Washington DC - first time in years
 

We have not been there for 8 years. Besides MLKing, any new museums and exhibits that should not be missed?

Love the Newseum. Exhibits change all the time at most musuems.

There are always changing exhibits at the National Gallery, the Phillips, and the Corcoran that make every visit unique.

Have you been to Dumbarton Oaks?

I am hearing good things -- amazingly -- about the Spy Museum and the new Air and Space Museum out near Dulles.

thanks---we have a friend that raved about the spy museum.

Depending on when you visited, you may or may not have seen the WWII Memorial or the American Indian Museum? The Spy Museum and the Udvar Hazy Air and Space near Dulles are worthy of visiting; and both the Natural History and American History Museums have undergone recent gallery renovations.

If you are interested, the Udvar Hazy Air and Space will take most of a day, but is well worth the time

Okay, I keep reading that the Spy Museum is great and had originally had it on my list.

Then a close friend of ours went with his family (teen girls and boys) and their report was that it was the worst thing they did all week. I asked him to be more specific and here's an example he gave: There's a large air duct where kids who are on a "mission" can hide. And all the other kids stand around the outside of this duct and pound on it, so there's this incessant clanging. One positive: he was glad to see an Enigma machine, but he's not sure most people understood the significance of it from the display.

Am I all wrong? Put it back on the list?

5alive, it sounds like perhaps an unruly school or tour group. Yes, the air duct attracts kids, but I've been to the Spy Museum three times and have not encountered that kind of disturbance. You can (and should) pre-book your tickets as entry is timed, and you might want to consider one of the first bookings of the day so you can enjoy the museum more.

Agree with Rich about Udvar Hazy~seeing the Space Shuttle, the Concorde, the SR-71 and the Enola Gay were the highlights for me! Plus, it's much less crowded than the Air and Space Museum on the Mall. Udvar Hazy is part of the Smithsonian complex, so admission is free.

We didn't like the Spy Musuem when we were there in March. It was expensive, we thought, for the experience. Horribly crowded on a Saturday afternoon, I could hardly breathe. Long story short, we wandered into the National Portrait Gallery directly across the street, quite by accident, and enjoyed that immensely. I guess it depends on who you are and what excites you.

The Newseum is a must see. I spent the better part of a day there when I went in March.

A friend also raved to me about The Spy Museum but when I read up on it, it wasn't very appealing so I skipped it.

Don't miss the WW II Memorial. Have you been to the Holocaust Museum? It's definitely worth visiting.

We all (dh, 16yo son, and I) enjoyed the Spy Museum. There is a lot of interesting stuff in there.

Lee Ann