Washington, DC- Parking?

[mchames]

We will be taking our DD8 and DD6 to DC for Spring Break the first week of April. My DH and I both went to college in DC and lived there for several years afterwards so we are familiar with the city. We left in 1995 though... I'm sure some things have changed.

We will be staying at my sister's house in Myersville, MD and driving in. That being said, we will need to find a place to park the car. When we lived there we mostly walked, rode metro, taxis, etc. Any suggestions? I was thinking of parking at Union Station and walking or using the metro to get to the monuments, museums, etc. What about the National Zoo, is there still a large lot available for parking there? How about Georgetown? I remember street parking being next to impossible. Are there any pay lots?

On another note, does anyone know if Thomas Sweet Ice Cream is still at the corner of Wisconsin and P Sts in Georgetown? I used to work there in college and lost touch with the owners, I'm just wondering if it's still around. I could really go for a big scoop of Vanilla Toffee Crunch right now!

Thanks.
Mary

 

[Christine]

I believe the zoo still has it's parking lot. Georgetown has a paid parking lot with that little mall that is there. Union Station still has a paid parking lot (I was over there for lunch not too long ago). A lot of the surrounding office buildings will usually allow some form of daily parking if they aren't full of monthly permit parkers. Usually they will have a sign up if they are full. Plan on spending about $20 a day in those lots.

 

[nordkin]

Great news-- Thomas Sweet is still there, but has a different owner. The place has not changed much and the menu is the same with the same great ice cream.

Parking at Union Station is probably your best and cheapest bet, although if you get to some of the office buildings in the area before 9 AM they have early bird parking for about $10 day.

 

[bigmerle1966]

The zoo actually has 4 parking lots but they are in the middle of doing a lot of construction and one of them was closed when we went last week. Hopefully they will have that all done when you go. If case you weren't aware, you can get tickets to be able to see the baby panda Tai Shan. You can get them by e-ticket on the zoo's web site at www.nationalzoo.org They are now available through the end of April.

 

[mchames]

Thanks Guys! No need to Google when you've got the DIS!

I am planning on getting Panda tickets once I know which day is going to be our zoo/Georgetown/visit our old college campus day!

We know parking will be $$$$ but it will still be cheaper for us to stay with my sister in MD, drive in and park than to get a decent hotel room that week since it is during the Cherry Blossom Festival.

Besides the museums, monuments and the zoo are there any other "not to miss" kid activities we should plan on doing? Since we lived in DC during our early 20's before kids we really didn't focus on family activites back then, but I could direct you to many a bar that stayed open "afterhours".

Thanks again.
Mary

 

[goofyforlife]

If your kids are into airplanes - Don't forget the new Udvar Hazy Air/Space Musuem near Dulles Airport - (parking is $12 but admission is free) Take the toll road out to rt 28- go south at 28 and the museum is about 1-2 miles south of Dulles airport. There an IMAX there and an awesome view of the runways from the tower.

 

[bigmerle1966]

Here are some web addresses for things we have done around DC with our school age child care program.

The College Park Aviation Museum

http://www.collegeparkaviationmuseum.com/links.html

Smithsonian Museums

http://www.si.edu/

International Spy Museum

http://www.spymuseum.org/siteintro.asp

And Tai Shan the baby panda is very cute, we went to see him last Monday and he was sleeping in a tree. Here's his pic.

 

[LadyyRedd]

You'll be staying about 15 minutes from my house!!!!

My advice....drive to the Shady Grove metro station and metro your way into DC.

Kimya

 

[mchames]

You'll be staying about 15 minutes from my house!!!!

My advice....drive to the Shady Grove metro station and metro your way into DC.

Kimya

We thought about doing that, but were under the impression that the parking at the metro station was for commuters and was mostly by permit. Is there a lot for general visitor parking? Thanks.

Mary

 

[EthansMom]

When we lived in MD a few years ago, we always drove to the nearest Metro station and took Metro everywhere. At that time, parking at the Metro station was free and an all-day Metro pass was $5. I think the prices have changed since then, but it's still worth investigating.

 

[caitycaity]

parking at union station will run you $15-20/day. I forget which it is, I just remember it is very expensive.

parking at metro stations is open to the public, but some lots fill up pretty early during the week. on the weekends metro parking is free. during the week, you will need to get a smarttrip card to get out (no attendant). http://www.wmata.com/riding/smartrip.cfm

i also recommend the spy museum.

 

[goofyforlife]

and with four people riding metro..........It probably much cheaper just to park downtown.......

 

[bigmerle1966]

You know I put the Spy Museum on there even though we have never been. I keep telling people it is a conspiracy, every time we have tried to go there something happens and we can't. The first time it we had a snow storm, the second they had school that day as a make up for school being out and something else happened on another date we tried to book it.

 

[mchames]

and with four people riding metro..........It probably much cheaper just to park downtown.......

This was what my DH was thinking, too. I'll look to see what metro will cost for the four of us. I remember them doing some kind of "tourist pass" when I lived there, is that still available?

My DSis occasionally has jobs in DC and when she does she either takes a commuter train from Frederick to Union Station or her SO drops her off at the Shady Grove Metro. She's the one that mentioned that parking there is near impossible if you don't get there really early. We will be visiting DC during the week not on the weekend so we will be fighting with commuters.

We plan on being up there for about a week. We will probably spend 2-3 days in DC, a day in Baltimore and if we're feeling really adventurous we may head up to Philadelpia.

Thanks again.
Mary

 

[Geoff_M]

The last time I personally drove in DC was in 1989, so things may have changed. We found the easiest way to handle the parking situation was to park in the short-term parking lot at Washington (now "Reagan") National airport and take the on-site Metro stop down to the Mall. It may not be the cheapest way to go, but it was a heck of a lot easier than finding street parking near the Mall.

 

[caitycaity]

now i know why i can never find short term parking at national! j/k

there is an all day metro pass, but i live near shady grove and i agree with your sister. if you are going to be there during the week, you don't want to metro in. first of all, parking will be difficult unless you get there early and second of all the red line gets really crowded in the morning.

i think parking at union station is probably your best bet. just beware that if you are there during the week, driving in/out is going to be a hassle traffic-wise as well. many of the museums close around rush hour. there are also some roads that go one way during rush hour or have special lane restrictions that are not very clearly marked (connecticut ave comes to mind) during rush hour.

btw, where did you and your dh go to school? my dh and i are recipients of a combined 3 (soon to be 4) degrees from gw.

 

[mchames]

btw, where did you and your dh go to school? my dh and i are recipients of a combined 3 (soon to be 4) degrees from gw.

We both went to American University and graduated in '91.

We both have lived in various parts of the city. I lived on campus two years, close to the Silver Spring line off 14th, Massachusetts Ave near AU, Connecticut ave near Chevy Chase Circle (at least I think that was the circle, there's so many of them ), Woodley Park, Capitol Hill and I did a very brief stint in both Adam's Morgan and Glover Park. Wow! I moved around alot. My Dh lived near Tenley Circle, Woodley Park and Capitol Hill. I think between the two of us we should be able to navigate the city... at least I hope so.

i think parking at union station is probably your best bet. just beware that if you are there during the week, driving in/out is going to be a hassle traffic-wise as well. many of the museums close around rush hour. there are also some roads that go one way during rush hour or have special lane restrictions that are not very clearly marked (connecticut ave comes to mind) during rush hour.

What time does rush hour usually start and end? I know at least one night we plan on staying in DC for dinner. I'm trying to track down some old friends. On other days we may just try to leave earlier in the afternoon if it would help to avoid massive traffic.

Thanks again.
Mary

PS: Does anybody know if those Tourmobile trolleys are worth doing? I remember doing one once when I had family in town doing the tourist thing, but I didn't really pay much attention at the time.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I would find the first metro wtih parking closest to her home and take the metro in.

Parking is not fun!

this is what we do when we visit my dad--the metro is only a couple of miles away. Parking will be cheaper than at National--and probably easier to get to.

 

[jfulcer]

I used to live outside DC in during my high school and some college years. Parking was a LOT easier 10 years ago.

We did DC over the July 4 holiday last year. There IS street parking around to be found (far and few between) - but pay close attention to the parking restrictions on the light posts. If you are on a busy street you must be out by 4 or they will ticket and tow your car. We generally got there just after rush hour and found a spot every time we went. Believe it or not the spots we found most times were right in front o the musuems. I don't know if we'd do it that way again if we had it to do over it felt like such a crap shoot.

You may want to contact your state representatives. You can get a guided tour of the Capital and they might be able to help you out with tickets to other things you may not be able to see otherwise - Washington Monument, Holocaust Musuem, Treasury all require you to be there at the crack of dawn for the chance to get tickets.