DC vacation ideas?

[Skylane81E]

No, you barley scratch the surface.

My favorite part is still the food, I love walking down the sidewalk in the right parts of DC metro and letting my nose pick dinner!

 

[X3 Skier]

As others have said, METRO is fantastic.

You could do worse than just walking the Mall and see all the Museums / Monuments there. One of particular interest to me is the WWII Memorial and I try and take time to thank the Vets who waited a long time for it to be built and are visiting the site.

The Capitol Tour via your Representative or Senators is very nice. I even got to sit in the Gallery for a Senatorial "debate" which absolutely was the most boring thing I have ever watched. Having been to Question Time in both the UK and Canada, it is like watching t-ball vs the Seventh Game of the World Series. OTOH, a Hearing on a controversial item can be a little better.

Cheers

 

[Matthew]

Unfortunately, there was a lot of construction going on near the WWII memorial. The whole reflecting pool in front of the Lincoln memorial is being rebuilt. That led to some detours and detracted from the looks of the whole layout.

I think a trip to DC is something you have do to once, then you can know what you are in for and can plan a second trip to take in some things more in depth or behind the scenes.

 

[flyingron]

Here's another tourist tip: do not under any circumstances eat in the museum cafeterias...way overpriced and crappy food (American Indian museum is an exception to the crappy food part, but still expensive). The dirty water dog vendors aren't generally much better. A better bet is to hit the nearby food trucks. A block a way from Air and Space...7th St NW, between independence and Maryland Ave is a popular congrating spot. You can find all the locations at www.foodtruckfiesta.com

The Smithsonian cafeterias have gone to standard McDonald's and the like, so you're just paying premium prices for fast food. Another option if you're on the south side of the mall is to walk down to Maine Avenue if you like seafood.
Union Station has some decent sit down restaurants and a decent food court. A smaller food court at the Old Post Office building.

If you're an associate member of the Smithsonian, the lunch deal at the Castle isn't too bad.

 

[Matthew]

Air and Space has a McDonald's/Boston Market combo. Natural History has both a quick-lane with packaged sandwiches and salads and a cafeteria. The Castle has a McDonald's kiosk outside. There are a lot of hot-dog stands nearby. The foodtrucks are around, but you kind of need to know where to find them - they seemed to be on the backside of a lot of the museums and you need to search them out.

 

[HerrGruyere]

Sounds like you had a good time in D.C. I've lived here a year and have finally started tapping in to everything available.

Metro is great so long as it's not under construction.

One place that's hard to get to via public transportation is Gravelly Point. It's probably the coolest place in all of D.C. - if you like planes. It's right at the end of the main runway (RWY 1?) at DCA. Planes take off right over your head, or - even better - they fly the river visual right over your head. Seriously right over your head. I can hit the planes with a rock they are so low.

It's been a while since I've been to the museums. The Spy Museum is pretty neat, although I didn't crawl in the secret spy tunnel. I ended up getting a beer at Gordon Biersch right across the way. That's some good beer.

Arlington Cemetery is really sobering. I saw the changing of the guards at the Tomb of the Unknown. However, some idiot at the end asked, "Are those real soldiers?"

I still don't know what to say about that.

 

[Matthew]

The Spy Museum is pretty neat, although I didn't crawl in the secret spy tunnel. I ended up getting a beer at Gordon Biersch right across the way. That's some good beer.

Exactly the same thing we did before we went to the art museum.

--

The Metro worked out very well for us. We really didn't go very far, but it did save a tremendous amount of walking. There were always notices about construction and delays, but they didn't seem to affect our rides at all. We did make the mistake of transferring at Metro Center during the height of the evening rush hour. That was a bit of an experience.

 

[wsuffa]

Unfortunately, there was a lot of construction going on near the WWII memorial. The whole reflecting pool in front of the Lincoln memorial is being rebuilt. That led to some detours and detracted from the looks of the whole layout.

That construction is coming to a close and the reflecting pool should be open again in a few weeks. Or less.

Air and Space has a McDonald's/Boston Market combo. Natural History has both a quick-lane with packaged sandwiches and salads and a cafeteria. The Castle has a McDonald's kiosk outside. There are a lot of hot-dog stands nearby. The foodtrucks are around, but you kind of need to know where to find them - they seemed to be on the backside of a lot of the museums and you need to search them out.

There are plenty of better places to eat closeby to the museums than the cafeterias. Pennsylvania Avenue is a few blocks north, with lots of restaurants, the waterfront is south a few blocks with several restaurants.

One place that's hard to get to via public transportation is Gravelly Point. It's probably the coolest place in all of D.C. - if you like planes. It's right at the end of the main runway (RWY 1?) at DCA. Planes take off right over your head, or - even better - they fly the river visual right over your head. Seriously right over your head. I can hit the planes with a rock they are so low.

It's really not hard. Take Metro to National Airport & walk the hike/bike trail to the north end of the airport, then to Gravelly Point. It's less than the length of a runway (in other words, about 1/2 mile). It's shorter to get off at Crystal City & take the short-cut path over to the airport (once upon a time it was a road, now it's a path that is a side-trail that joins the hike/bike trail at the very north end of the airport).

Arlington Cemetery is really sobering. I saw the changing of the guards at the Tomb of the Unknown. However, some idiot at the end asked, "Are those real soldiers?"

I still don't know what to say about that.

About the same thing I don't know what to say about the drawling American tourists at Versailles who - after passing through the Hall of Mirrors to the next room - had one of the kids exclaim "Mama, when do we see that Hall of Meers!"....

 

[wsuffa]

Here's a link to a map that shows the Crystal City - Mt. Vernon trail hike/bike path. Follow the "green" line on the map. It also shows on Google maps - comes into Crystal City across the street from Metro (exit through the underground mall).
http://crystalcity.org/_files/docs/dcabikemap.pdf

 

[Skylane81E]

We were going to do the spy museum when last there, but when we got there the line was around the block!

 

[Matthew]

Arlington Cemetery is really sobering. I saw the changing of the guards at the Tomb of the Unknown. However, some idiot at the end asked, "Are those real soldiers?"

I still don't know what to say about that.

I thought the crowd around us was very respectful. Not that many people, and that helped a lot.

From the front lawn of Robert E Lee's former house, you can really understand why he built it where he did. It's a fantastic view.

The USMC memorial is definitely worth the walk - you really have to see it in person, pictures can't show the scale of it properly.

 

[HerrGruyere]

The Metro worked out very well for us. We really didn't go very far, but it did save a tremendous amount of walking. There were always notices about construction and delays, but they didn't seem to affect our rides at all. We did make the mistake of transferring at Metro Center during the height of the evening rush hour. That was a bit of an experience.

Oh if you traveled on weekdays, you probably didn't encounter any sort of Metro delays.

 

[Josh_C]

I have a trip planned in Oct. Taking Amtrac into Union Station. Are there any areas to store a small piece of luggage for the day? We are planning to get in early, hit some sights, and then head to the hotel in the evening via the Metro.

 

[weilke]

I have a trip planned in Oct. Taking Amtrac into Union Station. Are there any areas to store a small piece of luggage for the day? We are planning to get in early, hit some sights, and then head to the hotel in the evening via the Metro.

There is a locker outfit near the amtrak gates.

 

[flyingron]

There is a locker outfit near the amtrak gates.

I thought they took those out. Amtrak does offer baggage storage (for a fee) The other option is to just drop it off at the hotel. Hotels will store bags for early arriving guests.