need help with sightseeing trip from dw to DC?

[cindermom]

We are planning on spending 9 days at dw and Universal and then driving up the coast for 5 days and ending up at DC (June23-july 8th 2006). My oldest son is a history major (planning to teach) and is more excited about sightseeing civil war sites and in DC then in our dw trip. There will be 5 of us, me, my dh, 2 ds (21 and 22) and dd (15). Everyone with 3 children knows this limits the hotels you can stay at somewhat. I am interested in any suggestions from some of you who live back east as far as whether this is even feasible to try and suggestions for places to stay. None of us have ever been back east other than 2 prior trips to DW (we are from Seattle area). We are planning on staying overnite in Savannah and Williamsburg (1 nite each) and 2 nites in DC. We are not sure about best place to stay between Savannah and Williamsburg. We want to stay in least expensive hotels, except maybe splurge in DC so that we can walk to the mall. (I have read that we absolutely should not try to drive in DC!) also any suggestions for organizing the dc part of the trip. It sounds very confusing with getting pretimed tickets for most of the monuments etc at the mall?

Thanks so much!

 

[SB in KY]

If your DS is into history you might want to plan more than 1 night in Williamsburg....it is an amazing place....be sure to book one of the lantern tours if they are being offered on a night while you are there....they are WONDERFUL....also be sure to make dining reservations for at least one of the taverns....Kings Arms or Christiana Cambells are my personal favorites....but any of them are a lot of fun.

In DC there aren't too many affordable places within walking distance of the mall....but absolutely do NOT plan to drive in DC (I would rather drive in DT Manhattan at rush hour than in DC!!)....good news is the Metro is phenomenal....you can get anywhere easily, cheaply, safely and quickly on it. Just buy the all day pass (I think they are about $6/day but you can check their web site and find out for sure) and you have unlimited travel for 24 hours....great deal.

You can get any hotel close to a Metro stop and still be very close to everything. My favorite "close in place" is Loews L'Enfant Plaza (Metro stop is on the lower level of the hotel) and you could walk to the mall from there....although I am not sure you can have 5 people in a room....but check their website and see.

My other suggestion for a great location that will definately accomodate 5 is the Embassy Suites at the Chevy Chase Pavillion, it is farther out but it also has the metro station in the lower level of the hotel (red line)...nice, big suites, rate includes a full breakfast for everyone in the room and if you are fortunate enough to be there on a weekend the rates are great (pricier during the week as are all DC hotels, but still not out of line for the space, service and full breakfast)....besides it is in a mall that has a Cheesecake Factory (one of my all time favorite places to eat) and several other good dining options.

If your sightseeing time there is short I really recommend taking a night tour with Old Town Trolley from Union Station....the monuments are so lovely (and less crowded at night) and Old Town uses history majors and teachers for their tour guides....so the information provided is much more interesting and in depth. Be sure to make reservations for those in advance also (saves a few bucks if you do it online at their website)

Hope this helps a little.

 

[cindermom]

Wow! SB in KY, your tips are sooo helpful. I will have fun researching some of your suggestions. I have become an expert at organizing trips to DW and Disneyland but I have absolutely no frame of reference for a trip up the east coast and I have not found any great message boards to help me the way the disboards do. We have Loews gold so that might be worth checking into or the Embassy Suites sound great with breakfast included and we will be there on a weekend. (hopefully this is not a problem for sightseeing?). We live out in the suburbs of Seattle and are not used to taking the bus so it is reassuring to hear that it is fairly easy. I love the sound of both the lantern tour in Willliamsburg and the night trolley ride in DC. I have not seen either of those mentioned in the multitude of tour books I checked out from the library.

Thank you so much!

 

[rchristiansen]

Gettysburg, PA is not very far from DC either. It's a very cool historical town to visit. I've been there twice. An easy afternoon/day trip to do.

 

[B.Mary]

I recommend also the Embassy Suites in Williamsburg. We stayed there last year with a family of five. They also have a FULL breakfast buffet included. It's not the cheapest, there are SO many choices in Williamsburg.... but it was quite nice.

 

[trayletha]

If you DS is really into Civil War history you should consider a stop in Fredericksburg, VA. It is between Williamsburg and DC (about 60 miles south of DC) and is full of Civil War history Fredericksburg - of course I may be a little biased.

 

[clkelley]

I agree with Fredericksburg. It is a beautiful area.

Something else you might want to consider is KOA Kamping Kabins for your driving trip.

I recently did this. Two cabins for the 5 of you are less than any hotel room in Virginia or Maryland.

We stayed in three different KOA places just last month.

Each Kabin has a double bed and a set of bunk beds. They have great air conditioning and some places even provide cable. You have to bring your own linens and provide a tv and use a public shower facility, but we really enjoyed them.

We also did a two-day tour of Washington, DC. We drove in to the nearest Metro stop and parked the car.

Details on the Metro. The All-Day tourist ticket is 6.50 after 9:30 in the morning. We were there during the week so don't know about weekends. At the Metro parking lots you must purchase a Smart Card to pay for parking when you exit.

As far as touring the monuments. We used a company called Tourmobile. (www.tourmobile.com) It was $30.00 for a two-day ticket. This is a bus (several buses actually) that make a continous loop of all of the monuments, the Smithsonian, and Arlington Cemetary. It stops at each of the points of interest and you have unlimited on and off of the buses. It runs from 9:30 am till about 4:30 pm. (Arlington Tours continue until 6:30)

On the first day we started at Union Station and got on the bus and started our tour. We did American History Museum, Holocaust Museum, Washington Monument, Jefferson Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, then we went to Arlington Cemetary. You get off at Arlington Cemetary and get on a separate trolley that goes through the cemetary and stops at the Kennedy Tombs, the Tomb of the Unknown, and also a house of the original owner (forgot his name). We were at the 5:30 pm Changing of the Guards, so we also got to see them lower the colors. We then hopped back on the Metro and went to dinner at Pentagon City Mall, then went back to our car.

The next morning we took the Metro to Arlington and started from there and saw Lincoln Memorial, WWII memorial, Vietnam Memorial, Korean Memorial, Air and Space Museum, Museum of Natural History. We ended back at Union Station, had dinner there, then took the metro back to our car.

The only difficulty we had with the tour and this is worth mentioning. At one stop we had to wait for three buses to come by before we could get back on. It was extremely hot and some folks were not getting off. Just staying on and listening to the narrator. This was on a Friday, so hot weekends may be even more of a problem.

The other thing to mention is that to actually get INTO some of the exhibits you need a ticket. They are free, but are distributed about 7am. For example to go INTO the Washington Monument there are tickets. The interior tour of Engraving and Printing there are tickets. To get a tour of the White House you need to contact your Congressman or Senator ahead of time and undergo a Security Investigation.

Another thing you might want to do is inbetween Fredericksburg and Washington (Maryland) take US 301 instead of I-95. It is a great view over the Chesapeake River and just after you cross the river (about 4 miles), there is a great restaurant called Captain Billy's Crab House. It is right on the river and is the best food!!

I hope this helps.

Carol

 

[agnes!]

We did American History Museum, Holocaust Museum, Washington Monument, Jefferson Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, then we went to Arlington Cemetary. You get off at Arlington Cemetary and get on a separate trolley that goes through the cemetary and stops at the Kennedy Tombs, the Tomb of the Unknown, and also a house of the original owner (forgot his name).
Carol

Original owner?...Robert E. Lee.
Interesting background about the estblishment of Arlington National Cemetery. The Union side decided to make it so Lee couldn't live in his home after the Civil War(or War between the States) ended so they established a cemetery around Arlington House. I mean, who would want to live in a home surrounded by graves? I believe a descendant of his(a son, I think?) sued the US gov't for damages.
The funny thing is, by the US/Union doing this, they probably inadvertently saved the house from somehow being destroyed or torn down. That house sits on prime real estate. It's amazing when you realize the historical buildings that are gone(even in Virginia, where we seem to worship history), due to neglect or development or road construction. I mean, take a look at the old photos of Mount Vernon from before the Mount Vernon Ladies Association came into being, you realize how close the country came to losing that unique place.

To the OP - About hotels/places to stay...there are some nice ones in Crystal City(an area right next to National Airport), especially if you have some frequent stay points to spend. There's even a Metro stop right in the heart of Crystal City that you can walk to from many of the hotels.

My favorite museum downtown is the Natural History Museum. It has everything from the Hope Diamond to roaches! I'm trying to think of the museums that have the pretimed tickets...Holocaust, American Indian and some of the popular/special exhibits. Sometimes you can get the pre-timed tiks even before your trip, but I can't help you with that detail. Go on to the Smithsonian Mueum's website, you should be able to find admission info there.

Have a good time - sounds liike you have a fun trip planned!
agnes!
PS - Where will you be on July 4th? There is always a really fabulous 4th of July Celebration down on the Mall, complete with fireworks and the National Symphony.

 

[SB in KY]

If you are Loews Gold you really might want to check out the L'Enfant Plaza...they might upgrade you to a suite....I am just a Loews basic blue (or whatever they call it) and I had booked a really tiny no view room with 1 double bed and they upgraded me (without even asking) to a huge view room with a king and sofa bed....it is a very nice hotel with excellent staff.

The tourmobile is good transportation from one site to another....saves some shoe leather, but that is about it...it won't take you anyplace you couldn't get with a metro pass and on foot...but if it is really hot (or pouring down rain) it might be worth it....good part is you do not have to buy tickets in advance....just hop on any bus and the driver can sell them to you. My main complaint is you often spend as much/more time waiting on a bus (and then may have to wait again if it is full) than it would take to just walk to your next site.

You might want to get an "Unofficial Guide"....it was as good as any of the guide books I think....very comprehensive. Whatever guide book you get just make sure it was published within the last year or 2 (the ones in our library were older than I am)....and everything on the DC tourist circuit changed after 9/11.

If the budget will allow it you might want to check into staying at one of the colonial homes in Williamsburg...the experience of walking the srteets at dusk and early AM without any tourists is just amazing. If you plan to stay in the historic district of Williamsburg I would make reservations VERY early as the time around 7/4 in Williamsburg is like going to WDW between Xmas and New Years!!

 

[clkelley]

Another note on the Tourmobile. Only the Union Station Stop and the Arlington Cemetary Stop has a desk that will take credit cards. The drivers take cash only.

Yes, we probably could have gotten around just as well on foot and the metro, but the ability to hear the narrator during the tour was very interesting and made for a good tour for us since we did no preplanning.

Also since we had been living in 115 degree heat index for two weeks at National Jamboree and it was still 100 degrees while we were in DC, the ability to just hop on the bus was a godsend.

Carol

 

[SB in KY]

Carol....oh my...you are a REAL woman!! My hat is off to anyone that stuck out the heat, the tragedy, the illness and more heat!! Congratulations on surviving the experience!!

 

[clkelley]

Thanks so much!! We had a great time! Despite the problems, it was a GREAT experience, Being from North Alabama, we are pretty used to the heat and humidity. My son and I both did fine! (Since we were on staff, we had electricity, so we had fans at our camp) I drank more water than I ever have in my life and lost 12 pounds!!!

This is getting off topic, so to bring it back, there is a Disneyland Display at the Museum of American History! It's pretty neat!

Carol