Some Washington DC questions, touring **return update, page 3, #35**

[Dan Murphy]

I know Washington, DC threads pop up here every so often from folks visiting the nation's capital. I have seen many for Chicago also over the years. Both seem to be popular destinations.

Marie and I will be visiting DC soon, heading to that area for a family wedding in nearby Annapolis. We thought we would take advantage of the proximity of DC to spend some time there before the wedding. I was there once as a kid, Marie has never been. We are driving. A two day drive from Chicago, leaving on a Saturday, stopping half way in Ohio. Then on to DC, arriving late afternoon on a Sunday. We are staying in Washington from Sunday, leaving Friday to head to Annapolis. Wedding on Saturday, heading home Sunday, stopping half way again in Ohio and home on Monday.

We are staying at the Westin Washington, DC City Center on M Street near 14th Street, Thomas Circle.

Our fixed plans so far are...Monday, 1 PM, Capitol tour...Tuesday, 9:30 AM, White House tour, and then afternoon with Snoopy. With Judi, we plan on visiting the Holocaust Museum...Wednesday, 4:15 PM, Bureau of Engraving tour. The three tours, Capitol, White House and Bureau of Engraving are set days and times, through our congressman.

On Friday, we are planning on a morning departure from DC and driving to Mount Vernon for a several hour visit and then driving to Annapolis, presumably arriving there maybe mid afternoon Friday.

Question/s I have is/are, any suggestions for any of the other times we have free? Mornings for us are about 9 AM start. We do not necessarily want to be out at night, maybe 8 PM latest. We have our car, but plan on parking it when we get to hotel on Sunday and not using till we leave for Mt Vernon on Friday. We may be using either, or both alternately, the Old Town Trolley tour buses (green and orange ones) and/or the Tourmobile trams (blue and white ones). The Old Town does do a pick up at our hotel each day, about 9 AM, and does a drop off at 4:30 and 5 PM. The Tourmobile does do a tour of various areas of Arlington cemetery, the Trolley just goes to Arlington, Kennedy grave area. They do both have somewhat different stops that they do around town.

Would be be best served by sticking to the Mall area, with maybe one diversion, via the Trolley, to the National Cathedral? We have picked up some good ideas from Judi, looking for some more opinions and ideas from folks here too.

Thanks very much.

 

[DisneyMomx7]

Be sure to schedule sometime for the Smithsonian.

If you get a chance stop in at Ford's Theatre too. You can also tour the house where they brought Lincoln after he was shot. It is across the street from the Theatre.

Have a wonderful time. My ds went to American University in DC and I really miss going down there since he graduated.

 

[mtemm]

korean/vietnam/ww2 memorials are not to be missed, and are particularly haunting at night. I would definitely try to fit them in!

 

[MommyMcQueen]

I was just in DC for the first time a couple of months ago - we did the Tourmobile trams and I wasn't totally impressed - it worked okay but we spent a lot of time standing around waiting for the trams - especially first thing in the morning. If the Old Town picks up at your hotel I would definitely do that one. I actaully saw a lot more Old Towns driving around town than we did the Tourmobiles.

The Tourmobile is the only one that does a tour inside Arlington, and I have to say that was completely worth it. You can purchase it seperately for like $7 or so, so even if you're on Old Town and they take you to Arlington, you can get a ticket for the Tourmobile to do just do the Arlington tour. The busses worked great there, we never waited more than a few minutes, and it was a great way to see the majority of the cemerery - also had a lot of interesting commentary and gave lots of history along the route. It starts at the visitor center, goes to Kennedy Graves, Tomb of the Unknown & the amplitheater (also right across from that are the space shuttle Challenger and Columbia memorials, and several other nice ones), and Arlington House.

Around the Capitol you may want to stop in at the Botanical Garden - it is right there, very close, and very nice. Also Union Station is just a few blocks away - nice to see, mostly shopping and eating, but we ate a great dinner there up on the upper level and had a great view of the station. It was fun to see.

National Archives is also very nice - just across the road from the mall, if you're at American History or Natural History museums it's an easy couple block walk.

We walked the main memorials in one afternoon - started at the Washington, did WWII, Lincoln, Korean, and Vietnam..pretty easy to do one big loop around the reflecting pool and stop at each one along the way. The tour buses also stop at most of them, we found it easier to walk instead of wait for the bus to show back up since they were so close to one another.

Hope you have a great trip! There is so much to see, it is wonderful!

 

[monkeybug]

The Naval Academy is an interesting place to visit in Annapolis! A lot of people say the walking tour is great, but I've never taken it.
http://www.usna.edu/NAFPRODV/VC/
From the Naval Academy you can easily walk to downtown Annapolis which is also great. Lots of cute shops and restaurants.
A fun restaurant is Chick & Ruth's. Every morning they have the entire restaurant stand and do the pledge of allegiance together! It was also on man vs. food, and sometimes one of the owners goes around doing little magic tricks.
http://www.chickandruths.com
The food isn't fancy, just diner/deli type things, but it's fun.
We also like Joss Sushi, Annapolis ice cream (yum!), and the Irish place at the end of Maryland Av. (I always forget the name)
Don't go to Buddy's crabs! It's a total tourist trap! If you want good seafood drive across the Academy bridge and find Cantlers.
http://www.cantlers.com/
Have a great trip!

 

[wdwmom2]

Hi Dan

My suggestion, for Mount Vernon, get there as early as you can. The lines to tour the house can get very long. DH and I went there last summer. Trip Advisor mentioned the lines, so we planned with this in mind. We were glad we did. Very shortly after we toured the house, there was quite a line to get in. It is a wonderful tour and not to be missed. We probably spent close to 6 hours at Mount Vernon. There is so much to see!!!

Have a great time in my neck of the woods!!!!!

 

[Cindy B]

First say hi to Judi. I haven't heard her name in a long time!

Second, it all depends on what your interests are. Some of my favorites are the National Gallery of Art-- which is in a small unmarked building which won' tbe on any Smithsonian musuem maps- it is right near the Air and Space -- You are doing the Holocaust-- which is very moving! I also find the Hirshorn modern art musuem very interesting but you need to enjoy modern art. I also like the American History museum as well. Ive been on the National Cathedral tour-- it is lovely.

 

[Pixiedust34]

DC is a fantastic place to visit! There is so much to see and do.

It sounds like you have a good line-up of places to visit. For your free time, you'd be fine sticking with the Mall area. Tour the monuments and memorials, and the Smithsonians can keep you busy for many hours! Wear good walking shoes. It's a lot of walking to get from Point A to Point B even in the Mall area.

Use the Metro when convenient. It's relatively clean and there's a stop right at the Mall.

Don't underestimate heavy traffic in the DC area. Traffic is heavy at all times, and an accident can delay you bigtime. Allow plenty of time for travel between Mt. Vernon/DC/Annapolis.

Have a great trip!

 

[mjkacmom]

The Tourmobile was our biggest waste of money - it's hot, crowded, and there are far too many! I think we spent all about 5 minutes on it, and actually had to chase it down once. There seemed to be many more trolleys.

 

[Christine]

Your tour plans sound great. Not too overly ambitious!! I like the idea of the National Cathedral. It is a nice place to visit and in a pretty area. If you drive up Massachussets Avenue to get there you can see the embassy area and drive past the Naval Observatory. Not great stunning views but still just kind of "neat."

Be very careful on your timing leaving Mt. Vernon to get to Annapolis. Friday afternoons are the WORST for rush hour. It is also the start of beach season and Rt. 50 out toward Annapolis is "the" getaway route to the DelMarVa beaches. Don't leave Mt. Vernon to late. I would try to leave no later than 1PM.

Have fun!!

 

[PlutoPony]

Washington Cathedral is a good suggestion. I would do that this trip rather than save it for later as they are having some real budget issues and you never know what the future holds.

While you're in the area of the Capitol stop in the Botanical Gardens next door. And just down from that is the Museum of the American Indian with good exhibits and one of the better cafes on the Mall. Have you considered the Newseum? You might want to take at look at their website and see if it looks like something you would enjoy. It's located a block off the Mall by the National Gallery of Art.

If you are at all interested in aviation, a stop at the Smithsonian's Udvar-Hazy Museum by Dulles would be worth the time. IMO it's much better than Air and Space downtown and with your car it would work out well to stop there on your way into or out of town. They have a Concorde, Space Shuttle, Blackbird, the Enola Gay, and a whole lot of other stuff - it's a huge hanger like building (nice and new, not old/dungy) filled with planes and aviation paraphernalia. There's also an observation tower you can visit that overlooks the runways at Dulles. You do pay to park (big lot right out front) but the museum itself is free.

Agree with Christine to get on the road to Annapolis early. Downtown Annapolis is interesting to visit and if nothing else is going on it's quite easy to kill time at one of the many bar/restaurants on the water.

 

[lovemygoofy]

I hope you and Marie have a great trip. Shouldn't be that crowded with the kids in school still.

Looks like a great schedule but I would probably change Mt Vernon to Thursday if possible. It's a great drive up the GW Parkway and you can easily spend hours at Mt Vernon. That would free up Friday morning for a tour of maybe Arlington if you are interested.

You can take the Metro(blue line) to Arlington and the visitor center is close to the entrance. There you can purchase the tickets for the tour inside of Arlington. I like this tour because you can get off and see things and then catch the next tram easily. Watching the changing of the Guard is a goosebump sight.

Be careful about your afternoon drive to Annapolis. It isn't far away but on a Friday afternoon can still take forever and two days with the towners leaving for the beach. You could spend a lovely Friday in Annapolis also. Lots to see and do. The Annapolis Academy is very nice and just a gorgeous area overall.

Have a great trip and tell Judi hello for me.

 

[melk]

Hi Dan!

Something we did and really enjoyed was a nighttime tour of the monuments. They are really beautiful lit up at night, and the tour bus brings you right to each one, no need to worry about parking. We also did Mt. Vernon (loved it). We only did the children's portion of the Holocaust museum as we had the kids with us, and it was heartbreaking. Bring your hankie.

Have a great trip, it's a nice destination as there is so much to do.

 

[golfgal]

Use the metro as much as possible. The only place that it really doesn't work to use the metro is around the monuments-but I would take the monuments at night tour to combat that.

I would visit a couple of the Smithsonians. When you do the Capital tour, take the tunnel over to the Library of Congress. That is probably the most beautiful building in DC. WELL worth visiting. I also think that everyone should stop at the National Archives at least once. Seeing the Constitution and the other documents that shaped our country is very powerful. They are so faded that the opportunity to really "see" them may not be around much longer.

If you have time one evening, take the metro over to Old Town and ride the Trolly down and have dinner there. It is pretty fun. There is a cute old fashioned Ice Cream counter there too for dessert.

The Zoo isn't far from the National Cathedral so that might be a nice thing to combine with that.

 

[ead79]

DC is my 2nd favorite place to vacation after WDW!

Be sure to include some time for the various Smithsonian museums. The not-to-be-missed ones, in my opinion, are National Air & Space Museum and the National Museum of American History. These are really top-notch. I would advise getting there when they open, as they tend to be relatively crowded. As with Disney, this would give you about an hour before crowds start to build. These are an easy Metro trip away.

An unexpected highlight of our last DC trip was the Newseum. This isn't free, as it's privately owned, but it was really interesting. They have pieces of the Berlin Wall, a piece of the antenna from the Twin Towers (in a very moving display), and lots of other neat memorabilia. There is also an outdoor observation area that has an absolutely FANTASTIC view of the Capitol. We felt it was totally worth the cost.

Be sure to use the Metro whenever you can. It's safe, convenient, and easy to navigate.

Have fun!

 

[Nik's Mom]

We just got back from Washington DC. We liked the Open top tour bus. It had a lot of stops and we were able to see a lot in one day. The ticket is good for 2 days too.
http://www.opentopsightseeing-dc.com/
Also, Tina (aka lovemygoofy) gives great suggestions. Take good notes on her recommendations. She was spot-on with her suggestions for my trip.

 

[Green Tea]

I love the Newseum, the museum of news. It is near the National Galley & Capital, but it isn't part of the Smithsonian.

Not sure about the tour busses. I always take the metro everywhere. Really easy.

Do you have advance tickets for Holocaust Museum? It isn't as hard to get in same day as it used to be, but arrive early to get in line for tickets.

My favorite Smitsonian is probably the Museum of the American Indian. Beautiful architecture.

Oh, and it is easy to drive to the National Cathedral. Interesting and beautiful place. On the side with the garden there is a little shop on the opposite side of the lane from the church's shop. I got a couple of cute things in there.

 

[ndelaware]

There is a nighttime trolley tour that leaves from the Union Station. It included stops at the Lincoln Memorial, The Korean Memorial, and the Vietnam Memorial which all are great night photo opportunities. You just buy the tickets at the train station an hour or two in advance. It's a beautiful way to see the city. There are quite a few restaurants in the station so you can grab dinner while you wait.

http://www.trolleytours.com/washington-dc/night-tours.asp



Arlington is an all day event but worth it.

The National Cathedral is beautiful but does involve quite a bit of walking if you try to take the Metro to get there. We took the Metro to the general area and then caught a cab.

 

[Dan Murphy]

I really appreciate the ideas and input. I have already put some of them into place and researching some of the others. Sure is a wealth of knowledge here.

Any more?

Again, thanks.

 

[lovemygoofy]

I really appreciate the ideas and input. I have already put some of them into place and researching some of the others. Sure is a wealth of knowledge here.

Any more?

Again, thanks.

Dan, I would make sure if you have a GPS that your maps are as up to date as can be. There are ALOT of new roads and bridges that still haven't registered on my GPS maps and it can make driving even more confusing. On going "traffic improvements" here makes trying to get around quite the challenge.

If you do go to Mt Vernon, the George Washington Parkway is a great easy drive along the Potomac going through Old Town, which is a great stop for lunch.