cmstraf

Hello all,
After having spent a week in Washington DC in February with a friend, I am returning with DH for the week between Christmas and New Year's, taking advantage of his annual company closure (arrive Christmas Eve, leave on 31st). If I can get passes this Wednesday, we will definitely go to the National Museum of African American History and Culture and also to the National Gallery. I'd really appreciate tips about both people's favorite things to do and about how to best minimize crowds--with museums, go at opening, in late afternoon. We once managed a New York vacation at that time of year very successfully but we know the city well. It will be my third time to DC and DH's second. We'll be having dinner with friends on Christmas Day. We consider the free museums to be like Disneyland for grownups (love art), but would welcome suggestions for non museum activities, especially relatively inexpensive ones.
We know that the weather could range tremendously but to expect cold (we are from SF Bay area).
Thanks in advance for your help.

kja

IMO, the Phillips is worth a visit at any time of year, even if it isn't free.

gardendiva

The Newseum is also very interesting yet there is an entrance fee. I am not sure how busy it is at this time of year but I always like to schedule tours. The National Archives has a good tour and then you can go back an see anything that you wish. The pentagon also has a good tour. You do need to apply for the tour so I would do that immediately. Usually you need to do this 6 months in advance but I was accepted within just a week.

fourfortravel

The U.S. Botanic Garden's "Seasons Greenings" is always lovely; its plant based creations follow a theme, and this year it's "All Aboard." Bonus: entrance is free! https://www.usbg.gov/plan-your-holiday-visit If you're into Asian art, the Sackler and Freer Galleries on the mall are almost always quiet, too.

Between Christmas and New Year's there is little strategy to avoid crowds at the Big 3: American History, Natural History, and Air and Space.

Christina

I don't think there are any especially big crowds during that week for any particular reason, I wouldn't worry about it. You already know the tips, anyway, they aren't specific to DC (some you mentioned are naturals, go early or late). Air and Space is always pretty crowded. National Gallery is not. DC isn't like New York, people don't flock here at Christmas.

YOu probably know what is free in DC -- Smithsonian museums plus a few other ones that are not Smithsonian (ie, HOlocaust and Natl Gallery), as well as government sites. That's about it as far as I can think of, except for the obvious outdoors things which wouldn't be something you'd do at that time of year.

I'd suggest the Archives and Library of Congress for free things to do. You can visit Fords Theater, tickets are only $3.

cmstraf

Thanks, everyone.
kja, I think we may have similar tastes. I would never skip the Phillips. There is another small private museum, the Kreeger, that we may try. I will try other suggestions and avoid the Air and Space Museum.

Got our passes to African American museum online this morning. For Fodorites who don't know, they are available the first Wednesday every month for three months in advance--today it's December. Got up at 5:45 am (am in SF Bay area),but it was worth it. I have been before but DH has not.

kja

Enjoy!

Cadgirl

I am going to DC in earlyish November, and if I were going later I would definitely go see A Christmas Carol at Ford's Theater. It's playing from November 15th through December 30th.

Birdie

A lot of people skip The Portrait Gallery thinking it’s just a lot of stodgy historical portraits but I’ve found it to be one of the most fascinating museums in DC. I second the recommendation of the Newseum. The hours you’ll want to spend in there make the price worthwhile.

TDudette

I agree with all the suggestions above. Based on one Sunday visit only, we found the Botanic Gardens quite crowded over the holidays with lots of kids to see the trains. Portrait Gallery and the contiguous Museum of American Art are really cool.

Please report back about your trip and have a great time.

Nelson

Some years back we spent 2+ weeks in DC from just before Christmas to just after New Years and had a great time. Our favorite Smithsonians were National Gallery, Portrait Gallery, Museum of American Art, and Museum of American History. We did not make it the American Indian which is perhaps a regret, but we are thinking of a return visit soon. African American Museum was not open yet.

+1 on the Phillips, that was fantastic. I never appreciated Rothko until standing in their Rothko room, for one thing.
We thought the zoo lights were great and worth the trip. There was a delicious Lebanese restaurant right where you get off the metro to walk to the museum.

Mount Vernon was open on Christmas day so we went there and had dinner at a tapas place in Alexandria which was open, but I see you have Christmas dinner covered.

... just remembered, I posted a brief TR:
Highlights of our trip to DC

cmstraf

Thanks. I'd like to go to Mt Vernon -- have never been there. Did you like it? I think if the weather isn't truly horrible, we'll spend the first part of Christmas walking through the Mall. Although, it's technically closed (bathrooms etc), I think one can walk through it and that it will be relatively uncrowded. The last time we were there together was in March over 20 years ago (before Roosevelt Memorial). We walked from Arlington National Cemetery to the Jefferson Memorial. About an hour into our walk, just after we crossed the bridge, the cherry blossoms came out in full bloom. It was amazing.
I will indeed do a trip report. One thing I know already is that this is going to be MUCH cheaper than a trip to NYC over Christmas. Even with families coming in from the surrounding area, hotel prices in the city are about 30-40% of high season prices, 4 star hotels for just above $100, 5 star for around $200.
I will do a trip report when we return. Next month we are spending a week in Genova with my husband's family then a week in Avignon for our 25th anniversary, so I hope to do one for that as well.
I'm sorry to hear there are trains in the Botanical Gardens.

sf7307

We loved Mt. Vernon, but then, we love historical houses generally. As far as the bathrooms being closed, you can almost always find one in the common area of a nearby hotel. If the weather is good, rent bikes from Bike 'n Roll -- we did that on a Sunday when there was little traffic, and rode from the mall to the Jefferson Memorial and back to Georgetown and back. For tourists, something like Bike 'n Roll is better than Capital Bikeshare because you don't have to have your own helmet.

TDudette

They are model trains, cmstraf. Sorry I didn't specify. The day we were there, the exhibit was in a separate room. Do google to see all that goes on.

DH and I loved Mt. Vernon also. Very interesting separate museum, tour of the home, and a restaurant just on the site.

cmstraf

Hi Nelson,
Just read your trip report--only one problem. Your statement that you're not much of a writer was inaccurate! Excellent trip report.

For your next trip to DC, consider the State Plaza Hotel discovered by my BFF. It's a five minute walk from the Lincoln Memorial--over the holidays you can get a studio with a kitchen for $98 a night, or a full one bedroom with kitchen (with pull-out sofa) for, I think, $135. There's a restaurant attached to the hotel and a Whole Food Market with takeout food close by. It is neither fancy nor known for its feng shui, but supposed to be spotlessly clean and not faded.

We have opted to save this hotel for a time when we are in Washington high season and take advantage of Christmas being the anniversary of the day we met and low seasons cost to spring for the Willard Intercontinental. Using our United Explorer card access to Chase Luxury Hotel and Spa Collection, we will get a king size room with free full breakfasts, VIP status, $100 credit toward hotel expenses, free room upgrade if possible, early check-in and check-out if possible etc. Our taste lies more to the contemporary but the combination of the sheer opulence and the history of the hotel (Lincoln lived there, Martin Luther King wrote his "I Have a Dream" speech there) made us decide to "play hotel" since we could never ever afford it in high season. Will write how it is.

This reminds me: I think I didn't write a TR after my February 2018 trip with a friend--I'll see what I can reconstruct over the next week. Where did you get the American history sequence? And is it shorter than the Alistair Cooke, which I am old enough to have watched when I was younger...

TDudette: DH would love the model trains--the only trouble with them is that their draw to hordes of children and their grown-ups. I love both Manhattan and Yosemite but hate crowds (in fact I did write TR's on a Christmas vacation and our crowd evasion techniques in New York and our efforts to avoid Yosemite crowds while taking guests from Italy there in the summer (when we usually would travel only to the High Country).

kja

The Lebanese Taverna used to be absolutely wonderful. Then the man who had run that branch of the restaurant (the one on Connecticut Ave. in Woodley Park) for many, many years died, and the quality of both the food and the service dropped dramatically. It still gets great reviews, but most people I know who were there in the past have been very disappointed.

Petits Plats in that same block is well worth considering.

Nelson

cmstraf, thanks for comment on my TR. I just looked at again and it’s actually not that well written! But thanks.

The model trains at the botanic garden were a disappointment to us also. They have similar ones in New York and we thought those were better.

I seem to recall Mount Vernon required an advance ticket, but may be mistaken on that.

Here is the course we watched, probably a lot longer than Alistair’s. But we enjoyed it and thought the review of American history enhanced our visit.
https://www.thegreatcourses.com/cour...d-edition.html

Thanks for State Plaza hotel recommendation, it is noted. Enjoy the Willard!

kja, we may have talked to that man. They remembered us when we returned and someone came over to our table for a quick chat then to make sure we were enjoying the meal. Sorry to hear.

kja

Sounds like him! He was a gracious and welcoming presence, and you are not alone in having fond memories of his attentions.

cmstraf

Has anyone seen the Ford Theatre's production of A Christmas Carol--and what did you think of it?

cmstraf

Thanks for the tip --we are going to the Christmas Carol!