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Planning a trip to Washington DC what did you love or wish you had more time for?


lynn
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I always have trouble finding food places in the mall in DC. I know the National Gallery of Art has a caffeteria in it. And there are hot dog stands parked along the road. And that's all I have been able to figure out the very few times I've gone to the mall in DC--where the Smithsonian buildings are (live about 2 hours from it.)

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WH tour....you need to plan ahead for that and get a pass from your federal legislator's office (at least that's what I recall).

 

I liked Ford's Theatre and the house where Lincoln died.

 

Holocaust Museum.

 

As for memorials - probably Lincoln and Vietnam. They are so iconic.

 

Yes. A childhood friend and his wife went on the WH tour, a few weeks ago. They got the tickets via their Congressman's office. They had tried, 2 or 3 times in the past, but were unable to get tickets for the WH tour.

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If you only have 2 days, I'd probably skip the WH tour.   We were there in May, and between getting to the WH, finding the line, and getting through security, we spent twice as much time standing in security lines as we did in the actual WH itself.   (And if you remember from the news in mid-May - We were at the back of the WH at the end of the tour when the Turkish president's thugs attacked some protesters and got to watch the ensuing police action, which was pretty cool to watch from a distance.)

 

I would visit the National Archives (get timed entry passes ahead of time to skip the horrible lines), Capitol building tour (skip going to the House or Senate gallery because that involved multiple long security lines), Supreme Court building (check the times for the courthouse lecture - it was very interesting), and Library of Congress.   Walk down the Mall and visit the Lincoln Memorial.   Our other favorite was the WWII Memorial.   All of these are within walking distance of the Smithsonian museums on the Mall.

 

We did get timed entry passes one day for the new African American History museum, which was very interesting but extremely crowded.   If this is of particular interest, timed entry passes are snatched up very quickly months in advance, or you can try to get same-day passes, but you have to log in to their website at 6:30 a.m. the day you want passes.

 

If you or your DD like art, the National Gallery of Art was huge and was very interesting.   DD and I went there while DH & DS went to the Air & Space museum, and really enjoyed it.

 

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I loved the monuments, the cathedral, the zoo, and the *art*! With more time I'd spend more time at the art museums.

 

I also liked the Postal Museum, the conservatory (?), and the Native American museum.

 

The cathedral and zoo are not near everything else and we spent a day at each so I don't think they'd work for a two day trip.

 

I hope to one day tour the monuments at night.

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I always have trouble finding food places in the mall in DC. I know the National Gallery of Art has a caffeteria in it. And there are hot dog stands parked along the road. And that's all I have been able to figure out the very few times I've gone to the mall in DC--where the Smithsonian buildings are (live about 2 hours from it.)

 

The Native museum has some decent food.  Fry bread, anyone?  Mmmmm...  We tend to pack our own food, though, for allergy reasons.  

 

A night-time tour of the monuments is a lot of fun, and not too expensive.  If you get a good tour guide, it can be a great evening.  You might consider wrapping up an evening with that, OP.

 

If you only have two days, though, I'd really tailor the trip to your kids' interests and see the museums that make sense for them.  

 

The WH tour wouldn't make my personal "we only have two days to see DC" list, but everyone is different, and I've lived in the area most of my life.  :)

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All of the Smithsonian museums are great. Two days is not enough. Pick the ones you are most likely to be interested in & go there. My dd has always loved the American Indian Museum (start at the top w/ the in-the-round movie, then move down through the floors); it is a neat place to get food too. Natural History & Air & Space are so iconic that they deserve a visit. There are two outdoor sculpture gardens along the Mall & those are really neat, imo. I love to visit them.

 

The Smithsonian Castle tends to open earlier than the museums & is worth a quick visit. Get there right when they open & head to the end where they have a room that has a display from each individual Smithsonian museum. It is a neat way to get a quick overview of all the collections. (From the zoo, they have a live video feed of some of the animals.) You can also grab breakfast there (bagels & such) if you need to. Sometimes seeing something in the room with all the collections will spark an interest in seeing a particular Smithsonian museum.

 

Re: food. On the Mall, the two wings of the National Gallery of Art have an underground connection & there is a nice, often not-too-crowded cafeteria that is a great place for lunch. If you are a military family, ask for a military discount everywhere you go & ask before they ring anything up. I think food trucks are not allowed to park along the Mall itself, so you will need to walk to the blocks that are outside the Mall to find them. There is also an app you can download for specialty food trucks in the downtown DC area so you can find something like that on a particular day.

 

Agreeing with happi duck on the Postal Museum. It's over by Union Station which is also neat to see & is a place many tours take off from. Monuments are great but it's nice to be on a hop-on, hop-off tour for them. We love them all. The FDR Monument is really cool & I find the Korean War Memorial very touching.

 

We also love Mt. Vernon (but it's not in downtown DC) & the National Cathedral (which is in Georgetown). Yes, there is a Darth Vader gargoyle on the National Cathedral. (Take binoculars because there are many cool gargoyles & grotesques to look at.) Love, love, love Mt. Vernon (including visiting the Gristmill & Distillery which are a few miles away). But, that could be a day-long trip in itself. Because both of these places are not in downtown, I am not sure it would work for just a two-day trip. But, if you ever go back for more, maybe you could get them in at that point.

 

Have a great time. There is so much to see & do there, don't worry about making a dent in it. Just pick a few things you want to see & concentrate on those.

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We were in DC shortly after an earthquake and hurricane in 2011 and the National Cathedral and Washington Monument were closed and I really wished we could have seen them. Also the reflecting pool was a mud pit due to repairs. :D Some of my kids' favorite memories, though, were having a picnic lunch and playing frisby on the mall, riding the carousel, free jazz concert in the National Gallery sculpture garden, and taking an Old Towne Trolley tour of the monuments.

 

2 days isn't ever enough, but you and/or your kids will return some day and see more wonderful things!

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We went in January, and the favorites were Air and Space, American History and the Postal Museum. The art museum has an interesting sculpture garden, too. To my surprise, we weren't as impressed with Natural History (but we do science/nature stuff all the time).

 

I found the day passes for the metro worthwhile. Just get on and off wherever you want, all day. We didn't do anything we couldn't reach via the metro or on foot. A fold-up map with a diagram of the metro was useful to carry. Beware that in some places, like the Capitol, you're not even going to be allowed to bring in a water bottle. Bags are searched and there are metal detectors at almost every building we went to.

 

You can eat lunch in the American History museum cafeteria, or there's a McDonald's and I think something else in Air and Space. Or there are food places in Union Station. But I didn't really see a lot of casual restaurants around like I have in other cities.

Edited by whitehawk
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We have gone on one day trips for the last 3 summers.  You can't see it all in one day, but if you are willing to go, go, go all day, you can see a surprising amount.  

We've loved the Museum of American History, Museum of Natural History, Air and Space, and the Postal Museum.  We've also done hop on/hop off for the monuments.  Oh, and in lieu of the WH tour, we've gone to the WH Visitors Center, which is small but informative, adn my kids really liked it.  

 

We might have a chance to go back later this summer, and we've been talking about what else to see.  My kids vote for the Botanical garden, the zoo, the art museums, and the American Indian Museum.  Mine aren't old enough to be really into politics yet, so Congress isn't a big interest.  Though the 10 year old is starting to get into history, and he requested "that place where the guy got shot," aka Ford's Theater.  :)

 

 

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I'd do the Smithsonian.  Pick your interest and go!  I could spend one whole day at the Air and Space and the other day at The American Art Museum.  I think the Freer is currently closed, but that is also awesome.  The Hirshhorn is great too if you like sculptures.  You really could spend days in each museum.  So, pick what you want to definately see....History, Art, Aviation, Culuture, then narrow it down. 

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Ds only wants to see Smithsonian. Dd wants to see DC. So give me advice, input to make this work. Can you recommend a tour group for dd and I while Ds and dh are at Smithsonian? Is 2 days enough?

 

There are so many museums in the Smithsonian. Two days might knock out 2-3 of them. 4 if you are ambitious. We can easily spend a whole day in the American History museum. Air & Space is about a half a day for us but that's because we've been many times. Natural Sciences is also a half day for us but when the kids were younger, it was a whole day. The National Gallery of Art is at least a 3/4 day. National Archives is just a couple of hours.

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For two days, I'd plan 2-3 museums, a motorized tour, and maybe and evening show, concert, or some sort of sporting event. For food I either bring a picnic, eat at the a American Indian museum or stop in Chinatown and get something quick. If you try to cram too much in, you won't really be able to savor what you do see.

 

You might want to consider a duck tour so you can see some things from the water. OR a guided nighttime monument tour so it doesn't interfere with museum hours. If you or your dd have specific interests you may be able to work those in.

Edited by KungFuPanda
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We are heading home now from 5 days there. Our favorites were the National Gallery of Art, American History Museum, Library of Congress, Holocaust Museum and the monuments. We did the air and space and natural history museums, too, but didn't love those. My kids are 17,15 and 12 and would have probably liked those more when they were younger. I requested a White House tour 7 weeks in advance, but we couldn't get one. The capitol tour was interesting, though.

 

We stayed at an airbnb outside of the city and rode the metro everywhere. It was so convenient.

 

As far as food, we walked a ton to get to the restaurants I had found online. I have celiac and didn't want meals to be stressful. We ate at food trucks on the mall on Saturday. That was the only day we saw them nearby. Also, Roti Mediterranean Grill wasn't too expensive, had big portions, and was good. They have several locations. We liked Pi Pizzeria and b dc (burgers), too, but I thought they were a little expensive. We loved Pitango Gelato!

 

Have fun! We would love to go back, there were so many things we didn't have time to do!

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My husband and DD18 were just there over spring break. It's a trip for us so they planned 4-5 days there. 

 

Tours that were planned in advance through our representatives were the White House and the US Capitol Building. These were by far her favorite parts of the trip, as was visiting the Supreme Court building. The White House would be a must see for her.  

 

Arlington--she wasn't too keen on seeing this in advance, but was SO glad they went.

1 day at Smithsonian

US Bureau of Engraving & Printing (short visit, but she gave it a thumbs up)

Nighttime (bus?) tour of the monuments

Holocaust and Native American Museum

They wish they'd had time to see the National Cathedral

 

They took a detour to see Mt. Vernon on the way home. They were glad they did but it was very crowded with school tours when they were there. 

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For food on the National Mall the USDA cafeteria is open to the public for breakfast and lunch. It is a price-per-pound buffet with pretty amazing food that showcases a lot of regional and organic items and they have a great variety. The price is pretty reasonable - like $6 or $7/lb. We live in the DC area and this is our go-to place now for lunch when visiting museums. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

We just spent 2 days there. :)

 

The first day we went early and hit the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, WW2 Memorial and Vietnam Memorial before the museums opened. Spent a little time by the reflecting pool, and walked past the White House. We hit the food trucks for lunch and then spent the afternoon in American History and one of the sculpture gardens. We got to the Olde Post Office Tower too late to go up and did not go back the next day.

 

The next day we were at Air & Space for 4 hours- we lunched at the McD's on site so we didn't have to go through security again. After that we went to the Archives, followed by the West Art Museum and the second sculpture garden. I really, really wanted to get to Natural History, but by that time we were all exhausted and opted for the metro station to go back to where we began.

 

My kids had never been, so I tried to pack as much in as I could. Seeing the memorials in the morning was perfect, because then it got hot and we were glad for the air conditioned buildings. Traffic and parking is insane- I highly recommend taking the metro in and walking everywhere. We also had no problems finding food. The food trucks were abundant, though there are clearly issues there with the city, as they could only park for so long before the police were reminding them to move along.

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I always have trouble finding food places in the mall in DC. I know the National Gallery of Art has a caffeteria in it. And there are hot dog stands parked along the road. And that's all I have been able to figure out the very few times I've gone to the mall in DC--where the Smithsonian buildings are (live about 2 hours from it.)

 

Union Station Food Court is wonderful and a short walk from the Mall. It's a fun place to check out, and there are two floors of food items. Everyone can be happy! The vendors are also reasonably priced, it's not like spending $10 at a hot dog cart on the Mall for 1 dog, 1 pop, and a bag of chips. Google for the food court vendors. Alisonf3 mentioned Roti, which became one of my favorites after trying it at Union Station. :)

 

There is also a large food court at L'Enfant Metro Station. It's closed on weekends though, and I typically am in DC on weekends. We've also stopped at the Foggy Bottom Metro Station specifically for food. You know there will be places there because of the GWU students (and I knew Roti was there too!).

 

IF you go to the American Art Museum and the National Portrait Museum (in a single building next to Verizon Center), you can eat at ChinaTown (also next to Verizon Center).

 

Also, in general to this thread. The Library of Congress building architecture is stunning. We visited last year based on the recommendation of my 17yods, who'd visited the year previous with a group. (The fact that my kid thought it was so amazing was enough of a motivator to go see it!) We visited following our tour of the Capitol. NOTE that the Capitol tour requires reservations, however, we were early and easily able to join an earlier tour.

 

Personal favorite places to visit: National Art Gallery, American History Museum, Air & Space Museum, Lincoln Memorial, Viet Nam Memorial.

Not worth going back: Natural History Museum (yawn!), National Zoo (not so great).

I've heard wonderful things about the Newseum and the Spy Museum, but when I'm there, I'm looking for free stuff.

 

Are you parking in the city? Check out SpotHero or similar apps ahead of time to look at the best prices and locations. You can easily save yourself $10-$15. IF you choose to Metro in and are not familiar with it, ask other travelers or look for the workers at the entrance gate. They can seem distracted, but they've always been very willing to help once asked.

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The Native museum has some decent food. Fry bread, anyone? Mmmmm... We tend to pack our own food, though, for allergy reasons.

 

A night-time tour of the monuments is a lot of fun, and not too expensive. If you get a good tour guide, it can be a great evening. You might consider wrapping up an evening with that, OP.

 

If you only have two days, though, I'd really tailor the trip to your kids' interests and see the museums that make sense for them.

 

The WH tour wouldn't make my personal "we only have two days to see DC" list, but everyone is different, and I've lived in the area most of my life. :)

Added note on the night tour, while wonderful, it did have some technical difficulties (DS did not care) and had we not driven in and taken the subway (the line we would have taken was shut down that day) it would have been an interesting experience to get back to our car.

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I can spend all my time in DC in the Smithsonian (American History is my favorite though I'd like to see the new African American Museum). If I left though, I'd try to go to the Library of Congress.

This. We did not get to the Library of Congress, but I did see way for of the Air and Space than I ever thought I wanted to. And hey, one of the employees that I was DS's sister, so not all bad, right?

Edited by Χά�ων
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Union Station Food Court is wonderful and a short walk from the Mall. It's a fun place to check out, and there are two floors of food items. Everyone can be happy! The vendors are also reasonably priced, it's not like spending $10 at a hot dog cart on the Mall for 1 dog, 1 pop, and a bag of chips. Google for the food court vendors. Alisonf3 mentioned Roti, which became one of my favorites after trying it at Union Station. :)

 

There is also a large food court at L'Enfant Metro Station. It's closed on weekends though, and I typically am in DC on weekends. We've also stopped at the Foggy Bottom Metro Station specifically for food. You know there will be places there because of the GWU students (and I knew Roti was there too!).

 

IF you go to the American Art Museum and the National Portrait Museum (in a single building next to Verizon Center), you can eat at ChinaTown (also next to Verizon Center).

 

Also, in general to this thread. The Library of Congress building architecture is stunning. We visited last year based on the recommendation of my 17yods, who'd visited the year previous with a group. (The fact that my kid thought it was so amazing was enough of a motivator to go see it!) We visited following our tour of the Capitol. NOTE that the Capitol tour requires reservations, however, we were early and easily able to join an earlier tour.

 

Personal favorite places to visit: National Art Gallery, American History Museum, Air & Space Museum, Lincoln Memorial, Viet Nam Memorial.

Not worth going back: Natural History Museum (yawn!), National Zoo (not so great).

I've heard wonderful things about the Newseum and the Spy Museum, but when I'm there, I'm looking for free stuff.

 

Are you parking in the city? Check out SpotHero or similar apps ahead of time to look at the best prices and locations. You can easily save yourself $10-$15. IF you choose to Metro in and are not familiar with it, ask other travelers or look for the workers at the entrance gate. They can seem distracted, but they've always been very willing to help once asked.

Not going to DC, but thank you for the parking AP tip!

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