Washington DC in May

Old Apr 18th, 2007, 03:58 PM
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Washington DC in May

Hi all!

I'm reposting this since I couldn't find the other thread that I started a couple of weeks ago.

Just wanted to say that this forum has been fantastic in helping plan my trip and I would love your thoughts on my very preliminary itinerary.
I'll be in DC with my parents from 5/23-5/28, which leaves us four full days to see the sights (or some of them - I don't believe in trying to see everything; it's impossible and when you do that, you don't remember anything). I've put together the following:
5/24 (Thursday) - having already decided to see the memorials at night (to give us an extra day touring -plus, I've read that they are just beautiful at night. I think I'll really especially enjoy the FDR and WWII memorials then, too.
-Tour of Capitol Hill (already arranged through Representative)
-National Postal Museum
-Dupont Circle/Embassy Row/lunch
-National Geographic Museum
Memorials /night
I know its the Archives and 2 other museums in one day, but it seems as if we could do the Postal in about an hour or so, and probably same with the National Geographic
**Should I skip one of the above museums? I wasn't planning on the Capitol Hill tour for today, but this is the date that we got - Is it too much?
5/25 (Friday)
Mom/Dad: Holocaust Museum
Me: Air & Space Museum*I'm really excited to see the greatest hits of the Museum of American History, plus anything to do with planetariums and space exploration is right up my alley
-Ford's Theatre Lincoln exhibit
-Georgetown
5/26 (Saturday)
-Eastern Market
-Library of Congress tour
--Supreme Court
**not sure what else is in the area - suggestions?
5/27 (Sunday)
-Arlington National Cemetary (1/2 day or so)
-National Portrait Gallery/Smithsonian American
The museum is not that far (or so it seems) from our hotel (Embassy Suites convention center), so I figured that we could freshen up at the hotel and enjoy the museum for a couple of hours
**Memorial Day eve Concert on lawn of US Capitol
5/28 (monday)
We will probably leave late afteroon on Monday, so I'm hoping to see some of the ceremonies at the memorials
I've tried to include a mix of indoor and outdoor activities, plus I've tried to keep the travelling to a minimum by bunching things that are relatively close together.
Also, I've got the below restaurants on my radar as practically definite (but subject to change, of course, lol) - since it's a holiday weekend, I'll want to reserve soon:
Central
Komi
Colorado Kitchen
Vidalia
Then : torn between Jaleo and Zaytinya, and possibly Corduroy, Restaurant Eve bistro
Any thoughts re : my itinerary and restaurant list?
Thanks!!!
Betsy
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Old Apr 19th, 2007, 06:11 AM
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I have been to DC twice and I pack alot into a sightseeing day myself. I would suggest using the online official visitors guide website or having the guide sent to you. The easiest way to see DC, in my opinion, would be to group sites by geography/Metro Station to maximize your time & avoid back tracking.

One problem I can see already is that you have a Capitol tour and LOC on 2 different days. They are next to each other. Unfortunately, although you can walk through the LOC on your own, you cannot enter the observation deck to the Great Hall Reading Room without a docent. You don't want to miss that. Try to reschedule one. Also SC is in the same area. Those are public tours that don't have to be pre-arranged.
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Old Apr 19th, 2007, 07:47 AM
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Big rave for Zaytinya here! Three girlfriends and I had a celebratory dinner there a few weeks ago and had a marvelous time. The food was terrific and we had an upstairs table with a view of the rest of the place...very fun. Make sure you have a reservation. We had one at 5:45 on a Saturday - the place was packed by 6.
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Old Apr 19th, 2007, 03:47 PM
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Hi Laurie

Yep, I know. I think I'll change the itinerary so that Thursday will be the Capitol/SC/LOC day and everything else I had for that day will be moved to Saturday. There's no reason why I can't check out the Eastern Market and then head back up to the Dupont Circle area. It makes a lot more sense this way than having to backtrack to the Capitol Hill area after having already been there. I definitely want to do a guided tour of the LOC - I just think that's going to be one of my favorite things in DC.

Lennyba, thanks for the comments about Zaytinya. I think I read that they don't take reservations after 6 so if we go there, it will have to be an early dinner (or, we take our chances).
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Old Apr 19th, 2007, 04:03 PM
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If you want to find your other thread, just click on your screen name.
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Old Apr 19th, 2007, 04:16 PM
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Interesting to read about Zaytinya (or however's it's spelled). I work in the next block and go by there twice a day M - F. Your itinerary sounds reasonable. I guess Ford's Theateris worthwhile, but there are always so many tourists hanging around there, and the block is so tacky, that that's a turnoff to me. (But then I just live here, so what do I know about what visitors like!) In my mind, Georgetown is really nothing special, but if you want to go there without a car, I think the big red bus (Connection? forget what they call it - it's relatively new) goes up there. It runs on 7th or 9th St. NW, or both. The concert on the lawn should be fun - whether you like classical music or not. I haven't done that for YEARS but used to enjoy them at one point when I actually did stuff other than hang out in the suburbs....anyway, enjoy!
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Old Apr 19th, 2007, 06:59 PM
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Thanks, Jack!

Roothy, Abraham Lincoln is practically my idol, so I have to stop by Ford's Theatre and take a look at the exhibit there. It's the next best thing to going to the Lincoln Museum in Springfield, Illinois........

I've been to Georgetown once and really liked it - my mother definitely wants to go there so it's a must. What I also want to do is try to fit in U street somewhere - it sounds like a really fun experience and a nice change of pace from the usual museums and monuments.

I definitely will enjoy DC - I shouldn't have waited this long to go back!

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