DC on July 4th is awesome

[kentuckymom]

So we did end up going to DC the first week of July, and the trip was wonderful. The heat was slightly less bad than it could have been due a cold front with rain moving through early in the week. This meant our bike tour on Monday took place during a downpour, but DS (8) thought that made it epic, so it's all good :). Believe it or not, hotels in DC actually have really good deals around July 4th. We met up with a friend of mine who lives in the area, and he said he paid twice as much for a room at our hotel (Courtyard Marriot Arlington/Rosslyn) when he used to live in Chicago and come down to DC for meetings a few times a year. 

 

We saw most of the usual sights. We opted not to wait in the long line for the archives, but there weren't particularly large crowds or long waits for anything else. Our favorite "off the beaten path" sights were the memorial to Teddy Roosevelt on Roosevelt Island in the Potomac (a memorial in the middle of the woods seems fitting for him) and the Einstein Memorial in front of the National Science Foundation headquarters. The building itself has some neat public exhibitions as well. The kids also really enjoyed the hotel pool :).

 

On the 4th we watched the parade downtown, which put our city's parade to shame. There was even a marching band from Kentucky! We watched the fireworks from bank of Potomac on the Virginia side, not far from Arlington Cemetery.

 

Even on the 4th, the crowds weren't as bad as we were warned. It did help that we bought seven day short trip metro passes and only used our car on Saturday to visit the Air and Space museum in Virginia and on Sunday to visit Mount Vernon. The rest of the week we took the Metro or walked.

 

If you haven't visited DC and you have the opportunity to do so, I highly recommend it, even with fairly young kids. DD (2) enjoyed the Air and Space museum immensely. The Zoo was her favorite, but that museum was a close second.

[ThisIsTheDay]

LOVE your post, LOVE that you shared this!  We spent Independence Day in DC five years ago, as the weekend coincided with military friends who were coming to the city from overseas.  We too stayed in a Marriott in VA (Crystal City). It rained the night of the fireworks, and we chickened out of venturing to the Mall.  But we ended up with an amazing view from our hotel room!  It was one of the most memorable July 4th ever for our family.  The hotel prices were great that weekend.  I would love to do that again!

 

Thanks for bringing back those great memories.  You made me smile.  :)