went to washington dc for spring break!

FIRST DAY-left early for dc after dropping off the pooch at doggy hotel. had a great sunny day for a drive. the washington parkway into town is beautiful...
and most of the traffic was going the other directions...
also quite beautiful!

met good college friend and her husband on first night for dinner at the dubliner pub which was just around the corner from our priceline special hotel...
washington court ($99 a night..pretty good considering dc , spring break , and cherry blossoms).

SECOND DAY-got up at 5:30am...
figured out the metro...and we were in line for the washington monument by 6:45am. we were still about a hundred plus people from the front of the line! we got the 2nd entry time into the monument and passed the time chatting with other tourists in line. we had a great view from the top. very pretty/sunny day.

next we stopped at the white house visitors center on our way to the trolley stop.

caught the trolley tour out to the national cathedral. really enjoyed the stained glass windows and walking around the observation tower enjoying the views and architecture. stayed for a bit of the organ concert at 12:30 and then caught the trolley back to the transfer point...

did a little shopping (couldn't resist the "friends don't let friends vote for democrats!' coffee mug) and then we got back on the trolley for the other loop around town.

got back to the hotel just in time for a quick change and walk towards folger's theatre. we had the best meal at a wine bar called sonoma...
very interesting food...
a meat tray with figs, baby peaches (green...thought they were olives), and some other "condiments"...
then the best pasta dishes...one with spicey red sauce and one
with shrimp...
oh, and some great wine.

got to the folger's theatre... lovely by the way...
just in time for a quick look around and then a very dramatic production of macbeth...
fantastic! we kept up with a small crowd and followed back towards union station. then back to hotel. if you noticed...
before 6pm dinner we did not eat or drink anything but sharing a bottle of water and a snickers between stops...
too busy touring, no time!

THIRD DAY-heard it was even harder to get bureau of engraving tickets so we got up at 4:30am and we were in line...
behind about 300 plus people at 6am. atleast today we grabbed 2 bottles a water a coffee and 2 danishes at union station to enjoy during our 2 and a half hour line wait. we still got the 2nd entry time. did I mention that on the only day it rained we left our umbrellas in the hotel...
to top it off, I went back to get them and of course...
it didn't rain again that day!

after the tour and going back to hotel for umbrellas, we went on to the air and space museum to enjoy the planetarium and other exhibits.

on our way to the national archives we walked through the west wing of the national art gallery and we were pleasantly surprised on how much we enjoyed it...wonderful atrium.

we had timed tickets for the archives at 3pm which was great since they had a long line everytime we passed it...
the tickets let us cut in to the front of the line...
there is yet another line inside for the charters of freedom (got to enjoy hormonal teens on a school trip in our line...not quite the patriotic mood setter for the occation). they also had an interesting special exhibit on old political cartoons...running for office.

after the archives we went to union station to pick up tickets for the night monument tour.
short on time so just has dinner at union station which was fine. the night tour was great and we had a wonderfully flambouant tour guide, Mel, who had some theatre experience...which was quite obvious(later learned he was in one of the early productions of Hair...
also he is a DC native and related some wonderful stories along with some hilarious tales), knew it was going to be fun as we started our tour and rounded the capital building and mel said "and here is where the famous SOB's are...
the state office buildings...).

Our favorite stop was the Korean memorial...which is quite poignant at night with the statues of the soldiers in the field lit by flashes of cameras going off...
you get a picture of a battlefield with shots going off...
and the granite wall has raised reliefs which are almost invisible during the day, are clear in the evening (this is one of the newer memorials that neither of us had seen before...definately go at night!).at this stop was the lincoln and viatnam vets' memorials.

before this stop we toured the jefferson memorial...got to enjoy the cherry blosoms in near full bloom...after, we went to the fdr memorial and mel gave us a narrative tour...
the last stop was the WWII memorial with the wonderful fountains and lights...
we also passed and has sights of the beautifully lit capital, white house, and washington monument, and he we also stopped for a glimpse of the eternal flame at arlington cemetary...
it is a fantastic tour...
this is a must do...
especially if you get melvin as a guide!
we chose tourmobile because at 3 and a half hours it was the longest and gave the most and longest stops...
only one to stop at the WWII memorial. back home to the hotel...
to bandage my blisters.

FOURTH DAY-get to sleep in till 7:30am...took metro to capital south stop just outside of cannon building...
house of rep. building...
quick coffee in basement cafeteria met tour in rep's office.

bonus**one of the fellow tourists looked very familiar...turns out it was one of my college friends that haven't seen in -----years...
small world. just so happens they live in suburb just west of us. exchanged what has been going on and email addresses.

by the way...
even with special capital tour...
still had to wait behind several hundred other "VIP's" in the house tunnel. the tour was nice...
but we pushed it right up to the last second. had to cut short the gallery section of the tour to literally run out of the capital...
get a cab...

and make it without a moment to spare to our 1:05pm timed ticket to operation spy...
you get to play along with about 10 others to help solve a secret agent mission...
then go through the spy museum which is quite extensive (love the spy vs spy t-shirt from the gift shop).

had great meal at Rosa Mexicana (recommended by our capital tour guide)...
great freshly made guacamole and salsa.

after our siesta to sooth our aching feet, we toured the portrait gallery...
loved it...
especially the steven colbert exhibit (google him and smithsonian...his show on it is hillarious).
Enjoyed the presidents.
the atrium here has the most interesting "fountain"...
it was fun to sit and watch people as they pondered how it worked...must see...
no picture could do justice. they were open late. stayed until about closing. metroed home...
couldn't go any further. to bed by 8ish.

FIFTH DAY-getting up a little later each day...
we metroed to smithsonian stop and got in line for opening of the natrual history museum...
yes...
another line (those dreaded security checks make everything slower...such a hassle). walked around. saw dinosaurs 3D...
I love anything 3D.

enjoyed kite festival on the mall!!!! perfect kite day...
sunny and windy.

walked over to american indian for lunch about 1:00 ish. they have quite the variety...
but so hard to figure out what to try...
so mad they were out of the fry bread...
the one thing I new would be a sure bet.
shared pulled buffalo sandwich and wild rice dish and a weird drink.

after that went back out onto the mall...
just too nice to stay inside especially since the kites were so fun. enjoyed people watching and bench hopping.

got gelato, walked back through natural history museum, headed out to find a place for dinner near the reagan building where our show was that evening.

chose les halles...great food (french steak/fries) but lousy service...

got out just in time to run across the street to get in another security line...
they even checked ID here...
then enjoy hillarious comedy, "capital steps" ...
great political satire to popular song melodies. fun last evening event.
back to hotel to pack.

SIXTH DAY-early check out to get to the basilica of the national shrine of the Immaculate Conception. got there a little before 7am...
they were open so walked around...
the most beautiful mosaics we have seen outside of St. Mark's in Venice. mass was in the crypt chapel...
quite impressive itself. had a nice breakfast at their cafeteria and donated quite a bit to their shop.

nice trip home. picked up dog at kennel 5min. before it closed...
got a little play time in with the dog and put in a couple loads of laundry before a 7pm meeting we needed to attend...
then fell into bed.

oh...at one of the stores they were selling a kid's book on the cherry blossom festival and the author was there signing the books...
got one for my class...
I read it to them today and they really enjoyed it.

I collect Christmas ornaments on all my trips...got a bunch this trip...lots of gift shops at these sights!

we joined smithsonian and saved 10% on shop purchases, museum cafeterias, planetarium and IMAX shows...plus get magazine.

I will send site to pics when I get them downloaded.

MY BESTS FOR THIS TRIP...

BEST DINNER-Sonoma

BEST MEMORIAL-Korean War Memorial at night

BEST MUSEUM-Portrait Gallery

BEST TOUR-Night Monument Tour

BEST TOUR GUIDE-Melvin/Tourmobile

BEST DEAL-priceline/metro

BEST MEMORY MOMENTSinner w/friend, surprise college reunion, kites on the mall, first sight of Korean memorial at night, opening door to main church at Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception...don't forget to look up...the ceilings in all of the buildings are special.


I am looking forward to another trip to DC...so much still to do!

to do list...
capital tour, senate side
white house tour
library of congress
supreme court
mount vernon
more smithsonian time...especially art museums...and guided tours

I'm glad that you enjoyed your visit with us last week. Since many posters inquire about wait times for tickets, etc., I thought it might be interesting to know whether you found the attractions that you waited so long in line to visit (Washington Monument, Bureau of Printing and Engraving, etc.) were worth the wait. If yes, great. If no, what do you wish you had done instead?

Sounds like we were in DC at the very same time. We also waited for Bureau of Printing/Engraving Tickets on the same rainy day (although we were the ones with the umbrellas - then we carried them the rest of the day, what a pain). My husband and son got in line around 6:00. My son really wanted to do this and he did enjoy it. I thought the tour was rather rushed but it is a timed tour.

Since it was spring break, cherry bloom time we did think it was crowded but some of our guides told us that summer was much worse. Imagine!

We didn't have tickets for the Archives and one day we noticed that the line wasn't as long as we had seen it - we decided to wait and see how the line moved. It wasn't too bad. We were along the side-walk and around the side of the building. Once inside there were more lines but again it wasn't too bad - the lines moved and it worth it.

We didn't go up in the Washington Momument - we went up to the top of the Old Post Office - great views!

Great report - thanks for posting. You sure packed a lot into six days!

Great to hear of your wonderful DC trip!!

Happy to hear that Priceline worked well for you, especially since hotels are so high in DC.

You took in two of my favorites - "Capitol Steps" and the "Shrine of Immaculate Conception" but then most everything you visited would have been favorites of mine.

How was the tour at Bureau Engraving?

Totally agree about the Korean War Memorial. It is so moving-even on a hot day, you can just feel the cold wind blowing across the plain. Even my pictures from there were haunting. What a fitting tribute to the men and women who fought in that war.

My SO was in Korea for almost 2 years and loved that Memorial as well. The ponchos with the snaps and the size and feel of that terrain is so true to this Vet.

We did all these things and much more in Feb. 2007 without one line anywhere and walking right in to all.

I didn't mind the wait so much...
enjoyed chatting with other tourists and getting their tips and insights. You aren't really missing much that early...
except a big breakfest or sleeping in late. It was just stressful thinking that getting up early and waiting could still result in no tickets...
heard of several people getting shut out. Felt sorry for the people with kids in line. That is a long time for them to wait with nothing much to do. Several people dropped off a family member to wait for tickets...
saw lots of dads in line early.

If at all possible...
would suggest planning far in advance. Even though I checked about 2 months before our trip, by the time I found out about getting timed tickets on line ahead of time they were gone. If you plan early enough you can get timed tickets or special early entry tours for everything.

Enjoyed the Bureau of Engraving tour. It was interesting to us but I don't think that it would be a must see for younger kids. The Washington Monument is fun for all...only wish we could see all of the dedication stones on the interior...don't get why they couldn't light it all the way down. Especially since you can no longer walk it and to see them.

brief commentary...
so sad that we have to stand in lines to be scanned only to be rushed through these sights with large groups of people with no time or peace to ponder the significance, and to be denied access to parts of buildings and even to "the peoples house"...it would be nice to enjoy the freedoms of the past in the capital of "the land of the free"

" sad that we have to stand in lines to be scanned only to be rushed through these sights with large groups of people with no time or peace to ponder the significance"

Um, you visited during one of the busiest weeks of the year. If you want time to contemplate, visit in January.

But that is exactly what I just adored about that Feb. 2007 trip. It was 3rd week in Feb. and I had immense interchange with other tourists from everywhere, and also Sports fans and natives galore, but was never, ever rushed.

We even had a Smithsonian guide open the back door to let us in during a sleet "fall" once, and had all kinds of personal and good natured time just loitering with the docents.

I think that in a place like D.C. with so much of the formal, it just makes the entire SO much better.

I'll give up cherry blossoms for that any day.

JJ5, that's why we usually take our annual weekend in NYC in mid-January! From crowds to hotel bills, everything is calmer and better. More than once, we've had a museum tour guide all to ourselves.