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Need help with my Washington DC itinerary!!!
I am planning a trip with my 7-year-old daughter to Washington DC over Veterans Day weekend (11/8/08-11/11/08). Having not been to DC yet myself, this will be our first mother-daughter trip, as well as, new terrain for the both of us. I am very excited!!!
Below is the itinerary that I have so far. I have not picked out restaurants; I'm not a foodie so I just plan on eating at places that are quick, reasonably priced, and (above all) kid friendly. Suggestions would be appreciated. Main concern: Is this do-able? (As a bit of background, my daughter loves art... drawing, painting, etc. She is also very energetic... I don't have concerns with her complaining about walking around. If anything, I'll be the one keeping up with her!) Day 1: 1. Arrive in DC at 1:10 pm 2. Check into hotel 3. Washington monument (4:30 pm reservations) 4. Old Town Trolley Moonlight Tour (6:30 pm) Day 2: 1. National Zoological Park (Highlights Tour reservation 9:45 am) 2. Washington National Cathedral 3. National Gallery of Art 4. (If possible, will take in a little of Air and Space) Day 3: 1. Bureau of Engraving and Printing 2. National Archives (reservation for 10:30 am tour) 3. National Museum of Natural History 4. Capital Building 5. Library of Congress (I don't know how much time we will spend at 4. or 5.) Day 4 1. Arlington National Cemetery (I thought it would be great to pay respects to those who have led or defended our country on Veteran's Day) 2. Depart for airport and fly home in late afternoon |
kmt0778:
I think that you have too much planned. I would skip the National Cathedral and the Archives. I don't believe that either are that interesting for a child. If you do go to the National Cathedral, I believe that your child can do a rubbing which can be taken home. I also suggest that you think about the Hirschorn Museum of Art. It has wonderful contemporary sculpture and paintings. It is very close to the Air and Space Museum. My children enjoyed this museum far more than the National gallery of Art. Pat |
Too much planned on Day 3, especially. You can't do the BEP tour before the Archives appointment, the first one of the day ends at 10:45.
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Sorry, I misread the BEP web site. The first tour is 9:00-9:45, but IMHO that's still a tight time frame.
You also might want to do the Zoo at your own pace; I didn't even realize that they gave formal tours. Don't miss the Small Mammal House, and try to catch the elephant training demo. The grounds open much earlier than the buildings, and sometimes the buildings are actually open earlier than the official hours. |
Arlington Cemetery is going to be packed on Veterans Day.
I agree with everyone else that your schedule is too much. I'd eliminate the Cathedral and the Archives and the Library of Commerce. |
If you would like to see the pandas at the zoo, I would suggest you get there early - as someone said, the grounds open before the buildings. It's less crowded when it's just the grounds open, and the pandas often play in the morning during this time.
For food, I would eat at the Museum of the American Indian one day when you're on the Mall. There isn't a very good food selection on the Mall, but the cafeteria at that American Indian museum is good, unique and tasty. It's also a relatively new, and IMO, very interesting museum. The structure itself is unique, and there are a lot of interactive sections. Arlington is a great idea. Make sure that you get to see the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns - it happens every hour on the hour while you are there. Enjoy your trip! |
Thank you, everyone, for the posts so far!!!
Regarding the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, I scheduled a VIP tour through my congressman so we are touring earlier than the hours listed on the website. Our tour is at 8:15 am. I figured that would give more than enough time to fit in the National Archives. The Arlington Cemetery comment... would you cut out going all together due to the crowds for Veterans Day weekend? |
I think that Arlington on Veterans' Day will be quite crowded, but I would do it anyway, as I agree with you that it would be make a special memory. personally, I would drop the Library of Congress from Day 3--it's more interesting as a concept than as something to look at, if that makes sense. That is, you can't wander the stacks, for example. Otherwise, given that you're getting such an early start, I think that day, and all the others, are doable.
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If your daughter likes drawing and painting, then I would try to focus on museums that would offer a chance to see that, and also possibly offer activities for kids. See what is on offer at the various Smithsonian Museums for the weekend you are there, go to www.si.edu.
I have to say that much as I like the National Gallery of Art and the Portrait Gallery, these may be too large for a child, you might consider private galleries like the Corcoran and especially the Philips. The Philips is mostly impressionists and modern art and is small, can be done in 2 hours or so, or you can just see a small part of the collection. The Philips is in the Dupont Circle area, full of restaurants and little shops. The Corcoran is near the White House. Both also have nice cafes. Websites are http://www.phillipscollection.org and http://www.corcoran.org. The Corcoran is having a “design your own campaign button” family event on November 8, but you may not yet have arrived into DC yet at that time. There is a Georgia O’Keefe and Ansal Adams exhibit currently running at the American Art Museum, which is a fairly big museum, but if you just saw that exhibit, that would be doable (and of course her painting and his photographs are so very memorable and accessible to a child, IMO). This is on 8th and F NW, across the street from the Spy Museum and quite near Ford’s Theatre (see below). I also very much like the Renwick, a branch of the Smithsonian, which is just American decorative arts and crafts, and is only 2 floors so is small and doable. It is also in a lovely restored building, and has a good gift shop (i.e. craft items). It is basically across the street from the White House. Agree on the Hirschorn, small and doable. You might drop the Museum of Natural History, unless there is something that might really interest your daughter. (I imagine what might interest <i>you</i> is irrelevant if you can’t convince a 7-year old to go along with it. Also it is a huge museum.) With regard to the Old Town Trolley tour, while I think the tour would show some pretty sights, you may not want to spend 2 hours on it, esp (i) with a 7 year old after flying a good part of the day, (ii) as you have to go all the way up to Union Station to start the tour (just to come back down to the Mall), and (iii) you will already be at the Washington Monument which is IMO <i>the prettiest place</i> for sunset and seeing the lights come up on the monuments. (Sunset will be around 5 pm during your visit, twilight which is generally lovely in the cold months in DC, will last about another half hour.) As you have such a good timing to be up on top of the Monument, I would actually suggest you take advantage of that and just do a walk afterwards around the Mall area to see the monuments nearby. The WW Memorial is basically at the foot of the monument, and you will get great views of the Capitol building, White House and Lincoln Memorial from where you are, or you could walk around the Mall to get closer views. You could then do a short walk to someplace like the Old Ebbit Grill, right by the White House, for dinner, fine for kids see http://www.ebbitt.com/main/index-flash.cfm, make a reservation if you can. I think the Zoo is a good idea, wow on a Sunday of a holiday weekend I think it is going to be crowded, but if you have a reserved slot should be OK. As an adjunct and in good weather, you could rent bikes near the Zoo and bike down through lovely Rock Creek Park to the Mall area or Georgetown area and can then drop the bikes off). You can also rent bikes and ride along the canal towpath in Georgetown. See http://www.betterbikesinc.com/index.html. You can also take a ride by mule-drawn barge along the canal, sponsored by the National Park Service. Hours are Fridays at 11 am and 3 pm, and Saturdays and Sundays at 11 am, 1:30 pm, 3 pm & 4:30 pm. Cost $8 adults, $6 senior citizens, and $5 children. The park offers lots of other tours in the canal area, take a look at http://www.nps.gov/choh/Calendar/Canaller.html There is a nice flea/crafts/artists market every Saturday at Eastern Market on Capitol Hill, and a good size farmer’s market many weekdays and Saturdays. This may interest your daughter and yourself. Inside the Market is a large veg/cheese/meat market. The Market Lunch counter is famous for its crab cakes and does great breakfasts. There are a lot of restaurants along this stretch of Pennsylvania Ave toward the Capitol. If you are taking the Metro, take the blue/orange line to the Eastern Market stop. You will come up the exit at Pennsylvania Ave and 7th St. With the Capitol building in front of you, cross Pennsylvania and go down 7th, and Eastern Market is about two blocks down on the left on 7th St where it intersects with North Carolina Ave. This would be a good place to go either before or after a visit to the Capitol, Library of Congress, or any museum along the Mall. As you probably know, there is a hop-on-hop-off tour mobile which goes to most major sights including over to Arlington National Cemetery (which may be one way to get there on Veteran’s Day without too much hassle, but getting back may be a hassle; however if you don’t mind a walk, you can walk across Memorial Bridge to the Lincoln Memorial. It is a great way to get around and see the city and also be able to get to all the sights without having to drive and park (a real hassle) or walk from the subway. (Take a look at www.tourmobile.com and www.tourmobile.com/tour/heritage.html.)Tickets are $20 for adults, $10 for kids and are good all day. There is also the “DC Ducks” tour mobile which is a semi-tour, really just a drive by, along Constitution Ave in an open converted amphibious military craft and then down into the Potomac River and down the rive to Regan Airport where you sit under the flight path of a few planes (pretty thrilling actually). It is actually quite a fund ride on warm and sunny day, and kids will be given a chance to drive the boat in the river, which they all enjoy. Take a look at http://www.dcducks.com/. You can get it at Union Station, right near the Capitol. The boat is totally open, so it could be a bit nippy on the water in November. I think the Archives are quite interesting, and I think a 7-year old will long remember seeing the Declaration of Independence (I first saw it at 9 years old and clearly remember it), and as you have a pre-booked time, I would still keep it. It does not take long. Again, you are on the Mall and can do other things. Ford’s Theatre is within walking distance of this, as is the Spy Museum (this is a private museum and may be jammed, but kids seem to like it, it is quite interactive, I believe you can book a specific time, see their website.) Please check on the Printing and Engraving tour, it is my understanding than none of the printing is actually done within the District any more, so I am not really sure what you will be seeing. Perhaps just bills, but as an artist, this may interest your daughter. I actually think an arranged tour of the Capitol Building would be interesting. There is the normal tour through your Congressperson, or if you can arrange it, you can sometimes get a tour of the dome, which includes a walk up top of the dome inside and out. I have done this once through a friend who worked there (yes and even post 9-11 this was 2 years ago), and it was quite memorable, you might contact your Senator or Representative to see if this can be arranged. It is not a hard climb. I think the National Cathedral is quite pretty, but might suggest you combine a visit with an evensong performance or organ recital, they are generally around 5:30 pm, but check the website for particulars for November, http://www.cathedral.org/cathedral/ for info. I personally think Air and Space Museum is going to be jammed on Veterans Day weekend, and if your daughter is not interested, perhaps a waste of your time as well. However, if your flight is out of Dulles, you might take time to see the newish“wing” of the Air and Space museum which is only a mile or two from Dulles Airport which is very interesting and not usually nearly as crowded as the actual Air and Space Museum. Take a look at http://www.nasm.si.edu/udvarhazy/. As for restaurants, there are so many good restaurants in DC and new ones are added all the time, and a place like Bethesda has dozens of good restaurants too. Take a look at the website for the Washingtonian Magazine at http://www.washingtonian.com/, which lots of people in DC use as their restaurant bible, and you can search by “kid friendly” |
Isn't the Museum of <i>American</i> History reopening before your trip? If so, I'd skip several of your other choices in favor of that (it's one of my favorite museums anywhere, but then I prefer "thing" museums to art museums).
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Thank you, again, for all the posts!
Cicerone, You are a wealth of knowledge. : ) |
American History is currently scheduled to reopen on Nov. 21, about 2 weeks after this trip.
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Please don't skip the National Cathedral, unless you have to. There is often a musical group rehearsing, so you'll likely hear some music during your visit. The children's chapel is exquisite.
If you can, and are able to schedule it, highly recommend contacting your Senators and representative for a guided tour of the Capitol. This is much more efficient than heading there on your own. Our tour was actually private because we were the only ones scheduled at that time. And, we went to a few places not available to the general public. We chose the Grayline moonlight tour for the climate control and more comfortable seats. Do you really want to slide around on wooden trolley seats for 2-3 hours? I'd recommend not adding any more prepaid scheduled activities. But, keep the itinerary. I usually find that no matter how packed the itinerary, we get around to it all with more spare time than planned. Just be prepared to adjust. And, take a taxi when necessary. It's better to spend the money and get there than miss something. |
I actually think the National Cathedral could be fun for your daughter, especially since she loves art. One of the "artsy" features of the cathedral are all of the hidden gargoyles.
www.cathedral.org/cathedral/visit/gargoyle.shtml If you do go to the Cathedral, I highly recommend Two Amy's for lunch - fabulous Neopolitan (thin crust) pizza. http://www.2amyspizza.com/ |
We are keeping the National Cathedral on our list of sights. I have downloaded the brochures from the Cathedral's website on where to spot each of the gargoyles. My daughter received a pair of binoculars as a gift for her sixth birthday. She has already set them on her nightstand so she remembers to pack them!
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Excellent! Sounds like that kid has the makings of a professional traveler!
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bookmarking
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Thank you! She is very excited about going. When we were talking about where we wanted to go for out first mother-daughter trip, she exclaimed, "Let's go to Italy. I want to visit the Leaning Tower of 'Pizza'."
Sadly, my current budget doesn't allow for international trips yet, so we had to "scale down." With it being an election year, I thought Washington DC would be a good choice. I overheard her talking to her Dad a couple of nights ago asking, "So, have you seen the very important papers...you know... the Declaration of Independence and the Consti-ma-tution?" Very cute. |
At the National Cathedral, make sure to ask at the info desk for instructions on how to find the "Darth Vader" gargoyle, which should be visible through her binoculars.
On Day 1: My immediate reaction at seeing 4:30 Wash Monument tickets followed by 6:30 Trolley Tour (which someone says leaves from Union Station) was, when do you eat?? I'd think a hungry 7-year-old wouldn't be a great audience for the tour. I'm wondering if you've left yourselves enough time to do both the monument and the tour. If you do need to leave on a tour from Union Station around mealtime, be aware that there's a good big food court on the basement level of the station. I imagine you'll find something kid-appealing there. |
I must admit, in my wanting to take in all of the sights, I haven't thought about when we would eat dinner. : (
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