Weekends in DC
 

We will be staying in the Dupont Circle Friday May 26 through Friday June 2. In arranging out itenerary what is the best things to do on weekends. Are certain things closed or open only on weekends? What are the can't miss things to do? Thanks for your comments.

Almost everything is open on weekends, so no need to plan around that. Since your visit begins over Memorial Day weekend, there might be special events around the various monuments and memorials, that you might want to either seek out or avoid.

To get your itinerary-planning started, why not check some of the past posts about visiting DC? With a whole week, you'll have plenty of time to do things.

While there is not much RIGHT AT the Hilton, it is about a 5 block walk (in 3 different directions) to three interestieng areas worth checking out for shops, restaurants, clubs, etc.:

1) <b>Adams Morgan</b>: Go north/east on Columbia Rd, then make a right on either Wyoming or Kalorama to 18th St. Then make a left on 18th. Check out 18th between Wyoming and Kalorama and Columbia Rd itself.

2) <b>Dupont</b>: Go south on Conn. Ave and check all streets surrounding Dupont circle, Really everything bewtween N and R and between 22nd and 18th. The block of P st. bewteen 21st and 20th has some of the best restaurants in town.

3) <b>U street</b>: Take Florida Ave. to U st. The &quot;U st.&quot; area usually refers to U st. between 16th and 10th as well as 14th st. between T st. and V st.

Since you are at the Hilton for a week, you really should check out all three neighborhoods.

&lt;&lt;Adams Morgan: Go north/east on Columbia Rd, then make a right on either Wyoming or Kalorama to 18th St. Then make a left on 18th. Check out 18th between Wyoming and Kalorama and Columbia Rd itself.&gt;&gt;

Correction. I REALLY meant to say...

...Check out 18th between Wyoming/Kalorama and Columbia Rd. As well as Columbia Rd. itself...

One of our very favorite museums that just reopened is the Phillips collection. It is right in Dupont, so would make a nice afternoon activity followed by dinner. They sometimes are open in the evening for jazz nights. I agree on the neighborhoods to check out. I also love the capitol hill area and it can be fun to go to Eastern Market (great art and crafts) on the weekend (cant remember if it is Sat or Sun). This could be combined with a trip to Union Station, Capitol and the Supreme Court. On a nice day biking along the VA side of the river to Mount Vernon is a blast (or part of it). You can rent bikes at several of the bike shops, including one in Old Town VA which might be a good place to start.

There's one fairly large hassle on Memorial Day weekend in the form of Rolling Thunder, wherein lots of Harleys parade slowly between the Pentagon and the Mall, making it difficult to cross the street, hear, etc. Plan to be away from downtown on that day (I'll leave it to you to find out what day that is, because I don't recall).

Memorial Day weekend is a nice weekend to be in town. I'd encourage you to use the opportunity to exlore things off the tourist path and see how Washingtonians live. Bardo made good suggestions. You could even take the Metro to Old Town, to Clarendon or even Silver Spring.