<p>The Smithsonians are fabulous. Air and Space Museum is our fave. Also the National Art Gallery, and the Smithie that has all of the First Ladies gowns, White House China etc. Go see what we pay for!!</p>
<p>I believe that you can walk into the Supreme Court and U.S.Capitol, but will need to make arrangements in advance fo a White House tour and a cuppa with GWB</p>
<p>If you like history and planes, there is the new Udar-Hazey museum out towards Dulles Airport. They have flying machines from original aircrafts up to a space shuttle indoors. Parking is 12.00, admission is free.</p>
<p>
Don’t ya just love free enterprise??? “FREE— with a $5 donation…”</p>
<p>There’s a shuttle stop for the udar-hazey center in front of the main air and space museum in dc. Unfortunately, tickets are $12…per person (round trip).</p>
<p>If you love a good burger, stop by the Beacon’s Bar and Grill on Rhode Island Ave, NW, by Dupont Circle and Embassy Row. It’s right by the Peruvian Embassy.</p>
<p>Best burger I’ve ever had. But, go on Sundays and make the deal even better! Half off!</p>
<p>I recommend the Georgetown Suites:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.georgetownsuites.com/[/url]”>http://www.georgetownsuites.com/</a></p>
<p>They are about a 10 minute walk from the Foggy Bottom Metro stop, and in the thick of Georgetown (about a 5 minute walk from the waterfront).</p>
<p>They provide an ample contintental breakfast. Dean & DeLuca is within walking distance, which can make for a nice dinner in your suite – if you don’t want to eat out.</p>
<p>The FBI no longer provides tours :(</p>
<p>Since July is hot, it might be pleasant to take the boat trip to Mount Vernon.</p>
<p>Also, we visited the Air & Space Museum in April, and it was a ZOO. The woman in the gift shop said that the summer is even worse, which I simply cannot imagine.</p>
<p>So, if you go to the Smithsonian, Zoo and other free attractions, you might want to be there as soon as it opens or at 4pm when I would hope the worst of the crowds would have dispersed.</p>
<p>If you are on a tighter budget:
We’ve stayed at the Best Western Rosslyn. Free parking if you are driving to DC); Walking distance (across the bridge) to Georgetown; and 1 block from the Metro (about 3-4 stops from the Mall). Weekend rates are even more reduced as Rosslyn is primarily a “business” area. Basic accomodations, but clean and a free continental breakfast. There’s also a Holiday Inn across the street.</p>
<p>If you have time, visit the Hirshhorn museum–including the sculpture garden. It is an oft overlooked museum with some fanastic exhibits. <a href=“http://hirshhorn.si.edu/[/url]”>http://hirshhorn.si.edu/</a></p>
<p>The hotel to tempt Mr Champagne might be The Hay Adams. I love it because you can take easy late night strolls around the White House and guess who is coming and going…</p>
<p>*Located on Lafayette Square across from the White House, the Hay-Adams in Washington, D.C., offers accommodations at one of Washington’s most prestigious addresses, with views of the White House, Lafayette Square and St.John’s Church, the “church of the presidents.” Named to the prestigious Institutional Investor 2004 World’s Best Hotels list, the Hay-Adams is just minutes from the Smithsonian, the Washington Monument and the Mall.
Built in 1928 and renovated in 2002, this classic hotel takes its name from John Hay, private assistant to President Abraham Lincoln and later secretary of state, and Henry Adams, an acclaimed author and descendant of U.S. Presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams. The 145-room hotel features 20 suites, some with views of Lafayette Park and the White House. All guestrooms combine heritage and luxury with contemporary comfort and technology. Guestrooms include ornamental fireplaces, intricately carved plaster ceilings, tailored upholstery, marble bathrooms with brass fixtures, Frette Italian bed linens and exclusive Etro bath amenities. * <a href=“http://www.quikbook.com/getprofile.asp?code=1234&market=63[/url]”>http://www.quikbook.com/getprofile.asp?code=1234&market=63</a></p>
<p>Hi The Dad:
Quikbook.com has good rates on good DC hotels. Be careful though…many of their listings have only one bed. Check tripadvisor.com for recent patrons comments at all of them.<br>
I live in Virginia. We prefer to stay in Dupont Circle hotels. Why? Lively at night…surburbanites come in to cheap ethnic and pricey restaurants, plenty of college kids, great small art museum, little Woodrow Wilson final home, tromp around and see all the Embassys. Dupont Circle metro stop is central. Many DC areas are dead after 6pm downtown.
Alexandria has ambiance for strolling and dining but no good Metro stop so it is really not ideal.
Jury’s Dupont Circle metro stop hotels are cheaper and nice standard fare…Irish.
Another coup is the Loews Smithsonian L’Enfant…with lovely views of the Smithsonian if you ask. The Enfant Metro stop is near a gate to the Mall. I prefer this because of weekend rates in a rather vacant office block and the quality of the rooms for when we merely want to spend the entire day walking the galleries and museums. Downside is there is no neighborhood places to eat after the office workers retreat. Upside is the perfect walking location hotel…no stress. Park and walk till time to leave the city.
We just did a three night spring break trip to Gettysburg, Antietam and Harpers Ferry. I have specific hotel and guide names if you want to PM. The Antietam guide is private and out of this world qualified and gives 100%. Again, it is easy to miss the heart of the place without a guide. The Gettysburg guides are tested and approved by the Park Service…few are chosen though many try to take the exams and pass the elocution standards. Our guides only worked with our family and made all the difference.
Monticello should never be a rush visit. The grounds are wonderful. Try not to go on a rainy day so you can see the vistas of Albemarle County from there. Arrive early if you want a place. It is my favorite spot in the entire state…never tire of it. Only an hour from Richmond. For your schedule, I would prefer a night in Richmond followed by a night in Charlottesville. Lexington is also breathtakingly authentic and charming with Wash and Lee and VMI and streets that are used often in films.
Wmsburg takes more commitment to get past the tourist factor and find its heart than the time allotted. If you insist on Wmsburg for only a day, go with a guided tour. Many of the attractions are very modest and easy to pass by without grasping their simple charms. Jamestown has some very exciting new finds. Wmsburg and Jamestown really need the entire 2 days.</p>
<p>Yeah, forgot Harper’s Ferry! Very cool and lovely, lots of history, lots of shops, beautiful views - go tubing on the river if it’s warm enough.</p>
<p>I’ll have to save a copy of all of these suggestions! I saved all of the CC suggestions of fun things to do in New York City–and when I finally made it to NYC, I really had a great time. Now to get to Washington, DC…</p>
<p>This is all terrific. Thank you all so much and keep 'em coming. I will print them out.</p>
<p>Faline, when we did the Mid-Atlantic college trip during D’s junior year, we got up to Gettysburg for the 15 minutes long enough for D to eliminate Gettysburg College as a Safety possibility and then and went and took the battlefield tour. Oh my.</p>
<p>I’m not particularly superstitious but when we were at the point from which Pickett’s Charge departed, I started marching towards the Union lines at a Civil War “advance” pace, imagining that I was holding a musket a port arms as the Union batteries opened up. I could swear that I heard the ghosts murmuring as the light breeze stirred the leaves on the ground and made the tree branches of the cover behind me tremble.</p>
<p>Later in the day, we ended the tour at the Angle. It was twilight and I was standing just yards from where Colonel Armisted fell. Again, very very spooky.</p>
<p>One of the next presents I intend to reward myself with when occasion warrants, unless TheMom beats me to it, is the boxed DVD of the Ken Burns Civil War series.</p>
<p>I’m a thinking TheMom and I might see Bull Run and Fredericksburg and/or Antietam this trip. She says she grew up in a midwestern state but calls it “Manassas.” Feh. Of course, it wasn’t until she got to college that she tripped over the fact that the Protestant Revolt was more commonly called the Reformation, so go figure.</p>
<p>===</p>
<p>I’d like to see both W&M and UVA but I anticipate that I might run into a little resistance from TheMom and TheD to feeding my “college obession.” I don’t know if I can tempt TheMom with the notion that UVA is the second best comp (after U/Michigan) to UCLA.</p>
<p>I’m going to have to remember to pack every short sleeve shirt I have…not all that many. Washington in July is just miserable…last time we were there it was a beautiful April with spectacular cherry blossoms.</p>
<p>The last time I went to Antietam, they had a tape (probably by now they have cassettes) that you could put into your car for a self-guided tour. It was so well done that we bought a copy to keep for our next visit.</p>
<p>As for UVA, there are reasons to visit there besides feeding a college obsession–the beautiful serpentine walls, the Poe room…</p>
<p>And–since I always take visiting friends and relatives here–the Freer Gallery (on the Mall in the vicinity of the Smithsonian buildings) has what is arguably the most beautiful room in American, the Peacock Room. It’s easy enough to just walk in and see it and walk out again. Sometimes they have live peacocks in the courtyard too…</p>
<p>And I don’t think anyone has mentioned the National Arboretum. The herb garden in particular usually looks wonderful in the summer.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Miserable’s a nice way of putting it.</p>
<p>worst moment ever as a tourist in DC…well, maybe the fourth of July after 9/11 when we were all on the lawn on the Mall waiting for the fireworks to begin (new security measures included being searched and being fenced in) which was a bit claustrophobic…and we heard the roar of airplane engines that should not have been in that airspace. All eyes watch planes as quiet descends on the crowd.
Ok…that was just collective nerves</p>
<p>real worst moment
Same July.
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. On the hour, silence fell and the crowd respectfully began to watch a Changing of the Guard.
The idiot mother behind us let her 8 year old play his Game boy the whole time. With the volume on up loud. Ignored all glares, hints and shhhhs.</p>
<p>at that moment, I felt my nation’s future was sort of looking shaky.</p>
<p>Here’s a vote for Fredericksburg, I think it is the most haunting, even more so than Gettysburg. There are so many photos taken after the battle, you can stand in the same spot as the photographer, and you feel as if you are there. The Wilderness is an interesting off the beaten path one - the thickets are much as they were. My favorite, though is the Crater, if you go through Richmond, stop in P’burg at the Crater - such an amazing and sad story.</p>
<p>Another vote for the FBI - my family minus me has been and thought it was great. The new Native American museum is impressive as well.</p>
<p>July may not be bad - I went to the fireworks once in the late 80s and the weather was perfect, just about 80 and low humidity - just depends.</p>
<p>I live 10 miles from DC and here are some places to check out:</p>
<ol>
<li>Smithsonian meuseum of American History…it is closing down Labor Day (until 2008) It is one of the best (if not THE best smithsonian meuseum in DC).</li>
</ol>
<p>2.If you don’t mind walking the DC memorials are great. WWI (very small, not a national memorial), WWII, Vietnam, Korea, Lincoln memorial, Jefferson memorial.</p>
<ol>
<li>I know you mentioned going to the holacoust meusum a few years back, but it is constantly chanding (for example: the meuseum just opened an exhibit on the genocide in Darfur and Mengalah’s genetics)</li>
</ol>
<p>4.National Galley of Art- A new exhibit on rennisance art is opening up.</p>
<ol>
<li>The treasury gives tours, but you need tickets (which I believe are free on a first come first serve basis).</li>
</ol>
<p>I’m sorry to say the newseum wont be open until some time in early 2007.</p>
<p>TheDad~if you are coming around the 4th of July there is a Civil War Reenactment at Gettysburg every year–really amazing!!! Otherwise I would have to agree with some others that Fredricksburg is a great Civil War site!! Try to go out there in the morning (you’ll be going against the traffic!)</p>
<p>I didn’t see that anyone has suggested Mount Vernon–it’s wonderful and can take several hours if you see everything. They also have a nice restaurant!!</p>
<p>If you do go to UVA you have to go out to Monticello (Jefferson’s home), which is also wonderful, and lots to do and see!</p>
<p>Ford’s Theater has great exhibits and the Park Rangers are excellent at telling the story of the Lincoln Assassination–don’t forget to visit the house across the street where Lincoln died.</p>
<p>We occasionally stay in the District (just for a Mom/Dad night out!), and love the Marriott on the Georgetown campus–but we love walking around Georgetown!! Another great place to stay is the Hyatt on New Jersey Ave., just a couple of blocks from the Hill. You walk out, and there’s the Dome!! It’s probably a more convenient hotel to get to museums, etc. by metro. It is also very close to one of our favorite restaurants/bars–The Dubliner. They have great food, and frequently have live Irish music. Another fave restaurant–Old Ebbitt Grill. We never get tired of that menu!</p>
<p>And…the Washington Nationals play at RFK Stadium–we love baseball on a summer’s evening! You can get cheap upper deck seats, and the metro stop is Stadium/Armory!</p>
<p>Have fun–there’s always something going on in DC!!</p>
<p>One hint about Georgetown–easier to find parking during the day than the evenings. Also restaurants are not as crowded.</p>
<p>A couple things in the Tidewater (east of Williamsburg) area no one has mentioned:</p>
<p>The “ghost ship” fleet on the James River is accessed via Fort Eustis. We visited last sometime post 9/11 and only had to present a drivers license for access to the base;</p>
<p>Fort Monroe in Hampton is surrounded by a moat, which is unique for the US Military. Houses a museum too.</p>
<p>Okay, the reservations have been made. Thank you, all.</p>
<p>We’re going in and out of D.C., one night/four nights/one night, with separate excursions to the Outer Banks and Williamsburg/Monticello.</p>
<p>One night: Hay-Adams hotel (champagne TheDad)
Four nights: Georgetown Suites
One night: Hotel Washington, two rooms</p>
<p>One of the $$$-saving features is that all except the Hay-Adams have complimentary breakfast. The two nights in Williamsburg have a “free” full breakfast, not even continental, in the package deal.</p>
<p>The one provocation was on the air side, where D’s one-way ticket is costing more than our round-trip tickets. I thought that practice had been squeezed out…</p>