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D.C. questions/advice

Thanks for all the assistance on trying to tour the White House. Since that apparently is now out, any advice on visiting the Capital,Washington Monument, & Smithsonian would be greatly appreciated. I found on line where I can buy advance tickets to the Washington Monument and was wondering if that would still mean a long wait to get to the top. We only have a couple of days and am not sure how much time to allow for some of these tours. FYI-I'm hoping to spend one of the two days solely at the Smithsonian. Thanks!

We spent 6 days in DC this summer. The only problem with all the Smithsonian museums is that it is easy to get "museumed-out". With a variety of museums from which to choose, and you could easily spend days in any of them depending on your areas of interest, it is also tempting to race through several in a few days. I am not sure which I would choose - concentrating on 1 or 2, or trying to sample more. We sampled several, walking the Mall to a few, and it all became a big blur. If I had it to do over, I would see a museum for half a day, and do something else in the other half - and repeat for a few days. While less geographically efficient, you probably would absorb more. For the Capitol, you can wait on line in AM for tour tickets, but they go fast. This summer it was no longer possible to just enter and wander around like it was years ago. If you are from US, better is to call your US Representative's office and get tickets. Even better is if they ofer to have someone, usually an intern, from their office give you a private or semi-private tour. We got a 4-person tour this way and it was great. Washington and Jefferson memorials are just walk in, self-tour sites. We also took a car and saw major monuments at night. Take Metro to Arlington National Cemetary and buy trolley tickets to tour - you can hop on and off. People rave about the Spy Museum (one of the few things in the city not free since it is privately run), but it was not one of my favorite places.

Not to miss on the Mall: Smithsonian: Air & Space is quick, look, don't read, honestly. It is unfortunate that it is rather dated, but who can keep up with technology today? Museum of Natural History: Strategic selection of exhibits. Once again, don't read everything you see. Holocaust Museum: Arrive when the museum opens to get tickets for a later entry time, go visit American History. American History: do take the time for this museum, it contains the most new exhibits. Don't forget the National Archives are closed, so no Declaration of Independence. National Galleries for classic portrait painting, Hirschhorn for modern painting & sculpture. These are of course just a few of the Smithsonian's offerings. A map of their location on the Mall is available at www.si.edu along with Museum descriptions and updated information about visiting exhibits. Monuments: I suggest seriously working north to South, but do not go for the Lincoln and the Capitol in the same stroke. Just split them across two days. Do the Washington Monument first thing, then swing down the Mall to enjoy seeing the Jefferson Memorial from afar, the Lincoln Memorial, then the Vietnam Memorial. Other smaller war memorials along the way on either side. As a previous person suggested, find a way to see the monuments at night. The lighting is hardly there for function, it is an artwork itself. My favorite building at night is the Lincoln Memorial followed by the Kennedy Center. Also allow extra time for security because it is not uniform at each Smithsonian. My best suggestion is to pack light, cutting down on camera bags or miscellaneous. Not all museums use x-ray machines & do security by much longer hand checks. Also lines first thing in the morning will be a bit backlogged as they work the waiters through security. I find arriving at the museum a half hour after opening avoids the initial lagging rush. For the Smithsonian Museums, depending on your personal interests, I would suggest half a day for your favorite topics, 2-3 hours for those less interesting.

North to south? I must have been off my rocker since the Mall does not run North/South, but East/West. Sorry about that.

If you're interested in using the Tourmobile, when I was last in DC, if you bought Tourmobile tix later in the day (1pm? 2pm?), for about $2 extra, you got full use the NEXT day as well. Whether or not you use it, I agree that you CAN get "museumed out". It's nice to just walk around too. Old Town Alexandria, or Georgetown is nice, as is Dupont Circle area. Advance tickets can be purchased for Holocaust Museum as well, but we found the wait in line not too bad. Enjoy.

"Air & Space is quick, look, don't read, honestly. It is unfortunate that it is rather dated, but who can keep up with technology today? Museum of Natural History: Strategic selection of exhibits. Once again, don't read everything you see." If you are going to go to a Museum and not bother to learn anything (i.e. "read"), then why not just get a Giant Slurpee and spend your whole day in line at the Hard Rock Cafe.

Can give any advice on the Washington Monument as it was closed when I was there. Honestly, though, I never really missed it. Try to do the memorials in the evening - it will cut down on time spent during the day. There is at least one tour company that I know (possibly more) that have twilight tours of the monuments, that take you to the Kennedy Center as well. As far as the Smithsonian goes, try to determine what you are really interested in and want to see. Unless you do nothing but museums, you won't be able to see them all anyway. If history of air travel is your thing, then stop by the Air and Space Museum. If you like precious gems, then go there. The Museum of American History is a "must see" - but be prepared: it is huge and a lot to see. It's best to try to figure out what areas interest you most and concentrate on those. Remember, the Smithsonian is comprised of several different museums, most of which are located along the Mall. The National Zoo, however, is located a ways away. Two solid days, and I would be, as a previous poster said, "museumed out". (I was anyway after 6 days of being in DC) I'm not sure if touring the Capitol has changed since 9/11, but if not, I would get there as early as possible. Have fun!

Try to get a tour of the capitol through your representative or congressman-it's great! We like to take the Grey Line tour because you can get on and off at all the highlights-including the National Cathedral. We just stayed on the bus at the Cathedral and saw Embassy Row and other sites because we didn't have time to get off, we got off for an hour or two at places like Arlington Cemetary, the Ford Theater and monmuments, then back on. Don't do any of the Smithsonian this way because you can walk to everthing around there. Get an audio guide at the National Gallery of Art and hit just the highlights-don't miss it, some of the best art in the world is there. Learn the subway system-it's very easy, clean and safe (plus fun for us that don't do it at home)-you can get most places, except Georgetown (which you can see on the Grey Line tour) using it. My children loved the Newseum-its an interactive news museum, one of the few museums that's not free, still worth it. You can take the subway to it. I love!!! DC-have fun.

If you go to the FOrd theater, across the street is the house that Lincoln was brought to after he was shot. You can tour the house. We went, no one else was there. The tour guide was loaded with information on Lincoln that none of us had ever heard before. Just listening to him was a a history lesson an real treat. Be sure to also visit the FDR memorial. It's excellent.

Air and Space is definitely worth a "read". Very interesting and you could spend a few hours in there. And anyway, aren't all museums "dated"? Isn't that the point of museums? Showing us history?

Would it be too blunt to say that interests are relative and if you are trying to do two days to see all of the monuments, federal buildings, -and- a majority of the Smithsonian that you -must- economize your time spent in these places. If you want to plan a week long tour de force of the Mall for dcp, go ahead, but s/he asked for advice on how to see many of the sites in two days. That requires prioritizing. So, for those who need to prioritize: History buffs should read everything. Flying buffs should spend the majority of their time in Air & Space Modernists should spend a majority of their time at the Hirschhorn Anthropologists should spend the majority of their time at the Naturual History Etc, etc, etc. And never forget, some things are more for looking & some things are more for reading. I am much more impressed to simply look at the space & aircraft at the fine Space & Air Museum, and to spend more time reading in American History since my interests more heavily lay on American politics (the new Presidential exhibition is fantastic, btw). This does not mean that the space and air industry is the worst thing I've ever encountered. And not all museums are as dated as some of the Smithsonian exhibits. But this is why charity exists, so that we may improve upon what we already have to provide others to learn from. It is not insignificant, but history is about reflection and reflection is an ever growing and changing aspect of our lives. If you have priorities and suggestions for dcp, provide them. If you want to take snipes at me, do so at my email addresses, that's what it is for.