I agreed to meet a friend in DC July 4th weekend!
 

My friend from Spain is going to DC for some meetings and wanted to come for a long weekend first because she has never been there. Unfortunately, that means she is arriving the evening of July 3. I am flying in to meet her, take her to our hotel in the city, and be her tour guide for about 3.5 days. We are in our 50s and have visited other cities/countries together before. She relies on me to make the plans. She is great fun and never complains about what I arrange. However, I usually avoid large crowds especially on hot, humid days in the city, so July 4 in DC is daunting to me. I've visited before, but never at peak.

I know the crowds must be astounding--suggestions to arrive hours early for the parade, the concert, the fireworks (I've seen a few folks on here say they walked over to the mall at 8pm and saw the fireworks, though). I don't want to spend a day sitting on a sidewalk or a blanket. I would imagine all the museums, monuments, and buildings will be packed as well on the 4th. I checked and timed entries are available for the Capitol and Archives.

We could go to one or two highlights such as the reading of the Declaration of Independence, crowd watch, then visit Alexandria or Georgetown for a respite and try to catch some fireworks in the evening. Too boring?

I'm wondering if going to Mount Vernon might be a good alternative for the 4th? It has day long activities and also might be packed?

Any other suggestions for the 4th itself? I know many tourists will still be in town on the 5th, but I thought that Sunday might be OK to go to sights around the mall. She hasn't told me a museum preference, so I think I will try to pick the very American highlights that a foreigner might appreciate from a few and not do any totally in depth. Also do an evening walk or tour through the monuments.

Those of you who entertain foreign adult guests. Anything that they have especially enjoyed in DC? I was there with an Australian friend and he enjoyed Alexandria, a night tour of the monuments, Arlington cemetary (which surprised me), and museums (but I don't remember which ones specifically).

Any neighborhood celebrations or events that you know of in the DC metro area as an alternative to the mall on the 4th? Some Americana for her to experience?

Where are you staying? If you can comfortably walk to and from the Mall, I think seeing the fireworks is doable, but otherwise, the schlepp might not be worth it.

Also, you might go to the dress rehearsal of the show, A Capitol Fourth, that is broadcast on TV--it's on July 3rd at 8pm at the Capitol. It's the National Symphony Orchestra and guests, patriotic songs, just no fireworks :-)

If it is the festival of American folklife, don't miss it.

I am sorry we won't arrive in time for the dress rehearsal. I think her flight arrives at 10pm.

We are staying in West End, so about 30 minute walk from mall. I understand that afterwards the crowds are horrendous.

The folklife festival is that weekend. It is featuring Peru--I have just been back a week from our vacation there, so it might feel like deja vu. I would expect that to be packed on the 4th too because of its location.

The crowds around the Mall are large after the event concludes as one might expect. It's over and everyone is headed home. be aware. IT isn't as if the whole city is mobbed; a lot of people don't even bother with the fireworks.

Dukey's right. If I were you, I'd plan to see the fireworks: when will you be in the nation's capital on the 4th of July again? Don't worry about staking out a seat, just time your evening to see the latter portion on foot, and plan to walk back to your hotel. There will be lots of cheerful tired sweaty people hoofing it, but it won't be a miserable crush.

I know you want to protect your privacy, but you will get much better answers if you share the name of your hotel.

With all due respect I am not sure the quality of the answers will improve by knowing which West End hotel the OP is staying in.

IMO, Mount Vernon is not the ideal choice for July 4th. You will need a car to get there and that will be an added expense and burden. Many of the roads near the National Mall and on the Virginia side of the Potomac River will have restricted access or be closed. It's not impossible to navigate but I wouldn't recommend it if you aren't familiar with the area.

DC will be very very busy but it won't be like New Year's Eve in Times Square. Museums nearest the mall, monuments and the mall itself will be the most crowded but other sights in the city will be doable.

The Smithsonian American Art Museum and Portrait Gallery in one suggestion (8th and F Streets NW). There is some wonderful art there as well as some very good Americana. The enclosed Kogod Courtyard is one of my favorite spots in the city -- great for quiet people watching, a coffee or glass of wine.

You are staying on the Lincoln Memorial end of the Mall. You can walk down 23rd St to Constitution and see the fireworks from there. Last year we sat on the steps of the building on the corner -- we walked there about sunset. Fireworks start around 9:15. Because of the tree line you won't get the iconic view of the fireworks exploding with the Washington Monument silhouette but you will have a great view of the fireworks.

My British relatives love Mount Vernon and Alexandria so you might want to arrange that on another day. You can metro to Alexandria and I'd probably spring for a cab to MV rather than deal with the cost and burden of getting a car. Also popular with them was the Newseum and the Air & Spare Museum. Monuments by night are good or Segway if you a little more adventurous. You can wander around Dupont Circle or walk to Georgetown from the West End. There is a wonderful farmer's market at Dupont Circle on Sunday morning with some good street food.

It will probably be hot and humid but you never know -- last year's weather was very pleasant. Have a great trip!

Thanks everyone for the suggestions.

The fireworks are just a top off the day kind of thing, so I like the idea of going over late if we have the energy and weather cooperates. I'm making notes of routes and locations.
Her city in Spain has an annual fireworks competition that is hard to beat--several nights of all out displays over the Mediterranean until midnight after which everyone goes out for dinner.

I hadn't thought about the art and potrait museums drawing smaller crowds that day. I do enjoy those.

On the 5th I am thinking of parts of other museums based on which sound interesting to her once I describe the highlights. Maybe the market before heading over there. (Nice insider tip) Definitely the monuments by night in some way.

I can get the timed tickets to National Archives to see Declaration of Independence etc. and the Capitol. Just deciding where to fit them in. She doesn't like confined spaces, so I think Washington Monument it out.

We'll try to hit Alexandria and Georgetown for dinners and wandering.

After meetings, I am renting a car and driving her south to a friend's in South Carolina. There I am suggesting we me in Charleston, one of my favorite tourist towns. She wanted to drive instead of fly to see more. That would be the time to visit Mount Vernon when leaving DC unless she wants to spend more time enroute.

She wants to see more than Interstate on the drive, so I've got to decide between natural beauty of a bit of Skyline Drive if I can find some interesting Americana stops similar to to ones I am familiar with on the Blue Ridge, a bit of the eastern shore (I've been along NC outer banks and I don't think that is good choice because of all the development and I don't think Kitty Hawk is high on her list. I haven't driven down through the Maryland penninsula, but that adds a lot of time because of the local roads), or a bit more of American history with Williamsburg.

The responsibilities of a tour guide are daunting.

We survived and enjoyed Independence Day in Washington DC. DC is so well covered by early trip reports, I'll try just to list some highlights.

We loved the Circulator bus and used it often, sometimes just to take an air conditioned rest for $1 while looking at the memorials or taking the long way around to our destination. Also used the Metro a lot, but stil had walks since our hotel was a ways from the stations.

The timed tickets to Capitol and Arhives worked great, although inside the Archives was still too crowded. She kept getting messages from her daughters telling her what they enjoyed on their visit and her priorities kept changing. So she wanted to go up the Washington Monument and I didn't book. She tells me her claustrophobia hits below ground, but not going up in elevators. Early in our visit, friends stood in line for 1+ hrs to get afternoon tickets. On our last day we stopped by a half hour after opening and could have gotten tickets for the last hour of the day. By then she had dinner plans that were more important than the view, so we skipped it, but the motto is to stop by even after opening if you want to try. On the last day she also told me she wanted to see the Pentagon, but that didn't happen.

We did see the parade. I got the times mixed up and we left the Archives too late to see the reading of the Declaration, but less than an hour before the parade. The heavy rain stopped, we got a free bottle of Coke, and we waited. It was really fun. More of a small town parade. My friend thought because it was Independence Day and in the capital that there would be lots of military personnel and equipment. She was amazed to see floats and marching groups from the Vietnamese American Society, Sikh American Society, etc.

We also saw most of the fireworks from the street. No way we were getting in the long security lines and wading through the lakes of rainwater and mud to enter the mall.

Her favorite museum was the Air & Space. She also liked the Native American and the gems in the Natural History. Turns out she had no interest in the art museums.

We walked in Georgetown several times during our conference. I was underwhelmed. Too many chain stores. We did like the little NPS old house museum.

We got soaked in the rain several times. The heat was amazing (and I live in Georgia and she in Spain). She left wanting to see more.

We were on the mall for the fireworks - no security lines that we saw - where were they? We walked the length of the mall from 3rd down Independence to 15th and Constitution.

Mall may not be the correct term. Memorials?

We saw the lines to go in by the Lincoln Memorial. Barracades were set up all along the perimeter on Constitution and people were in line to have their bags searched under tents, after which they could enter the grounds, but there were several inches of water everywhere from the heavy rain.

It sure did rain on the 4th. Glad the fireworks were a go.

<i>We were on the mall for the fireworks - no security lines that we saw - where were they? We walked the length of the mall from 3rd down Independence to 15th and Constitution.</i>

Security checkpoints started around 15th and went west and south.

"Mall" is the correct term!

Security checkpoints started around 15th and went west and south.

That's funny - that's exactly where we stopped to watch the fireworks, because they started when we got to that spot.

The area roped off for security inspection this year was shrunk b/c of the "turf restoration" project on the eastern side of the National Mall.

<i>That's funny - that's exactly where we stopped to watch the fireworks, because they started when we got to that spot.</i>

Us as well, sf. Down at 23rd & Constitution.

You don't have to drive to Mount Vernon if you don't want to. There are boats, and it's a very pleasant way to get there.

My friend's shoes did not dry out for days.