Posted on 03/18/2005 1:33:54 PM PST by Tunehead54
Hi gang! Since its Friday maybe this won't get pulled before I get a couple of tips. We're 50 and taking our two gals (17 & 14) and our guy (10).
We'll be arriving Sunday 3-20 (Amtrak willing)and leaving Friday 3-25.
If there are any great places to eat or relatively unknown cool places to visit you know of we'd appreciate a quick post.
BTW, since I read Michener's "Chesapeake" years ago I've regularly tried crab cakes but they never have lived up to his description. Softshell crabs however, have! Yumm.
Any DC FReepers - please ping the rest of the local gang and if you could schedule a FReep on Wednesday between 4:30 and 5:00pm that'd be great! ;-)
We'll be at the Hotel Washington - hope its not a mistake - when we were there in 1983 my mom's room lacked hot water. Hope they've fixed that.
Anyway any tips will be appreciated - I should be online when we're there - worse case I'm certain I can find a few hotspots.
We hope to work in the usual spots and have tried to map places geographically - the list below is in no particular order.
1. White House 2. Congress 3. Supreme Court 4. Lincoln Memorial 5. Jefferson Memorial 6. Vietnam Memorial 7. Arlington Memorial 8. WWII Memorial 9. Smithsonian a. Air & Space b. Natural History Museum 10. National Gallery 11. Library of Congress 12. Bureau of Engraving & Printing 13. National Archives 14. Ford’s Theatre 15. Botanical Gardens 16. Ford Theater 17. Mount Vernon
Hope people can keep this bumped - we're still packing!
There's a new Air and Space museum out near Dulles Airport. Haven't been there myself, but from what I hear it is HUGE. They have a Concorde, the trainer shuttle Enterprise and all sorts of airplanes.
I've been to all those places except the WWII monument. Be sure to visit the Vietnam memorial late in the day when you can return to your hotel. It is overwhelmingly emotional.
D.C. is not nearly as clean as it was even 10 years ago. Take kleenex with you into the public restrooms :-)
The WWII monument is incredible. I went when it was freezing, though, and didn't get to see the water going over the stars. It should be on by now, I think.
Day passes for the metro are your friend...
I agree on the vietnam memorial. I didn't think it was much at first, but when I walked down the sidewalk a strong emotion kind of poured over me kind of like warm paint.
Also please note that I restrained myself from posting this in Breaking News - that ought to be worth a tip or two?
Vidalia -- terrific southern cooking. In Georgetown. Very Expensive. Don't wear jeans and a t-shirt. Make Reservations. Well worth the money.
The metro bus line is great for seeing Washington, and the drivers might let you slip on your time.
Too late to call your congressman to get into the Capitol? It's a great tour.
Vietnam Memorial will render you speechless, and the Changing of the Guards at Arlington cemetary is a must see.
I suggest you prioritize your list, because I don't think you are going to be able to see all that you have listed in the time allotted. Three or four days alone could be spent in the Smithsonian. Lines for touring the WH can get long also so plan on waiting time.
DC Coast - K Street. Excellent food. Trendy. Contemporary. Relatively expensive (not bad). Make Reservations. Younger crowd than Vidalia.
Don't drive - take the metro.
Advice from a former DC resident: skip the Botanical Gardens and instead head on over to a little-visited but truly amazing memorial to one of our greatest presidents, Teddy Roosevelt! The Teddy Roosevelt memorial is located on Roosevelt Island, in the middle of the Potomac. It's a mostly wooded island, and a bit of a trick to get to even though it is very close, which is why people tend to overlook it. Nice short hiking trail with great views of DC. The monument itself is very impressive, 2nd only to the Lincoln Memorial, in my opinion.
A visit to Old Town Alexandria is a must, for dinner and a stroll. There are several good places for softshells there, but avoid the Chart House, which is awful. Also, DC has great ethnic food. Check out Tony Chang's in Chinatown (the seafood restaurant upstairs), Nam Viet on CT Ave. in Cleveland Park, and Heritage India on Wisconsin in upper Georgetown. Stay away from the touristy restaurants.
see my #10. I sent it to Keith by mistake.
Have great fun. Our trip to Washington was one of the best we ever had. The cherry trees will be in bloom.
Be prepared to walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk.
The Mall is very windy. Take a parker you can tie around your waist when you get hot.
You have way too much scheduled....you could spend a month in either the Smithsonian or the Air&Space Museum
It's not just what to see but when to see it also.
My "must see" suggestion for seeing the Mall (Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, etc. is late afternoon/early evening. Try to be around the Lincoln Memorial just prior to dusk as the lights are coming on.
Very Impressive.
Air & Space is always my fav.
You will not be able to tour the White House unless you were already part of a group and pre-screened a couple months ago. Similar situation with tours of Congress though the waiting period is now only a week or so if you have a good member and I don't believe you can tour the FBI building anymore, either. The SCOTUS is in session right now so proceed accordingly. As for the memorials and all the other sites on your list I recommend you take the little red tour buses that look like trolleys - they charge you like $20 per person per day or whatever and they run continuously around the beltway (and across to Arlington) and all the memorials + other sites with stops at every single one along the way - so you simply buy your pass and then get on, get off, get on, get off, over & over again all day (and night, depending on what package you pick). It's an ideal way to see sights when vacationing in DC as you don't have repeatedly park or anything. The new Air & Space museum at Dulles is really a must see IMO and really takes the established museum to new heights (literally and figuratively) - I was fortunate to visit on the second day after it opened (you may recall japanese war protestors were there and dinged the Enola Gay). Basically the legacy museum houses everything from 1960's and before while Dulles houses everything newer to include the space shuttle (on display in one of the hangers). When you're at the legacy Air & Space Smithsonian be sure to go to the Space Station IMAX - one of the best ones I've ever seen. As for eats, my favorite used to be Blackie's House of Beef but - frankly - they're just not as good anymore ... but I still really love the crab / seafood place on the Potomac across from the Kennedy Center (I forget the name of that little tourist trap it's in but it's one of the stops - after Georgetown as I recall) on the tour bus. Many of the other best restaurant chefs are amidst all the lobbyist hang-outs on K Street. For views & ambiance I also recommend the Capitol Hyatt - beautiful views of the Capitol dome from the dining room and particularly good food when I've dined there as well.
You have to go to the Korean Memorial. Its amazing at night. Your kids might like the Spy Museum on 9th St. NW. Retaurants can be expensive. Try www.washingtonian.com for their "Cheap Eats" section.
Oh, and take a photo of the family in front of the BACK of the capitol. It takes a better pic.
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