until 7pm so you're OK there. You'll probably want to take the bus tour once there. Otherwise it's a LOT of walking and you'll be hard pressed to see everything with your arrival time and the 7pm closing. Last bus tour departs at 6, you'd want to get there NLT 5:30 to get in and get tickets. It's definitely a tight schedule if your plane is late or it takes you longer than planned to get from BWI to hotel.


Agree to skip Founding Fathers, reviews lately have been pretty bad and I'm not hearing much good in general about it other than it's a novelty.
Lyft at 9:30 - again you're in rush hour so consider metro (depending on how close your hotel is to a station) or allow a little more time for driving again depending on hotel location.
From Capital Tour, walk down the Mall to Natural History (unless you have a disability that prevents you from walking a mile or so). There's a lot to see on the Mall and walking is the way to go. Lunch there is nothing special, American Indian has the best food by far of the Smithsonians. Are you aware that Dinosaur Hall there is closed for renovation until 2019? From Natural History walk back to American Indian - great museum. Right next door to it is Air and Space and it's open until 7:30 that evening so you can spend a little time there and do a later dinner.
IF you only want to do 2 museums that afternoon, walk from the Capital tour to American Indian and eat lunch there. Then continue on to Natural History. No backtracking.
Old Ebbitt Grill will be busy on a Friday night so be prepared for a wait.


Sunday Brunch at Mt Vernon Inn doesn't start until 11:00. Don't know if reservations are needed or just advised. You can get a meal in the food court starting at 9:30 but that's nothing special like the Inn serves.
When you buy admission tickets at the Estate, you get a time for the House tour. As more people come (esp on weekend) the later the tour time is. If you're eating at the food court I'd buy tickets before eating and specify when you want the house tour. Is shouldn't take more than 30-45 minutes to eat then 10-15 to walk up to the house from there. If you're doing brunch at the Inn that opens at 11, you probably want to do the house tour as soon as you get there, then go back and eat. After eating, see the rest of the plantation.


Don't know how early your flight is but you'll be traveling during prime rush hour. Could be slow going so allow plenty of time to get there.
National Geo is not close to anything. The exhibits are often interesting but usually pretty small. Not sure this is worth it given the limited amount of time you're here. By allowing only a couple hours in a couple Smithsonians, you're only skimming the surface of those museums.

Have a great trip! Current forecast is hot and humid (upper 80's into low 90's), typical DC summer weather. With the humidity, believe me it will feel HOT! Maybe rain Friday on so be prepared for that possibility.

Wow! Thank you for all the great information! We will be staying in the DuPont Circle area. I hadn't even considered rush hr traffic, so I'll be adjusting my times.

Happy Air n Space is open later that day, we def wanted to see that, but ran out of time..it's now on the list :)

Also good to know about Mt. Vernon.. we may just eat around the hotel then try to head in over to Mt. Vernon for a early tour.
 
If you're staying in Dupont Circle, you have to do the Sunday morning farmer's market there. 8:30-12, I think. Look for the very long line to buy fresh croissants. Buy some. Eat them. Thank me later. :)
 
Restaurant recs: Rasika (amazing Indian), Hill Country (BBQ), The Hamilton (American, sushi), Surfside (casual taco place), Sweetgreen (casual salad place, local chain founded in Georgetown)
 
To previous poster: if you're budget minded, but still want to be close to the National Mall, I think your best bet is to look in Crystal City. It's a neighborhood in the south part of Arlington, along the Potomac River. Reagan National Airport is there, so there are a lot of hotels. I used to live there. Even in rush hour it's about a 15 minute drive to downtown (that is incredibly good, btw)
 
Restaurant recs: Rasika (amazing Indian), Hill Country (BBQ), The Hamilton (American, sushi), Surfside (casual taco place), Sweetgreen (casual salad place, local chain founded in Georgetown)
These sound great, thanks so much! We will def check out the farmers market as well.

On a side note..it's looking like the weather (AccuWeather) says it's going to be nice with a small chance of rain and cooler temps sat-mon. Is that what your local meteorologists are saying?
 
I just went with my 6 month old baby as my in-laws were visting the US with my uncle/aunt in law who this is a once in a lifetime to US trip. We went with sister/brother in law and their two boys 7/9 so a similar group. It was not bad and there are plenty of babies there but you will have some challenges. Here are some things to consider:

- it is hot! we hit heat wave hot so the baby was really miserable outside so we had to limit walking and thus sites we toured. also involved lots of sunblock and trying to stay inside during midday.
- heat = thunderstorms so touring may go off plan as you will want to avoid a torrential thunderstorm with a baby in a stroller.
- carriers are great but some museums don't allow them. so when we were in national gallery we had the stroller and then carried the baby when fussy. no backpacks either so we had to use a traditional diaper bag which we hung on the stroller. you often can check bags though so we had a small backpack that we checked with the umbrellas and sunblock.
- not everywhere is stroller friendly but again if you have a carrier you may not be able to use it everywhere if you go to multiple sites in a day.
- museums had restrictions on food, luckily they didn't dig in the diaper bag and ask us to remove water but still we needed it to make his bottles and he had just started soft foods so we had that in there too.
-traffic was way worse than my sister in law anticipated. she picked a place in Chantilly and we felt like we spent the weekend in the car. it is worth it to spend more and stay closer as traffic there is terrible, even leaving the mall area at 3pm on Friday we hit traffic going back to the hotel and when a sudden thunderstorm hit it took twice the time, 1 h 45 m.
- you can park on the street or in garages. we found a great garage not far from the mall and used the parking panda app to get a lower daily rate. car stayed cooler being underground and no circling for spots. we were just 10 min from mall so the same as parking on street and having to hike from where you found an open spot. we also used this as an opportunity to grab lunch on our way to museums as food there was better/cheaper in that area than cafeterias.
- pricing is a bit odd. things like parking are more expensive during the week but other things were cheaper on the weekends.
 
If you're staying in Dupont Circle, you have to do the Sunday morning farmer's market there. 8:30-12, I think. Look for the very long line to buy fresh croissants. Buy some. Eat them. Thank me later. :)
I love that farmer's market. Need to get there early for the croissants, they sell out quick.
 
Restaurant recs: Rasika (amazing Indian), Hill Country (BBQ), The Hamilton (American, sushi), Surfside (casual taco place), Sweetgreen (casual salad place, local chain founded in Georgetown)
There's also a Bethesda Bagels a little north of Dupont on Connecticut Ave. And a casual Greek place right by the Metro but I can't remember the name.
 
We just got back from 6 nights at Kimpton Madera at Dupont Circle. We weren't in DC for the food- we left the hotel around 10:30 each day and didn't return until around 7- so after a rest, we ate pretty close to our hotel on 4 nights: 2 at the Front Page and 2 at James Hoban's (Irish). Food at both was very good, especially the chicken pie at HOban's. Prices were pretty average for DC- not cheap, but not scary.

Touring- use the Metro as much as possible. DC traffic is awful (and I grew up driving in Boston), as is parking, and it's expensive to park! The DC Metro is easy to navigate, and even the bus system is pretty straight-forward (but slow... there's that whole traffic thing, LOL!). Stay off the HO/HO buses during the day- you'l spend more time waiting for a bus/sitting in traffic than it's worth. Also note that the Circulator bus is a great deal, takes your metro card, but doesn't circulate as frequently as we'd hoped. One bus tour worth mentioning is the Monuments by Moonlight tour. I'd forgotten the huge scope of DC. This gives you a narrated drive by of the city in the evening, when both the traffic and heat are reduced. You pass all the biggies, all illuminated because it's night time. There're also 3 stops on this tour, at the Lincoln (so Lincoln, Viet Nam wall, and Korean War Memorial), Iwo Jima, and MLK/FDR memorials. Viet Nam Wall and FDR memorials are better in daytime, IMO, but we really enjoyed this trolley tour.

Don't overdo! We found 2-3 hours per museum to be enough, even if you go back at another time to finish up/do more in each museum. Get the timed tickets for the African American history museum- we were there 2 hours and could have stayed twice as long. Same with Holocaust Museum. We had timed tickets for 12:45 for the permanent exhibit and they shooed us out at closing. I was confused about this museum. The timed ticket is only for the permanent exhibit, which you WANT TO DO. However, you can go to the museum at any time and see the other exhibits- there's one aimed towards elementary-aged kids, one about the Cambodian genocide, etc. The timed ticket is only for the major Holocaust exhibit. It was moving, for sure... should be done.

We spent 5 hours at the Capitol. We had a tour through our Senator's office, so with a personal guide, and that took longer than the public tour. THEN we had tickets to the Senate and House galleries, and both were in session, so we stayed and watched a vote in the Senate. It was cool- but we'd planned only being there for 2 hours, so had to rethink the afternoon!

Mount Vernon was great! Take the yellow metro line to Huntington and then the bus (101?) to Mt.V. Just remember that if you go on a Sunday, the bus only operates once an hour. That was a looooooong 58 minute wait- we just missed it! We ended up with about 2 hours at Mt. V and it wasn't long enough for us- we could easily have been there 4 hours or longer. ALSO... if you go on the weekend, check and make sure the yellow line is running. When we were there, it was shut down for construction on Sundays within DC, only running between Reagan/DCA and Huntington (where you need to go for the Mt.V bus). We wasted a good hour underground, waiting for the yellow line, then learning it wasn't running in the city and having to backtrack onto the blue line and then to DCA to get the yellow line.

Arlington National Cemetery took longer than we'd anticipated, too. We spent quite awhile at the Kennedy grave sites (this was important to us), about 45 minutes at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers, and we also toured the mansion. BEST view of DC!! We didnt' get out at any of the other tram stops, but it still took us maybe 3 hours to view the sites and the reception center.

Here's how we spent our time. Note that I am 61, DH is 56, but he had extensive knee reconstruction last spring and his pace/stamina is still dictated by his knee, so we don't move too quickly!

Day 1- On the 7am bus from Bangor to Boston. Fly to BWI, train to Union Station, metro to our hotel. Checked in at 6pm, unpacked, caught our breath. Dinner, walk around the neighborhood.

Day 2- 10am Capitol tour. Left here around 3, starving. Walked over to Oyamel, had lunch, walked over to Air/Space Museum. We were there from 5-7:15, then walked to Union Station for our Monument Tour, which took from 8-11. On our stops, we got out and saw the FDR&MLK, Lincoln&Korean War memorial, and Iwo Jima. We saw a LOT on the Monument Tour, and the driver ("Honest Abe") was full of information and stories! Note that the metro stops running at 11:30.

Day 3- We had 12:45 timed ticket for the Holocaust Museum. WE'd planned to be up and out early, but it didn't happen. Travel and full day on day 2 caught up to us! We left the metro station near the Holocaust Museum at 11:30 to be faced with a farmer's market- fresh produce as well as food vendors. We had lunch here (there are tables/shade set up), then went to the museum. They closed us out promptly at 5:30. Wlaked over to the Circulator stop and took it out to the FDR, which we wanted to see again, in the daylight. Spent an hour wandering around, reading, resting. Walked through the MLK again, then over to the WWII memorial. The sky was clouding over, it was about 7pm, so we went back to the hotel for supper and the evening.

Day 4- Got started about 10:30. Took the metro to Arlington National Cemetery. Did the tram tour, spent about 3 hours. Walked the mile back into DC (ends up at the Lincoln), had lunch, walked the Viet Nam wall. That was cool, and we helped a vet find the name of his buddy who never made it home. Sad, moving... I am a child of the era, so have friends and relatives who were in Nam. We were tired, so wandered the mall a bit and then headed back to the hotel, had dinner, drinks at the outdoor cafe after eating.

Day 5- Tried to get to Mt. Vernon earlier than we did (see above)! We ate lunch once we got there at 2:30 (mess up with the metro, hour wait for the bus, not willing to pay $35 for a cab), then had 2 hours to tour and another hour to see the education center. Wish we'd had more time- there was a lot we didn't get to. It was about 8pm when we got back to the hotel, had dinner.

Day 6- We were at the Art Museum from 10-1, had lunch there, walked up the mall and briefly through part of the Natural History Museum (about 30 mins) and then over to the African-American history museum. These timed tickets were impossible to get- I couldn't get admission until 3:15. We spent the 2 hours there and could have spent 4. Waited out a rainstorm under the edge of the museum (they mean it when they say they close at 5:30), then over to the White House for a glimpse. CAn't get too close... not sure it was worth the walk when we were tired, but we did it! We were back to the hotel around 7:30, had dinner, packed for our next-morning departure...TO ORLANDO!!!

Honestly it doesn't look like much written down, but we were busy all the time. We DID pace ourselves, so not commando-disney-style touring, and it was HOT, so we didn't move as quickly as we'd hoped. We also needed time for DH to rest/elevate/ice his knee regularly. I tried to balance it so we didn't spend too many hours in one museum. There was a lot we didn't see... meaning we can go back and still have a good time, see new things, be amazed!!
 

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