OT: Washington DC help needed...

[OKW Mom]

We day-trip down to DC, National Geographic is away from the Mall, and we enjoy the diversion.

If you are carrying a backpack - do not wear it on the back. Swing it around front and keep your hands over the front (like a pregnant belly).

I was wearing a shoulder purse with thin leather straps and if I had not secured it to me in the front the criminal would have cut it and removed it without me even knowing. YES- when I removed the purse at lunch the back straps had been cut. I remember being slightly pushed on the street at a corner and the person apologized and ran off. Perhaps they cut the strap anf when it did not fall away they got spooked. This was at NOON on a weekday.

I was an adult leader when our BS Troop attended DC before the 2001 and 2005 Jamboree.

• When beggers see groups or a well dressed family they will approach you., we were overwhelmed by this.
• You will encounter many people expressing their freedom of speech.
• Some of these people beg, some are verbally assaultive.
• Many people pass out stickers expecting a donation.
• If you have small children you may have to prepare them for very graphic posters expressing people's beliefs.

This is a wonderful opportunity for you to reinforce whatever principles your family embrace.

I heartily recommend the Korean memorial (especially at twilight), FDR's memorial, the Wall and the Nurse's memorial and the WWII monument. As a youth leader we felt it was important to expose the scouts to the things these monuments recognized. We were disturbed to see adults feeling up the nurse statues, people crawling on the monuments. Again this is an excellent time to reinforce your family values in relation to the messages these memorials are expressing.

 

[Cindy B]

We went in September and actually found the Holocaust Museum security lines the shortest of all places we visited. We had to wait FOREVER at the National Archives and the Air & Space Museum.

Odd. I had to empty my entire backpack and take a sip from all of my water bottles in my bag. (4 water bottles). Maybe I just looked suspicious. None of the other museums even mentioned the water bottles.

 

[rflorek]

• When beggers see groups or a well dressed family they will approach you., we were overwhelmed by this.
• You will encounter many people expressing their freedom of speech.
• Some of these people beg, some are verbally assaultive.
• Many people pass out stickers expecting a donation.
• If you have small children you may have to prepare them for very graphic posters expressing people's beliefs.

We were disturbed to see adults feeling up the nurse statues, people crawling on the monuments. Again this is an excellent time to reinforce your family values in relation to the messages these memorials are expressing.

We didn't see ANY of this. While we saw homeless people (more than I see in NYC), none of them approached us - they just asked for money as we walked by. We also were not verbally assaulted by any of them - some were very pleasant and wished us a good day as we passed by. We also did not encounter any one giving out something and waiting for a donation. I also didn't see any graphic posters - come to think of it, we didn't see ANY posters during our 4 day trip, and we covered all of the touristy areas.

I actually felt safer walking around DC (and taking the Metro) than I have in Philadelphia and Memphis.

A good rule of thumb in any city is to be aware of your surroundings.

 

[quiltymom]

Thanks for your great input Guilty Mom! I basically revised my schedule on page 6 of this thread--this is my most recent update. Perhaps you can comment on it? Thanks again! We are staying at the Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill, which is very near Union Station and the Postal Museum, I believe...if that helps at all.


Tuesday-Metro
Bureau of Engraving (tix ahead of time--8:15 or 8:45)
Holocaust Museum (tix ahead of time-10am?) (We will not be able to handle this for more than a two hours, at most)
Washington Monument (tix ahead of time-noon)
lunch
Udvar-Hazey space museum; they are open until 5:30 and I plan to have dinner somewhere near there so we can avoid rush hour traffic back to the city. DS would LOVE to see this!!!

Wednesday-Metro
Air and Space Museum
Nat. Am. Museum (eat lunch here)
Botanical Gardens
Capitol

Thursday-Metro
White House(tix ahead of time)/Visitor Center
Ford's Theater/House next door
Hard Rock for lunch
maybe Old P.O.
National Archieves
Sculpture Garden
Nat. History Museum

Friday-Tourmobile
Memorials:WWII, Vietnam, Lincoln, Korean, FDR, Jefferson
Arlington Nat. Cemetary
Postal Museum

This looks much more "do"able. You'll be able to enjoy yourselves so much more this way.

My tip for spending 2 hours at the Holocaust is to not spend a lot of time watching the movies/videos. There are so many of them that they can really eat up your time. If anyone gets queasy, stay away from the exhibits which display a warning - they are quite graphic.

You start the tour at the top of the museum and work down. When you get off of the elevator you can run into a crowd (it's designed that way), move past it as quickly as possible. Otherwise you can get caught up watching the movie and seeing the displays right there, now knowing just how much was beyond it. And you may want to split up into groups depending what people want to see and just plan on meeting in the main lobby at a certain time. There is so much to see and you'll really need to pick and choose. The building interior in itself is a work of art.

There are many, many places to eat near the Air & Space Annex. Take your time eating and plan on returning after 7:00 or so. My DH works on the other side of the fence from the Annex and commutes that every day. I66 is always crazy - it doesn't matter what time of the day it is. It seems to bottleneck around Nutley Street and then again further down past the 495 interchange. But it is the most direct way to get to and from your hotel. Also, in case you didn't know, it costs about $12.00 to park at the Annex.

On your Tourmobile day, just remember that many of the memorials are close to each other (Korean, Vietnam, Lincoln) or within a short walk if you don't feel like waiting for the bus to come. It only takes about about 10-15minutes to get to the FDR from the WWII (it's a guess - I've never timed it but have walked it a lot). You can catch the earliest Tourmobile this day since the monuments don't close. If you want to start out earlier than the Tourmoblie service begins, you can always Metro to the closest one then catch the Tourmobile from there.

You'll love the National Gallery Sculpture Garden. My faves are the Lichtenstein house and the Calder typewriter eraser (I always have to explain to my kids what a typewriter is whenever we see that!). The fountain is turned into a ice skating rink during the winter.

If you collect Christmas tree ornaments, you can purchase past year's White House ornaments at the Visitor's center.

Otherwise, your tour looks good. You've done a great job of keeping touring sites near each other. You're going to have a wonderful time! And don't forget to bring rain ponchos and umbrellas. It can rain quite hard here in the Spring!

 

[quiltymom]

Sorry I didn't include this in the above message - I just saw them!

One more question... when you order tix for Washington Monument in advance...do they mail them to your house...and if so, when? Thanks!

I believe they give you the option of having them sent (for a slight fee) or picking them up at will call. I just had them sent to me so I had them in hand when we got there. One less thing to do!

I also didn't see any graphic posters - come to think of it, we didn't see ANY posters during our 4 day trip, and we covered all of the touristy areas.

They are starting to crack down on illegal posters around the city. It was getting pretty bad. They're still there, but not as many.

And most of the people who pass out stickers (as mentioned above) hang around the Smithsonian Mall - museums on the streets near the exits, the Mall itself, at the Mall Metro station entrance. Just say no thanks, and move on.

 

[TDC Nala]

To actually do the tour of the Holocaust Museum takes pretty much an entire day. I would not plan on doing the tour in such a packed schedule.

The tour is most likely not suitable for young children.

The FBI is not currently doing public tours. That can be crossed off any tourist list for the near future.

Planet Hollywood was at 11th and Pennsylvania but closed some time ago.

 

[kathmzh]

I'm just starting to plan a trip for the summer, and I'm learning so much from this thread, thanks for posting, OP, and thaks to all that have shared their tips! A question (I don't mean to hijack): Is the late summer (after mid August) still considered peak season? When do the crowds begin to thin out, or do they?

 

[quiltymom]

I'd say that there are two peak times - Spring with the school groups and Fall with the Senior groups. But Spring has the most people. The Smithsonian museums (Air & Space & Natural History in particluar) can be packed at those times.

About the only read "down" times are January & February, or whenever it rains rotfl: sorry - inside joke!). It's crowded, but not Disney crowded. And expect to walk a lot.

They are restructuring the cab fare system here, so I can't say how that's going to effect prices, but for tourists, between the Metro, Circulator, TourMobile & Old Town Trolly, you can get just about anywhere.

Another little-known attraction is the aquarium that is located in the basement of the Commerce Building, right across the street from the Reagan Building. It's small but a nice peaceful place to visit.

The American History Museum is slated to re-open sometime next summer.

 

[ttfn3]

My DH and I took our DS (age 11) to DC for the first time the end of September 2007. We had a wonderful time. DH contacted our legislators and was able to get tours scheduled ahead of time. We stayed at the Embassy Suites in Chevy Chase, which has a metro stop underneath the hotel (red line). We used the metro to get into DC each day. Here's what we did:

Day One (Wed)
Bureau of Engraving & Printing (arranged thru Senator). Saw money being made. I was surprised how old the equipment looked! Stopped at the gift shop and DS bought $250 in shredded money for about $2. Then, we walked all the way the thru the National Mall to the Russell Senate Building (loooonnnggg walk). One of our Senators offers a tour daily from their office of the Capital. It was my favorite part of the trip. An intern took us thru the Capital, and we sat in a session of the House (saw a vote!), heard a Senator giving a speech in the Senate, took the little tram below the Capital that goes between the House & Senate – and saw lots of details about the building. We spent over 2 hours with this intern and he was willing to spend more time, if needed. We then made a stop at the Union Station for lunch. We ate at Thunder Grill. It was nice to sit down for lunch. Next, we headed to the Supreme Court for a lecture. The Court wasn’t in session yet, but this stop was very interesting. We took time to stop in the little museum and watched a very interesting film. Since we were nearby, we stopped at the Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress – which was very ornate & beautiful. We started off on a docent tour, but left it because it was wayyyy to much detail for us. This building also has a great shop! After this long day, we headed back to the hotel for evening drinks and dinner near our hotel.

Day Two
We started the day with a White House tour. We left our valuables in the hotel safe. It was actually very freeing to tour with only some pocket money and our ID. This tour was cool of the museum part of the WH. Only a few people get in at a time, so it was neat to be one of the few to visit that day. The President was at the WH and we tried to catch a peek – but no luck. The guards knew lots of details and were eager to share their knowledge. After our tour, we headed back to our hotel to pickup our camera before heading back downtown. We purchased Tourmobile tickets and hit many of the monuments (Jefferson, FDR, Lincoln, Korean, Vietnam), then went to Arlington National Cemetary and took the Tourmobile tour to JFK’s grave, and the changing of the Guard (DS really was impressed with this ceremony!). We walked to the Iwo Jima Memorial (a bit of a walk from Arlington) and hiked to Rosslyn for dinner. We ate dinner at a mediocre Chinese place and took the metro back to our hotel for a dip in the pool/hot tub.

Day Three
We started the day at the National Archives. We were lucky and there were no lines. Very interesting. Not at all like National Treasure. We walked thru the Sculpture Garden across from the Archives, then over to the National History Museum for a look at the dinosaurs and the Gems (including the Hope Diamond). We walked over to the Washington Monument and got tickets for a short time later to go up to the top. We headed to the WWII Memorial, then back to the WM. It was interesting to go up in the WM and see the sights. Then, we hoofed it back near the White House, and ate a late lunch at the Old Ebbitt Grill (a bit further than we thought). After lunch, we stopped at the Hotel Washington and took a peak at their roof top café and printed our airline boarding passes at the business center. DH then took off to see the view from the front steps of the Capital. DS and I headed to Union Station to take a look at the shops. Then, we took the Metro back to our hotel for drinks and a lite dinner.

Day Four
We saw a bit of the National Book Festival on the Mall, and spent the morning at the National Air and Space Museum. The National Museum of History is closed, and they have a temporary display at this museum. The museum was celebrating the anniversary of Sputnik. It was a whirlwind visit, since we needed to head back to the hotel, and then to the airport.

I would like to go back again soon and visit Embassy Row, Georgetown, the National Cathedral, the zoo, etc. Everyone was very helpful during our visit and the City is so clean compared to other metro areas I have visited.

 

[Soupermom]

Great information everyone! Thanks so much...and keep it comin'!!!!

 

[Lynn CC]

Did anyone eat in Chinatown? Do you have a favorite restaurant?

We are going for 5 nights in January, flying from Boston, staying at Monaco. We plan to do a couple of Washington Captials Hockey games at the Verizon Center, and go to some practices at the Iceplex. We are visiting the National Hist., the zoo, aquarium and doing an evening tour of the monuments
We are eating at the Rosa mexican place, ESPN club, Hard Rock Cafe.

Anything else you could suggest for Dh, I and DS (20) who is on break from college would be appreciated.