We are traveling to Washington, D.C. and plan on visiting Mt. Vernon. Has anyone rented bikes with their children ages 9-11 and taken the bike path -- 18 miles one way.

also, is it worth it to have dinner at the Mt. Vernon Inn or a waste of money with younger children.

Thank you

Unless you guys are serious bikers at home, I think the trip to Mt Vernon and back might be an awful lot for kids 9-11. I am not a serious biker but I do enjoy it and am in good shape, and even still my friend has yet to convince me to ride all the way to Mt Vernon. It's flat for most of the way with a gradual uphill, but closer to Mt. Vernon (it is called MOUNT Vernon, after all) it gets a bit hilly.

If you like to bike but are not up to a 40 mile ride(!!!) round trip, I do highly recommend renting bikes and riding the Mall and along the Mt Vernon trail for a bit. It's only about 5 miles to Old Town Alexandria, which is a nice spot to walk around and have a meal. There's a park right outside Old Town that you can lounge around and have a picnic in.

I haven't eaten at the Mt. Vernon Inn so I can't help you there.

You can rent bikes from Bike the Sites (google for web address), which also does good bike tours. I own my bike so I'm not sure of other bike rental places, but there are probably places that are cheaper than Bike the Sites.

Agree that biking that far seems an awful lot for kids that age. Do they do it on a regular basis?

Otherwise agree to bike someplace closer - then do Mt Vernon by car or public transport.

We biked from Old Town Alexandria to Mt Vernon and back when the kids were that age. It was a long day for them, but they did fine. Luckily, it was not crowded the day we toured the house, so it was a break, not an extra burden.

We also drove into Washington just over the bridge and parked our car along one of the bike paths. We could have done the whole thing by bike, but we were unsure of all the traffic crossings on the way. Anyway, we then rode the bikes down to the Smithsonian and did museums by bike. Great!

We didn't eat at the Mt. Vernon Inn, though. I don't remember it being in our thought process at the time. I think there were such good restaurants in Old Town that anything else would have seemed odd.

It's funny that we just biked out to Mt Vernon again this past summer from Georgetown(my original 11-yr-old is now 20). Both the path and tour were much more crowded. Not as much fun. I noticed there's a cafeteria thing at Mt Vernon there now which should be fine for the kids.

the MV Inn is a great option for lunch and reasonably priced -- much better quality and experience than the snack bar which can be jammed with teens this time of year.

At dinner however, the MV Inn becomes an upscale restaurant and the prices and service elevate -- it would not be my choice with kids -- there are better upscale options in DC / Alexandria if you are set on a pricey experience.

If you like riding the bike experience is wonderful. It's not a difficult ride except for the long hill at the end. The trail can be super crowded on pretty weekends though.