Non-hunting vacation- Washington, DC

[Beignet]

Oh, one more from me. Stop into the National Archives to show your kids our nation's founding documents. No reason to see the full museum, in my opinion. Just budget 45 minutes or so to see the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights. It's right on the north side of Constitution Ave, across from the Mall if you're headed toward the Capitol from the White House. Easy to squeeze in as part of a bigger day down there.

Not sure if you live someplace with pro baseball or if you and your kids even care, but maybe worth catching an evening 'Nats game if the schedule lines up and you're all not pooped from walking around so much. Fun ballpark and the tickets are usually cheap cause they stink.

 

[Akcabin]

I've been there a few times. The Smithsonian is Great. But spending all day in museums with kids, ok. It's all on the strip. When you go see our national flag and Nam memorials bring a tissue. Great history there.
Walk around the capital. Me n beautiful wife made out on the front lawn just for kicks.
The memorial, Lincoln. You will feel different in this building, just something about it. Sit on the steps n just watch. Have an ice cream.
The soldiers memorials seem special also, take your time. You can look up relatives names that served
In WWII.
The architecture of the buildings is beautiful. Good food if you get a few blocks away from the strip.
I went for a walk one evening. Went to look at the chiefs house. Was going to walk around the back side. There was a gate there open so I strolled on in down the sidewalk. Had a nice walk. Gate at the other end was closed so I walked back n to the hotel. Told my beautiful wife about my nice walk. Took her back the next day to show her n it's all locked up with lots of threatening signs. That's probably closed now.
Watching the chief leave the house n all the hoopla. Don't be next to the curb .
The plaza is beautiful with the cherry blossoms.

 

[FamilyMan]

I was able to visit and spend adequate time at each of the following in one day (about 6 or 8 hours): Washington Monument, World War II Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Korean War Veterans Memorial, FDR Memorial (briefly – my least favorite), Thomas Jefferson Memorial, Boy Scout Memorial.

Mind you, I was there in November when the crowds were very light. You will have lots of crowds in June which will slow you down considerably. There are a few scooter rental options (I used Lime) that make getting around much faster than on foot. Cost a little, but worth it to me – without the scooter there is no way I would have gotten to all these memorials in one day.

There are also a lot of museums along the National Mall and you will want to pick a couple to visit that interests your family most. Many are free. I was impressed by the Natural History Museum, much less so by the National Museum of American History. My personal favorite was Ford’s Theater, but to each their own.

Regarding Arlington, definitely go, but don’t expect too much from the (expensive) tour bus. It is sort of like “off to your right, that large stone over there (surrounded by lots of other large stones) is President Garfield, now look to your left…” I expected much more from the tour. They do allow you to get off and walk around, which is nice. The two highlights of the tour for me were the Tomb of the Unknow Soldier (expect to have to wait for a changing of the guard ceremony and expect lots of people) and the Arlington House.

Those are my reflections from a recent brief visit. I hope you and your family have a great time!

(If you are planning to drive while you are there, watch out! The street networks are a mess and the drivers are crazy. I strongly suggest having a copilot with GPS experience and excellent communication skills.)

 

[bennett454]

The natural history Museum is good, as is the Museum of the American Indian. Dc Zoo is free as well. Don't be afraid to take the Metro especially the Red line. And take the kids for Jumbo Slice pizza! +1 the Gettysburg Day trip especially with this being the 160th anniversary. Have fun!

 

[mottlet]

I lived in DC till 2017 when the wife and I moved to the 'burbs. Still in town for work most weeks till Covid and virtual became the thing. I say that to say I may not be as current as I once was, but happy to tell what I know via PM.

There's more in this thread than you can dream of doing, so I won't add much. Just say that being prepared to walk is a good idea, but don't overdo it. June could be delightful or it could be miserable. Don't ruin a whole afternoon by getting too hot, which is easy to do if you aren't used to the heat/humidity. And I wouldn't try and do more than two museums a day MAX. Ideally, you'd pick a couple and spend a day in each. Eat at an Ethiopian restaurant at least once while you're here.

 

[Benfromalbuquerque]

Arlington and Vietnam Veteran’s wall so they can observe the gravity of how so many came to rest. Try and get the kids up on Lincoln’s lap for a photo before the Capitol police chase you away. Baltimore, Maryland is always having crab festivals. I went to one dozen years back that was mind blowing fun! https://www.baltimoremagazine.com/microsite/crab-fest/

 

[D_Walt]

I lived in DC till 2017 when the wife and I moved to the 'burbs. Still in town for work most weeks till Covid and virtual became the thing. I say that to say I may not be as current as I once was, but happy to tell what I know via PM.

There's more in this thread than you can dream of doing, so I won't add much. Just say that being prepared to walk is a good idea, but don't overdo it. June could be delightful or it could be miserable. Don't ruin a whole afternoon by getting too hot, which is easy to do if you aren't used to the heat/humidity. And I wouldn't try and do more than two museums a day MAX. Ideally, you'd pick a couple and spend a day in each. Eat at an Ethiopian restaurant at least once while you're here.

I was just looking through all the options and thoughts that have been thrown out and there is definitely way more than we can do. Not to worried about the heat, we live in San Antonio and spend most of our weekends and free time on a ranch outside of Laredo, so we’re pretty used to the heat. Never even heard of Ethiopian food as it’s own category, but I’m game.

 

[nwihunter]

I’ve been to D.C. twice, once with each of my sons on their high school senior trip. Their teacher was an avid cyclist and put together a trip where all of the kids broke their bikes down, boxed them up, and we took the Amtrak from Southbend Indiana to DC. The trip awesome, the kids loved it. We stayed near China town and biked everywhere. Bikes are absolutely the way to go.

Things to do:

Smithsonians, several to see. Air and space was my favorite
Ford theatre, very cool
The Newseum, doesn’t take to long to see but it is definately worth it.
American history museum. I think that’s what it’s called. It has Declaration of
Independence, the manga carta, and the original American flag. Plus a lot of
historic pop culture kinda stuff.
Holocaust museum, you need time to spend in this one.
Capital building, get tickets ahead of time
Washington monument
Mount Vernon, we rode the bikes there the first trip. Over 20 miles one way I believe.
Second trip we took a train I believe
Washington Nationals game
Baltimore Oriels game
The Mall. This is fun to ride a or walk around day or night.
All the monuments, there are a lot of them
Arlington
Georgetown, we ran up and down the stairs where the priest was pushed down in the
movie the Exorcist. Ok not a huge deal but it is pretty cool.


I am sure I’m missing a lot of things we did. The bikes did make the trip a lot of fun and was really the best way to get around and see everything. You could walk a lot it of but you’d be spending a lot of time walking.

 

[D_Walt]

I’ve been to D.C. twice, once with each of my sons on their high school senior trip. Their teacher was an avid cyclist and put together a trip where all of the kids broke their bikes down, boxed them up, and we took the Amtrak from Southbend Indiana to DC. The trip awesome, the kids loved it. We stayed near China town and biked everywhere. Bikes are absolutely the way to go.

Things to do:

Smithsonians, several to see. Air and space was my favorite
Ford theatre, very cool
The Newseum, doesn’t take to long to see but it is definately worth it.
American history museum. I think that’s what it’s called. It has Declaration of
Independence, the manga carta, and the original American flag. Plus a lot of
historic pop culture kinda stuff.
Holocaust museum, you need time to spend in this one.
Capital building, get tickets ahead of time
Washington monument
Mount Vernon, we rode the bikes there the first trip. Over 20 miles one way I believe.
Second trip we took a train I believe
Washington Nationals game
Baltimore Oriels game
The Mall. This is fun to ride a or walk around day or night.
All the monuments, there are a lot of them
Arlington
Georgetown, we ran up and down the stairs where the priest was pushed down in the
movie the Exorcist. Ok not a huge deal but it is pretty cool.


I am sure I’m missing a lot of things we did. The bikes did make the trip a lot of fun and was really the best way to get around and see everything. You could walk a lot it off but you’d be spending a lot of time walking.

The bikes are a cool twist!

 

[HuntTalk Freak]

I was lucky enough to visit twenty years ago so I don’t know what it’s like now. I cried at Arlington and the WW2 and Vietnam Wall. I was with a Vietnam veteran at the wall whom I later found out sponsored me for the trip; high school senior trip. My grandfather also did two tours in Nam so it was special for me.

The Smithsonian’s were great. I love museums and history.

It was also the first time I saw homeless people, street walking hookers and leather clad homosexuals waking amongst the general public, that was later at night when a few of us would sneak out though.

I waited in line for the White House but they ran out of tickets.

Visited Frederick Douglas’ house.
The Holocaust Museum
Roamed around the outside of the senate building, etc.

I have no idea what it’s like now, always wanted to go back someday.

 

[WoodMoose]

Anyone taken their kids (or not) and have any Recommendations, especially time wise?

I've taken my kids and grandkids there - folks have pretty much covered most/all of the regular attractions (concur with Zoo is a must)

I do have one recommendation if you are a "foody" at all - there are some great ethnic restaurants in the DC area - most are Metro accessible. We have eaten Himalyan, Belgian, Chinese (real, not the buffet places), etc