My family is going to be spending Memorial Day weekend in D.C. We are getting in Saturday afternoon and leaving Tuesday morning. This is our fourth trip to D.C., and so we have been to a number of the major museums and monuments. We are considering visiting the Holocaust Museum, but other than that we don't have anything planned. We are staying at the Melrose Hotel in D.C., which I believe is near the Washington circle(I may be wrong!).
I was wondering what sorts of places do you recommend to visit, places that will be out of the way enough so that they aren't too crowded? Also, is the Eastern Market opened? We really enjoyed it during our last trip.
Also, my sister's school band will be marching in the parade. Where do you recommend watching it from, and how early should we get there in order to get a good spot?
Thank you in advance for your help!

I forgot to add: We will probably also be going to Arlington Cemetary to visit the graves of family members that weekend. Is there any ceremony, ect. for Memorial Day taking place at Arlington? I tried finding out on the cemetary's website, but I couldn't find any information on that. Thanks!

You're generally going to have trouble avoiding crowds in DC on Memorial Day... You could try checking out some of the smaller or less-well known museums - like the Building Museum (a personal favorite), Phillips Collection (not free), Kreeger, or National Design Museum. The Nationals are home that weekend, so you could take in a game at the new stadium. Eastern Market is thriving, so definitely check it out!

There's usually a wreath laying ceremony at Arlington, involving the President, on Memorial Day. I believe it usually starts mid-morning, around 10 or 11 AM.

You might also consider checking out the Memorial Day Concert on the lawn of the Capitol on Sunday night - it involves the National Symphony Orchestra and usually a celebrity or two. It's free and always really nice, a great place to enjoy a picnic dinner. We've lived here for years, but whenever we're in town over the holiday we make it a point of going to the concert.

Mount Vernon might not be that crowded over the holiday either, and I always like to team that up with a meal at Gadsby's Tavern and a stroll around Alexandria.

Have fun!

You are right - the Melrose is about a block off Washington Circle, toward Georgetown.

The city and attractions will be crowded. Will you have a car? If so, and since you have been to many of the major attractions already, I would suggest maybe getting out of the city for the day - you could visit Annapolis, Harper's Ferry, one of the Civil War battlefields like Gettysburg or Antietam (though I'm not sure if there are any special events there for Memorial Day that would draw crowds, you'd have to check that). . . Old Town and Mount Vernon as suggested is a great combo although you will want to get to Mount Vernon early - my experience has been that it is crowded over the holiday weekend.

If you do stay in the city, I would
definitely get tickets in advance for the Holocaust Museum. Eastern Market will be open - not sure if you are aware that it suffered a bad fire last year, but they all of the vendors are back and they have a temporary building set up for the vendors who were in the damaged building. Or you could visit the National Arboretum, which is beautiful and very undervisited - I was there last Memorial Day weekend and it was not crowded at all. Lastly, you could embrace the crowds - there is a veterans group called Rolling Thunder that holds a huge motorcycle rally in DC over Memorial Day Weekend to bring attention to POW/MIA issues. There will be thousands of guys on motorcycles throughout the city, and can be interesting to see.

Also, re Arlington Cemetery - I am not sure about any particular events/ceremonies, other than one called "flags-in," where soldiers place small American flags in front of each and every grave in the cemetery for the 3-day weekend. I am not sure when exactly that happens. Here is a good website that summarizes Memorial Day weekend events in DC: http://tinyurl.com/6ycasv - hope this helps.

I'll post here since there are already a few Memorial Day in D.C. threads, no need to clutter things up any more.

My sister, a rising senior in college, is going to be visiting with my parents this coming weekend, but since she's not really interested in going house-hunting with them in suburban Virginia, I've been tasked with keeping her entertained during the day Saturday. This is going to be my first Memorial Day weekend as a D.C. area resident, and rather than just give her a menu of the big tourist hotspots, I let her do some research and find some things that might interest her. So far, she's come up with:

- National Aquarium, which I've read is somewhat underwhelming (especially since, I think, she's been to the one in Baltimore on a class trip)
- Newseum, which, just because it's new, will probably be one of the busiest museums in town, unless the $20 admission fee is enough of a deterrent
- Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, which I know literally nothing about.

What do other D.C. locals think about these options, and, based on what she's picked, are there other things that might be of interest?

Bumping this to the top to see if anyone has any other thoughts/suggestions...

I'll give it a shot:

National Aquarium is unimpressive, other than the alligator feeding on Fridays, which is a trip. Looks like there's a shark feeding on Saturday, which could be equally fun.

Also didn't know anything about the Aquatic Gardens, but in the garden vein I really like Dunbarton Oaks, and then you could wander around Georgetown a bit.

Good luck!

Thank you very much for all the ideas! They are very helpful.

Also, I heard about the national museum of crime and punishment. Does anyone know anything about it?