propita

My husband and I are taking our first REAL vacation, of just us, in 20 years. I'd appreciate suggestions. The flights and hotels are booked.

March 27 - fly to DC, getting there around 5:30pm. We'll be getting metrorail passes ahead of time so we can just go to our hotel in the DuPont Circle area. I've seen there's a lot of places nearby to eat. Would appreciate suggestions.

March 28 - scheduled tour of Bureau of Engraving & Printing at 8:00am. After that, we want to walk to the Jefferson Memorial, onto Lincoln Memorial, then Washington Monument, and everything in between. The afternoon is open. I'm considering Charlie Palmer or Zaytinya for lunch and/or dinner. Opinions appreciated.

March 29 - scheduled tour of Library of Congress at 8:30am and Supreme Court at 2:00pm. So we'll stay in the Capitol Hill area. I need suggestions for lunch and dinner. We might add in a museum or the Capitol Visitor Center if there's time.

March 30 and 31 are open right now, but we may have Capitol or White House tours, if our Rep's office can arrange those. They arranged the others, but we wont kniw until mid-March. We want to see the Air & Space Museum and Museum of Natural History, maybe the Portrait Gallery.

April 1 - taking the train from Union Station to NYC's Penn Station. Our hotel is across the street (Affinia). Using only carryons, so shouldn't be too bad. We have to limit NYC, with only a few days. We'll get the mta pass at Penn Stn. Using CityPass, we hope to get to the ESB in the evening. Will be making dinner reservations at Keens Steakhouse.

April 2 - Museum of Natural History and Circle Line cruise around Manhattan Island. Need suggestions for food, staying in these general areas.

April 3 - big museum day: Guggenheim, Met Museum of Art, and Frick Collection. Lots of eateries to choose from.

April 4 - MOMA and anything else.

April 5 - take the LIRR to Jamaica Stn, then AirTrain to JFK for flight home. Any ideas how early before our flight we should get to JFK? Flight is around 3:30pm.

We know we're rushing around a bit, but we're trying the maximize what we can see, while limiting things a bit. So no 9/11 this time; likely no a-lot-of-things. But we want to enjoy and not go crazy.

We've never really planned this kind of trip, but are getting to an age that, if we don't travel now, we may not be able to later.

Suggestions welcome.

Oh, and my husband is hoping next year to go to England, see London, and one or two of the large garden estates. I'll be seeking info on how to do that later this year.

Thanks in advance!

obxgirl

Dupont Circle has copious tons of dining options -- maybe a little help in your preferred cuisine and price range?

ElendilPickle

If you click my screen name, you'll find my DC trip report from October, which you might find helpful. I also started a "DC cheap eats" thread which has suggestions for some of the areas you'll be in.

We really enjoyed the DC by Foot walking tour of the memorials - www.dcbyfoot.com - which we did one evening. They also do daytime tours.

My husband rented a bike one evening from Capital Bikeshare - www.capitalbikeshare.com - to see some of the memorials we hadn't gotten to, and he liked that even more than the walking tour.

Lee Ann

propita

@obx : ~$25-30 per person, though less is fine, too. I've seen prices range from Obelisk to Food Cprner Kabob House. While we like food, I honestly don't think my palate is sufficient to really appreciate some of the more esoteric flavors. Oh, and no alcohol; my meds don't like it, so "great wine" is irrelevant and wasted on me. My husband's not a drinker, by choice.

@ElendilPickle : I was just reading I've of your reports from, I can't remember which trip as I'm exploring this site. But I will check your reports. We're hoping the weather will agree to that Mall walk (Jefferson-Lincoln-Washington). My only concern there is food, but I'm thinking we'll buy sandwiches or snacks and stow them in ziplocs my bag.

I got a pacsafe 200 to carry things without lugging a backpack. About the size of a messenger bag but thinner. It'll be mostly empty but for what we need for the day and could hold a folded sweater no problem.


Thanks for posting so quickly! We are REALLY looking forward to this trip, and it being the start of our travels. A few days in LA, Frisco, or Vegas is a getaway to us, not a vacation. You're gone before you're there.

propita

Oh, and I love the "Elendil" part in particular.

nytraveler

I would avoid the City Pass in NYC - it's very difficult to get to enough places to make it pay. Also I would go to Top of the Rock - versus the ESB - you can pick timed tickets in advance (go near sunset to see the city both in daytime and lit up).

Also I think 3 museums - Guggenheim, Met and Fric in one day is going to be really exhausting. I would bag the G and go to the web site of the Met to pick out 3 or 4 departments - which is really the most that you can do without exhaustion.

For dining - it would help if you give us a budget and tell us what type of foods you like/dislike.

Karabee83

In D.C. there is the chain of Matchbox restaurants - good food and a good time - http://www.matchboxchinatown.com/index.php/locations They now have a location in the Capital Hill area.

ellenem

Top of the Rock and MoMA have a combined ticket that saves a good amount of money without investing in a CityPass.

I would only pay to go inside the Guggenheim Museum if I were sure the current exhibit were of particular interest to me.

obxgirl

>>@obx : ~$25-30 per person, though less is fine, too. I've seen prices range from Obelisk to Food Cprner Kabob Houselike that Kabob House! It's cheap, very good and friendly. Other inexpensive places I enjoy in the Dupont Circle area:

Rosemary's Thyme Bistro - mediterranean
Pana's - empanadas
BGR The Burger Joint
Nando's Peri Peri - spicy Portuguese chicken
Le Pain Quotidien- french bakery, soups and salads
Chop't - salads
Julia's Empanadas - take away
Pizza Paradiso - I only do take away here. It's always packed and loud. Great pizza though.

Moderate places ($25-$30 pp):

Vento - Italian
Sette Osteria - Italian, great pizza and much easier to get a table than Pizza Paradiso
Pesce - seafood (obviously)
Hank's Oyster Bar
Firefly - modern American
Heritage India - not a concern for you but they recently lost their liquor license so it's easy to get a table these days.
Mourayo - mediterranean

tchoiniere

I would highly recommend the Newseum in DC. You could spend 2 days in there. 1 of the best museums that I have visited. Also, go to the Portrait Gallery. It was the highlight of my first trip to DC and on my return trip, it was still magnificent. Are you going to go to Arlington Cemetery? It was an amazing site. 1 note is that there is no longer a tram tour of it so it is all walking.

Since you are going to the American Museum of Natural History in NY, Id skip the Smithsonian Natural History Museum for time at some other museum (ie the Newseum) in DC.

Here is my trip report from last years trip. If you go under my username you can find 1 from 2009 as well.

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...eek-of-fun.cfm

Ill be in DC this weekend for a quick trip. 2 night so I agree with you on getaways being too quick. Our itinerary is Ford's theatre and the National Archives

propita

The suggestions for places to eat should actually cover the Dupont Circle area. I’m interested in Firefly based on the reviews and I like the name.

I’ll discuss with my husband about the museums. That part is still tentative, aside from the Tours reserved and a few museums on our personal can't-miss list. We won’t be going to Arlington in DC or 9/11 in NYC. And the Holocaust Museum will have to wait for our next trip.

But I do want to say this. I booked our DC hotel through AAA.com. Evidently they had mis-entered information. I called the hotel about it; I called AAA.com about it. They both said to book it, that AAA.com guarantees the price. So we got five nights for $65/night at a hotel which was normally $265/night at the time of booking. Now THAT’S a deal!

dananddar

Firefly is a good choice. I haven't eaten there in a while but the decor is really cool - you'll at least feel like you had a unique experience.

FWIW, the best meal I've had in DC recently was at Againn (pronounced ag-wen) - if they still have it, the lamb medallion was melt-in-your-mouth delicious. It's going to be a 5-10 minute cab ride from DuPont but I would consider it worth the ride, and you won't have any trouble getting cabs coming or going. Just a thought...

propita

Well, my husband is finally getting around to looking at the research I've done. Thanks to you all, I have new info I'd not have gotten elsewhere. Now, we're going to look closely at which museums in NYC we really want, so we can spend more time at a slower pace.

He wants the Frick and MOMA in NYC, and the Circle Line cruise around Manhattan, since we're skipping the Statue of Liberty (closed). I want the Met Museum. He's not sure if he wants the ESB, TotR, or both. More research on whether we care about G exhibits. And I'll be checking on that MOMA / TotR combo. Dropping two museums will really change things, for the better I think.

The suggestion about not doing the Natural History Museums in both cities was great. When I brought that up to him, he said he didn't care about either one, he wanted the Museum of American History in DC! That's good to know. And the walking tour suggestion reads great. I entered the info into my phone. We are seriously going to try for at least one.

Thanks for everything so far. I'll keep following up on the advice.

Oh, food budget. We're hoping (I'm fearing) total food costs as averaging $60/day/person, hopefully quite a bit less with some care. But i realize that a couple of nice dinners would bring things up to that average before you know it. So I'm trying to be realistic. Without those fancy dinners, more like $40/day/person.

gardendiva

On your tour of the monuments, do not miss the MLK Memorial and the FDR Memorial. They are both on the Tital Basin.

I read Elendillpickle's post before I left. Great post. I ate at many of her suggestions. The Good Stuff Eatery is just behind the Library of Congress. Great place for a reasonably priced lunch. It's burgers and stuff.

Just as a planning tool, the White House tour only took about 1 hour. You will spend more time in line than inside the White House. My tour was at 7:30 in the morning so I had the whole day left to see other things. the National Archives is another interesting place. You can book a tour there that will give you the highlights.

propita

The advice here is great. We have many of the eateries already post-it marked on our Knopf mapguides, but of course we also have apps to use our location for finding eateries.

But we are reducing our NYC schedule and revamping DC's, based on advice here and further research from that advice. So no G, which lets us spend time at the two museums nearby we want. No Nat Hist, so more time for other things without traveling elsewhere.

Am I glad I posted here and got responses.

propita

Looks like we’re gonna have to have another vacation in NYC to see things we’re missing. We’ll hit lower Manhattan then, since we seem to be staying in Midtown-Central Park this time.

I like the idea of a few days in the City, then driving upstate. Maybe in the early Fall of 2013 or 2014. I’ll have lots of questions then--best ways, what to see, etc. It can wait a bit. One vacation at a time.

propita

“Final” itinerary, but suggestions welcome!

We got word on the DC tours we sought from our Rep. We got all of them! I wasn’t expecting that, but it’s good. So here goes:

March 27 - Arrive around 5:30, buy metro rail pass at the airport (thanks to advice from posters here), and check into hotel in Dupont Circle area. We’re probably going to check out the Kabob House.

March 28 - BEP tour at 8:15, nice and early. If the weather’s good, this seems the best day to walk the monuments. Walk from BEP to Jefferson to Lincoln to Washington, taking pics like tourists the whole time. Not sure what to do about food, though. There’s a Starbucks near the BEP for a snack. We’ll definitely eat afterwards, somewhere north of the Mall, east of the WH. Maybe Old Ebbitts Grill or Zaytinya? Museums in the afternoon/evening, some are open til 7:30, I’ve read.

March 29 - BUSY TOUR DAY! I did NOT schedule this...Library of Congress at 8:15, then WH at 11:00, then back for Supreme Court at 2:00. Fit a snack or meal in there, depending on available time. I want a nice dinner that night.

March 30 - The morning is for museums, then lunch somewhere, then meet our Rep in the Longworth Bldg at 3:00 for a tour of the Capitol. We have to leave our stuff (purse, camera bag) there, so no idea how long this will be. We might meet up with people from another Board for dinner/snacks/drinks. If not, nice dinner time again.

March 31 - The Cherry Blossom Festival is in full swing, so we’re going to spend more time on the east end of the Mall, in the museums, particularly the Air and Space.

April 1 - Check out and get to Union Station for our train to NYC. We’re staying about a block from Penn Station. We have dinner reservations at Keens Steakhouse, and probably walk our overstuffed selves back. If there’s no long line at ESB, we’ll use our CityPass.

April 2 - Take our time in the morning exploring a bit, then cruise around Manhattan Island before noon, using the CityPass. The afternoon and evening are free. Hubby wants to try for 1/2-price tickets in Times Square. No planning dinner until we know what’s what, though I suppose we could “assume” we’ll get tickets and have supper somewhere.

April 3 - Take the subway to the west side of Central Park and cross it to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Maybe eat at the Park, a cart, or at a nice place on the way back south. Stop at the Frick Collection (Hubby’s choice). See about stopping at Tiffany. Finish with dinner either between there and our hotel, or go to Greenwich and one of the places on my list. We’re thinking some “real” NY pizza (John’s? Grimaldi’s? Lombardi’s?) or maybe Minetta Tavern.

April 4 - See Top of the Rock and MoMA, and generally stay in that area for the day. Good time to range (only a little) and see as many as we can of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Grand Central Terminal, the Public Library, etc.

April 5 - Check out of our hotel and take the LIRR/AirTrain to JFK for the flight home. If our flight is at 3:50pm, any ideas when we should get to the airport for security, et al? We’re flying Delta, so we’re likely going to want to eat at the airport (regardless of the prices), after security. I’m not sure which terminal we’ll be in, but I suppose we can go to another if there’s time. Any ideas?