Washington D.C. Advice

[Phyllis Meyer]

Hi Everyone,

The daughter's flight benefits have kicked in for Mom and Dad. My husband wants to go to Washington for the 4th of July. We are looking up all the wonderful things to do, any advice on which tours to take? Hotels/motels (we don't need anything fancy, just safe and walking/public transportation areas).

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Phyllis

[Joe Pelonio]

I'll have to pass on this one since I have not been there since 1972. I do remember a lot of wig shops with multi-colored "naturals" in the windows.

I'm guessing those are gone now.

[Phyllis Meyer]

Joe,

You are too funny!

Phyllis,

P.S. Please check your email.

[Glenn Clabo]

Phyllis,
DC is a great place during the 4th. I spent 20 years around there...and have gone back a number of times.

There a many places to stay...most are on the expensive side...but if you go on line and search you can get some ideas. Be warned but not frightened...there are parts of DC that are not a good place to walk around especially after dark. If you go to a nice hotel (IMHO well worth the expense)...they will tell you the truth and you can decide if a cab or walking is the right way. There are many great hotels and places to eat (and shop) in the Georgetown area.

If you only have a few days...and want to get a flavor of Washington...the area around the mall is FULL of great things to see. Besides the fireworks...just going through the Smithsonian...and all the galleries...and memorials...will wear out a few shoes.

You will enjoy the visit...if you make sure you take a breath and absorb it. I loved my time there and love still love my visits there.

[Mitchell Andrus]

My wife and I took the kids (13 and 17) a few years ago. If you stay at a hotel near a metro stop, you don't need a car. Seriously, we drove from NJ and didn't touch the car for six days. You won't need one unless travelling.

Wear comfortable shoes and travel light - you'll walk A LOT!!! Take lots of breaks to sit and relax. Duck into someplace with A/C often, DC is hot in summer. Don't mind the ugly Americans, they're hot too and they aren't staying in your room.

Some do not misses:
Wash monument and Capitol tour MUSTS!!!! (gotta sign up a day before, first come, first served. Get in line for tickets at dawn and don't miss your timeslot) You won't be sorry for the trouble it takes.
All of the Smithsonians
Bureau of engraving if open
Holocaust museum if up to it.
If you have time, grab a boat ride in the bay.
Spy museum - really. Good for two hours or so.
Walk all the way round the pond to the Jefferson and Roosevelt mems just after dinner. It'll take two hours but its a great way to work off dinner.

Pre-purchase tickets in the morning for pm movies at the museums. It'll be hot then. The A/C will feel good.

[Russ Filtz]

Check out the train station too, I think it's near the mall area. Forget what it's called. HUGE cathedral type ceilings in all directions. Pretty impressive.

[Jonathon Spafford]

You are in for a treat... that would be so cool to see during the 4th of July. For starters you'll want to see the memorials! Those are great to see! If you can get into the White House that is also a great place to see. If you can get into the Capital (if you contact your congressman he might be able to get you in) it is awesome to tour. When I went last fall we got to see congress in session... really amazing! Arlington Cemetery is a gotta see! Washington's home - Mount Vernon - is just awesome so you got to check that one out. You can take a ferry boat over there from Alexandria. Alexandria is a great little town right on the river to walk around in... at night they have a ghost tour. We didn't go on it, but it sounded interesting - they take you around and tell ghost stories. I went on a similar tour in Williamsburg... any little kids in the family might get a kick out of it! The Smithsonian are really great to see if you have time, but you could almost make a seperate trip just to see these! I would probably tend to stick with the historical stuff and see the other stuff if you got time... just my personal preference. Nation Archives is another must see... while we were there they had a George Washington impersonator give a talk. He was just great... so if they have that going on I would recommend seeing that.
To get around DC I would really recommend the metro. This is a really simple way of getting around... really nice alternative to taxis and rental cars! Easy to get around on and pretty cheap!
Oh... and about food: there is an AWESOME sandwich shop in DC called Potbelly, I believe. You have to go there. It has great sandwhiches! Kinda like a Subway style of make your own, but the sandwiches are just so awesome; much better than Subway IMVHO... so try that!
When I went we stayed at Homewood Suites. Really a nice hotel and you get free breakfasts and dinners! And the dinners are really good! I liked it a lot.
As was mentioned there are places that you wouldn't want to go at night so make sure that you figure that out before you take evening walks. There are some rough places in town, but DC does have a lot of gorgeous spots!
So hope you have fun! Make sure you tell us all about the trip when you get back

[Jonathon Spafford]

Oh yes... and like Mitchell said... the Holocaust Museum is spectacular. It is a really different experience, but a must see. The Spy Museum is likewise a fun museum.

[Joe Chritz]

If you get time check out the Law Enforcement memorial.

A trip to Arlington for a changing of the guard is supposed to be a fantastic sight. Not in DC but easy to get to I imagine.

Joe

[Phil Thien]

We liked One Washington Circle Hotel. It is right in the heart of GW University. The Metro station is right across the street. Great shopping one direction, walkable to the mall the other. Our room had a kitchen (stove, fridge) which is nice because there were five of us and we could eat breakfast in in the morning, and there was always some snacking (frozen pizza, french fries, etc.) at night.

BTW, on the other side of the block is one of the Ritz Carltons. We visited some friends there. Room was about four times the price and they walked twice the distance to the Metro.

I loved the Metro.

http://www.thecirclehotel.com/index2.htm

[Pat Germain]

Great advice thus far. I lived in D.C. for awhile, although it was a long time ago. I still visit occasionally for work. Here a few of my takes:

- If you can find a good deal on a nice hotel, great. However, I wouldn't expect it over 4th of July. This is a very popular time to visit DC. Be careful of cheap hotels. They can be in very bad areas.

- A hotel near a Metro station is worth every extra dollar. Old Town Alexandria is a very nice place to stay and has a Metro station. This area also has numerous restaurants. I took a professional class there years ago and enjoyed staying in the area.

- "Rough neighborhoods" doesn't begin to describe it. You must never get lost in D.C. How bad is it? I got lost there once and a police officer pulled me over, then escorted me back to the Beltway. Don't drive unless you have to and always plot your course ahead of time with a good map. You should be fine in any tourist area.

- Ride the Metro whenever possible. It is clean, safe and goes almost everywhere in DC.

- The Smithsonian museums get very crowded during the Summer. Try to arrive early if you want to tour them. Otherwise, it's not nearly as much fun with people packing in everywhere.

- The most popular Smithsonian museum is the Air and Space Museum. Therefore, it's the most crowded.

- Some of the best Air and Space Museum exhibits are actually in an annex just outside DC near the Dulles airport. That facility is much larger and has a lot of the "big stuff". If you can get out there, I highly recommend it.

- Make every effort to see the Marine Corps Memorial (often referred to as the Iwo Jima Memorial). It's not on the Mall, but rather nearby; Arlington, I think. It will be on any good map of the area. This is the only monument which overwhelmes me for its size. Unlike every other monument, it's actually much bigger than you'd expect. It's also in a nice park where you relax away from crowds.

- Just off the Mall is Ford's Theater. In the basement is a small museum dedicated to Lincoln's assassination. It has some very nice exhibits. Across the street you can see the room where Lincoln was taken after being shot and later died. It's been kept just the same. (It's been many years since I've been there. I'm assuming it's still the same.)

- The changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is very popular and for good reason. It's a rare example of military discipline at its finest. (When the guard tells you to remain standing, you'd better do so!)You should be able to find a schedule for the changing of the guard on the Arlington Cemetary Web Page. The cemetary itself is also worth seeing. Popular graves include Audie Murphy and, of course, JFK. There's also a nice, granite monument for the crew of the Challenger.

[Jonathon Spafford]

- Just off the Mall is Ford's Theater. In the basement is a small museum dedicated to Lincoln's assassination. It has some very nice exhibits. Across the street you can see the room where Lincoln was taken after being shot and later died. It's been kept just the same. (It's been many years since I've been there. I'm assuming it's still the same.)

YES! I forgot about this one! This is an amazing site... everything really comes alive here! This was one of the best spots (actually they were all good)... the downstairs museum has everything in there related to the assasination and it is really amazing to see all the stuff... you definitely should squeeze in an hour or so to visit here!

[Phil Thien]

- The changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is very popular and for good reason. It's a rare example of military discipline at its finest.

Reminds me of our visit there a few years ago. I was using an absolutely new and tiny video camera that you sorta hold like a gun. My family was around me and I was filming (well, sorta, it is digital). Anyway, a friend that was with us says, "incoming, incoming" and I looked up and saw one of America's finest coming at me like a bat outa hell.

As soon as he was able to get between the camera and the ceremony, he did. And he started walking right towards me. If it had been a gun, he was basically inserting himself directly into the line of fire.

The entire event took place within just a few seconds. We were pretty much the only people there at the time, and I thought I had mistakenly filmed something I wasn't supposed to. I started to put it away and when he got to us I was apologizing for using a camera and causing a problem. He asked to see the camera and I happily showed it to him. Once he understood what it was, he told me I had done nothing wrong.

But I had a renewed, deep-seated appreciation for this and other soldiers. And I still fealt bad for causing a commotion.

None of that was lost, BTW, on my two daughters. The older one, about fourteen years old at the time, understood that serving your country was serious business. And when I asked my daughter what lesson her dad had learned, her response was, "don't mess with marines?"

Right on! I nearly browned my shorts!

Washington D.C. was an awesome trip. We've been dragging the kids around the country (and out of the country, too), visiting as many cities as we can, to try to expose them to the world outside of Milwaukee. Washington D.C. was a top-five trip.

[Lee Schierer]

The Air and Space museum out by Dulles airport is great. There was considerable construction around the Lincoln Memorial when we were there so roads weren't open. We parked for free ont eh Mall, but moved the car every 2 hours to avoid tickets. We used hand held walkie talkies to get the driver back together with the group.

Obey all parking regulations as they love to ticket visitors and the tickets are healthy deductions from your check book. Use the subway if you can.

All the Smithsonian places are great and it is nice to get into the National Archives and see the real documents our founding fathers wrote.

Expect delays entering most buildings as they check bags.

Get there early on the fourth if you want a spot to watch the fireworks as the croud is huge and most come early in the day, stack out a patch of ground and picnic/party all day long. Best spots are along the reflecting pool or Lincoln Memorial. Traffic afterwards is terrific, take an extra measre of tolerance for rude and agressive drivers.

Expect to walk a lot!

It is hot and humid so be prepared.

See your congressional reps now and get tickets for special tours of the white house. These are far better than the walk up and wait in line tours.

Go see the Mint if you have time The stacks of money are impressive. Sorry they don't give out samples.

[Kevin Beck]

Like Phil's family we've been traveling with our kids for years. We spent 4-5 days in D.C. last October and thoroughly enjoyed it. We stayed in McLean (Staybridge Suites) and the hotel had a courtesy shuttle to the Metro station several times per day. The Metro is very convenient, inexpensive, and the kids enjoyed it almost as much as the attractions.

We really enjoyed the Spy Museum, Arlington National Cemetery (the changing of the guard is awesome, though it did make me want to smack some people who weren't being respectful during it), Postal Museum, Holocaust Museum (might not be appropriate for young kids), the monuments, and the National Smithsonian museums. My daughter (8 year old) had been studying Martin Luther King at school so when we went to the Lincoln Memorial she asked the guard on duty where MLK stood during his "I Have a Dream" speech. The guard was very friendly and took my daughter to the step and poured water on the engraving on the step so that she could see it better.

We felt safe at all times but did stay in and around the national mall area. I would love to go back this year and spend another week. If I were by myself I'd spend at least half a day in Arlington National wandering around.

Union Station, the National Smithsonian, and the Ronald Reagan building are all good places to eat lunch.

Kevin