Washington DC questions
Oct 2nd, 2008, 07:09 AM
#21
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As this is a mother-daughter trip, you might consider visiting the National Museum of Women in the Arts at 1250 New York Avenue, N.W. 1-800-222-7270, www.nwma.org. In addition to a fine art collection in a beautiful building, they have a lovely restaurant on the mezannine which is perfect for lunch.
Oct 2nd, 2008, 07:22 AM
#22
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For restaurants, the one in the Museum of the American Indian is supposed to be pretty good (and interesting). Behind the Archives (and the Navy Mem'l fountain) you can find Teaism, which is a nice, casual Asian fusion place to get lunch. In Dupont Circle, Pizza Paradiso is good. Cosi and Potbelly are two chains that are scattered around the city and have pretty good sandwiches and salads (I'd say the sandwiches are better at Potbelly and the salads are better at Cosi).
Oct 2nd, 2008, 12:25 PM
#25
U might want to check out the new exhibit, at the National Musuem of Natural History (which is free). It's call the Sant Ocean Hall. The 3D Imax Movie, The Deep, is a great complement to it. http://www.mnh.si.edu/
Havent been to the Newseum, but have heard good things about it and kids seem to enjoy it.
I agree that kids always love the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. On the Holocaust Museum, I think you have to be the judge of your daughter and her ability to deal with it. Its defintiely a moving exprience.
Have a great trip -- DC is lovely this timeof year.
Havent been to the Newseum, but have heard good things about it and kids seem to enjoy it.
I agree that kids always love the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. On the Holocaust Museum, I think you have to be the judge of your daughter and her ability to deal with it. Its defintiely a moving exprience.
Have a great trip -- DC is lovely this timeof year.
Oct 2nd, 2008, 12:32 PM
#26
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Have been four times with my daughters at various ages. The Holocaust Museum is fabulous- but the children's section is for young children. It may be too underneath her studies. The adult area is very rough to get through.
I truly rec. the Archives, Smithsonian is a must do for at least a day. Old Post Office is fun and less crowded than Washington Monument.
Best of Luck You can not go wrong!
No dinner rec. we were too tired!
I truly rec. the Archives, Smithsonian is a must do for at least a day. Old Post Office is fun and less crowded than Washington Monument.
Best of Luck You can not go wrong!
No dinner rec. we were too tired!
Oct 2nd, 2008, 01:32 PM
#28
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MomDDTravel, you may want to read my long trip report.
Put in "$22 bargain" in the search function and I bet it will come up. It has intense detail and is long- but I bet there are several good items of info you would use.
Put in "$22 bargain" in the search function and I bet it will come up. It has intense detail and is long- but I bet there are several good items of info you would use.
Oct 2nd, 2008, 02:36 PM
#29
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I just did a trip with my 10 year old son over labor Day. We had a great time. I would recommend taking teh trolley. It stops at all the major sites. You can get on and off whenever you want. Plus they give you great stories as you go.
Oct 2nd, 2008, 03:54 PM
#30
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You don't need or want a car in DC. Trains and buses are plentiful and reasonable. Walking is best if you are used to it. Took my 11 and 14 yr old grandsons and they just loved it.
Good restaurant is called The Good Stuff on Pennsylvania NE quadrant (behind and to the right of the capital) DC is laid out in quadrants and The streets in each quadrant can have the same address in another quadrant, so keep a small map with you which is available everywhere including your hotel.
The boys loved the Washington Monument. It takes about 30 minutes waiting even if you have tickets and then about 30 minutes tops for the tour, but you can stay in the monument as long as you want and come down at your leisure.
Take a lot of pictures and hopefully your 11 yr old has a camera to take her own pictures. It's very interesting to see the things that caught their eye that you would have never guessed that they would be interested in. I took disposables, but they ran out of pictures and wished they had digital cameras with big memory cards.
Holocaust museum has a line out front for tickets, but once they open the doors (please go as soon as they open for the day) you can walk right up to the information desk and they had tickets there for right then--no waiting outside. There is some nudity shown and my grandsons found that awkward even though normally they would like it, just not in those circumstances I guess.
Library of congress is beautiful. I suggest you go upstairs with the tour and then just guide yourself around after the look from the top of the stairs into the real library floor. The docents do a great job, but is so much about art and architecture that kids get bored after 3 minutes. Dont' miss it though.
The night bus tours are a great way to get your bearings on your first night in town and beautiful too.
The boys loved the bureau of engraving--all those dollar bills and it's not a long tour so if you get tickets beforehand, you could do this and the Holocaust museum with a quick stop at the Smithosonian in one long afternoon. They're all close together.
You can only photograph one stone at the pentagon now, a commemorative one and absolutely no pictures above ground level. I wish I would have known that before two train trips to get there. But it was nice to see it, just no pics.
Have a great time.
Good restaurant is called The Good Stuff on Pennsylvania NE quadrant (behind and to the right of the capital) DC is laid out in quadrants and The streets in each quadrant can have the same address in another quadrant, so keep a small map with you which is available everywhere including your hotel.
The boys loved the Washington Monument. It takes about 30 minutes waiting even if you have tickets and then about 30 minutes tops for the tour, but you can stay in the monument as long as you want and come down at your leisure.
Take a lot of pictures and hopefully your 11 yr old has a camera to take her own pictures. It's very interesting to see the things that caught their eye that you would have never guessed that they would be interested in. I took disposables, but they ran out of pictures and wished they had digital cameras with big memory cards.
Holocaust museum has a line out front for tickets, but once they open the doors (please go as soon as they open for the day) you can walk right up to the information desk and they had tickets there for right then--no waiting outside. There is some nudity shown and my grandsons found that awkward even though normally they would like it, just not in those circumstances I guess.
Library of congress is beautiful. I suggest you go upstairs with the tour and then just guide yourself around after the look from the top of the stairs into the real library floor. The docents do a great job, but is so much about art and architecture that kids get bored after 3 minutes. Dont' miss it though.
The night bus tours are a great way to get your bearings on your first night in town and beautiful too.
The boys loved the bureau of engraving--all those dollar bills and it's not a long tour so if you get tickets beforehand, you could do this and the Holocaust museum with a quick stop at the Smithosonian in one long afternoon. They're all close together.
You can only photograph one stone at the pentagon now, a commemorative one and absolutely no pictures above ground level. I wish I would have known that before two train trips to get there. But it was nice to see it, just no pics.
Have a great time.
Oct 2nd, 2008, 04:11 PM
#31
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MomDD - you can get timed tix for the Holocaust Museum, too. I took my son when he was 12 or 13. The museum is overwhelming, but the really challenging displays are placed behind barriers or are not easily accessible by kids. I walked my son through the whole museum and narrated a lot of the stuff while we went along to keep his attention away from the more disturbing stuff.
This is off-topic, but my son knows more about the Holocaust from his visit to the DC museum and from our visit to Dachau than his Jewish friends know. We were shocked that our friends, who had 3 kids bar/bat mitzvahed, didn't know a lot of the details of the Holocaust that we did. I think it's great that you have taught your daughter about this.
I never learned this in school (!) My son hasn't studied it yet - he's in 10 grade now and I think they will cover this later in the year. He did read a book about it, but nothing else in school.
This is off-topic, but my son knows more about the Holocaust from his visit to the DC museum and from our visit to Dachau than his Jewish friends know. We were shocked that our friends, who had 3 kids bar/bat mitzvahed, didn't know a lot of the details of the Holocaust that we did. I think it's great that you have taught your daughter about this.
I never learned this in school (!) My son hasn't studied it yet - he's in 10 grade now and I think they will cover this later in the year. He did read a book about it, but nothing else in school.
Oct 3rd, 2008, 08:04 PM
#32
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Karens - honestly I cannot find the timed tickets!?!? I keep seeing that they only have them during certain busy months? Am I losing it?
A hearty thank you to everyone who has responded.
We leave on Tuesday for the start of our trip in NYC and I am really looking forward to it!
A hearty thank you to everyone who has responded.
We leave on Tuesday for the start of our trip in NYC and I am really looking forward to it!
Oct 4th, 2008, 09:16 AM
#33
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I can't remember when you're going, but according to the website, passes are not required from September to February. BTW, it also says that the permanent exhibition is recommended for people 11 years and older, so your daughter qualifies!!
"Exhibition passes required March through August. Passes are not required for entry September through February.
The Museum's Permanent Exhibition The Holocaust spans three floors of the Museum building. It presents a narrative history using more than 900 artifacts, 70 video monitors, and four theaters that include historic film footage and eyewitness testimonies. The exhibition is divided into three parts: "Nazi Assault," "Final Solution," and "Last Chapter." The narrative begins with images of death and destruction as witnessed by American soldiers during the liberation of Nazi concentration camps in 1945. Most first-time visitors spend an average of two to three hours in this self-guided exhibition. Recommended for visitors 11 years of age and older."
"Exhibition passes required March through August. Passes are not required for entry September through February.
The Museum's Permanent Exhibition The Holocaust spans three floors of the Museum building. It presents a narrative history using more than 900 artifacts, 70 video monitors, and four theaters that include historic film footage and eyewitness testimonies. The exhibition is divided into three parts: "Nazi Assault," "Final Solution," and "Last Chapter." The narrative begins with images of death and destruction as witnessed by American soldiers during the liberation of Nazi concentration camps in 1945. Most first-time visitors spend an average of two to three hours in this self-guided exhibition. Recommended for visitors 11 years of age and older."
I thought I was losing my mind (easily done these days!)
Oct 4th, 2008, 05:22 PM
#35
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For a child this age, you need to make sure this visit includes parts of the Smithsonian. I agree with some of the others - The Holocast can wait until she is a little older. Also, please think of some time for the art museums that are part of the Smithsonian complex. The Washington Monument is nice, but my children enjoyed other sites more. Try to also include a trip to the Lincoln memorial as well as the Vietnam monument. You won't be able to fit it all in, you'll have to go back. Have fun!
