<p>Have to say the hot dog carts lining the mall aren’t bad and provide a very fun impromptu picnic. The squirrels and their adoring photographers will keep you well entertained. Or you might be the photographer!</p>
<p>If you go to a National’s game they close off the streets around it forming a sort of “tail gate party” without the cars (only the restaurants). My son said it’s pretty neat.</p>
<p>the international spy museum is also pretty cool</p>
<p>recommend you don’t venture across the river into SE on the green line metro</p>
<p>I second the Spy Museum. My H and I enjoyed it but, what’s better is my 14 and 16 year old Ds liked it, too. You go on an interactive spy mission and afterwards tour the museum. Some really interesting exhibits. I recommend getting tickets online so you don’t have to wait in line when you get there. They also have a fun shop with all kinds of spy books and gear.</p>
<p>I really like the cafeteria at the American Indian museum (we just go eat there when we are on the mall).</p>
<p>Last year we took the State Department Reception Room Tour. I thought it was very interesting. </p>
<p><a href=“https://receptiontours.state.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=tourHome.welcome[/url]”>https://receptiontours.state.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=tourHome.welcome</a> </p>
<p>The website is not super fancy, but the rooms sure are!</p>
<p>My favorite place in DC is the Folger Library. It is just steps from the Capitol Building. Next to Oxford, it has the largest collection of Shakespearean, Medieval and Renaissance manuscripts in the world. It’s run by Amherst college.</p>
<p>There’s always a really interesting exhibit in the lobby and a really beautiful Shakespere Garden. There’s a replica of the Globe Theater where they perform plays, not just Shakespeare. When I took my kids there were playing The Pirates of Penzance and it was a wonderful production.</p>
<p>I don’t remember the name of the restaurant, but I really liked being at one just across the river from the Kennedy Center. It was just such a nice place to sit. Don’t really remember the food though, so perhaps that’s a bad recommendation.</p>
<p>I love a little boutique hotel in Georgetown, Monticello. It was surprisingly reasonable, and waking up in Georgetown each morning is fun.</p>
<p>Another one here for the Spy Museum. Aftewards you are close to Ford’s Theater where Lincoln was shot. It is part of the National park service. Very interesting tour and you are taken across the street to the home he passed away in for more of the story.</p>
<p>[Ford's</a> Theatre National Historic Site - Ford’s Theatre National Historic Site](<a href=“http://www.nps.gov/foth/index.htm]Ford’s”>Ford's Theatre (U.S. National Park Service))</p>
<p>Go in the evenings to the monuments, they are something to see at night. My personal favorite is the Jefferson.</p>
<p>It’s been a pretty nice summer so far, but the heat and humidity during a bad spell can keep you running for the a/c. Go see the vietnam memorial, ww2 memorial, I love Mt Vernon. If you go to the spy museum you are right by china town and I think Ming’s is the best chinese there.</p>
<p>We all enjoyed the newseum, and I’ve not been able to go to the holocaust museum - it’s so emotionally draining - you get the identity of a real person when you enter. </p>
<p>The zoo can be fun, who doesn’t love the pandas?</p>
<p>Old Town is a fun walking area with lots of restaurants and beautiful old homes. Got get a yard of beer.</p>
<p>Anyone knows what the steps are to get tickets for getting inside the White House and/or the Capitol? It would be nice to take little kids there.</p>
<p>For the capitol we had to go through state representatives to get in.</p>
<p>A couple of suggestions:</p>
<p>The Renwick Museum is one of my favorites. It’s part of the Smithsonian and houses some of the White House’s art collection. The first floor has a rotating exhibit. It’s small and intimate and fun. My favorite piece there is called Gamefish.</p>
<p>Another favorite thing to do is to go to Annapolis for dinner.</p>
<p>One more suggestion. Have lunch or just a glass of wine in the outdoor sculpture garden next to the National gallery. There is a little cafeteria style cafe there with outdoor seating.</p>
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<p>This made me LOL. DC is a humid, subtropical climate. Typically during the summer, within minutes of exiting your domicile, your clothes are damp. There’s a reason Congress, the Supreme Court, and anyone who can leaves town in the summer. On the plus side, you will truly appreciate NYC’s temperate summer!</p>
<p>We enjoyed the area around Dupont Circle for shopping, sidewalk cafe’s and people-watching.</p>
<p>The Udvar-Hazy aerospace museum, just outside of DC in Chantilly, VA, is excellent and can be done in about 2 hours. They have a space shuttle that was used for test flights.</p>
<p>To just tour the Capitol, you just go to the visitors center there, I believe. Nothing more complicated than that. To actually get into the House or Senate chambers, you have to get passes from your congressman/woman.</p>
<p>The only way to tour the White House is to get an appointment for a specific day and time from your congressman/woman/s office. You need to plan this month’s in advance and may still not get anything depending on how many other people from your district are making requests. Also know that the White House can cancel your visit depending on what’s going on there on your particular day.</p>
<p>For only 3 days in DC, I’d skip both Wolf Trap and Udvar-Hazy. They would both be a trek to get to (esp. U-H); there’s plenty to do in DC without them. While I agree that G’town isn’t really considered “hip” anymore, teenage girls seem to like it. I agree that Adams Morgan is more hip now (and the area around Verizon Center too.) If you’re around Verizon Center there are a lot of good places to eat; one of our favorites is Jaleo (a tapas restaurant owned by celeb chef Jose Andreas.) I love the Newseum too; they often have promotions for discounted tickets, so I’d check about that.
As for the weather - I lived and worked in NYC and have lived in the DC area for the past 20+ years. I remember hot, sticky NY summer days; DC is usually worse (but not this weekend…it’s lovely here!) :)</p>
<p>I like the restaurant Founding Farmers it is near GWU. It has all natural foods, but awesome. fried green tomatoes is a favorite. you will need reservations. I second the monuments at night.</p>
<p>You might be able to get a Pentagon tour, and could definitely hit Arlington Cemetery (tomb of the unknown soldier, jfk eternal flame, etc)</p>
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<p>hey, we just got Discovery!</p>
<p>Udvar Hazy is super cool, but I agree with other posters that it is a bit too far from DC to hit on a 3 day trip</p>
<p>Best meal I’ve had in DC is diagonally across from the Spy Museum. Mediterranean small plates: [Zaytinya</a> — innovative Turkish, Greek and Lebanese cuisine in Washington, DC](<a href=“http://www.zaytinya.com/]Zaytinya”>http://www.zaytinya.com/) I also agree Adams Morgan for hip/funky, not Georgetown which is tourists and old rich people. My favorite museum in DC is the Phillips Collection, smaller collections, Renoir’s Boating Party, my favorite Diebenkorns, all in a lovely setting and not too big and overwhelming! [The</a> Phillips Collection](<a href=“http://www.phillipscollection.org/]The”>http://www.phillipscollection.org/) I was never as taken with the exhibits at the Folger as mythmom, but if they have plays there, it’s a wonderful tiny theater. First place I saw* Twelfth Night,* my favorite Shakespeare play. The Arena theater also has excellent productions and is a much nicer place to see theater than the Kennedy Center.</p>
<p>In three days in DC we did Arlington National Cemetary for the change of guard, Udvar-Hazy, toured the Capitol building and Pentagon, National Archives and all the monuments through the length of the mall. All that in two days, as a full day was spent participating in the regional JROTC drill competition! </p>
<p>FWIW, I think little kids would be bored touring the Capitol.</p>
<p>It took us most of the day to visit the Udvar-Hazy, not counting the long trip out there. Personally, I could spend three days on the Mall.</p>