Christmas in D.C.?

[athena1277]

We live near Washington, DC and all of dh's family is coming up here after Christmas. We are looking for a fun outing or 2 to do during the week after Christmas. A Christmas theme would be nice, but is not required. The kids going range in age from 9yo-10months. Any ideas? We've done all the Smithsonian stuff (family has too) and I really don't want to go to the zoo in the cold. Oh, and the cheaper the better.

 

Thanks!

[Little Blue House]

We go to the train exhibit at the Botanical Garden every year. It's beautiful! Lets see...you could also make a drive up to Longwood gardens in PA, check out the Kennedy Center to see if they have any family shows the week after Christmas. Do you have any connections with people who work at the White House? Actually, I'm not sure how you get tickets for this. Maybe check online. If you can figure out how to get tickets, take a tour or the WH Christmas trees. We've done that a few times and it's wonderful!

[MariannNOVA]

My feeble answer (I am SO bad at this kind of stuff):

 

Old Town Alexandria is beautiful if the weather is cooperating. Gadsby's Tavern usually has some sort of family-friendly/kid-friendly event scheduled involving colonial re-enactment, dance lessons, etc.

 

PAINT-THIS! in Old Town is a great place for the appropriately aged kids to spend a couple of hours painting pottery - Paint This! could not be more kid friendly! It's a wonderful place.

 

The Torpedo Factory -- galleries, etc. Again, in old Town.

 

Downtown Leesburg is another great place to walk around if the weather is cooperating.

 

IF I had to find the kind of activity you are looking for, I would pick up a copy of WASHINGTONIAN magazine and peruse the columns with the various activities/shows/etc broken down by age group and topic.

 

OH -- and Georgetown if the weather is cooperating. HTH

[Alice]

I was also going to suggest the train exhibit at the Botanical Gardens. It's really spectacular even for people not into trains. It's hard to describe but they create this whole world of buildings and scenes made entirely from plant material and then they have multiple trains running through it. One year the theme was buildings from around the world and it was fun to recognize a lot from SOTW and other studies(Petra, Pyramid, Sphinx, Taj Mahal, Eiffel Tower, etc). They also have in another section many of the monuments and buildings in DC recreated from plant material. It's really amazing. Plus, it's free. And for lunch you can go to the American Indian Museum cafeteria which is right next door and fantastic. If you are really into trains you can also head to Union Station which also has a train exhibit, although it's not as impressive as the one at the Botanic Gardens.

 

We also like ice-skating at one of the outdoor rinks that time of year. You can do the one on the Mall by the National Gallery or one several "Town Centers", I know Pentagon Row in Pentagon City and Reston Town Center have them. And afterwards there are lots of stores and restaurants nearby you can go to.

 

We've never been but I hear a lot of people like to drive through the Bull Run Festival of Lights. Although if you are in Virginia you probably know about that.

 

Another fun one is Zoolights, at the Zoo. It runs every night through Jan 1st. It's also free, although you have to pay to park if you don't take the Metro. It's fun to be in the zoo at night and throughout the Zoo they have very cool LED light sculptures of animals. My kids love it every year. http://nationalzoo.si.edu/activitiesandevents/celebrations/zoolights/default.cfm I just went back and saw that you said no zoo....but I'm still going to leave it as a suggestion, we've liked it so much.

 

Finally, the National Cathedral has an exhibit of creches every year that is fun to see.

[MariannNOVA]

We've never been but I hear a lot of people like to drive through the Bull Run Festival of Lights. Although if you are in Virginia you probably know about that.

 

 

Finally, the National Cathedral has an exhibit of creches every year that is fun to see.

 

Thanks for the info about Botanical Gardens -- I didn't know any of that and it sounds wonderful.

 

Bull Run -- not inexpensive, for us a drive (using fairfax county standards) and we really weren't impressed (we went two years ago). I'd pass on it.

 

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the National Cathedral -- and that brings one to G'town.;)

[athena1277]

Thanks for the ideas. The trains at the botanical gardens would probably be a big hit, especially with two 4 year old boys. ;)

[mariposa]

1. The National Christmas Tree exhibit is outside; there are also trees for each state that are decorated with a theme for that state. In the past, they have had reindeer there. Obviously, best viewed at night. Free

2. Mount Vernon is very kid-friendly and fun to visit. It is decorated for Christmas. There's also a candlelight tour, but that's not a good idea for our group (small children. :) The downside to MV is that it is not free. My kids love it, though. If you know we want to see Mt. Vernon you may want to get tickets soon as well.

3. Botanical Garden is also a nice place to visit; it's on the mall and they have a train exhibit at Christmas that's fun to look at. Could easily be done in conjunction with other "on the mall' activities. Free.

4. Smithsonian museums - Air & Space, National Gallery of Art, American Indian, Natural History, and American History are the main ones. They're all free, unless you do an IMAX movie. :)

5. White House - it can be difficult to get in around Christmas with all the special events - you definitely need to request those from your member of congress at least a month in advance.

6. Kennedy Center - Also $$, but we've done quite a few things there and it's wonderful. There is a musical for kids - Knuffle Bunny (based on the book by Mo Willems, if you're familiar with him). There are also free concerts every day, but they haven't released the Dec. calendar yet. Look up "Millennium Stage" on their website. There's a fabulous view from the terrace of D.C. and the Potomac River. They also have a good cafeteria on the terrace level (not the restaurant, the cafeteria); you can sit in the window overlooking the city. Prices are reasonable for downtown.

Hope that helps!