Posted on 03/03/2017 5:19:27 PM PST by RushIsMyTeddyBear
Will be taking a 4-day trip to DC this summer. Any recommendations on what to see and where to eat? We lucked up on a good hotel (normally $600 a night for $100 two blocks from the Whitehouse.) Have already contacted our Senator about getting approval to tour.
I'll sit back and enjoy (while writing things down.) Also tell me what to avoid.
Thanks!
I used to live near the zoo...used to wake up to the sound of the great apes yelling for breakfast. I think it’s a nice zoo.
Sounds like things haven't changed. The last time I ate lunch at the coffee shop downstairs, Mark Shields sat next to me at the bar. I left him alone.
All of DC is left of center. Sadly.
Last time I was in DC, I went by all the homes where Richard Nixon lived. They are still standing—the hotel on Connecticut Ave. NW where he stayed when he was first elected to Congress (now a home for the elderly), his apartment house in Alexandria where he moved during his first term in Congress, his two homes in swanky Upper Northwest where he lived as vice president and, of course, the White House.
I also saw the homes of Alger Hiss and Whittaker Chambers in Georgetown, which are still standing. Not far away is the home of President Woodrow Wilson. The caretakers told me I was welcome to visit even though I’m a Republican. It is filled with artifacts Wilson and his wife acquired before Congress enacted restrictions as to gifts which the president could keep.
Not sure what hours for White House tour but since it is in the summer and weather may be (or not) hot and humid, try to get White House tour tickets for early morning. Long wait outside in line even with tickets.
When I lived in DC, hands down, this is the most moving, most incredible event to see. I could get tickets to anything I wanted to go to - 8th and I was my favorite.
The last time I was there they did a re-enactment of a British -Militia encounter. Lots of smoke!
If I could only see one thing in DC I would go to that. Ask your congressman or senator for tickets. You don't need tickets, you can go standby, but they can get you tickets with preferred seats. The standby tickets are fine too
BTW what is sba? Small business administration?
I you want to see a bunch of “journalists” pat themselves on the back about how brave they are, go to the Newseum. Otherwise, skip it. It’s also very expensive. They do have a great Berlin Wall exhibit though.
The Spy Museum is really cool, especially if you have kids with you.
Chinatown is kind of cool to go to.
Smithsonian’s are great. Air and Space has an annex Museum out by Dulles Airport.
I haven’t been there yet, but the National Firearms Museum of NRA is nearby.
Ft. McHenry is an hour and a half away in Baltimore. Skip most of the rest of Baltimore though.
Stop in to your Representative and Senator’s offices. You won’t meet them but will see their staff and get an idea how that stuff works.
Sadly, you have to be really careful about what you have with you. Knives, guns and all the stuff that free Americans should have are basically forbidden. I’ve hidden my pocketknife in plain sight a couple times and it was still there when I returned to get it.
If you go south of DC, you can’t swing a dead cat without tripping over a Civil War battlefield.
REI stores has frequent day and nighttime kayak monument tours in the Potomac. About $90 a head but they supply everything. It’s a fun way to see the monuments.
Rent a bike or bring yours to ride monuments at night. What a blast.
The Reagan Building has a good food court downstairs. Cheaper eats. Check out the food trucks too.
WWII Memorial is awesome. try to time your visit with an Honor Flight tour. https://www.honorflight.org/tour-schedule/
Meet WWII and Korea heroes as they visit their memorials. That’s the best part of DC right there.
Have fun and remember, you own the city.
My mom’s husband’s aunt was the original director of tours at the Women’s Military Museum. We got a personal tour. very cool.
Here are the things I have done in Washington, DC that I have enjoyed a lot. (I have gone to many, many things, but these are the ones that have stuck out for me:
The Library of Congress! (Not to be missed, be sure to take one of their tours)
The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center Air and Space Museum
The Spy Museum
The Marine Corps Museum (a MUST see, one of the best military museums ever)
Arlington National Cemetery (Don’t miss the changing of the guard at the Tomb of The Unknown Soldier) say hi to my Dad there!)
Contact your representative or senator and arrange a guided tour of Congress (very cool!)
The Washington Zoo
Mount Vernon
Boat Tour of the Potomac
Boat Tour of Norfolk, VA Navy Base
US Treasury Tour
Lincoln Memorial
The Folger.
L’Enfant Plaza is a stop along the Metro route.....
....we would get off there depending on our destination
That’s all I was referencing
I actually went to the capitol and got my pic taken with the giant Lincoln statue but my favorite was the Smithsonian. You can bring your wife there too and the family. I brought my GF and she digs it.
But something about the senate scared her..something evil back then but that was during obamatard’s reign so i can understand her.
Amazing. I’ve lived and worked nere so long I never see any of that stuff!
You can always tell a DC native from a tourist. When the President’s motorcade shuts down an intersection the tourists get excited. Natives just look peevishly at their watches and complain that the President is making them late for work.
If you have never had Mongolian Barbecue, I highly recommend Tony Cheng’s in Chinatown.
It is an all you can eat thing, get your own stuff, meats, vegetables, sauces, as hot as you want it, and someone stir fries it right on a bit circular metal grill (it is supposed to harken back to cooking on a metal shield with swords, I think)
Love it! Fun for a group, too.
Union Station is fun...lots of shops and big food court in the basement.
There are some DC eateries that I wish were still around. Sholl’s Colonial Cafetria in the K Street corridor in Northwest DC offered tasty comfort food. They also provided cards with grace prayers for different faiths and I believe members of churches were given discounts. Many DC movers and shakers including President Nixon ate there.
Gusti’s, located downtown—I believe they were on L Street NW—served wonderful Italian cuisine and also sponsored Ronald Reagan’s radio commentaries in the late 1970’s.
Not far from Union Station is the Taft Memorial, dedicated to Sen. Robert A Taft (R-Ohio) who helped to forge the conservative movement.
The little yellow church, President’s church, right across the street from Lafayette Park is a must visit.
I never knew of it...I am going to go there next time I visit! I think my wife would love it!
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