stoweflake

I'm going to D.C. for the weekend with my husband and adult daughter. We've been there before and am trying to plan an itinerary. I've seen the phillips collection, national gallery of Art, Air and space museum and eastern market recommended. Wondering if you all have any thoughts on these suggestions. Thank you

NewbE

They are all excellent suggestions. Just to clarify, what have you seen on your previous visit?

Hobbert

Take a Segway tour! It's a neat way to see a bunch of monuments and a better view than from a bus or car. I used Capital Segway but there are a few companies that run the tours.

Sassafrass

Whistler's Peacock Room and other of his paintings at the Freer Gallery. Everyone I take there loves seeing it.

Torpedo Factory in Old Town Alexandria. It is a huge artist's co-op with extremely high quality paintings, drawings, jewelry, weaving, sculpture, etc.

Drive out to see Mount Vernon and stop to see the Frank Lloyd Wright, Pope Leighey House at Woodlawn.

See a production at Ford's Theater.

The Holocaust Museum.

The American Indian Museum.

kja

I'm with NewbE -- confused about what you have seen....

obxgirl

I think the OP is asking for verification that the Phillips, the NGA, Air & Space and Eastern Market are recommended places to see.

If so, I think they're all fine choices.

If you're major fans of art, try and slip in a visit to the National Portrait Gallery & Smithsonian American, about a 10 minute walk from the Nat'l Gallery of Art. The interior courtyard between the two buildings is a beautiful work of architecture and a restful place for a cup or coffee or glass of wine.

If you're interested in Eastern Market b/c you like an urban market atmosphere (I do!), I might suggest skipping Eastern and adding the Dupont Circle market on Sunday. The Dupont Circle market is in the same neighborhood as the Phillips and it might save you some transit time since you're only in town for a weekend. Dupont is a growers marker & street food. Eastern also has bricabrac & crafts. No diss to Eastern by making this suggestion -- it's a great way to spend the morning and the neighborhood has lots of great places for lunch or brunch.

Hope you enjoy DC!

stoweflake

omg you guys are great! We've walked the mall, been to the ford theater although not for a production, been to cemetery, the library of congress, holocaust, new museum and zoo. So I like the idea of the torpedo factory and will look into a Ford theater production. We may go back to Eastern market, how different is that from the Torpedo factory? Thanks so much again. oh we have tickets to the white house, never been.

obxgirl

The Torpedo Factory is an art center repurposed from an old munitions factory, home to many individual art studios. You can easily spend a day wandering around Alexandria.

Eastern Market, which you sound like you've visited, is a food and craft market.

Sassafrass also mentioned Whistler's Peacock Room. For planning information, the Freer and the Sackler galleries are currently closed for renovation -- scheduled to reopen mid October. Agree it's worth a trip to see Whistler's work.

NewbE

stoweflake, I can't tell if you're tracking that the Torpedo Factory is in Old Town Alexandria...which is a nice destination on its own. We enjoyed doing a self-guided walking tour of the historic sites there.

stoweflake

Thank you for your reply. obxgirl,, Perhaps we will check out the Freer and Sackler next time after the renovation. New I didn't realize the Torpedo factory was in Alexandria but in checking it out, Old Town Alexandria including the Topedo factory look really interesting. What would be the best way to get there, not having a car from the D. C. capital area?

obxgirl

What would be the best way to get there, not having a car from the D. C. capital area?

Metro to King Street station. You can walk toward the waterfront to the Torpedo Factory which is at King and Union Streets. About 25 min. Or take the free King Street Trolley which runs the length of King Street. Signage for the shuttle is, I recall, pretty good and is right next to the Metro station.

sf7307

Just want to chime in that DuPont Circle farmers market on Sunday mornings is one of the best I've ever been to.

StacyB

We're new to the DC area and enjoy exploring. We love the National Portrait Gallery. It's a gem! Our interests didn't mesh with Air and Space, so we left after an hour. YMMV Plan to eat in Old Town Alexandria too. There are some good restaurants. We like Vola's for the waterfront view on a nice day. Perhaps lunch there? The Botanical Gardens near the Capitol is great if you like plants and flowers. Always a beautiful display. The Smithsonian Castle on the mall is interesting for the architecture and the room where they have samples of all the other museums. Consider biking if you feel comfortable on roads. It's east to use the Capital Bike Share for a small fee (remember the 30 minute limit) to get around and save your feet. We just went to a talk about the MLK memorial which was interesting. The Rangers at the National Park Service always have great talks. Ask a ranger or use nps.gov/nama

Enjoy your trip!

Sassafrass

Just realized you didn't say if you have been to the Vietnam Memorial Wall, but if you have not, it is, IMHO, a must for anyone visiting D.C.

stoweflake

Thanks STacyB for all the suggestions. Yes we have been to the Vietnam memorial. Thanks for the travel info to Alexandria as well. I'lll respond with what we decided next week.

stoweflake

Just wanted to get back and submit a simple trip report.
We stayed in NW washington and walked to the White House tour Saturday. Walked to the National Archives and West Gallery of Art which we really enjoyed.
We were able to get tickets to Capital Steps a political comedy Saturday night. It was great and very funny. Sunday we walked over to The National Museum of American Indian where we saw the original treaties. Some of the films seemed to have a "white man's" bend on history but it was a really interesting museum.
Last, we took the metro up to Eastern Market, shopped around a bit and had a delicious late lunch.

Friday we ate at Zaytinya. We had a variety of small plates that were really delicious. We ate at the food court for lunch Saturday and because we had a long day and needed to be at the box office early to buy tickets for Capital Steps we just grabbed a Panera Salad and ate in the room. It was such a fun weekend , we walked about 20 miles. I love Washington D. C. It's so clean and so much is free.