roxanne

I'm flying into DC tomorrow to see boyfriend's family in fairfax. While this is a mostly visit family trip- we only have 5 days- We're going to spend one day in town with our 6 mos old. I was going to just go to the mall, see a few monuments, maybe pop in a museum or two. It also looks like the weather will be beautiful, and I know the zoo is nice. I'm from New Orleans and we have a nice zoo so that may be foolish. What would you do with one day?

Cindy

The museums on the mall, of course. Lots of choices, but the most fun is Museum of American History a/k/a/"The Nation's attic" It's the one that has TV artifacts, The first Ladies' inauguration gowns, an old replica ice cream parlor, etc. Take a break nearby at the Old Post Office, now a shopping mall with gifty shops and a couple of fast places for a bite

KenCT

With only one day and baby, I'd recommend taking the Old Town Trolley that wends its way through the major sites. You can get off as often as you want, as long as you stay on one continuous loop.

Bonnie

Old Town Trolley or Tourmobile will get you around easily - park at Arlington cemetary. Zoo is not near mall -- if you have one at home, while ours is awesome, skip it until you have another day and baby is toddling to make it worthwhile. Bring drinks and snacks for you and baby -- otherewise you rely on street vendors and in the current security climate, they are being shooed around. Avoid driving downtown, traffic and parking stink and have gotten worse for obvious reasons. You can't do the Capitol this weekend, but Otherwise, its a great time to come -- no crowds. Take the tourmobile or similar down to the Lincoln memorial and Vietnam memorial for the amazing view and scene.

wendy

I too am going to DC for a few days. Any other highlights? Any suggestions for nighttime activities? We will be there over Thanksgiving weekend.

Cindy

A tip about Tourmobile with baby: bring an umbrella stroller, not a big one. Each time you get on and off, you must fold your stroller and leave it up by the driver. Then when you wish to depart, be sure to have one of the adults hop off quickly and to go the front and get the stroller before the tram leaves.

OK. If you're only in for a day, and baby is too young to appreciate much, I think I'd do Air and Space + American History if the weather is bad, or do Major Monuments (Vietnam, Lincoln, Jefferson, etc.) if the weather is nice. I'd definitely pass on the zoo because, although it is a fine zoo, it is still just a zoo, which you have back home.

I wouldn't be tempted to try an IMAX film with a baby -- they're loud, and I've seen lots of people who had to take their babies out in the middle, with lots of dirty looks, too.

Wendy, feel free to post your own thread, giving lots of details, and you'll get lots of advice, I'm sure.

Samantha

Even though Roxanne has since had her day in D.C., here is my 2 cents worth for those who may read this thread in the future and have the same time constraints -

My husband and I were in D.C. several months ago and had just a day and a half to sightsee. In the one full day we had, we started fairly early - 9:00ish. We were able to walk along the Mall, go to the Washington and Lincoln monuments, the Vietnam and Korean War memorials, and spend time (although not enough to give them justice) in the Museums of American and Natural History (we preferred the American History one).
My advice is to walk/see a few things, then take a rest and have a bite to eat/drink. We did it that way and didn't feel super rushed. We WERE exhausted at the end of the day, though! ;-)

Cindy

Oops! I didn't notice the date of Roxanne's question. Guess I was so happy these days to have a bona fide DC travel question to answer that I just pounced.