I think four nights for your first visit is
fine-you'll want to go back for sure.
Depending on how you think your boys
will respond-the Holocaust Museum is
very powerful. Also, so many Smithsonian
to see-Natural History, Air and Space, Hirshorn,
American History, Hall of Presidents. We really
like the Phillips Collection up off Dupont Circle-
it's a wonderful small private museum with loads
of great Impressionism in their permanent
collection and usually a good temporary exhibit
for family viewing-nothing too heavy in other words.
Dupont Circle is a great area for eating too-we
stay at the Radisson Barcelo there, the rooms are huge and
we can often get a $99 rate(they have Nintendo on
their TV's ). Don't mean to skew your plans
about hotel but there's much more
to choose from around there to eat.
We liked the National Arboretum for something different
and I second the recommends for the FBI and the Mint.
National Archives would be a must IF they are done with
the renovations. There's an ON and OFF Bus Tour that
sells all day tickets including lots of the sights not central
to D.C. We visited the Kennedy Center last time-check
for their entertainment schedule-they often have free
concerts/shows on Sundays. That was interesting. Grand
Central Station is worth a look-it was restored recently and
it's a fairly easy walk to the Capitol from there if the weather
is decent. Grand Central also is a good lunch stop. Also-in
good weather, you'll want to allow time to walk the entire
"mall" which includes Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Wall, Korean
War Monument, Womens War Memorial and the Washington
Monument, the Reflecting Pool, original Smithsonian Bldg and
the Capitol Bldg-not in that order. And you thought WDW was
a lot of walking!
The FBI tour, in particular, was such a good one.
