<p>OK, so I think I will be getting a free flight on SWA pretty soon and would like to use it as part of a Bday present for h. (late May/early June) He loves civil war stuff, me not so much. Am thinking of flying us to BWI and then doing the DC bits (museums, monuments and other de rigor sites) and Gettysburg is #1 on his list. Would also like suggestion of “shouldn’t miss” places in the area. Am thinking of being there 7-10 days. We would be renting a car. Any special lodging, restaurant or other suggestions welcome. We are outdoor/science/natural history fans as well. Not really interested in sports venues or extravagant night life 
Thanks</p>
<p>The presidents’ estates near DC are not to be missed. Mount Vernon, Monticello, Montpelier, and Ashlawn-Highland were all amazing. I’d also suggest staying in Virginia for part of the trip. DC traffic is rough! You don’t want to waste time driving back and forth. </p>
<p>We stayed in the Hotel George in DC. It was reasonable, and incredibly comfortable.</p>
<p>I would highly recommend you use the Metro rail system. Getting around DC by car is very difficult and expensive. I recommend the Smithsonian, the National Mall, International Spy Museum, U.S. Congress, and Dupont Circle.</p>
<p>[Metro</a> - Home page](<a href=“http://www.wmata.com/]Metro”>http://www.wmata.com/)</p>
<p>If you stay in the area for 10 days…and depending on how much car travel you want to do…you might want to look into visiting Petersburg VA. Opposite direction from Gettysburg…unfortunately…but lots of interesting Civil War stuff:</p>
<p>[Petersburg</a> National Battlefield (U.S. National Park Service)](<a href=“http://www.nps.gov/pete/]Petersburg”>Petersburg National Battlefield (U.S. National Park Service))</p>
<p>Certain tours now need to be reserved, White house, and perhaps better tours of Capitol. Best to get in touch with your congressional rep to get tickets in advance. Other things to see: National Zoo, National Cathedral, Kennedy Center, Rock Creek Park, Georgetown (the University and the general area), monuments (Lincoln, Jefferson, Washington, Vietnam Memorial), Arlington National Cemetery (take tram tour), Old town Alexandria, US Supreme Court, Folger Shakespeare Library, Library of Congress, National Archives.</p>
<p>Harper’s Ferry is wonderful. It is set up in the mountains between two rivers, so it has beautiful scenic views. there is also tubing. And for your Civil War buff the historical sites are very evocative and interesting. I have gone since I was a girl and watched the political views of the museums change. Now they even have one about the life story of the raiders and other abolitionists. It is so wonderful I try to go every year.</p>
<p>Be careful about Madison’s home. Last time I went it was in the middle of a major renovation and it was little more than a gutted shell. So check first before you go.</p>
<p>Monticello is definately worth a daytrip. Be sure to take the extra tours about the lives of the slaves as well as the mansion tour. This is another location that has really changed its’ tours with the times.</p>
<p>Oh, I forgot. For the Civil War fan be sure to see Antietem. My son and his friend liked this a lot better than Gettysburg. The tour was really good.</p>
<p>Since you aren’t traveling for a bit, contact your congressman’s office about tour tickets to the White House, US Capital, Bureau of Engraving, etc.</p>
<p>Also, as you’ll have a car and are history fans, are you interested in a day trip to Colonial Williamsburg?</p>
<p>Thanks much for all the replies. I’ll put them on a list so birthday boy can have some picks. Any highly recommended hiking areas nearby?</p>
<p>The Metro in DC is not cheap. Good only for downtown areas if you’re a visitor; not great for exploring outside of the downtown area. A car is a good idea (but not downtown).</p>
<p>Since you are landing at BWI, you might want to go to Baltimore for your first night. You can see the fabulous aquarium at the Inner Harbor, the Edgar Allan Poe house ([Edgar</a> Allan Poe House and Museum](<a href=“http://www.ci.baltimore.md.us/government/historic/poehouse.php]Edgar”>http://www.ci.baltimore.md.us/government/historic/poehouse.php)), the original Washington Monument, and perhaps either Homewood House ([Johns</a> Hopkins University Museums | Homewood Museum](<a href=“http://www.jhu.edu/~hwdhouse/homewood.html]Johns”>http://www.jhu.edu/~hwdhouse/homewood.html)) or Mount Clare ([Mount</a> Clare Museum House](<a href=“http://www.mountclare.org/]Mount”>http://www.mountclare.org/)) before heading to DC, stopping along the way to see one or more of the following: Surratt House ([Surratt</a> House Museum/John Wilkes Booth/Abraham Lincoln/Civil War/Assassination/Mary Surratt](<a href=“http://www.surratt.org/]Surratt”>http://www.surratt.org/)), Belair ([Belair</a> Mansion (Bowie, Maryland) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belair_Mansion]Belair”>Belair Mansion - Wikipedia)), Montpelier ([Montpelier</a> Mansion](<a href=“http://www.pgparks.com/places/eleganthistoric/montpelier_intro.html]Montpelier”>http://www.pgparks.com/places/eleganthistoric/montpelier_intro.html)), or Clara Barton House ([Clara</a> Barton National Historic Site (U.S. National Park Service)](<a href=“http://www.nps.gov/clba/]Clara”>Clara Barton National Historic Site (U.S. National Park Service))).</p>
<p>If that’s too many houses and you’d rather see quirky little sites like the Huntington Railroad Museum ([Huntington</a> Railroad Museum](<a href=“http://mysite.verizon.net/n3szw/rrmuseum/rr.html]Huntington”>http://mysite.verizon.net/n3szw/rrmuseum/rr.html)) or gardens and a nature center such as Brookside Gardens ([Montgomery</a> Parks: Public Gardens - Brookside Gardens](<a href=“http://www.mc-mncppc.org/parks/brookside/]Montgomery”>http://www.mc-mncppc.org/parks/brookside/)), there are plenty of such places between Baltimore and DC, or close enough to the drive between them to see.</p>
<p>Once in DC, plan for several days for monuments and museums, including the museums listed in previous posts and the Museum of the American Indian (eat elsewhere, however; their cafeteria is expensive), the Korean War (and oh, if you must, the WWII one, too, but it is Stalinesque in design and execution) and Roosevelt memorials. </p>
<p>You’ll have to go to Ford’s Theater and the house where Lincoln died, I suspect, for your H (so of the houses listed above, you might want to make sure to see the Surratt House even if you don’t go to the others), for the Lincoln tie-in, and the African American Civil War Memorial (<a href=“http://www.afroamcivilwar.org/[/url]”>http://www.afroamcivilwar.org/</a>), too.</p>
<p>Antietam and Gettysburg are easy drives from DC. You might want to spend a night or two in Shepherdstown, WV, which is a charming little town in its own right and is convenient to Antietam, or in Sharpsburg. I haven’t stayed here yet ([Antietam</a> Bed and Breakfast, Jacob Rohrbach Inn, Sharpsburg, Maryland, Since 1804](<a href=“http://www.jacob-rohrbach-inn.com/]Antietam”>http://www.jacob-rohrbach-inn.com/)), but I have stayed here ([Bavarian</a> Inn Shepherstown WV](<a href=“http://www.bavarianinnwv.com/]Bavarian”>http://www.bavarianinnwv.com/)).</p>
<p>Hiking… Rock Creek Park is lovely, has great trails, and is right in DC. (You’ll be hiking plenty, too, just doing museums and monuments.) The National Zoo is in Rock Creek Park. A little south of DC is Huntley Meadows, which is excellent for birdwatching, and easy to do either on the way to or from Mount Vernon. It has mixed habitat: mature woods leading to wetlands, with a boardwalk over the wetlands. There’s also the C&O Canal for a flat, easy, long trail. If you head north, you could also hike on Sugarloaf ([Sugarloaf</a> Mtn., Dickerson, MD](<a href=“http://www.sugarloafmd.com/]Sugarloaf”>http://www.sugarloafmd.com/)), a privately-owned mountain (not very high, mind you; these is Maryland, after all!) with good trails. </p>
<p>Oh, heck, also the Catoctin Mountains, home of Camp David, are good for hiking. Very pretty area with good trails. There is a National Park ([Catoctin</a> Mountain Park (U.S. National Park Service)](<a href=“http://www.nps.gov/cato/]Catoctin”>Catoctin Mountain Park (U.S. National Park Service))) and a Maryland park ([Cunningham</a> Falls State Park Trail Guide](<a href=“http://www.dnr.state.md.us/publiclands/cunninghamguide.html]Cunningham”>http://www.dnr.state.md.us/publiclands/cunninghamguide.html)) for good scenery and hiking. There’s even a little private zoo in the area at which someone (who worked there) was badly mauled by a cat recently.</p>
<p>And of course you can walk battlefields, too!</p>
<p>I haven’t been since it reopened but I think the Newseum was most worthwhile and I would like to get back and see it again.</p>
<p>I always stay at a Holiday Inn on Wisconsin Ave. in Chevy Chase. It has a nice restaurant, free parking and free Internet. Free parking is not negligible in DC. Sometimes I have spent more on parking that on the rental car. It is very near a metro stop so you can easily use that while in DC without having to find another place to park. There are great restaurants of all ethnicities nearby as well as a nice little shopping center.</p>
<p>Also in Baltimore to add to what Owlice recommended - a long time ago I went to the B&O Railroad museum which is good if you’ve ever played monopoly - [Baltimore</a> & Ohio Railroad Museum](<a href=“http://www.borail.org/]Baltimore”>http://www.borail.org/)</p>
<p>Seven to ten days traveling Washington DC and Civil War battlefields? You must love your husband VERY much!!! (I gave my wife three days of shopping one Christmas. I almost ruined our marriage.)</p>
<p>I can hardly believe no one has suggested visiting Robert E. Lee’s plantation, now known as Arlington National Cemetery. If you enjoy people-watching there’s no better place than the Mall IMHO.</p>
<p>Everyone has given you good suggestions. My boys won’t go anywhere but the Air and Space Museum and the Spy Museum. Folger Theater will be putting on Arcadia May-June, I thought it was great when I saw it a few years ago in NY. Zaytina’s across from the Spy Museum is one of the best restaurants I’ve been to in the last five years: [Zaytinya:</a> authentic mezze in Washington, DC](<a href=“http://www.zaytinya.com/]Zaytinya:”>http://www.zaytinya.com/)</p>
<p>I think all the monuments and memorials are kind of boring, but love the elegant simplicity of the Vietnam Memorial.</p>
<p>Personally (and most of my group of about 50) thought that the tour of the White House was boring. All we did was walked through it, no guide. The tour of the Capitol building was better.
Maybe see something at the Kennedy Center, or maybe Ford’s Theatre?
Oh, If you are going to see the monuments near the mall, go when they are all lit up at night. (Although it is harder to get pictures, if you are really into photo)</p>
<p>The spy museum seemed geared for overhyped video game players to us…
Stay an entire day or two on the Mall period. You can’t take it all in and it is free. The lunch between the two National Art Galleries is enough to tide you through pleasantly.<br>
I stay in the Kimpton hotels…preferably the George…or if you want a neighborhood with good restaurants safe to walk to that are not deserted at night…stay in Dupont Circle’s 2 Kimpton hotel properties. Dupont Circle has a metro station that is easy access to the Smithsonian stops…if you stay at the Holiday Inn Smithsonian…you will be couped up at night… deserted area at night …so although there is a Holiday Inn right near the Smithsonian…you really have to leave the area in the evening to eat well…might as well stay in Dupont Circle for sleeping.<br>
To fully experience the DC historical sites, you must leave the Mall and relocate a couple of times. Don’t skip Arlington Cemetery. Don’t skip Mount Vernon. Monticello is 100% worth the night in Charlottesville two hours away…so authentic…and I never tire of being there. Annapolis is hugely gorgeous to stroll for a couple for a night, and more accessible than Baltimore for a Chesapeake and sailboat view. So is Old Town Alexandria…for strolling and a real charming feel and ambience…good hotels and restaurants there too.
Re Battlefields. It is true that if you like scenery, the Harpers Ferry/Antietam route is very visual…I just let the boys drop me off in Frederick MD while they do the battlefield…it is full of antique stores and very charming. Re Gettysburg and Antietam…we always pay for a private guide. They pass tons of exams, get in your car, and then you actually know what you are looking at…much better than self guided no matter how much you think you know. There is a Hampton in Frederick MD that is one of those upscale places where we did the Antietam/Frederick weekend. The Loews in Annapolis is worth the location location location.<br>
In Dupont Circle DC…you will find two small scale pleasures…a great small art museum you can see in one hour…and Woodrow Wilson’s final home…so charming and on a human scale. Monticello…is one of the wonders of the nation in my opinion…very ethereal views and much to ponder there.</p>
<p>These suggestions are better than any I could have found on tripadvisor or any other site. Thanks mucho. :)</p>
<p>mathmom, H and I were in DC last fall and ate at Zaytinya -I second your recommendation. We went with another couple and got all sorts of different dishes to try. It was outstanding.</p>