Itinerary help for 3-night stay in DC?
May 27th, 2015, 12:01 PM
#21
We took this evening monuments trolley tour 2 years ago. Terrific tour! In the evening, when you're tired from walking from trying to see everything, it was just the right thing to do. Check the itinerary to see where all it goes, since I can't recall.
http://www.trolleytours.com/washingt...ight-tours.asp
All the buildings are better if you can visit inside. The Library of Congress (beautiful interior), the Capitol building (absolutely amazing inside), the National Archives, the Supreme Court building (if the timing is right, go inside to have a short talk by a guide in one of the actual court rooms), all were wonderful. It will help if you plan the timing of your visits, since some need tickets and the wait lines can be long.
I would get around by metro only.
http://www.trolleytours.com/washingt...ight-tours.asp
All the buildings are better if you can visit inside. The Library of Congress (beautiful interior), the Capitol building (absolutely amazing inside), the National Archives, the Supreme Court building (if the timing is right, go inside to have a short talk by a guide in one of the actual court rooms), all were wonderful. It will help if you plan the timing of your visits, since some need tickets and the wait lines can be long.
I would get around by metro only.
May 28th, 2015, 07:21 PM
#26
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Sorry but I always drive in DC and always find it easier. But I don't stay at hotels where I have to pay to park. Now I'm disabled, so up and down and in and out of the Metro is hard for me. So certainly feel free to ignore the car advice. But sometimes convenience is worth the money. I spent a fortune in Rome for a stupid hop on hop off bus, but I managed to see a lot more than I would have seen otherwise, had I taken public transportation. But be prepared to walk a lot. But the DC metro certainly is NOT a convenient as BART here in CA or in NYC. On a scorching day it can be a looooong walk between metro stops. Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think there is a stop handy to the Lincoln Memorial.
The t shirts shrink. A lot. I said that. But I still have mine from ten years ago. Hell I still have them from Clinton's first inaugural! Especially good for kids who will grow out of them anyway. And with an election coming up there will be some funny ones. At three for around $10 they're a lot of fun.
Oh and my daughter still has the $20 sweatshirt we bought her 10 years ago in a rainstorm.
And remember I said it depends what they are looking for. The adults might adore all the old books, but the 12 year old might prefer to curl up and die. I simply hated being dragged from building to building as a kid. And I have raised a 12 year old boy who loved driving across the Brooklyn Bridge but might have killed me had I suggested walking it on a hot day(especially with their short time allotment). I'm going to NYC in August, but I know what to expect. If it's a cool spring day with time on your hands sure. But walk the BB when you only have a total of three days in NYC? Sorry guys, that's nuts.
SKIP THE HOLOCAUST MUSEUM? Ignore that person please. It's totally amazing. Even if your youngest "only" does the children's tour.
Gtown is simply a lovely place to go after everything else is closed, get a late dinner, buy an ice cream and stroll the streets. We did that with our kids from stroller age through high school -- always something to see and do. I wouldn't give up a museum for it (I admit, I didn't know about summer hours)but it's just plain nice family time.
I've actually done research in the Library of Congress. Again, the teens might rather be elsewhere. But the Capitol is important -- cuz they're Americans, and ever after, when they hear about the House and the Senate, they will see it in their minds eye. And yes you still can see the damned White House from a Car, and I agree that the monuments at night are magical. They certainly should go knock on the doors of their Congressman and Senators -- they'll be given photos and maybe even pens that say United States Senate on them!
The Neweum is kinda cool, but nowhere near the Air and Space or other Smithsonians...
Mainly, I didn't want this family arriving in DC expecting to easily get everywhere by Metro. When you can't. Period. And I didn't want them to miss the glory of taking the time to sit and take in the monuments, to read the inscriptions, and as someone else eloquently said, stand where MLK stood. Part of the glory that is DC is that it is the center of our country and a powerhouse.
Is The Palm still where the movers and shakers go for lunch? You wouldn't go there for the food, but you might go there for the ambiance. And while they don't have time, I certainly regularly drive to Great Falls for the fabulous Auberge Chez Francois, one of the very few remaining true classic French restaurants. IDK what the rules are for visiting the SpCt. If you can actually see the courtroom that would be kinda cool, but otherwise... maybe the kids are into spy things... is there an FBI tour? Anyway I didn't mean to give bad advice, just trying to avoid the letdown I have had many a time of arriving in a city thinking that I am "close" and have "easy access" only to discover that in fact things were farther than I could, or my children were willing to walk.
TF
The t shirts shrink. A lot. I said that. But I still have mine from ten years ago. Hell I still have them from Clinton's first inaugural! Especially good for kids who will grow out of them anyway. And with an election coming up there will be some funny ones. At three for around $10 they're a lot of fun.
Oh and my daughter still has the $20 sweatshirt we bought her 10 years ago in a rainstorm.
And remember I said it depends what they are looking for. The adults might adore all the old books, but the 12 year old might prefer to curl up and die. I simply hated being dragged from building to building as a kid. And I have raised a 12 year old boy who loved driving across the Brooklyn Bridge but might have killed me had I suggested walking it on a hot day(especially with their short time allotment). I'm going to NYC in August, but I know what to expect. If it's a cool spring day with time on your hands sure. But walk the BB when you only have a total of three days in NYC? Sorry guys, that's nuts.
SKIP THE HOLOCAUST MUSEUM? Ignore that person please. It's totally amazing. Even if your youngest "only" does the children's tour.
Gtown is simply a lovely place to go after everything else is closed, get a late dinner, buy an ice cream and stroll the streets. We did that with our kids from stroller age through high school -- always something to see and do. I wouldn't give up a museum for it (I admit, I didn't know about summer hours)but it's just plain nice family time.
I've actually done research in the Library of Congress. Again, the teens might rather be elsewhere. But the Capitol is important -- cuz they're Americans, and ever after, when they hear about the House and the Senate, they will see it in their minds eye. And yes you still can see the damned White House from a Car, and I agree that the monuments at night are magical. They certainly should go knock on the doors of their Congressman and Senators -- they'll be given photos and maybe even pens that say United States Senate on them!
The Neweum is kinda cool, but nowhere near the Air and Space or other Smithsonians...
Mainly, I didn't want this family arriving in DC expecting to easily get everywhere by Metro. When you can't. Period. And I didn't want them to miss the glory of taking the time to sit and take in the monuments, to read the inscriptions, and as someone else eloquently said, stand where MLK stood. Part of the glory that is DC is that it is the center of our country and a powerhouse.
Is The Palm still where the movers and shakers go for lunch? You wouldn't go there for the food, but you might go there for the ambiance. And while they don't have time, I certainly regularly drive to Great Falls for the fabulous Auberge Chez Francois, one of the very few remaining true classic French restaurants. IDK what the rules are for visiting the SpCt. If you can actually see the courtroom that would be kinda cool, but otherwise... maybe the kids are into spy things... is there an FBI tour? Anyway I didn't mean to give bad advice, just trying to avoid the letdown I have had many a time of arriving in a city thinking that I am "close" and have "easy access" only to discover that in fact things were farther than I could, or my children were willing to walk.
TF
May 29th, 2015, 07:17 AM
#27
With all due respect, TravelinFeet, public transportation advice offered to a person with mobility issues is going to be very different than the advice offered to a person w/o them. Regardless, traipsing from metro station to metro station thinking that it is the quickest way between points isn't smart advice for anyone. A few minutes of planning with a map on a smart phone or a laptop is a good way to group sights and plot the shortest walking distance.
Per the OP's dates, his/her family is here now. The weather in DC now is warm but not brutal. Apparently they are from Louisiana so I'm guessing they are familiar with humidity.
We all have opinions about "must see's" which reflect to some degree our personal biases. The Library of Congress is on the OP's itinerary so let's assume that he/she has a reason for it being there.
Some of your advice is a bit dated and some of it is simply factually incorrect.
Per the OP's dates, his/her family is here now. The weather in DC now is warm but not brutal. Apparently they are from Louisiana so I'm guessing they are familiar with humidity.
We all have opinions about "must see's" which reflect to some degree our personal biases. The Library of Congress is on the OP's itinerary so let's assume that he/she has a reason for it being there.
Some of your advice is a bit dated and some of it is simply factually incorrect.
May 29th, 2015, 07:21 AM
#28
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I agree with your post, obxgirl. The part I can't wrap my mind around is how the White House is visible from a car. You can see it, sort of, from one of the winding roads around the monuments, down by the soccer fields--as a white speck at the end of a broad lawn. On foot, that view is better, though still distant.
Anyway, it's not worth arguing about. I will agree that DC is a tough city for a person with mobility issues to deal with, as there's a lot of walking to do in general.
Anyway, it's not worth arguing about. I will agree that DC is a tough city for a person with mobility issues to deal with, as there's a lot of walking to do in general.
