washington DC help
 

Sorry for the length of this - I probably give too much information!! I need help with D.C. We'll be in D.C. from Tuesday afternoon until Saturday. My two definites right now are a tour of the Capital Thursday at 11:00 and we have tickets to Red Sox vs. Orioles Thursday night. To Tburke99, thanks for the offer about your tickets, but I called and got them Thursday. Our daughter has been to Washington on a school trip, my husband went when he was ten, but my 11 y/o son and I have never been.
We want to see as much as possible but don't want to kill ourselves. Walking is great. I've done searches here and I'm figuring things out, but still need some help. Are the Tourmobiles and Old Town Trolleys worth it? What about the Duck Tours? We're from Massachusetts and have done the Duck Tours a few times with out-of-town guests. Is it worth doing one of the tours (not the Ducks) to get an idea of things and that way we can hop on and off or is there a better way to go about it? We want to see the monuments (I've read night is good for that), the Holocaust Museum, some of the Smithsonian, Air & Space, Spy Museum if possible and that's all I can think of right now. I'm sure there are other places. We're still waiting to hear if we will get on the White House Tour. The kids said they'd rather go to the baseball game than Whitehouse if it was an either-or. We're staying in Dupont Circle and plan on parking the car and walking or taking cabs or Metro.
Thanks for any help.

I think the tourmobile is the best way to get around because you will still be doing alot of walking. Duck tour was OK but I was alittle disappointed. Holocaust museum is very good but I was not impressed with the spy museum. It would be last on my list after all the Smithsonian museums. FDR outdoor museum was neat and great on a beautiful day. My favorite is the Korean War Memorial. Try to get to the post office museum. It was alot of fun for my kids, 8 & 10 at the time and not crowded at all.

Thanks. Anyone else?

I would like to add my two cents worth since our family just returned last night from a week's stay in DC with our daughter, age 15, and son, age 9. We chose to stay at Embassy Suites in Crystal City near Reagan National. This was perfect for us because of the atrium style hotel with indoor heated pool, games with pool table, restaurant, and seating area for manager's reception each evening. I didn't worry about the safety of the children especially with so many other families there. We enjoyed visiting with the families each night after touring and picked up lots of great ideas. We learned the easy metro system - only l0-15 minutes away from the attractions. Also this hotel's staff was very accommodating and friendly.

Now to your question -I would recommend taking a tourmobile type tour your first day. You will pick up some great information and get a good feel of the city. YOu can then narrow down the museums and monuments that you want to visit. Note: the Washington Monument just reopened on Friday. I would pay the extra and visit Arlington Cementary. It is quite a walk from the metro, especially to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. It gives you a great view of Washington as well and I think everyone should see the Kennedy graves.
My husband and I did split up with the children at times since my daughter loves art and wanted to see the National Gallery of Art and the Hirshhorn. My daughter and I also visited the Holocaust Museum with a timed ticket - I would recommend that and plan on at least 2 l/2 hours. I feel that your son is too young for the permanent collection but there is a children's section, Daniel's Room (no timed ticket required.) Please take advantage of the White House tour. We were not lucky enough to get tickets from our Representative and the children really wanted to go inside as we walked around it. After your Capital tour, we may want to eat at Bullfeathers, a good Capitol Hill restaurant for children or a popular Mexican restaurant next door(behind the Capitol) which was recommended by the staff. We did eat lunch one day at a street vendor - hot dogs, polish sandwiches, egg rolls, pretzels - saved alot of time and money.

You should see the Air/Space, Lincoln Memorial and Natural History or American History. Cherry Blossoms should be beautiful this next week so maybe a walk around the tidal basin to the Jefferson Memorial. (We did the Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Wall, and White House (outside only) one morning).

Just remember that children get very tired and you can really only do two or three museums each day. There is lots of walking and waiting in lines for security, etc. Be sure to carry backpacks with water bottles, snacks,and games (my son's gameboy saved us many times). Also when we split up, cell phones were a must.

Enjoy this beautiful special city. I hope that my comments helped.

Have to beg to differ with the poster about the Spy Museum! We live here and my kids have been at least 3 times and love it. I want to go myself sometime WITHOUT kids so I can move at MY pace. I heartily agree with the same poster on the FDR Memorial; it's fabulous. Don't forget to rent paddle boats in the Tidal Basin; that's fun for kids. Get out to the National Cathedral if you can, especially on a clear day - the views from the tower are magnificent. Docents generally make the tours interesting. It helps to have a docent explain the stained glass windows which are just amazing. Air and Space downtown pales in comparison to the new one near Dulles airport if there's anyway you can make it out there.

I think the Tourmobile (run by the Natoinal Park Service) might be the best tour choice becuase it is the only one allowed to take you through the (huge) Arlington Cemetary. I think it's a nice way to spend the first day. Not doing a tour bus at all is also just fine, provided you are all in good shape.

You'll have plenty of time to see the Holocaust Museum, Air & Space, Spy Museum as well as some of the other Smithsonians museums. Allow about 4 hours for each building you decide to visit.

Allow a full day to see: Capitol, Library of Congress, Supreme Court. They are all clustered together. Afterword walk through the Capitol Hill neigborhood toward nearby Eastern Market for a snack/meal.

Contact both of your Senators as well as your Congressperson to pre-arrange a tour of the White House (I assume you are waiting to hear from the one who got you the Capitol tour about the WH tour??). Then just go to the WH with whoever actually gets back to you first.

Your home base of Dupont is great. It will allow you tons of eating options as well as nice walking areas both day and night.

If time allows, the National Cathedral is indeed very nice. If you plan to hit te Zoo, try to arrive before 9:00 am and
plan to leave by noon. After that, the crowds are overwhelming and the animals are not as active, if out at all. Really - early AM is prime time.

Taking Metro to Arlington Cemetary stop and immediatly walking over the Memorial Bridge to the Lincoln Memeorialis a great way to start a walking tour of the monuments/memorials.

Thanks for the responses. Hopefully I'll get a few more.

If you cannot get into Washington Monument, consider the free clock&Bell tower tour at the Old Postal Pavilion, on Penn Ave next to Reagan Building & across the street from Federal Triangle Metro station. Great views, decent food court at lower level.

The kids might like Smithsonian Postal Museum, next door to Union Station. Make a visit to Union Station as well (another good food court in lower level.

The National Cathedral also has an observation level open to public. It's an easy bus ride up Massachussetts ave from Dupont Circle.

Your kids are probably too old to be "wowed" by it, but some kids get a big charge out of the very high escalators at Rosslyn or Dupont Circle. Higher one at Wheaton, but that's too far.

I'd also suggest Tourmoblile on first day, or first full day, to get a better idea of layout, distance, and those things you want to see more of. I suggest doing one complete loop onboard, then do the on/off thing ... other than within Arlington Cemetary. Enjoy your trip ... you owe everyone a trip report when you return.

Another recommendatio for the Tourmobile. I took my 10 yr. old granddaughter to DC a few weeks ago and that was a great way to get around and get some interesting information. Granddaughter especially the Museum of Natural History and the IMAX there. She was not so interested in the American History Museum. Yes, the high, high escalator at Dupont Circle/Rosslyn is exciting for kids - I wasn't too old to be impressed also! We both enjoyed the spy museum.

Might I also suggest the National Zoo? It is a wonderful, parklike zoo and the weather should be good this week. You can see the Pandas, obviously, and the new cheetah cubs, who are really cute.

Karen

Thanks again for the replies. Having never been, with so much to see and do, it's great to hear from others.

Has anyone done the Duck Tours? There's a special combo ticket, I believe with Tourmobile (I could be mistaken). Any thoughts?