Sorry Dan..I've been giving Dana credit for this all along!! You available next week Mon or Tues for lunch too?
Washington D.C. is a cool place to go. There are alot of Indian's up there (India). Loads of stuff to see. Lots of walking but its worth it. Have fun Richy!! Take some pics!!
My girlfriend and I just visited DC over the 4th of July. We stayed about the same number of days as you and felt we saw many of the sights. You should definitely check out the big monuments: Lincoln, Washington, and Jefferson. Jefferson is sort of out of the way but his monument over looks a nice pond, plus the Roosevelt memorial is right next door. I'm not sure if there's an age limit, but you could rent a paddle boat and go out onto the pond. I would also recommend visiting some of the monuments at night, it's not nearly as hot and not as crowded, plus they look awesome lit up. I think there are about 10 Smithsonian Museums and it is very easy to spend hours on end in each of them, but for kids I would recommend the Natural History Museum and the Air and Space Museum. The sculpture garden is kind of cool too, easy to walk around and visit while walking around the mall. Over behind the Capitol building is the Library of congress and the Supreme Court building. The Library of Congress has the most beautiful interior, definitely a must see. Also a fun place for kids is the International Spy Museum. You can take the normal museum tour or go on a spy adventure to solve some mystery. Unfortunately that place charges an entrance fee of around $20 per person. Other places we visited were the WWII, Korean, and Vietnam war memorials. The National Archives are cool too, but I don't know if it's very exciting for kids. uzj100 mentioned some great places to visit that are kind of far away. I heard the air and space musuem next to Dulles airport is awesome, they have a SR-71 blackbird in there! Arlington is cool too, but even once you get there by metro, it is quite a bit of walking to visit everything. I heard the zoo zoo has a panda, so that's something to see. In terms of transportation we used the metro (subway) to get around if we needed to go all the way across the mall. It costs $1.35 to travel pretty much anywhere around the monuments. Besides the metro which isn't always in the most convenient places, you can buy a two day pass to ride a hop on hop off tour bus. There are several different bus companies and they all have different stops, but all of them generally stop near each of the major monuments and museums. They all charge around $36 for a two day pass. Some have enclosed busses with air conditioning, while others are just open air. When planning your trip, make sure to keep in mind the hop on hop off bus loop pretty much goes in a one way loop with around 30 stops. We found this to be a big problem when we laid out our schedule, so we decided to just hoof it and use the metro when needed. Plus it is way cheaper, but with a 6 year old, that might not be feasible to walk 5-10 miles a day! BTW these links might be useful: www.wmata.com Tourism In Washington Dc | Sightseeing Washington DC | Bus Tours In Washington DC I hope you guys have a great trip!
I actually should be detailing. I went to the Spy Museum not too long ago. Thats something you might be interested in, they have some neat stuff there. We did the Operation Spy thing, but I wouldnt do that again.
I have one new in the box Richy so I will still take the credit. The B&D might look beat up but it runs just as good as the day I bought both of them and the money they have made me, is too much to even count.
When I was there last year, there was a author there (Richard Graham) at the Air and Space Museum. He was a Blackbird pilot and has written 3 books. I already had one and got the other two while I was there and had him autograph them. It sucked cuz I've always wanted to see a BlackBird, but there wasnt one there. I did get to meet one of the pilots and talked to him for a few minutes. That was pretty neat. Definately a place to go. National Archives was pretty cool. Its really cold and kinda dark in there. Dont forget to turn your flash off or they will confiscate your camera. The ceiling in there is pretty awesome. Plan on doing alot of walking.
My Goodness...thank you so very much for taking the time to post this..I really do appreciate it!!!:worship2:
The only thing to see in Arlington is the National Cementery and the Iwo Jima, other wise Arlington is very boring. Trust me, I grew up in North Arlington.
Yeah, it sure is! Richy--Metro is the DC train system. You can (or at least you used to) buy a fare card that let's you ride all weekend for one price. And yes, they have maps and routes posted all over. Very convenient way to get around. I'm sure the locals (Asphalt Rocket) can guide you to convenient metro stops so they can pick you up for some joint details :applause2:
like Homechicken me and my girlfriend and her family went for 4th of july. we didnt get to go to all the museums (even after walking 7 miles in the hot hot weather) but i will tell u from my past trip with my school many years ago the holocaust museum is IMO the best museum to go to. I studied the Holocaust in school pretty well over middle school and highschool but nothing gives u the message like this museum does. Obviously your six year old will not get much from it but believe me you will. I suggest doing a tour with a guide so that you can see everything. Some parts are really graphic and really open your eyes to what really happened. This is coming from someone who isnt really interested in museums :lol:
Ahhhh...D.C. My favorite city. Check out the National Gallery. Whether you're an art buff or not, it's a great museum. I've probably been at least a dozen times, and it never gets old. Have fun.
:bat:The Nats-vs-Padres Saturday @7:05pm and Sunday @1:05pm. 2 Crappy teams, but the Nats have a New Stadium. Also alot of MLB clubs are Struggling w/attendece, this is making them offer some tremendous bargains, some are even offering an all you can eat section...gotta love that That or Picket The White House....:kiss: :shead: I once knew a Man that visited D.C. just so He could be close to His Money. :duh: From what I've always have heard,D.C. is a Crime Ridden City, Keep Your Head on a Swivell
