My husband and I ( who have little tolerance for heat) have to be in DC on Sat the 6th, so we have decided to make a vacation of it. We will be spending July 4 and 5 in DC and would love some ideas from the helpful group here.

Neither of us is dead set on seeing fireworks, and I have heard that you need to spend all day on the mall to save a spot. I don't think that will work for us. However I have heard that there is supposed to be a concert that happens- is this worth the wait?

Also, do you have an suggestions for a place to have a picnic in a park that may offer some shade? It can be out of DC- was thinking a lake or something?

Another thing I am interested in is 'MUST EATS' in DC. I would appreciate any tips on this.

Are the museums etc. usually very packed on the July 4th holiday?

Sorry for the long post!

Some suggestions for your out of Washington picnic. Suggestions:
Annopolis - nice breezes from the water will help keep you cool, get some food from the little seafood market. Then some ice cream while enjoying the town.
Mount Vernon -
Old Town Alexandria - shady little fun town.

For picnics, there are a lot of parks in Arlington and Alexandria. Or if you want to be a bit more scenic, head out to the Shenadoah Valley (get on 66 West and drive for about an hour), for a trip along Skyline Drive (warning, it could be very crowded this weekend). Or get a map, and figure out how to get to the Blue Ridge Parkway. It's further south in Virginia, but not anywhere near as crowded as Skyline Drive, and just beautiful.

Old Town Alexandria's nice, but not a lot of great picnic spots. There are some picnic tables set up at various spots along the Potomac, near the bottom of King Street, and in Foundry Park (as small park on Union Street--take a left off of King). Get sandwiches from Sutton Place Gourmet (South Washington St.)

For picnics, there are a lot of parks in Arlington and Alexandria. Or if you want to be a bit more scenic, head out to the Shenadoah Valley (get on 66 West and drive for about an hour), for a trip along Skyline Drive (warning, it could be very crowded this weekend). Or get a map, and figure out how to get to the Blue Ridge Parkway. It's further south in Virginia, but not anywhere near as crowded as Skyline Drive, and just beautiful.

Old Town Alexandria's nice, but not a lot of great picnic spots. There are some picnic tables set up at various spots along the Potomac, near the bottom of King Street, and in Foundry Park (as small park on Union Street--take a left off of King). Get sandwiches from Sutton Place Gourmet (South Washington St.)

As for the concert, go to the Capitol South Metro stop about 20 minutes before the concert starts. If you're not worried about spreading a blanket, you can find a spot to see the concert (Aretha Franklin's singing, so should be worth it).

The fireworks in D.C. are FABULOUS--I can't imagine your being here and not seeing them. Seeing them light up the sky with the Washington Monument in the background (or foreground--you can hardly tell the difference) is a goose-bump producing sight. If you just want to see the fireworks, you can come an hour or so early and still find a spot to spread your blanket on the grass. The museums are open until their usual 5 p.m. closing time, I believe, and are probably no more crowded than usual. If the weather is quite hot, you may find a lot of people wandering in and out of the museums to keep cool.

There's no way you can get off the metro 20 minutes before concert time and find a place to see Aretha Franklin! We've gone an hour early and it was hard to find a spot. This year will be worse because they're going to have a double fence around the Mall from the Capitol to the Potomac River, and everyone will have to enter at a checkpoint. We have gone to these concerts on the Capital steps and lawn several times, and while I love the concert, I think the view of the fireworks is very disappointing from there. It's much more fun to be lying on a blanket "under" the fireworks (not exactly under, but close).

They have other concerts, though I haven't heard about anything special this year. A hint for all, especially women. Don't drink much--you won't want to have to use the porta-potties!

A "must eat" restaurant in my opinion ( I live in DC) is Jaleo, a Spanish tapas (small portions, order several) restaurant on 7th and E. Great if you don't eat food like this often.

ttt