Washington DC trip ideas

[Tigge50447]

I'm headed to DC on April 1st - the 5th and was wondering if anyone had any tips or good places to eat, must sees etc. The last time I was there was back in high school and the trip was planned for us. I will have my 9 year old son and we already have reservations at the Key Bridge Marriot in arlington.

we plan on going to the smithsonian air and space museam and the zoo and the monuments. Unfortunately I was too late to request lottery style tickets to the egg roll on the white house lawn.

Thanks everyone

 

[Hoodie]

You'll be there for the peak of the Cherry Blossoms! Absolutely beautiful, but expect lots of company.

http://www.nationalcherryblossomfestival.org/cms/index.php?id=390

Check out Mount Vernon and Arlington Cemetery. And the Smithsonian museums: Natural History (where the latest Night at the Museum was filmed), American History, and Air and Space. There is a new Air and Space museum by Dulles. There is a shuttle between the one on the Mall and that one.

The Spy Museum may be an option. He may be a little young for it yet, but it depends on the child at that age.

Get tickets for the Washington Monument online before you go.

 

[golfgal]

You'll be there for the peak of the Cherry Blossoms! Absolutely beautiful, but expect lots of company.

http://www.nationalcherryblossomfestival.org/cms/index.php?id=390

Check out Mount Vernon and Arlington Cemetery. And the Smithsonian museums: Natural History (where the latest Night at the Museum was filmed), American History, and Air and Space. There is a new Air and Space museum by Dulles. There is a shuttle between the one on the Mall and that one.

The Spy Museum may be an option. He may be a little young for it yet, but it depends on the child at that age.

Get tickets for the Washington Monument online before you go.

I think 9 is a good age for the spy museum. Our kids thought it was the biggest waste of time though.

If he is really into history then I agree that Mount Vernon is a great place to go, if he isn't he may be bored there. I would stick with the various Smithsonian museums and the zoo.

If he likes the National Treasure movie then you will want to go to the Library of Congress--go even if he doesn't like the move the building is simply amazing.

 

[Tigge50447]

The Library of Congress is a great idea. He LOVES the movie national treasure, maybe I'll have him watch it on the drive down.

Thanks

 

[clutter]

I thought National Treasure was set in the Archives?

 

[dis-happy]

The Archives were closed when we were there last week.

OP: Add the Bureau of Engraving to your list. It's wonderful.

 

[Hoodie]

The Archives were closed when we were there last week.

OP: Add the Bureau of Engraving to your list. It's wonderful.

I wonder why.

It's usually open. In fact, it's about the only place that's open after 5pm.

The Archives is where National Treasure was (it houses the Constitution and Bill of Rights), not the Library of Congress. The Library of Congress is impressive in its size, but it's just a huge Library. I can't see a 9 year old boy being enthralled by it!

 

[DancingBear]

The first National Treasure dealt with stealing the Declaration from the Archives. The sequel includes a sequence at Mount Vernon and in the Library of Congress.

 

[DancingBear]

If you are going to any of these places, take advantage of the opportunity to book ahead online:

Capitol building
Spy Museum
Newseum
National Archives
Washington Monument
IMAX theater at Natural History museum
IMAX or planetarium at Air and Space Museum
Ford's Theater

 

[AmandaSparks730]

I stayed at Key Bridge Marriott on my 2007 awards trip...lovely!

The Spy Museum is NOT WORTH IT. Take it from a group of teenagers on their 8th grade class trip.

Perhaps the Holocaust Museum? They have an amazing children's exhibit. Definately the monuments, zoo, Natural History Museum, Air/Space Museum, etc. Mount Vernon was nice, too.

Places to eat? 8th grade trip, we ate at all food courts, but the food court in the Old Post Office was a cut above the rest. (We still talk about the nachos we ate there!)

Enjoy your trip! I was lucky enough to go twice within a week, and I'll never forget either trip

 

[DancingBear]

The Holocaust Museum is another one that you should book ahead online if you are going.

 

[MaryAnnDVC]

Interesting to read everyone's opinions. We wished we had taken the kids to the Spy Museum when we were there 6 years ago, when they were 15, 13 and 11. We did do the American History Museum (I loved it), and the Air and Space Museum then. We had done the Museum of Natural History in NYC that week too, and that one is incredible (I grew up going to that one when I lived in NJ).

Last week, DS (now 17) and I were in DC only for a few hours, and we were tagging along with others who already had plans in place. We did the Natural History Museum, and relative to the one in NYC, we were unimpressed. (DS also had "the worst sandwich I've ever eaten" there.) We also did the Air and Space Museum (where we ate at McDonalds...you know, "good food" ), which is always kind of neat, but we'd been there before. DS and I, at his suggestion, watched Journey to the Stars, at $8.75 a pop, which he later declared the biggest waste of money. (I kept dozing off, but I had very little sleep the night before.) DH said later that we should have done the Spy Museum, since we had missed it on our previous trip, but I was just reading him other people's responses, so I guess I won't be disappointed we didn't?

One thing I wish I had done last week, that we DID do 6 years ago, was Ford's Theater. That was fascinating. There was a lot of construction going on across the street tho, where Lincoln actually died, and I couldn't tell (looking out from under my rain gear) if it was open to the public at this time.

 

[MidgeD79]

We are going to DC this summer. On one of the many Mount Vernon websites, there is a "National Treasure:Book of Secrets" tour available. The tour is offered 4x a day per person, $40 per person (in addition to the Mount Vernon admission price) and a limit of 25 people per tour. Although pricey, I think my kids are going to love it.

 

[Rora]

I just wanted to vote for the Spy Museum! I went when I was teen- probably 15- and thought it was pretty neat. Guess it varies from person to person.

Definitely go to Ford Theater, the Library, the Archives, the various monuments, and Mt. Vernon.

Enjoy your trip!

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

My favorite place to eat is the Art Museum--unless they put in one of those blessed fast food food courts. I don't like that they changed all of that and I've been to DC regularly (dad lives there) since I was 12 years old.

My favorites were the American History Museum and pre-9/11, visits the White House, the Pentagon (not on tour--my dad worked there, so I got to see more stuff) and not sure if I ever went into the Capital. They have a huge visitors area underneath it now that I have never been to. Not sure if a 9yo would be interested, but it might be a good tour for an older student.

Washington Monument is neat.

I took the kids to Mount Vernon a couple of years ago and we enjoyed that. They were buidling the big visitors center at the time, so lots more to do now.

Things that bored me--Natural History museum (figures that is my kids favorite ), Air and Space used to be fun, but it is soooo crowded now.

I like the space stuff at Kennedy Space Center in Florida better, so don't need to got here anymore. I've heard that the secondary museum over by Dulles airport is very worht the trip. They have space and room and they have (from what I hear) cooler stuff. If you can make it there, I've been told it is worth the trip. We will hit it on Spring Break in a couple of weeks.

I am sorry to not knowing good places to eat--I've always eaten at home or my dad and step-mom would take me to a nice restaurant b/c I'm very into that sort of thing.

I just try to ignore the fast food--and thus enjoy the art museum.

The ARchives has been under renovation for years---so if it is open--GOOOOO!!!!

There was something so cool about seeing very old documents as a kid.

I was non-plussed by the Library of Congress. Going to a library where you really can't look at a book wasn't much fun to me as a kid.

If you have a chance to visit your representative/congressperson---that would be neat. If anything to put a face to a name--or at least an office to some person.

The Native American museum might be worth a trip. It did not exist when I was young. We visited it--unfortunately, I don't remember much about it as I was in the beginnings of a miscarriage and was highly distracted. I don't even remember if my kids liked it at all. But if your child is into Indian history, it might be worth passing through. The cafe was neat b/c it featured regional cooking from the various areas where tribes are located. And of course, it is my nature that if I'm going to remember anything--it is the food.

Be open to the festivities during the Cherry Blossom Festival if they happen to overlap your visit. Your hotel should have some access to that information and you may find some experiences of interest that are otherwise unavailable on a regular trip to DC.

Thanks for the reminder--we thought about going into the city on our next visit and some of the spots that folks have mentioned require a little pre-planning.

My 9yo is way into "spies" and "super secret" stuff--and I think she may like the spy museum.

 

[3prettyprincesses]

The Holocaust Museum is quite sobering and might be disturbing for a 9 year old. Just a thought.

Mount Vernon is wonderful! They re-did it several years ago and it's fabulous. The buildings are the same...Mt. Vernon where Washington lived, slave quarters, kitchen, etc. But they now have an amazing walk through museum with life-like Washingtons made from wax or something. It's really well done and there are mini movies you can watch as well. There's also a great restaurant there, colonial themed and the food is very good.

The DC Duck Tour is a really unique experience. It leaves from Union Station (which is also a fun place, lots of shops and food). You board a WW2 amphibious vehicle that takes you through parts of the city. Then you literally drive into the Potomac River and cruise around. It's really cool! Here's a link"

http://www.dcducks.com/

The Spy Museum is really fun! We did it with our girls and they loved it. It's very detailed and can take a while to go through but it's worth it. I felt like I was in an episode of Alias! There's even an area where you can crawl through the duct work overhead!

The National Archives is pretty cool too, though it's usually very crowded. Still, it's amazing to see.

Have a great time, DC is full of stuff to do!

 

[Iott Family]

We are headed to DC for a week starting next Thursday. We have reservations at the Embassy Suites for 4 nights then we pack up and head back to Virginia for two more nights and staying in Chantilly at a Mariott Suites. With 6 of us its always the suites hotels

While in DC we plan to hit the Smithsonian Museums, zoo and monuments. I located a free, takes tips only, tour group called DC By Foot. We are going to join in for that and I have tickets for Washington Monument.

In VA we will be doing Mt. Vernon, the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center and Manasses Battlefield Park.

I expect we will all land in our beds every evening just as exhausted as we are for our Disney trips

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

There's even an area where you can crawl through the duct work overhead!

Please tell me there is a way to bypass that part--I don't think I'd be able to make it.

 

[3prettyprincesses]

Please tell me there is a way to bypass that part--I don't think I'd be able to make it.

It's totally optional! You can walk around it and wait for the rest of your family. I crawled through it but I wasn't pregnant!

 

[Shelton123]

I'm headed to DC on April 1st - the 5th and was wondering if anyone had any tips or good places to eat, must sees etc. The last time I was there was back in high school and the trip was planned for us. I will have my 9 year old son and we already have reservations at the Key Bridge Marriot in arlington.

we plan on going to the smithsonian air and space museam and the zoo and the monuments. Unfortunately I was too late to request lottery style tickets to the egg roll on the white house lawn.

Thanks everyone

Best restaurant ever:

Queen Makeda, near 9th & U St. The building (townhouse type thing I guess) is bright lime green, you can't miss it