Posted on 03/19/2017 9:36:37 AM PDT by TermLimitsforAll
Planning to take my kids on a trip to DC either late May or Early June.
There is much good guidance in the post I've read.
Let me add some useful information about the Metro System. It is a safe, comfortable, and reliable system albeit a wee bit crowed during rush hour.
However, the best guidance I can share about the Metro is that they don’t make change, they don’t allow food or drink of any kind, and there are no public restrooms, none, nada, zero.
Personally, my favorite places to go were the Supreme Court (short tour, but magnificent building) and the Library of Congress, which I stayed in all night looking stuff up.
Changing of the Guards at The Tomb of the Unknowns, See JFK’s Grave with the eternal flame. The Iwo Jima Memorial. The Smithsonian system is HUGE. The Air and Space and the Natural History are a must though!! Cantina Marina on the Wharf has the best seafood. I agree with the busses. There are MILES of walking along the mall. The Capitol building is really neat!! You can stay out as far as Rockville MD and still catch the metro line and be downtown within 20 minutes. Take a look at the Metro Line map (on line) and find a hotel near a station.
Yes, I live in the DC area and have seen and done everything. My favorite spot in the whole area is the Air and Space Museum at Dulles. Absolutely fascinating. It is a must.
I live very close to Tysons, but I would stay closer to the city. Which hotel?
If you can afford it, stay at a hotel with extended-stay suites within a block or so of pretty much any Metro station, though avoiding the south half of the Green Line due to “neighborhood” issues.
With a family, preparing many of your meals or even receiving takeout food in such a suite can ultimately save you money from having to eat all of your meals in restaurants.
Also, staying anywhere on any Metro line is going to save you a great deal of time to bus in and out from anywhere beyond the lines. And it pretty much doesn’t matter time-wise how far out on a line you stay because the trains are really fast for getting around.
Go on the night time tour....it is beautiful. Watch out, cabs are pricey.
Call your Congressman and request a tour. You’ll get to see the Capitol and watch from the Gallery if Congress is in session. Well worth it!
I got that night time tour from the motel I was staying at. The bus came and picked me up. I forget the price now. I think most hotels and motels have tours with the buses and they can pick you all up.
82 was able to stay at the Hilton with my dad. Took the subway. Coming out of the Hilton one night you could hear gunshots in the back ground.
Visits to all the treasure troves in DC is so educational...and if you have children, it's a MUST vacation at some point in their lives. I DO feel it's more productive for offspring of junior high and high-school age and above, not so much for little rug-rats.
And so many things are free...just save up you vacation dollars for transportation, lodging and meals.
I went roundtrip via an Amtrak compartment cabin from Tampa to the magnificent train station in DC (cabs are lined up in front to take you right to your hotel).....my train compartment was extra-comfy and clean, food was great, service great...and I was able to see beautiful scenery and historic spots through my picture windows as we sped through the southeastern coastal states of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia (where I had a good look at the fantastic grounds of the miles-long Norfolk Naval Station). Also saw an historic colonial town along the name...can't remember the name....forgive me, the FR March for Justice was a loooong time ago, LOL.
Leni
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See the Smithsonian, Air and Space, National Gallery of Art, Capital, Arlington Cemetery, Lincoln, WW2 monument, Vietnam Memorial, Jefferson. Spend a day and go to Mount Vernon, you'll need a way to get there other than metro. Those are the highlights.
This is a great thread - we’re going back July 4th week. Can’t WAIT for the fireworks!
But - have a question to some of you who mention Library of Congress. We went last August and LoC we could not enter into the reading/books/documents area unless we had some type of certification - I forget Student? Researcher?
Anyone know about this limitation?
BTW - we LOVED Arlington Cemetery/Tomb of the Unknown - SO profound. We were there when Chilean Army Generals were visiting.
We sat in on both chambers of Congress. Amazing to watch Lying scums Boxer and Blumenthal arguing for Abortion when PP baby-parts debate was hot. Pure Evil spoken.
Ethiopean food in Adams Morgan.
Good restaurants too in Old Town. Great chili parlor on King Street!
There's a "King Street Trolley" that runs up and down King Street for free. You can pick it up at the King Street Metro station.
While you are in the area of the National Mall where the Smithsonian museums are located, walk up Capitol Hill and tour the U.S. Capitol Building, then go across First Street and tour the Supreme Court Building and the Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress. All are magnificent sites to tour.
Great anti-snowflake material.
The Smithsonian is on the Mall: the Washington Monument and the reflecting pool are quite pretty; and if you time it right, you can catch the Cherry Blossoms in bloom.
My son and DIL live in DC. My only request when visiting is to make sure we take a night time drive of the city . All the monuments and memorials are so beautiful at night. The nighttime lighting is amazing.
If you are out walking and you get tired with all your kids and are not near the metro, just get a taxi.
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