Quick Trip to D.C. In April
 

Just booked a quick trip to D.C. for Easter weekend with a good Amtrak deal. Really just need to get out of town. Obviously going to include a Nationals game (playing the Phillies that weekend) and a few museums / breweries.

Now onto the fun of hotels! Lastminutetravel has some deals I need to sort thru rather than just picking the Americana again. Best looking deal is the Marriott Wardman Park near the Zoo on top of the Metro Station (or just about).

Will just pick and choose the museums having been to most of them. Portrait Gallery is a must as they have a Babe Ruth Exhibit ending in May.

I know crowds may be a living nightmare and not what i want...Monuments will not be a priority though having been to them many times.

And your question is...?

If you are asking about the Marriott Wardman Park, yes, the location is excellent.

Be sure to check the wmata website for planned work on the red line (which is the one that stops by that Marriott) -- entire lines are being shut down for repairs over the next several months.

And start taking your allergy medicine a month before you go. Pollen is brutal in March and April.

Can't wait for your beer report!

That's definitely part of it, though we have done a lot of the DC breweries. That being said, we liked them all...


I just booked the Marriott Wardman for $120 a night so got a really good deal.

Going to try to avoid having an itinerary and just wing it. Will not be easy for me though I am flexible when having them and willing to change. Just want to relax and enjoy it.

<i>I just booked the Marriott Wardman for $120 a night so got a really good deal.</i>

Agreed, bona fide deal.

I think you will enjoy the Babe Ruth exhibit.

I have always enjoyed the Portrait Gallery as it is typically less crowded and quiet compared to other museums. I still find it shocking that a museum that was not on our initial itinerary for our first trip has become a mainstay for us and the first Smithsonian I will recommend! I am definitely looking forward to the Babe Ruth exhibit.

How bad are the crowds expected to be that weekend, given that it is typical school vacation week and Easter weekend?

One roadblock for any planning are the Nationals gametimes - 3 day games so it makes it hard to fit a lot in if we want to go to multiple games - have to go to at least 1.

IME, serious crowds are confined to the National Mall and its museums and monuments. If you avoid all that, you should be fine. Oh, maybe avoid the Wisconsin & M shopping area in Georgetown, too. That's always crowded, even on normal weekends.

If you're looking for (slightly) off the beaten path suggestions, have you already been to the Phillips Collection in Dupont Circle? How about Hillwood? Lincoln's Cottage?

Legitimately off the beaten path, but near Dupont, are the Anderson House, home of the Society of the Cincinnati and a must for history buffs; and the Woodrow Wilson house.

http://www.societyofthecincinnati.or..._house/history
http://www.woodrowwilsonhouse.org

You can also tour the Masonic Temple of the Scottish Rite, and that is a hoot, let me tell you. (It used to be closed to the public.)
https://scottishrite.org/headquarters/visitors/

tchoiniere, with all of your trips, you're as much of a DC expert as anyone who posts here.

<i>How bad are the crowds expected to be that weekend, given that it is typical school vacation week and Easter weekend?</i>

Busy enough that if you want to make certain you see a thing that offers a timed entry ticket, get that timed ticket.

i recommend going to the Kreeger Museum. Used to be a private home, designed by Philip Johnson, that houses an impressive and important art collection. You have to be guided through.

Then there is the Marjorie Merriweather Post House (Hillwood Estate) with a beautiful garden and also great collections.

I wouldn't want to deal with the Mall even with a timed ticket!

NewBe, Lincoln's Cottage works great as it is not far from the first brewery (3 Stars Brewery) we want to hit on Saturday or Sunday (dependent on Brewery's hours on Easter Sunday. I have wanted to visit so that will definitely be an option.

Will look at the other suggestions too.

If we go to the Monuments, it will be first thing in the morning on a weekend day so it will hopefully be less crowded then.

Cool, I hope you enjoy Lincoln's Cottage! Take a tour--the docents really add a lot to the experience.

Seeing the monuments will be OK even in a crowd, as you won't need to queue up to go inside anything and they're scaled for crowds.

Have fun!

<i>I wouldn't want to deal with the Mall even with a timed ticket!</i>

The National Mall is over 2 miles in length and comprises many museums and monuments, all of varying degrees of interest and popularity.

The OP has been a frequent enough visitor to the city that he probably doesn't need to seek out the most touristed spots on the Mall but your blanket statement is needlessly negative and possibly off-putting to those who might be seeking DC travel advice for the spring.

Well, obxgirl, I'd say we all have a right to an opinion, don't we? I'd be fine with your disagreeing with me were it not for the word "needlessly".

The OP has indeed been to DC often, and will most likely return, which is why I advised him (or her) to avoid the Mall and its crowds during spring break season.

If it were his/her one and only trip, I'd have said, make the best of it.

So I find nothing needless about my comments. Yours, on the other hand...not so much.

Why do so many longtime posters here feel the need to angrily assert control of their pet topics??

<i>Why do so many longtime posters here feel the need to angrily assert control of their pet topics??</i>

Alerting visitors to the fact that timed tickets are advisable for busy times of the year isn't angrily asserting anything. It's good advice. Hyperbolic <i>I wouldn't want to deal with the Mall even with a timed ticket!I</i> is both off-putting and negative.

While you're wringing your hands about the state of the state, ask yourself the same question.

DC Cherry Blossom Festival ends that weekend. It is also beginning of school vacation week in some of the northeast US. Fortunately the Cherry Blossom half marathon is 2 weeks prior - because that really is a giant crowd of people tourist area.

Glad you were able to get a good price on hotel. DC is almost always crowded, and in my opinion impossible only when there is a huge event like Women's March or a significant road race (and even then, crowds are gone by noon). Not sure what to think when people talk about crowds. It's crowded because it is a great destination and therefore popular. Go to rural Idaho in January if you don't want crowds.

Just check Metro website - they are still closing sections and stations while making emergent repairs.

Or you could wait 2 weeks and come to the DC GTG

"I just booked the Marriott Wardman for $120 a night so got a really good deal."

Great deal. I was going to suggest the Woodley Guest House at the bottom of the driveway of the Marriott but you could not get a deal like that there.

obxgirl, I have no idea why you are dragging this otherwise useful thread down with your anger, but I would ask you to stop attacking me for no earthly reason. I disagree with you that my advice was bad and that's that.

I took that comment in jest. That's how I felt 2 years ago in May when I vowed never to come in the spring again! Now coming in April!

Gail, it was the baseball schedule that drove us towards this weekend. I figured the crowds would be bad but what we are planning is definitely not going to be near the crowds at this point.

You've probably been to both- but my "new" favorites were the Post House and the postal museum.

I don't think the crowds will be that awful- I went during the festival last spring; the popular monuments are crowded after dark when the bus tours start and Natural History and air and space were crowded but they always are. I only did one thing that needed advance tickets- Washington monument- and I wouldn't do that again, but I'd probably feel the same way any time of year.

You'll just have to learn to deal with it, Newbs. :-))

How sad--I used to respect you as a poster who gave good advice here. Why not confine your antics to the Lounge, eh? That's what it's there for, after all.

Newbe, like everyone who participates here, you and I are people with opinions and keyboards. Our opinions do not always agree. That is just how it goes.

But let me be very clear. I do not take direction from you on what to post or where to post it.

Any level of respect you do or don't have for me is irrelevant to me.

Last word on this kerfuffle goes to you.

Here is what we have penciled in for now. It will change a million times before we get there and when we get there. In talking with a friend of mine last night, there is a Craft Brew Conference that week bringing a lot of people to DC for it. He basically said avoid bars and restaurants on the Thursday and Friday we are there due to all of them barhopping those days so ChurchKey and BlueJacket may not work out well those days.

Depart New Haven 7:30
Arrive DC 1:05 PM (based on history with this train, it will be a little early)
Hotel: Marriott Wardman Park

Thursday
DC Chophouse - Lunch / few beers
Portrait Gallery
ChurchKey
Lincoln Memorial (night)

Friday
Zoo or a Museum
Nationals Game 4:05 Game
Bluejacket

Sat (may get switched with Sunday depending on Brewery hours for Easter Sunday)
PAUL for breakfast
Nationals Game 1:00 Game
Bluejacket Brewery
Right Proper Brewery
Mad Fox TapRoom

Sunday
Lincoln's Cottage (a definite)
3 Stars Brewery
Hellbender Brewery
DC Brau Brewery
Atlas Beer Works
Dinner

Monday - if we decide to head to the Monuments / Memorials, it will be very early
Iwo Jima Monument
Air Force Memorial
FDR Monument
WW2 Memorial
Depart

NewbE on Feb 23, 17 at 11:43pm
How sad--I used to respect you as a poster who gave good advice here. Why not confine your antics to the Lounge, eh? That's what it's there for, after all.

Agree with Newbe on this. You just come across as angry but be careful NewBe, she will report you.

We just bought tickets to the game Friday night. It is a bobble head giveaway day and a holiday week so expecting it to sell out. We found a good deal on StubHub for the seats. We are about 20 rows back from the field between the net and the end of the Phillies dugout.

tchoiniere, You many have already done the research on this but Right Proper has two locations for tastings -- one in the Shaw neighborhood and the other in Brookland. The former serves food (and it's pretty good!) and is a closer walk from the metro. The Brookland location has food trucks but not every day.

My favorite RP beer is their Raised By Wolves APA.

Sounds like a fun trip!

Its the Brewpub in Shaw that we are aiming for. Would like to see the Production facility but its too far out to make work. Loved the beer here last time so need to get there again. I'm surprised no new breweries have opened that I have found

Today's weather really has me looking forward to DC! WE got 5" of snow turning into rain so really 5" of slop at this point!

I think we are going to try to go to the zoo early one of the days considering where we are staying. Pretty much just planning on the top part down to the elephants and then back up. Love the idea of the Anderson House and Woodrow Wilson House.

Atlas Brewery is doing a BBQ before the Nationals game on Saturday so have gotten tickets for that. $75 for the ticket which includes the BBQ and admission to the game. Have confirmed the breweries are open on Sunday.

How many of the cherry blossoms came out for the blizzard?

Things are dicey for the cherry blossoms.

Weather has been v. cold since the weekend followed by today's snow, sleet and ice.

Tonight temps are going to be low enough to cross the damage or kill threshold for some of them depending on what stage the blossoms are in. :(

Good website for visuals and info here:

https://cherryblossomwatch.com/cherry-blossom-watch/

Just looked at Ford's Theater. I have been through the museum and ranger talk before but they have the Aftermath exhibit about the Manhunt for Booth.

Having read the book "Manhunt: The search for Abraham Lincoln's Killer". It has become a favorite subject of mine so I booked that ticket. Going to just do that exhibit and the Peterson House as we skipped that the last time due to a long line.

you might look at Crystal City, Virginia. It is an easy subway ride into the city from there and MANY hotels.

I have a hotel booked and paid for already at a price cheaper than most in Crystal City.

Damn I cannot wait till I get on the train in the morning. Shoreline East to Amtrak. Get into D.C. At 1. Gonna be a busy but fun weekend. 2 good pitching matchups, lots of good beer and a lot of tourist sites. Now if my laundry would just finish

Have a fun weekend!

Safe travels, tchoiniere! Looks like good weather this weekend.

Have fun!

Have a great trip! Perfect weather this weekend. Be forewarned, the zoo will be a zoo--very crowded with lots of families and strollers to maneuver around. Spring break in DC area.