Washington DC trip in the works

Call your congresscritter and/or senator's office first thing on Monday morning to see what tickets they've got available yet for the days you're going to be there. You're probably a bit late for White House tickets (if they're currently doing that) but they can frequently get you (free) priority tickets to other DC places of interest.

IMO, the White House tours are kind of overrated, but it's worth doing once in your life if you get the chance.

Heading to DC on Monday for a 5 day 8th grade school field trip. My child's teacher is so organized, we will be seeing tons. I'll give you a report when we get back. She arranges a lot of stuff through our congressfolks. If you want to tour the capital or White House, you have to turn in info like names addresses and ss#, etc to get the tickets. We are not going to the White House because the tour there conflicted with Eucharist at the National Cathedral. The White House tour is considerably shorter than it once was before all the security.

Ameliaj - Hope your trip is fun and safe! I look forward to hearing about it when you return.

I've done the White House tour once and thought it was a bit of a disappointment. I am interested in touring the Capitol again and will seek passes next week.

My son and I always enjoyed the Air and Space Museum and the Natural History museum. Arlington is a "must see" IMO and even though the Pandas are gone, I'd spend some time at the Zoo...it's a nice change from the zoo in the halls of the Capitol

Library of Congress and the Supreme Court are fun to tour (great little restaurant at the LofC). Maybe see a play or take a tour at Ford Theater.

Spend an afternoon at the war memorials...interesting how each of them has its own presence. Union station is interesting and has shopping too. National Cathedral is a must see.

Funky shopping and great food in Georgetown. Saturday mornings at Eastern Market is a different, fun experience...last time I was there it was Memorial Day weekend and it was festive.

We stayed in a Condo in the NW Section, off Conn. Ave, I think...good way to be part of the city, and and you have much more privacy than in a hotel. There was a Metro right at the corner and we used it for everything. Enjoy your time. It's a great city. I used to live just outside the city and I miss it sometimes. July 4th in DC is always special. Have fun.

We stayed at a Holiday Inn, but it was some time ago. The children were little, but it was close and we could walk to a number of venues. Be sure to contact politicians you know before you go. Special tours may be available for the asking. If you know any staffers that is always helpful for the inside tour.

Staying in Arlington and taking the Metro can be a good location, there is a very nice Hampton Inn there.

Our son moved there in November and I have yet to visit him. I'll be looking forward to your trip report. I can google, as some do, but am looking forward to get your recommendations. We are planning a mid-June visit.

Here is a link to the Washingtonian that might be helpful.

Washingtonian Magazine - Dining and Restaurants, Shopping, Politics, Entertainment, Nightlife, Real Estate, News and Events in Washington, DC, Maryland and Virginia

As for places to stay, you probably don't want to stay in Southeast or Southwest. Not many food options at night and safety is an issue if you get to far away from the south side of the Smithsonian buildings.

I would highly recommend Northwest and the closer you can stay to the Verizon Center (or a little north) the better for food options, shorter walks, the metro and the Circulator bus.

If that's too pricey when you are going, you can always stay further out and ride the Metro. Just know that there is no Metro near Georgetown (but they have the Circulator bus). Another option is near DuPont Circle but it will require Metro rides.

Thanks again for the input! I'm now looking at 3 hotels within a few blocks of a metro station and near the convention center.

Back from Washington. We had a fabulous trip. Twelve 8th graders, 9 chaperones and one marvelous tour guide. Here's a quick rundown of where we went.

Smithsonian: You can spend weeks here. The kids were underwhelmed with the Air & Space Museum since they had all been to Space Camp in Huntsville. But they loved the American History Museum with the The Flag that flew over Ft. McHenry. First Lady Gowns, Ruby Slippers and Lincoln's Top hat
The girls loved the jewelry in the Natural History Museum. Lunch in the Art Museum garden was lovely

Eucharist at National Cathedral: They have the service at noon on Wednesday with a brief organ concert afterwards.

Holocaust Museum: Unbelievable, but as you can imagine, very intense. This will take several hours but certainly worth it. It would be tough for kids younger than 8th grade unless they are very mature.

Spy Museum: I thought this was going to be hokey, but it was really pretty cool. Who knew all that stuff you see on TV was real.

Newseum: History from the news reporters point of view. The 9/ll exhibit is quite good.

Arlington National Cemetary: Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown every hour. Very beautiful and quite moving.

Lincoln Memorial: It's gorgeous at night. The Lincoln Statue almost glows with the lighting
but there must have been a zillion school kids there. Very crowded last week.

Jefferson Memorial: Crowded as well, but worth the trip. Didn't know FDR had it build so he could see it from the White House. You can see that they keep the trees trimmed so the president can still have a view of Mr. Jefferson.

WWII Memorial: Very elegant, but not very exciting for the kids

Korean War Memorial: Very cool at night. There are 19 bronze soldier statues. They look almost like ghosts in the dark.

Viet Nam Memorial: Make sure to get to it before dark, it is not very well lit. But very moving. A lot of visitors had names they were looking for and left cards and flowers.

Marine Memorial - Iwo Jima: Same thing, it is not well lit either.

FDR Memorial: It's a beautiful walk way with fountains and statues right on the Tidal Basin. It is almost like a zen garden.

Ford Theater & Peterson House: There's a nice museum to Lincoln in the basement of Ford Theater and the Park Ranger who gave the lecture in the actual theater was very good. It is a working theater and they have matinee's at 12:30, (Little Shop of Horrors is playing now) so you have to take the tour early.

Capital: See if you can get a tour from your congressman or senator. They have aides who do this all the time. The public tours are way too crowded. You can only go in the rotunda, the old hall and downstairs for Washington's Crypt (He's not buried there). The Senate was in session when we were there and it was close to closing time, so we were able to get tickets to the gallery. Saw Diane Feinstein expounding for a good while. Once again, the place was wall to wall people.

National Archives: There is lots to see there, but the main things of course, are the Declaration of Independence, The Constitution and Bill of Rights. The line outside is long. If you make a reservation, you can jump in front of the folks waiting in line.

Mt. Vernon: Very beautiful. They have it all set up as it was in George's day with most all the original furniture. The gardens are beautiful and there are actors dressed up as characters from George's time who walk along the line and talk to you. George is buried here. There is a museum with an interactive movie that has real snow falling. Pretty cool.

We stayed at the Doubletree hotel in Alexandria, but then we had our own bus to get to the city. The shops, etc and cute restaurants there were all in walking distance and looked really nifty. I'd have loved to explore there some. But they had us on a tight schedule. we left at 7:30 in the morning and didn't return to the hotel until nearly 10:00 every night.

Hope you have a great trip.

Thank you so much for the report! Rest assured that we will put the information to good use. I made my reservations last night for July 1- 5 and will now begin planning our list of must-dos. I'm getting excited!

Have a great trip!!!

Great report I wil be saving that for a later on.