D.C. this summer

[goofy's friends]

we are planning a Washington D.C. trip this month (yikes, it's coming up quick). We have a Capitol building tour planned and haven't heard back about the White House tour, but aren't counting on that. We have 3 kids ages 13, 11, and 9. What would you consider to be "don't miss" things. We will, of course, hit a couple of the museums, but don't want to get museumed out. We were thinking the spy museum and one of the Smithsonians--which one is best?

We will be in town about 3 days as we are also doing Williamsburg on this same trip. So, what do you think would be the most entertaining, memorable for kids?

 

[monkeybug]

http://www.spymuseum.org/spyinthecity/

It's along the lines of the Kim Possible missions in Epcot!
We haven't done it yet, but it looks very cool!!

 

[goofy's friends]

Thanks Monkeybug! That is just what my kids would love!!

 

[3prettyprincesses]

Definitely the Spy Museum. It's really fun and should be great for the ages of your kids. Also, we love the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History as there is a great gemstone/mineral exhibit. They have the hope diamond on display too, it's gorgeous! The Museum of American History is good too, it went through a refurb 2 years ago.

A fun place to eat is at Union Station. The 2 top floors are shopping and the bottom floor is all food. Lots to choose from. There is an interesting tour that leaves from Union Station too, the Duck Tour. It's an old WWII boat/vehicle. You start at Union Station and the tour guide takes you through parts of the city. Then you literally drive into the Potomac river and cruise around. It offers a very unique look at DC from the river. We love it and have taken visiting family on it as well. Here's the link in case you're interested:

http://www.dcducks.com/

ETA: There is an unbelievable delicious cupcake shop called The Red Velvet Cupcakery that is fabulous. Link below:

http://redvelvetcupcakery.com/index.html

 

[goofy's friends]

oooo, the cupcake place is on the list for sure!!! YUMMY! we did the ducks in Seattle, I know it's not the same, but I don't think we'll do them again. The 2 Smithsonians you mentioned are the ones I was thinking of doing, so that's good.

Anyone done the National Treasure tour at Mount Vernon? Worth it or not?

 

[castleview]

I never get enough of the Air & Space Museum and I heard the one out by Dulles Airport is even better than the one on the mall. Honestly, I could have done without the Capitol tour. You feel like you should do it, but you really don't see too much. Seeing the legislative room (where the State of the Unions are) is not included in the regular tour so see if you can get a pass for that beforehand (assuming you'll be there on a weekday). My kids are also younger and were less than enthralled with the Capitol.

 

[Quiksilvr]

If your kids are into spaceflight and such, you gotta do the Air and Space Museum. If they're indifferent, I would recommend Natural History. It's more interesting to a kid than what they've got at the American History museum.

Re cupcakes: I like Red Velvet, but Georgetown Cupcake is the best! If you go to either, prepare yourself to spend a mint on cupcakes. They ain't cheap. You've gotta sell a lot of cupcakes at a high price to pay for prime retail space on 7th Street NW.

If your kids are into sports, you might try taking them to a Washington Nationals game. I know it's not your normal sort of "DC" thing to do on a vacation, but it's a nice stadium and you can get very reasonably priced seats to most games. I think they even do a thing on Sundays where you pay like $15 per person and you get a ticket, hot dog, chips, and a drink. Nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

 

[MidgeD79]

We are also planning a summer vacation to Washington DC. We had to cut back from 8 days to 5.5 days (Includes 8 hour each way drive). We plan on museums, Mount Vernon (National Treasure tour) , a night time bus tour of the monuments and maybe the zoo.

 

[wdwmom0f3]

we are planning a Washington D.C. trip this month (yikes, it's coming up quick). We have a Capitol building tour planned and haven't heard back about the White House tour, but aren't counting on that. We have 3 kids ages 13, 11, and 9. What would you consider to be "don't miss" things. We will, of course, hit a couple of the museums, but don't want to get museumed out. We were thinking the spy museum and one of the Smithsonians--which one is best?

We will be in town about 3 days as we are also doing Williamsburg on this same trip. So, what do you think would be the most entertaining, memorable for kids?

We are also going to be up there. I also talked to someone at the White House about a tour but I have not heard back yet either. What info did you have to give? I was a little worried about that.

I am planning on taking our kids to the Zoo, Smithsonians and the Spy museum too. I think the kids will really enjoy those places.

 

[minniebeth]

The monuments are pretty classic spots to visit. If you don't plan on visiting all, I'd go with The Linclon Memorial since it has the Vietnam and Korean War Memorial basically in the same location. They are all pretty powerful memorials and are great spots for family photos. We love The Jefferson Memoiral too and the FDR Memorial is closeby it, but it's pretty far from the others. You might want to use the Trolleys so you can get off and on stops to see more. My DH makes us walk it all. (He tells me I walk tons at WDW, I can do it in DC too, lol!)

The monuments at night are beautiful, my favorite at night being the WWII memorial.

There's the Bureau of Engraving and Printing tour (weekdays only though), the National Archives, Arlington National Cemetery are some other highlights.

Everyone's different, but my kids loved the Capitol tour (we had a member of our representative's office give us the tour so we had a more comprehensive tour which included the House floor. My DS said, "where else does past and present history meet better than here?" He was awed by it and saw a little glimmer of politics in his eye!
They loved the Spy Museum too.

You can't do everything in 3 days, and you will easily be able to fill up those days, so you should have fun no matter what you choose!
You will also love Williamsburg!
Have a nice trip!

 

[Tink's Pixieduster]

Here's some different options for folks visiting DC this summer (or any time). This past Sunday, the Washington Post ran an article about theater presentations of tours and historic areas http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/27/AR2010052706128.html.

The guides of these tours and locations offer a personal perspective of historic people of the time. "Martha Washington" discusses life at Mount Vernon, "Diane Lawson" a civil rights activist talks about what happened when four young black men sat down at a Woolworth's lunch counter in North Carolina in 1960 (Smithsonian Museum), "Detective James McDevitt" who leads tours investigating the shooting of Abraham Lincoln (Ford's Theater), and "Elizabeth Keckly", a freed black woman and dressmaker to Mary Todd Lincoln (Ford's Theater) who talks about Washington in the 1860's. There was another presentation in the article, but the author was not as impressed with that as he was with the ones I mentioned.

This sounds like something not only different and educational, but entertaining as well.

 

[minniebeth]

Here's some different options for folks visiting DC this summer (or any time). This past Sunday, the Washington Post ran an article about theater presentations of tours and historic areas http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/27/AR2010052706128.html.

The guides of these tours and locations offer a personal perspective of historic people of the time. "Martha Washington" discusses life at Mount Vernon, "Diane Lawson" a civil rights activist talks about what happened when four young black men sat down at a Woolworth's lunch counter in North Carolina in 1960 (Smithsonian Museum), "Detective James McDevitt" who leads tours investigating the shooting of Abraham Lincoln (Ford's Theater), and "Elizabeth Keckly", a freed black woman and dressmaker to Mary Todd Lincoln (Ford's Theater) who talks about Washington in the 1860's. There was another presentation in the article, but the author was not as impressed with that as he was with the ones I mentioned.

This sounds like something not only different and educational, but entertaining as well.

Thanks for sharing this, Tink's Pixieduster! It does sound great. They do something similar in Willimsburg during "Revolutionary City". It is really entertaining while hearing historically accurate accounts from historical characters.

 

[monkeybug]

We are also going to be up there. I also talked to someone at the White House about a tour but I have not heard back yet either. What info did you have to give? I was a little worried about that.

I am planning on taking our kids to the Zoo, Smithsonians and the Spy museum too. I think the kids will really enjoy those places.

For White house tours you have to write your congressman (unless you have another contact) and request a tour. They will need every member of the groups name and social security # and I think you have to do it 6 months in advance. They also will not always give you an exact day and time until just before the tour, so you have to be some what flexible. No cameras allowed either, which is kinda' a bummer!
My husband is organizing one as a morale event through his work (he's military) and he didn't need to write to a congressman, but they still had to have the names of everyone going (including kids) and all they told him is that it should be sometime in July.

 

[golfgal]

You will barely scratch the surface of things to do in DC in 3 days. Our kids did not like the Spy Museum at all but they are older. The Holocaust Museum was everyone's favorite. It's hard to pick just one Smithsonian to visit but I think the Museum of Natural History has the most stuff on display, Air and Space would be second. I was really looking forward to the Am History Museum and was very disappointed in that.

Mount Vernon is worth the trip but it is hard to put that above seeing things like the monuments, National Archives, the Smithsonian's and Arlington. Mount Vernon will be whole day or a good part of one day. The Library of Congress is a MUST see. That is probably the most beautiful building in DC and they have the Night at the Museum tour there. The Capital Tour is ok, nothing great. It is still so much a part of US History and present day US that it is worth going. It is connected by a tunnel to the Library of Congress.

The Zoo is nice but again, hard to put that above some of the unique things around DC.

Plan for a LOT of walking, use the metro as much as possible. Where are you staying?

 

[wdwmom2]

Anyone done the National Treasure tour at Mount Vernon? Worth it or not?

We did it last summer. DH and I are big Nicolas Cage fans and wanted to take the tour to see where part of the National Treasure movie was made. Very nice.

ETA: Unless you like standing in long lines in the hot summer sun, try to get to Mount Vernon as early as possible. We got there not long after they opened and walked right into the house. There is a tour guide in every room, and we had them all to ourselves!!!! Not long after we were done the house tour, there was quite a line to get into it!

Pic of where Cage opens up the wall in the basement to kidnap the President.

Where Cage comes out of the underground tunnel after he lets the President go. In the movie, this exit is very overgrown with vegetation.

 

[monkeybug]

A lot of people use the tourmobile too.
We did it when our family was here visiting, and it did cut out some of the walking. My aunt had provided us with free tickets though, so I don't know how much they are when you are paying. Most of the monuments are with in walking distance of each other, but if it's hot and humid, the tourmobile will be a nice break from the heat. You don't have to follow a schedule. It's a little like the Disney buses, you take it to where you want to go, and when you are ready to leave you just wait for the next one at the stop.

 

[mominwestlake]

My sister and I took our kids last summer ages 7, 9, 11, 12, and 14. Everyone really enjoyed the monuments at night tour. We also got tickets to go up in the Washington Monument and the kids really liked that too. My sons love pandas so we made a trip to the Washington Zoo. Since it was free we didn't feel like we had to tour the whole zoo. They also enjoyed the National Cathedral. We brought binoculars and printed the list of gargoyles off of the website so that we could look for them. The kids were excited to find the Darth Vader one.

 

[Christine]

They also enjoyed the National Cathedral. We brought binoculars and printed the list of gargoyles off of the website so that we could look for them. The kids were excited to find the Darth Vader one.

This is one of my personal favorites. Not sure why as I'm not religious but I always liked going there.

 

[Tink888]

We just got back from a short trip to DC over the weekend.

Our kids have always liked the Air & Space Museum, the monuments and Arlington National Cemetery.

My personal favorite is the American History Museum. I could spend a couple of days there.

We've been to Mt. Vernon in years past and enjoyed so I imagine it is even better now with the National Treasure tour.

If you have a car, another interesting place to visit is Luray Caverns in the Shenandoah Valley. It's about an 1 and 1/2 from DC and pretty neat to see.

 

[wdwmom0f3]

For White house tours you have to write your congressman (unless you have another contact) and request a tour. They will need every member of the groups name and social security # and I think you have to do it 6 months in advance. They also will not always give you an exact day and time until just before the tour, so you have to be some what flexible. No cameras allowed either, which is kinda' a bummer!
My husband is organizing one as a morale event through his work (he's military) and he didn't need to write to a congressman, but they still had to have the names of everyone going (including kids) and all they told him is that it should be sometime in July.

OK, I was worried. I called up there and spoke to someone at our congressman's office, and she is going to try to work us in since we will be there for 6 weeks and are flexible. I was just worried about giving that information out. It kind of made me nervous. I hope we hear something soon, but I bet we can't get in. I should have done this months ago.