There are always questions on Washington DC on this board and the budget board, I thought I'd write up a mini review and post it here. We just got back yesterday.
First of all - HIGHLY recommend the hotel we used this time - Homewood Suites Silver Spring. Got it for about $105 on their web site - Only $15/night parking fee (most places are double that). Place was nice, room was big, with kitchenette and full frig/freezer. One king bed and one pull-out was our only issue - because dh and I frequently 'divide and conquer' with sleeping with the kids in hotel rooms and neither of us wants to sleep on a pull out. Issue easily resolved - they gave us a roll away bed on request and the kids got to sleep on their own beds.
Hotel has full hot breakfast (eggs, sausage, grits, potatoes, bagels, fruit (honeydew and cantalope and bananas and apples), cereals, toast, special K breakfast bars, juices - this was extremely helpful and saved us a ton. They also have nighttime 'receptions' Sun - Thu. We only stayed one of these nights but participated and they had stuffed shells, soup, rolls and salad along with soda, water and wine and beer.
It has a small but fine indoor pool that the kids used a few times and a hot tub (could have been hotter, but it was fine).
It is about an 8 minute walk to the Metro station. They do offer a shuttle on request - but we never used it. It was a fine distance for me, dh, ds10 and dd9. To get to the Mall area of DC it was about a 20 minute ride in the Metro and was about $9 round trip per person.
There are a few restaurants in walking distance - Red Lobster, Macaroni Grill, McDonald's and a couple of sub shops along with a couple mexican places and a couple bars.
We will definitely be staying here again.
Now for some general DC touring tips:
Keep in mind when seeing our itinerary below that we went 2 years ago and did the Capitol Building and tour (did not think it was worth it), Air and Space Museum, Monuments By Moonlight tour (worth it even tho pricey especially with younger kids who won't be able to walk to all of them) and the zoo. So these were already 'done' for this trip.
Touring Day 1:
1)DH got up and ate breakfast quickly and headed down to the Metro himself. He went directly to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing to get in line for tickets. He got there around 7:00am. He got tickets for the 9;00am tour. he likely could have still gotten tickets showing up about a half hour later, but you never know - especially during busy times like spring break. I let the kids eat a leisurely breakfast and followed down with them about an hour later. We did the 9:00am tour (liked it and worth it because it was free but had a bit of an annoying tour guide which didn't give it 5 stars in my eyes).
2) The MLK memorial wasn't open last time we went so we proceeded on foot around the Tidal Basin toward it. This is a good plan since the Bureau is right next to the basin. We saw the MLK memorial.
3) We proceeded on foot to the FDR memorial. The road was closed last time and our tour bus couldn't get to it - so we hadn't seen this one. Really enjoyed it and tip - good restroom facilities at this one!
4) COntinued around the tidal basin to the Thomas Jefferson memorial. Saw it last time but had to continue around the circle anyway so we saw it again.
5) Went to the American History Museum. We first ate lunch at the food court. Just like everything on the mall - very pricey but didn't want to walk another mile to get to other options. They had some good variety though - pizza, burgers, sandwiches, salad bar. We paid about $55 for our family of 4 to eat here though. Really love this museum but about half of it is closed for rehab and the part I loved last time with Lincoln and the whole conspiracy with his death was closed. We did see the Star Spangled Banner and really enjoyed the first ladies section with all the ball gowns and info on them.
6) This was it for day 1 - everyone was tired so we headed back for a swim in the pool.
Day 2:
1) Went to the White House Visitor Center. This was a downer - not worth it right now - it is a temporary setup and honestly I was expecting more even with the temporary residence. But I'm sure once the real one opens back up it'll be good again.
2) Walked up a couple blocks to see and take some pics at the White House.
3) Walked down to the Old Post Office Pavilion and went up the elevator to the top to see the view. Very cool and FREE!!!
4) Headed over to the National Archives. My biggest tip here is this - if you are going here especially during a busy time - go online and get TIMED ENTRY TICKETS. it only costs $1.50 and it is SO worth it! The line was around the building when we went and with these tickets you basically fastpass right to the front. The woman who was next in the long line told me she had been waiting for an hour and a half! That was by far the best $6 I've spent on this trip! I really loved seeing the Charters of Freedom!
5) Went to lunch - headed north toward Verizon Center and restaurants - ate at Chipolte (not a great lunch spot to relax - none of these places have much of any seating so it's definitely rushed feeling).
6) Went to the Smithsonian Portrait Gallery. It's a huge building but we only went specifically to the Presidents section that has all the portraits of presidents. My son LOVED this - started with Washington and went all the way through. There was little information cards about every one of them.
7) That was it for this day.
Day 3:
Ate breakfast
checked out
Went to the zoo for a couple of hours on our way out of town. Already did this one but the kids really wanted to see the pandas again. This was very fun!
Only other tip I have is to HOLD YOUR KIDS TIGHT GETTING ON AND OFF THE METRO. We accidentally had 3 kids (traveling with friends so it was 1 of mine and 2 of hers) get onto a train and the doors closed as the adults were trying to follow. Luckily a woman allowed the kids to use her phone to call us, and got them off at the next station and stayed with them while we took the next train to get there. Idiot move - YES!!! Believe me - I'm still kicking myself. And while I am embarrassed to even write this here maybe I'll save someone else from going through this.
Hope this info helps someone else out!
First of all - HIGHLY recommend the hotel we used this time - Homewood Suites Silver Spring. Got it for about $105 on their web site - Only $15/night parking fee (most places are double that). Place was nice, room was big, with kitchenette and full frig/freezer. One king bed and one pull-out was our only issue - because dh and I frequently 'divide and conquer' with sleeping with the kids in hotel rooms and neither of us wants to sleep on a pull out. Issue easily resolved - they gave us a roll away bed on request and the kids got to sleep on their own beds.
Hotel has full hot breakfast (eggs, sausage, grits, potatoes, bagels, fruit (honeydew and cantalope and bananas and apples), cereals, toast, special K breakfast bars, juices - this was extremely helpful and saved us a ton. They also have nighttime 'receptions' Sun - Thu. We only stayed one of these nights but participated and they had stuffed shells, soup, rolls and salad along with soda, water and wine and beer.
It has a small but fine indoor pool that the kids used a few times and a hot tub (could have been hotter, but it was fine).
It is about an 8 minute walk to the Metro station. They do offer a shuttle on request - but we never used it. It was a fine distance for me, dh, ds10 and dd9. To get to the Mall area of DC it was about a 20 minute ride in the Metro and was about $9 round trip per person.
There are a few restaurants in walking distance - Red Lobster, Macaroni Grill, McDonald's and a couple of sub shops along with a couple mexican places and a couple bars.
We will definitely be staying here again.
Now for some general DC touring tips:
Keep in mind when seeing our itinerary below that we went 2 years ago and did the Capitol Building and tour (did not think it was worth it), Air and Space Museum, Monuments By Moonlight tour (worth it even tho pricey especially with younger kids who won't be able to walk to all of them) and the zoo. So these were already 'done' for this trip.
Touring Day 1:
1)DH got up and ate breakfast quickly and headed down to the Metro himself. He went directly to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing to get in line for tickets. He got there around 7:00am. He got tickets for the 9;00am tour. he likely could have still gotten tickets showing up about a half hour later, but you never know - especially during busy times like spring break. I let the kids eat a leisurely breakfast and followed down with them about an hour later. We did the 9:00am tour (liked it and worth it because it was free but had a bit of an annoying tour guide which didn't give it 5 stars in my eyes).
2) The MLK memorial wasn't open last time we went so we proceeded on foot around the Tidal Basin toward it. This is a good plan since the Bureau is right next to the basin. We saw the MLK memorial.
3) We proceeded on foot to the FDR memorial. The road was closed last time and our tour bus couldn't get to it - so we hadn't seen this one. Really enjoyed it and tip - good restroom facilities at this one!
4) COntinued around the tidal basin to the Thomas Jefferson memorial. Saw it last time but had to continue around the circle anyway so we saw it again.
5) Went to the American History Museum. We first ate lunch at the food court. Just like everything on the mall - very pricey but didn't want to walk another mile to get to other options. They had some good variety though - pizza, burgers, sandwiches, salad bar. We paid about $55 for our family of 4 to eat here though. Really love this museum but about half of it is closed for rehab and the part I loved last time with Lincoln and the whole conspiracy with his death was closed. We did see the Star Spangled Banner and really enjoyed the first ladies section with all the ball gowns and info on them.
6) This was it for day 1 - everyone was tired so we headed back for a swim in the pool.
Day 2:
1) Went to the White House Visitor Center. This was a downer - not worth it right now - it is a temporary setup and honestly I was expecting more even with the temporary residence. But I'm sure once the real one opens back up it'll be good again.
2) Walked up a couple blocks to see and take some pics at the White House.
3) Walked down to the Old Post Office Pavilion and went up the elevator to the top to see the view. Very cool and FREE!!!
4) Headed over to the National Archives. My biggest tip here is this - if you are going here especially during a busy time - go online and get TIMED ENTRY TICKETS. it only costs $1.50 and it is SO worth it! The line was around the building when we went and with these tickets you basically fastpass right to the front. The woman who was next in the long line told me she had been waiting for an hour and a half! That was by far the best $6 I've spent on this trip! I really loved seeing the Charters of Freedom!
5) Went to lunch - headed north toward Verizon Center and restaurants - ate at Chipolte (not a great lunch spot to relax - none of these places have much of any seating so it's definitely rushed feeling).
6) Went to the Smithsonian Portrait Gallery. It's a huge building but we only went specifically to the Presidents section that has all the portraits of presidents. My son LOVED this - started with Washington and went all the way through. There was little information cards about every one of them.
7) That was it for this day.
Day 3:
Ate breakfast
checked out
Went to the zoo for a couple of hours on our way out of town. Already did this one but the kids really wanted to see the pandas again. This was very fun!
Only other tip I have is to HOLD YOUR KIDS TIGHT GETTING ON AND OFF THE METRO. We accidentally had 3 kids (traveling with friends so it was 1 of mine and 2 of hers) get onto a train and the doors closed as the adults were trying to follow. Luckily a woman allowed the kids to use her phone to call us, and got them off at the next station and stayed with them while we took the next train to get there. Idiot move - YES!!! Believe me - I'm still kicking myself. And while I am embarrassed to even write this here maybe I'll save someone else from going through this.
Hope this info helps someone else out!
