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So we're totally excited about our upcoming trip to DC. It'll be my first time and Andy's second (but he only had a day in DC as a teenager when he visited family). We're staying with his aunt and uncle in Silver Springs, Maryland (but they both work in DC) so they are excited to have us up We're going up for Inauguration Weekend but we have to come home the night before the Inauguration b/c we couldn't get a flight home on Wed. and we have to be back at work. Andy's aunt Julie actually has an invitation to view the inauguration so we're a bit bummed we have to come home early....
We know that they know everything to see in DC, but you know how we are (being the PP'ers that we are...) we like to plan We want to have an idea of some things to do/see to tell them so that we can give them an idea of what to show us... I just read Sarah's TR from her DC trip which was great and already gave me some ideas Can't wait to hear what you have to say!!
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I think all the museums will be open except on Inaug day...
BTW - I grew up in Silver Spring!
I'll gather some links -- some stuff may be closed because of the event Welcome to the U.S. Capitol
The Smithsonian American History Museum just reopened,
The discussion in some of these threads may help:
Yeah, we'll only really be touring around on Saturday and Sunday but we know it'll be crazy. The good thing is we have the family to guide us Thanks for the links!
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I worked in Silver Spring for 4.5 years before I moved to JAX. Looks like you've gotten some great links and info - I hope a TR will accompany the trip!
Wow, have a great time - I can only imagine how busy it's going to be.
One thing that sticks out in our minds is the memorials at night. If you can do some kind of tour of DC at night, it's well worth doing, as they're beautiful. Aside from that, don't miss the main landmarks (White House, Capital, Lincoln, Jefferson, Vietnam, Korean, FDR Memorials) and the Air and Space Museum. Those are our favourites.
We love the Air and Space Museum, the American History Museum (which just reopened) and the Natural History Museum. The WWII Monument is great, as is the FDR one (Alexa was studying him at the time so it held her interest more)!!
and some recycled advice i once gave somewhere else.. didn't fully re-read it, but the hi-flyer is long gone
Quote:
did a week there in May (I think) of 2004.
Basically I just went by Frommers and Fodors. Found stuff I wanted to do there and pulled it off amazingly well. One of the days I even spent in Baltimore (went via Amtrak) and went to the National Aquarium.
Here's my basic rundown (going by my photos - which I never finished publishing I might add). I'll provide links to the ones I did publish, but I apologize since it was actually my first time really with a camera, which pales in comparison to my current one:
Day 1: Went to the National Zoo. I actually became a member of FONZ so I could enroll in an overnight program they were holding. It included a couple of hours behind the scenes in one of the areas (I did great cats), a night time tour of the zoo and camping overnight with dinner/breakfast. Not that I suggest doing all that, but the zoo should be a must see considering it's only one of four zoos in north america with giant pandas and they just had a baby who is on display.
Day 2: Took metro to VA to visit Freedom Park which is run by the Newseum (who has relocated to inside DC but the Park might still exist in VA). Basically it's a tribute to the history of civil liberties in the US as well as a memorial to journalists who have died in the line of duty
Day 3: I went to the White House Visitor's Center. As far as touring the White House, the rules may have changed in the past couple of years, but they limit tours to groups of 10 or more. Now I did get the impression from my senator's office (more later) that they probably compile lists of people to tour the White House, but the tours book way in advance. I think you need to give at least 3 months notice.
Now, in the basement of the commerce building is actually the district's 'best kept secret' and I believe it's oldest aquarium. Most people don't know about it, even those who actually live in the area, and I must warn you, it's not going to knock anyone over with a feather. Unless you're heavy into aquariums, it's a can-miss.
Day 4: Visited the Washington Monument, the World War II Monument, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and a couple of Smithsonian musems - American History and Natural History (I think - I believe this is also where the Hope diamond is amongst other amazing gems and jewelry).
This is where it gets tricky. Washington Monument and Bureau of Engraving and Printing are both free but are ticket-based to help control crowds. You have to be there first thing in the morning when the booths open to even attempt to get tickets.
But.
I bought my Washington Monument tickets online. Not free per se, but very inexpensive. You can get them in advance through About Us - Recreation.gov. This guarantees you the ticket and saves you from having to try to get there early and get on line (I can't even tell you how many people I saw showing up to get tickets at the booth - which are only available for that day - and turned away).
You do have to show up at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing for the tickets there though.
Also about the Washington Monument. If you're interested, call them in advance and ask about walk down tours. Everyone takes an elevator up the monument to the top, but occasionally they offer walkdown tours where you can actually walk down inside the monument. The monument contains gift bricks from each state. When I was there, they had cut down on staffing and reduced the tours due to 9/11, so sadly I missed out, but it was something I was looking forward to when I was there.
also on that day (isn't that enough?) I went to the Old Post Office Pavilion which holds one of the district's legitimate best kept secrets. This building used to be the post office until the mail got too large for it to handle. It's now gutted out and is more of a shopping mall. That aside, the national park service operates an observation area that gives you one of the best views of the area. Some people advocate skipping the Washington Monument (for the crowds and headache it may cause) and just go here instead. I have to tell you that the view here is nice and shouldn't be missed, but it doesn't rival the Monument where if you look one direction, you see the capitol building, another the white house, another the lincoln memorial, etc. Just make sure to get your monument tickets in advance!
Day 5: I took the DC Ducks Tour offered by historictours.com. Some cities have these. They're basically amphibious vehicles that were used in WWII. You start out going through the streets of DC and see and learn a lot of things before heading off into the Potomac.
I also took the monuments by moonlight tour by them which I highly recommend, especially if you don't have your own transportation. They drive you to all the major monuments in the area. It'll start out in the daylight (especially in August), but soon enough, it'll start getting darker and you'll see some of the better monuments all lit up.
OK, so day 6 is missing. and a lot of day 7. what the heck did I do?
I did visit the US Capitol and I did take a 'special' tour arranged through my Senator's office (Hillary Clinton). The highlight of this tour is that you meet at the Senator's office and then take the tunnel (a little train/subway) that all members of congress take to get from their office buildings to the capitol itself. Learned a lot of neat stuff about the building as well. We didn't go directly into the gallery but were offered tickets for a later viewing.
I also visited the National Holocaust Museum, the International Spy Museum, some science museum (not worth it). Wanted to go to the DEA museum but they're in VA and have limited days/hours which didn't work out for me. The FBI building at that point was closed to tours - not sure if that's still the case. Tried to go to the International Monetary Fund building (WHY!?!?!) but they were closed that day. Visited the National Archives which has the US Constitution & Bill of Rights on display amongst many other documents.
Also visited the Air and Space Museum, the Postal Museum (very small but kinda fun - can send free postcards too).
And on my last night I hunted down the 'elusive' Albert Einstein statue.
I'm sure I did more but without the photos, I can't prove it. A lot of places are really close together (except for the zoo) so if you're okay with walking and a little planning, you can really get things done there. It has an awful lot to offer.
ETA: Oh, how could I forget? I did go to Arlington as well as visited Robert E Lee's home there (interesting story to all that). You can pick up a listing of a lot of famous people and where exactly they're buried, but due to time constraints, I stuck to some basics. JFK and RFK's graves, the tomb of the unknown soldier (and watched the changing of the guard), Robert E Lee's home, saw the grave markers dedicated to the crew of the spaceshuttle challenger, etc.
Also, yes, the Holocaust Museum is also quite impressive and a solemn place. What's interesting to note about that (since I didn't know this until days after when I took a tour) is that there is a sculpture outside the museum which might not be recognizable at first, but it turns out it's actually a dismantled swastika). I wasn't impressed by the lines of anti-choice people outside the museum preaching about their own 'holocaust' however. one thing you have to realize is DC can be VERY political. That woman who was camping out in the lawn across from the white house in Fahrenheit 911, I saw her when I was there.
I think you'll be fine with luggage on the metro too. One thing you should note is that you'll need to buy metro fare cards (there are machines everywhere inside the stations) but you will need your card to EXIT the system as well. This is because of the tiered system they have (you can go from inside DC all the way out to VA and maybe beyond).
You need to go to Arlington. The Korean Memorial and the Vietnam wall are beautiful as well as the Lincoln Memorial. It is 10x's bigger in person. You could spend days in the Smithsonian and not even make a dent in it. It's amazing though. One place that is very pretty is George Washington's house Mount Vernon. It is on a hill that overlooks the Potomac and it is beautiful. Have a great time.
The zoo is nice, but really not impressive compared to AK... (except the pandas)
There is the National Postal Museum, which is pretty easy to get to, over by Union Station Metro...
There is the International Spy Museum, National Museum of Crime and Punishment, and the Newseum in the Penn Quarter area...
I'm not sure what y'all would like other than Disney and musicology...
Andy and I both want to go to the National Museum of Natural History, the Spy Museum, the Air and Space Museum, and of course all the monuments. I've joked with Andy that he HAS to go to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing since he works for a printing company I know that sounds like a lot for such a small trip, but we can pick and choose from those if we have to.
I think we're just going to go up there with these things in mind and then let Brian and Julie tell us what to do from there. The great thing about being with them is that they plan to drive us in, drop us off for the day, and meet back up with us again. We'll have Friday evening/night with them at their house, Saturday and Sunday to tour, and then Monday morning/afternoon with them. My brother in law and his wife are going as well so it should be a fun trip (if nothing else getting to spend time with family we don't see a lot!!) Thanks for all the links and info!! I will be checking them out!
If you guys can keep the same pace you have at WDW, you should be fine.
Was there something in particular you want to see at Natural History? We did another quick tour through there this fall (I didn't do a TR).
Not really anything in particular. Andy really wants to go there though. I looked at Sarah's TR and saw pics and info from when they were there and I think we'd enjoy it.
And I was joking about the Engraving and Printing. We won't be going there this time, maybe later. There's too much other stuff we want to see. I threw that in b/c I have been ragging him about it I mean, he has a degree in graphic communications and works for a printing company... that'd be like me going to a museum on vacation ..... oh... wait...
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We're going up for Inauguration Weekend but we have to come home the night before the Inauguration b/c we couldn't get a flight home on Wed. and we have to be back at work. Andy's aunt Julie actually has an invitation to view the inauguration so we're a bit bummed we have to come home early....
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Aside from that, don't miss the main landmarks (White House, Capital, Lincoln, Jefferson, Vietnam, Korean, FDR Memorials) and the Air and Space Museum. Those are our favourites. 
that city! One place you have to visit is the Holocaust Museum. Its very moving.
I know that sounds like a lot for such a small trip, but we can pick and choose from those if we have to.
I mean, he has a degree in graphic communications and works for a printing company... that'd be like me going to a museum on vacation ..... 
oh... wait... 
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