Hi All,

I have decided to take both my high schoolers to DC during Feb break. I am looking for help planning our time. We will arrive via Amtrak on Tuesday and return home on Friday. I thought we would tour one school each day. Georgetown, George Washington and American. If we tour from 1-3pm. how do you suggest we spend the rest of our time, keeping in mind it is me with two sometimes moody teenagers? Thanks so much!!

We made a similar trip in 2009. I can highly recommend the Washington Suites Hotel which will be in walking distance of GW and Georgetown. Great access to the Foggy Bottom metro station for getting around. I don't recall how one gets to American. We were able to get most everywhere by Metro, however. Across the street from the hotel is a Trader Joe's. Breakfast included is the same every day, but convenient and rooms have kitchenettes. Weekend rates are cheaper than during the week, but that's when colleges are closed I suppose! You might consider coming in on Sat or Sun and flying back Wednesday when airfares are cheaper.

If you can do one of the tours in the morning instead of 1-3pm, you take the Metro to the airport and rent a car for the afternoon. Go to the Udvar Hazy Museum out in the suburbs. It's part of the Smithsonian. On display they have a Space Shuttle, a Concorde, the Enola Gay. If you prefer to stay in DC proper, take the walking tour of the main monuments offered by DCbyFoot (www.dcbyfoot.com). It's a tip based tour (no per person charge). Our guide was excellent and earned his tip.

You might also like to pick one of the Smithsonians. The Museum of American History is good for teens. It has pop culture stuff (Kermit, Steven Colbert, the First Lady dresses) that appeal to them.

Lastly, pick a restaurant or two that offers food from an exotic location. There are many in the Georgetown Area - Etheopian, Thai, etc. There's also Eastern Market that our kids enjoyed exploring -- on Sundays there is also a flea market there.

I'll add a restaurant recommendation near Georgetown:

Mie N Yu
3125 M Street, NW
Washington, DC 20007
(202) 333-6122

Funky interior, interesting menu, delicious food.
http://www.mienyu.com/menu.shtml

My 12-yr old still talks about it 2 years later. Skip the ESPN Zone. It was a big disappointment.

Why not try to do all the tours in the morning, 9-11 and get them out of the way for the day? Then you are free to have lunch anywhere and relax and have fun. Otherwise, you will have to rush through any morning activity and have lunch in order to make sure you are at the university on time, and you will not be able to even start an afternoon activity until around 3:30 when you will have more crowded subways, roads, etc. Of course, you can always just visit George Washington U and quit there. Why see the rest after you've seen the best? LOL. It is my Alma Mater.

Sorry. Realized I didn't actually answer your qustion with any suggestions. It may be cold and snowy, but I would try to take them to see the Vietnam Memorial Wall and the Holocaust Museum.

A cab to American University may be the best transportation if you stay in Foggy Bottom. Cabs in Washington are fairly reasonable. The Tenley stop on the Metro Red Line is within walking distance of American University if it is decent weather. The suggestion to stay in Foggy Bottom is a good one.
You can take a bus from there into Georgtown and then walk from Wisconsine Avenue through the charming streets of the west side of Georgetown to Georgetown University.

Have a wonderful time in our great city!

Pat

We saw all 3 schools in October 2008 when our younger son was looking at colleges and our older son was looking at law schools. We combined Georgetown and GW in one day since they are quite close together. If you did that it would give you a free day w/o any tours.

American University has some preview days for prospective freshmen. We were able to attend one of those and I found it gave a much better overview of the school than the usual tours. It looks as though the only one in February is Feb 21 which is President's Day. I know that doesn't fit in with the Tuesday to Friday schedule you described but it might be worth changing the days if that is the week your kids have off.

Going to classes can be helpful in addition to the info sessions and tours. Overnights are even better if you can arrange those.

You are very near to the mall when you are at GW so I would suggest seeing the monuments that day if you stick to the one school/day schedule. You have to have a reservation to go up in the Washington monument.

the old Post office pavilion is another place with great views of the city

Of course it makes sense to see the Georgetown neighborhood when you are going to tour Georgetown.

Last fall when I visited the son who ended up in DC (at GW law school) we went to the Newseum. That is another interesting museum to visit although it is rather pricey.

The Smithsonian museums are free which is an advantage if the kids don't want to stay long.

If your teens are 16 or older, I'd do a Segway tour with them. It will be a bit chilly being outside for 2+ hours in February, but I and my then-teens had a blast! (16 is the minimum age in D.C. to ride a Segway).
Even though the Newseum is one of the few "pay" museums in town, it's also one of the best. The tickets are good for two consecutive days so you can spread out your visit. (There was so much there that I wanted to see that I have used the 2 days on both of my visits.) While you are here, there will be an exhibit of photos from "Sports Illustrated" and there's an excellent documentary film on sports that your teens should enjoy. (Even if they're not into sports, they should enjoy it. I'm certainly no big sports fan and I loved both the photos and the film.) You might want to check out their website and see what's currently on exhibit. www.newseum.org
Another popular "pay" museum for teens and adults is the International Spy Museum. During the spring and summer months, this museum can get too crowded to be enjoyed, but you should be just fine in February. My 17-year-old and I enjoyed it and it took us about 2 hours to go through the museum.

Thanks so much for the info, I will look into all your suggestions!

Be sure to check out The University of the District of Columbia www.udc.edu

also....
Adams Morgan
U Street

You are coming at a great time because nothing will be crowded (except perhaps on President's Day). Do the Smithsonian Museums, National Archives, Supreme Court, US Capitol Visitor's Center, etc. simply because if one of your kids does go to school here you will have plenty of time to visit during peak season and can do the "hidden gems" then.

I also recommend the Newseum. As for how to get to AU, why not take the bus? Get a feel for it, and it's a great way to get around. Go to www.wmata.com and use the trip planner to find the route. Just make sure you have exact change - or a smarttrip card (costs $5, can be reloaded and is good on both bus and metro).

I also recommend touring the schools in the morning so as to avoid the evening rush hour. And remember, whenever you are on an escalator, "Stand right, walk left" or you may very well get run over.

I would also do them in the morning if I could to get them out of the way. And that way, if you need more time or want to see something, you can do it without feeling time is running out.

I think the Newseum is fantastic but maybe a bit much for this trip as it is very expensive and to get your money's worth you need one full day and perhaps more (the ticket is good for 2 days).

UDC is a terrible school, don't waste your time even going there. Anyone who even has the slightest possibilty of getting in the other places shouldn't even consider it. The degree is only of worth to those who couldn't get one any other way. They graduate less than 10 pct of the students who enter in education.

Agree that the bus could be the easiest way to get to AU. The Tenleytown metro is about a mile walk. AU does offer a shuttle from the metro stop. Not sure if anyone can ride it or just students.

Thanks All,
I know I need to schedule the tours for AM. I was in the mindset that they might get more out of the tours if they could sleep in some.

I read in a previous post about taking a cab at night and paying for a night tour of the monuments, can anyone tell me more? Also any thoughts on the different Marriott resorts? I would love to use some points.

E~

I've stayed at the Marriott Wardman Park and the JW Marriott. The former is an older sprawling hotel in the Woodley Park area out by the zoo. It's right at a metro stop, so very convenient, and the neighborhood is great for restaurants and small-store shopping. It's definitely a convention hotel -- because it's huge, among other things. The JW Marriott is in a great location for sightseeing (nearer the mall, White House, etc), but not so great for evenings (nothing dangerous -- just not very active. You can't just walk outside and find 10 restaurants to choose from). It's very upscale, but also very "corporate" -- huge open lobby, all marble, very cold IMHO. More of a business hotel than a convention hotel.

First, I agree you should tour in the morning and leave the rest of your day free. Touring from 1-3 just kills any ability to do other things and enjoy.

Second, take the financial burdens to the Mall and start wandering east from the Lincoln Memorial. The Vietnam Memorial, Korean War Memorial (which is remarkable), Washington Monument, and numerous museums are all in or bordering the Mall.

There's also a Marriott on 12th St downtown within spitting distance of Metro Center which puts you 5-10 minutes from Penn Quarter or Dupont Circle, both restaurant heaven. Both areas are also walkable from that Marriott, 10 mins to Penn Qtr and probably 20 min to Dupont Circle.

Copying a comment I made in another thread not long ago:

I took a look at the fare chart in a DC taxi after the change over to meters in 2009, and saw that the official fixed rate for one hour was $25, with each additional 15 minutes charged at $6.25. This was over a year ago, so it might have changed somewhat.

I think that the next time I have visitors, I'll spring for a two-hour tour of the monuments (being driven from place to place and having the car wait ten minutes or so for a brief look around each site) and consider that $50 (plus a generous tip) well spent.

This might also be worthwhile for a family of three or four, especially in the evening when traffic is light and 90 minutes would let you hit the highlights, if the cost of multiple tickets on a tour bus would break the budget.

To hire a taxi for an hour, you have to talk to a cabbie to see if he is interested, speaks enough English to understand your questions, is free at the time you need him. If the first one you hail is not right, try another.

As an American University alum, I highly recommend that school!!! I loved my time there and hope your kids will too. I liked being outside the city, but still within minutes of anywhere downtown.

The Tenley metro stop is definitely not within walking distance, let alone within February. There is, however, a shuttle stop right outside the metro that will take you directly to main campus. Just tell them you are touring the school and they will let you right on. Alternatively, you can take a cab from anywhere downtown, it will cost $20 at the high end.

There are no hotels really close to AU, as the school is pretty much on the outskirts of the city, but if you are staying close to Georgetown or GWU, you will have access to many of the exciting things mentioned above.

As a student, I LOVED walking around the monuments at night when there were less people around. They are beautifully lit and just a different kind of experience.

Enjoy!!