Washington DC/Colonial Williamsburg Trip Report
 

I just got back from a week in DC/CW with my mother and son. It was fun, busy, and cold!
We visited the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (tickets from our senator), the Holocaust Museum, the Capitol (tickets from our congressman and senator), the Spy Museum, the Air and Space Museum, the Udvar Hazey Museum, the nighttime monument tour with Tourmobile, Arlington Cemetery, Mt. Vernon, the Kennedy Center, the Natural History and American History Museums, and we visited Colonial Williamsburg. We are exhausted! We had a great time, though. We ate at a lot of great restaurants and saw some amazing stuff. I'll post more later...

Leaving in 12 hours, would love to hear more!

We flew in on 3/31 to Dulles and took a Washington Flyer cab to our hotel(the Hilton Garden Inn)in downtown DC. The cab was costly, but there weren't many options since we got in so late.
We flew Northwest and were delayed because something was wrong with some part on the engine that defrosts during landing. We had to taxi back and then wait as they checked it, but then had to change planes when they realized it needed more work than they originally thought. Oddly enough, this happened the last time I flew NW - different part, but still broken beyond immediate repair requiring a plane change.
We finally got to our hotel after midnight. We had requested double beds, but the hotel only had king bed rooms available. Since we booked through Priceline we knew this could happen. We asked for a rollaway, and one was brought up to our room right away. We had great service(except in the restaurant at breakfast) throughout our stay at this hotel.
The next day we ate breakfast at the Dept. of Agriculture cafeteria. It was dirt cheap and was great for a picky eater (my 12 year old son) and my mother who is on the Atkin's diet. You need a picture ID to get in (entrance on 12th and C St., wing 2 I think). The BEP tour was interesting, but a bit long. My son liked it, though. We found some fun stuff to buy at the gift shop. The Holocaust Museum is moving. I'd been there before so I knew what to expect. My mother thought the one in Europe was a bit better. The plan afterwards was to walk around the tidal basin, but rain ruined that. In fact it rained for about the first 3 days of our trip. We had packed for any kind of weather, so we were prepared but disappointed all the same. We headed back to the hotel to rest and then went to the Old Ebbit's Grill for dinner. They had great food, and a nice atmosphere after a day of sightseeing. More later...(have a great time darboy - I wish I had time to write more now before you go, but I've got to get some sleep).

I understand. Thanks for taking the time to write the trip report. As I am traveling with picky eaters also, I appreciate the dining input. Looks like we will hit the rain also, in go the rain ponchos!

The next day we took a tour of the capitol with an intern who works for our local congressman. The wait was very long, as so many kids were there for spring break. We expected this, so we were ready to wait. The tour was really nice until the end. We waited to get in to see the House in session, only to be turned around at the door. Apparently our guide was supposed to get a special pass because our group had 16 people in it, and the limit without a group pass is 15. The intern who was leading us was very embarrassed. On the way out she got a bit turned around and one of the security guards made her feel even more foolish. That was the straw that broke the camel's back. She started crying and felt totally humiliated. We all felt sorry for her. As for us, we could not get in to see the House unless we waited in the same line all over again. We opted to come back on our own another day. We had some lunch in the Longworth building cafeteria while we rested our weary feet. We then went to the Spy Museum, but found they were sold out for the day. We bought tickets for another day and decided to check out Ford's Theater and the National Archives. Both lines were very long so we opted to go visit the Natural History Museum instead. That night we ate at Red Sage where the food was yummy, but a bit more expensive than the Ebbit's Grill. Finally, we headed back to our room for some rest before heading out on Amtrak for Colonial Williamsburg the next morning. More later...