rb_traveler if your out there - this is as promised.

We just returned from Washington DC and had a very busy but wonderful time there. We stayed at the Hampton Inn King Street in Old Town Alexandria - loved it and would definitely stay there again. We took some nice strolls up and down King Street.

We rented a car for a couple of days because we drove out to Philadelphia to see the Liberty Bell and Constitution Hall. During the rest of our seven days there we visited the following:

U.S. Botanic Garden - absolutely beautiful
Library of Congress
Union Station
National Law Enforcement Memorial
Lincoln Memorial
Vietnam Veteran's Memorial
Korean War Memorial
Jefferson Memorial
Mt. Vernon
West Building - National Gallery of Art
Old Post Office Pavillion
National Museum of Natural History
Air and Space Museum
The Smithsonian Institution
Washington Monument (took the elevator ride)
Arlington National Cemetery
Holocaust Museum
Bureau of Engraving and Printing

We also enjoyed watching a military pageant presented by the U.S. Army that featured members of the 3rd U.S. Infantry, the U.S. Army Bank, Fife and Drum Corps and U.S. Army Drill Team. What a performance they put on!

We were extremely pleased with the hotel. It was very clean and the complimentary breakfast was very good not to mention right by the metro station.

The White House, National Archives and the Capitol were all closed for tours (although the Capitol opened again on the Friday we were leaving) there was still plenty to see.

On our way back to Dulles, we took your advice Rb-Traveler and took the metro to West Falls Church and then hopped on the Washington Flyer to Dulles. The entire trip was perfect!!! Although we missed the cherry blossoms, we got to enjoy all the dogwood trees. Just beautiful. The weather was in the upper 60's - couldn't have asked for more. We know there's still much more to see, but this will just give us an excuse to go back again.

Thanks to all for such great information. I've been telling all my friends about what a wonderful website this is. Blessings! Ev

So glad you had a wonderful time in my town!

DC is a great place to live and a wonderful place to visit.

Please note: The Archives is closed for renovation not as a reaction to 9/11/01. It will be closed until further notice.

Even with the closings here (most notably the White House), the museums here are all open and all free--thanks to the fact that we all pay for them every April 15th!

Glad to hear your experiences ... tell us about Philadelphia too! Your sure made it a very productive trip - I can't believe all that you saw!

Just wanted to let everyone know that we are planning a trip in Sept. and I emialed the national archives and the Charters of Freedom (Constitution, Bill of Rights, etc.) will re-open Sept. 17, 2003. Thanks for letting us know your experience.

Thanks for the nice trip report. We were in DC in March and enjoyed our stay as well. Tell us more about the military pageant presented by the Army band. Where did they perform and how did you get tickets? I thought performances like those were only done during the summer months. I'm sorry we missed it.

Our trip was very productive. My husband was a great tour guide (he lived there for 1 1/2).

Other than touring Constitution Hall and seeing the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia, we also visited the home of Betsy Ross and went to Benjamin Franklin's grave site. Some of the streets there are very narrow and had to be reminded that they were made for horse and carriage. Unfortunately, we went at a time where there is a lot of construction going on right now in Philadelphia, but made the best of it. That evening, we stopped by Baltimore to have dinner at the Harbor at a seafood restaurant called Rusty Scupper. The food there was superb!

In response to ABud, the 1-hour military pageant we saw, known as the "Twilight Tatoo" was held at the Ellipse. It started on April 16 and will go through July 30 every Wednesday at 7pm. Bleacher seating was on a first come first served basis - no tickets were needed unless you were with a large group. You can visit their website at www.mdw.army.mil in the future if you'd like.

On our next trip we'd like to visit Georgetown and tour the sites in DC that were closed when we were there. What a wonderful city.

One very special thing you can do in DC that few out of towners know about is to go to a Marine Corps evening parade.

To reserve, call 202/433-6060 to reserve. Reservations must be made well in advance and the parades are held a couple of times per week during the summer. This is a FREE event and includes--if I remember correctly--the silent drill team. Kids love it but there is no way you will get tickets at the last minute.

Great post.
Got back ourselves 4 weeks ago. Saw just about the same things! DC was fabulous, great public transport and attractions - and all free. For the amount of people that visit each attraction it was so clean, not a drop of litter and we didn't see any grafitti, I don't know how they do it.

If you are an American citizen, you pay for all those Smithsonian Museums and other "free" sites in DC every April 15th when you cut your check to the Internal Revenue Service.

Some more questions about the military tattoo - how early should we show up to get a seat on the bleachers? And how noisy is it? Odd question, I know, but my daughter is sensitive to loud noises, so if that's a possibility, we'll try to position ourselves further back in the crowd.

For the Twilight Tattoo, you should plan on arriving at least 30 minutes before the event begins. As far as the noise is concerned, the band isn't really all that loud. What's loud is the cannon balls going off in the beginning. It's well worth going to see it though.

We had heard about the Marine Corp parade but didn't know where to find the information for it. Thanks -- I will keep the number for future use.

Oops, I meant they had a cannon going off a few times.

The nice thing about the Marine Corps evening parade is that it is free, you can sit down and kid love it.

Many years ago I took my two very much younger first cousins. They were about 7 & 9--two girls. When they arrived big handsome Marines in fancy dress escorted them to their seats by taking each of them by the arm. They called my Uncle and told them they were "scorted". They were in seventh heaven when it happened. For them, that was the absolute best part of the show and it is the one piece of the visit that I remember after about 25 years.

If anyone has specific questions about the attractions in DC, you can always email me at [email protected]. Please remember that I know the attractions but not the hotels. I live here and do not stay in the hotels.