Budget trip to Washington DC

[NJGirl]

There is NO WHERE to leave anything at the White House for security reasons. You can bring your wallet/id, money, and cell phone I think when we went last year. You may not bring a purse or bags of any kind and you may not bring at camera. You can not have any food or drink. If you have any of those items, they will turn you away. You can't even get on the ground without showing photo id and going thru a security trailer with lots of security and about 3 metal detectors.

 

[NJGirl]

here's the text from the white house website:

Prohibited items include, but are not limited to, the following: handbags, book bags, backpacks, purses, food and beverages of any kind, strollers, cameras, video recorders or any type of recording device, tobacco products, personal grooming items (make-up, hair brush or comb, lip or hand lotions, etc.), any pointed objects (pens, knitting needles, etc.), aerosol containers, guns, ammunition, fireworks, electric stun guns, mace, martial arts weapons/devices, or knives of any size. The U.S. Secret Service reserves the right to prohibit any other personal items. Umbrellas, wallets, cell phones and car keys are permitted.
Please note that no storage facilities are available on or around the complex. Individuals who arrive with prohibited items will not be permitted to enter the White House.

 

[Cindy B]

I understand the security at the White House. However I remember going in March/ April 2000 and just walking up the the White House (during open tour hours and getting a small tour with just my family.

I had my daughter in a stroller, DS was like six. We were allowed to take pictures and everything.

 

[Cindy B]

So you were able to bring in food/water into all places but the Capitol? Anyone else confirm this? Strollers - are they welcome everywhere?

No food water into the National Monument. If you have baby bottles they will look at them and practically open them (trust me on this).

At the Halocaust musuem be prepared to taste all the water in front of the guards. I had four water bottles in my bag (for the four of us). The guard saw my waters and made me sip each one in front of him. I have not had to do that with any other musuem.

That being said, it is well worth it to go, just leave the water bottles home.

 

[OSUmouse]

We are going to DC in mid-June. I contacted our Congresswoman's office by phone in early May because the website didn't work. Someone called me back the next day and set up the tour of the Capital. We are on a waitlist for the White House, but it is VERY doubtful. It was a last minute trip...so no big deal. Will find out next week.

Currently selling misc. things on ebay to buy a GPS for the trip. Think we'll get lost without it!

Boys (12 & 8) are excited.

 

[louey]

Like all the pp have said, there are a lot of free things to do in DC. The things that will cost you money are food and parking/metro expenses. I would definitely use the Metro if possible. I have lived in/around DC all my life and still get confused driving around here. If you take the Metro to go to the zoo, get off at the Cleveland Park stop, not the Woodley Park/Zoo stop. It's much closer (only about a block away) and it's the next stop after the Woodley Park/Zoo stop on the red line. Here is the link to the Metro map and you can even see how much the fares will be. This would help with budgeting to see if it is going to be worth it.

http://www.wmata.com/rail/maps/map.cfm


If you want to drive to the zoo, I would suggest going early and parking on one of the side streets. The parking lot at the zoo fills up early and is expensive. It's $10 for the first hour, $15 for hours 2-3, and $20 for more than 3 hours.

If you do decide to drive thru the city, here is a tip: all of number streets run vertical, all the letter streets run horizontal and the state streets run diagonal. You do not understand how much that has helped me

Since your a local can I ask which hotel you would stay at if you were visiting? I want to stay somewhere nice and convenient without breaking the bank. Thanks for any help

 

[stego]

similar to planning to WDW...I kid you not. The general consensus on what I have read so far is hotel location, food expenses, and how to get from one point to another. We went last year, so my experience is pretty recent.

The whole premise of our trip was our son had finally become a teen and we felt he would be ready and appreciate it more. He did very well and was actually part of the planning. He has a great interest in American history and knows quite a bit more than his old man.

I wanted to maximize our agenda but as it turns out we got quite a bit of heat while we were there. The heat really saps you and then some. We used the metro for going everywhere but we still had to walk quite a bit. We quickly learned how expensive eating out was...even though I went to get breakfast items each day (finding a hotel with a continental breakfast in a center location is difficult).

In regards to hotel, we 1st stayed at the Grand hyatt (right above a metro stop) and then switched to the other hyatt by union station (as the previous poster stated, it is at least 2 blocks away from union station). The one major thing we did not do was the Washington monument as I missed the deadline online to get tickets. People line up very early AM to get day of tickets (and I mean early)...I just did not want to committ that much time to that 1 single experience. We did go over to the old post office tower and that worked for us.

There are large government buildings everywhere and they are full of people. Eventually they come out and they all use the metro and buses constantly. We went at kinda non-busy time and sometimes the metro was really full. We saw many tour groups with kids our son ages and my hat was off to the parents: they were off sunning on the beach in Cancun while they sent little Suzie and Timmy for the obiligatory DC trip. There WAS whining.

Touring all the museums takes quite a bit of time. The holocaust museum alone was over 3 hours and we still did not see it all. Getting the timed tix ahead of time was huge. They do NOT allow cameras/video. PERIOD. Security was supertight at the capitol. The American native museum is the most recently constructed and it is a gem. I went back twice and still did not see it all. The air & space and natural history museums were packed.

We spent 6 nights and days in DC and still did not see it all and I felt I planned very well. We rented a car one day and drove down to Mt. Vernon...that also takes quite a bit of time to see everything. We had to wait 30 minutes just to get in the house.

 

[kellermomof3]

Great info!!

I'm wondering what it's like around Thanksgiving? DH said he'd like to go when the kids are out of school.

Has anyone been around Turkey Day??

 

[mom2twinz3]

If you can get by withot carrying a bag, you can get into the Smithsonian Museums much, much faster. They have lines for people with bags and backpacks and if you have neither, you can go right in. I carried my license and money in my pocket and we sailed right past those waiting in long, slow-moving lines.

 

[belle22]

Where are the subway's located? We may do the tip of the 5.00 footlongs.

 

[LKHomemail]

Smithsonian !!!! drive by the White House. It's the big one , on Pennsylvania , I think

 

[NotUrsula]

For those of you who do DC fairly often, do you know if the major hotels close to the Capitol are really draconian with security issues at bell services?

We will be staying in the suburbs and touring with a toddler, and we'll need a certain amount of "stuff" for her -- not to mention DH's camera equipment, which he's not about to leave behind at the hotel if we're doing the outdoor monuments that day.

When I travel for business I often go to a large hotel near my final meeting on my last day and check my things with bell services, even though I'm not staying there. Then after my meeting I can pick them up and head to the airport. However, business hasn't taken me to DC in nearly 20 years, so I don't know if security concerns make this an issue there now. I was hoping to do this routine with the camera equipment and diaper bag while we do the Capitol and Archives tours; I was thinking the Holiday Inn Capitol, which appears to the closest major property, or the L'Enfant Plaza.

I don't have any issues with hotel personnel searching the bag in my presence; just as long as they will accept it.

 

[Trixiezzz]

here's the text from the white house website:

Prohibited items include, but are not limited to, the following: handbags, book bags, backpacks, purses, food and beverages of any kind, strollers, cameras, video recorders or any type of recording device, tobacco products, personal grooming items (make-up, hair brush or comb, lip or hand lotions, etc.), any pointed objects (pens, knitting needles, etc.), aerosol containers, guns, ammunition, fireworks, electric stun guns, mace, martial arts weapons/devices, or knives of any size. The U.S. Secret Service reserves the right to prohibit any other personal items. Umbrellas, wallets, cell phones and car keys are permitted.
Please note that no storage facilities are available on or around the complex. Individuals who arrive with prohibited items will not be permitted to enter the White House.

We went to DC last summer and were able to take the White House Tour. We got our request in about 4-5 months in advance and only found out the day of the tour that we were IN! It was great.

Here's what we did: we talked to our senator's office and they said they'd be happy to watch our stuff for us! So we left our purses & backpacks at the senator's secretary's desk in the senate office bldg and then went over for our tour. Worked out great!

(Except that it is so sad you can't take a camera in for the tour. So many pretty things and I only have them in my 'brain' not memory card! LOL)

 

[torinsmom]

Touring all the museums takes quite a bit of time. The holocaust museum alone was over 3 hours and we still did not see it all. Getting the timed tix ahead of time was huge. They do NOT allow cameras/video. PERIOD. Security was supertight at the capitol. The American native museum is the most recently constructed and it is a gem. I went back twice and still did not see it all. The air & space and natural history museums were packed.

We spent 6 nights and days in DC and still did not see it all and I felt I planned very well. We rented a car one day and drove down to Mt. Vernon...that also takes quite a bit of time to see everything. We had to wait 30 minutes just to get in the house.

Do you mean ALL the Smithsonian museums do not allow cameras? I can understand the White House, but don't people want to take pictures? And what if you are doing the outside monuments(where I assume you CAN take pictures) and don't want to go back to your hotel before a museum? Is there somewhere to store it?

And one more thing, if food a drinks are not permitted, how about an EMPTY water bottle? I figure I can fill it up once I'm through security. Will they take my empty water bottle?

We are leaving tomorrow am, so I need to make sure I have all the rules right!

MArsha

 

[Janet Hill]

Do you mean ALL the Smithsonian museums do not allow cameras? I can understand the White House, but don't people want to take pictures? And what if you are doing the outside monuments(where I assume you CAN take pictures) and don't want to go back to your hotel before a museum? Is there somewhere to store it?

And one more thing, if food a drinks are not permitted, how about an EMPTY water bottle? I figure I can fill it up once I'm through security. Will they take my empty water bottle?

We are leaving tomorrow am, so I need to make sure I have all the rules right!

MArsha

For the most part, you can take pictures inside the Smithsonium museums. I think the only exceptions are the special exhibits.

As for the water bottle, that's a tough call, because they are pretty picky about the food and drink (potential damage to exhibits). I know that we had an unopened bottle of water in our backpack and couldn't take it in. There are water fountains, but they are located in hallways away from the exhibits.

 

[PattiPB]

We are going next month, and are staying at the Capitol Hill Suites across from the Library of Congress. I read a fair bit about the hotel, which was an apartment building that was refurbed. It has a separate bedroom and small kitchenette. Since we're staying over a weekend, it was $109 per night on the AAA website.

My daughter met our senator (Harry Ried) when he was filming PSA's at her school in May. (She is at a brand new magnet HS) He was extremely gracious to my 14-year old, and his staff has called her several times to iron out our plans. He and President Obama were at a function that night, and my daughter was freaking out that her name and phone number were in Senator Ried's pocket while he was standing next to the President!!! The staffers for the senator try to speak directly to her about all of the plans (not me or my husband)---it's been amazing! I'll report back exactly what they do with our itinerary.

We are going to try to do it strictly on foot---with a fam of 5 the Metro "bargain" price really adds up! Parking at the hotel is approx $25 per night.

 

[AnnaS]

Any feedback regarding Hotel Harrington or Harrington Hotel?

TIA

 

[amamax2]

We are going in Sept and also staying at Capitol Hill Suites! Please give an update when you get back as to how it was!! And any places you found close by to eat, lol!

Thanks!!

Michelle

 

[PattiPB]

We are going in Sept and also staying at Capitol Hill Suites! Please give an update when you get back as to how it was!! And any places you found close by to eat, lol!

Thanks!!

Michelle

I'll definitely do that! In the meantime...contact your senator like everyone is suggesting!!! I'm hoping it will work for us.

 

[torinsmom]

We are just back from DC and had a GREAT time! The weather was actually perfect, 70's and 80's and we only had a tiny bit of sprinkling one day. We stayed at the Marriott Wardman Park which I got on Priceline for $95/night. Let me tell you; they did not give us a room noone wanted because of that! Our room was so plush and we had view of the Washington monument. Best of all, the metro was right across from the hotel. There was a McD's, pizza place a CVS right there too.

If you want Washington monument tickets, get in line EARLY. We got there at 7:30(ticket office opens at 8:30) and there were about 200 people in front of us. We still got in and the view was awesome! Better yet, get your tickets online ahead of time(we would have done that but were waiting for tour dates, argh)

To me, the International Spy Museum was NOT worth paying for. It is also kind of out of the way.

The metro was a big time saver. We went all over for our three days there and ended up spending $22 each. Even with the metro, we walked close to 30 miles in three days, so I think it was worth the $ to save time and pain, LOL.

The zoo was one of our favorites. Thanks to the PP who said to get off at Cleveland Park metro stop, so you are walking downhill to the entrance! It was still a pretty tiring walk, but I'm sure uphill would have been much worse. At the end of the zoo, we took the shuttle back to the entrance and then walked(downhill) to our hotel.

Some interesting notes:

1)Locals seem to sit one to the pair of seats on the metro. Seemed like a waste of space to me, but then my DS said maybe people are scared of who may sit beside them( Like the one guy who was sniffing paper for our 10 minute ride, maybe? ;-)) When we got in with our luggage, noone even made eye contact, so we were standing trying to balance luggage for the long ride, while their bags had their own seat. On our ride back, I was bold and just asked if I could sit.

2)Since when is a donation required for a "free" map? Some guy asked if I wanted a free map near the Smithsonian. I took it and he asked for a donation for the homeless shelter. I was not about to get out my wallet right there in a mob of people, so I told him I didn't have cash, and he snatched the map back! LOL It was the same maps that are free in the lobbies of hotels and I didn't need it anyway!

We spent our last night at the Hilton Landmark in Alexandria. It was another Priceline deal at $70/night. They gave us a room on the top floor, with not a balcony, but a little sunroom deal! We could see the Pentagon and most of DC. We almost wished we had stayed there for all three nights, but it didn't have a metro next to it, so we were probably better off at the Marriott.

Oh, I parked at Ballston mall and was charged $8/day.,which was great. The mall is attached to the Metro, but it is still a bit of a walk. Beat paying $32/night to park.

If anyone has questions, I'd be happy to help if I can.

Marsha