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Help me plan a trip to Dc

ThePanzerFuhrer

ThePanzerFuhrer

The Rock Breaker God
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Kids have spring break last week of March. Wife wants to take the kids to see the sights at Washington DC. Planning on driving down spending a 4-5 days there then driving back. What should we put on the plan to see, eat, where to stay ect. I haven’t been there in 20+ years so not too familiar with it.

We were talking tonight I we might drive the 1989 suburban down there. It has lots of room and the least miles only 45k of all the vehicles we own. I did reassure her that on the trip down and back we would probably never be more than 30-40 miles for a ibb member :lmao:.

What says the ibb besides you’re gonna get shot?
 
Stick to the touristy areas during the day and you'll be fine. Especially during Spring Break because the tourist areas are going to be slam full of people.

Things not to miss: National Mall, National Archives, the memorials other than Lincoln. Area and Space Museum, Museum of Natural History, and the National Zoo. Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and Arlington National Cemetery if the kids are old enough to appreciate those.

Capital and White House are worth driving by, but not worth the time to go into unless you have grievances to air. :laughing:
 
ThePanzerFuhrer said:
Kids have spring break last week of March. Wife wants to take the kids to see the sights at Washington DC. Planning on driving down spending a 4-5 days there then driving back. What should we put on the plan to see, eat, where to stay ect. I haven’t been there in 20+ years so not too familiar with it.

We were talking tonight I we might drive the 1989 suburban down there. It has lots of room and the least miles only 45k of all the vehicles we own. I did reassure her that on the trip down and back we would probably never be more than 30-40 miles for a ibb member :lmao:.

What says the ibb besides you’re gonna get shot?
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We used to take trips to DC once a month since we had to pass through to get to my wife's doctor in Maryland. We drove a 97 Suburban, and I will say that those vehicles are too big for DC :laughing:. We had a handicapped placard at the time for me, so that made parking WAY easier. Trying to get into and out of parking garages was a pain in the ass.

Other than that, I love the area. Lots of history and cool things to see.

Arlington cemetery is a must with the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown. Right when you come across the bridge back into DC is the Lincoln Memorial, and if you're lucky you can find parking close, handicap placard helped a lot here.

Vietnam and Korean war memorial are worth the time as well. All pretty much within walking distance from where ever you park around the Lincoln.

Holocaust Museum is worth the time as well, but hard to see everything if you are rushing through in 2-3 hours. All the Smithsonian are cool. I like the American History and Air & Space the best.
 
Also the Capitol does have a free tour you can go on that is pretty decent. Not sure how it is now, but 5-6 years ago it was pretty good.
 
Let me see if I can find the itinerary from the middle school trip we chaperoned. It was pretty epic and included all our food stops.

Some of my favorite stops off the top of my head were all the memorials. I'd lengthen some of the times as they were a bit short for some of the stops.

Our Itinerary:

EDITED to remove names and clean it up a bit.

Tue, Apr 5
Travel to Charlottesville
Monticello Pending
1:15 PM Lunch: Michie Tavern
Travel to Washington, D.C.
Guided Sightseeing of Washington, D.C.
5:00 PM International Spy Museum
7:15 PM Dinner: Good Stuff Eatery - Crystal City
Hotel: Courtyard Fairfax- Fair Oaks
11220 Lee Jackson Memorial Highway, Fairfax VA, 22030

Wed, Apr 6
10:00 AM Ford's Theatre: Timed Entry: Historic Site Visit
1:00 PM US Capitol Tour & Visitor Center
The US Capitol Building is still closed to the general public. It will be replaced with
a Walking Tour of Capitol Hill
Photo Stop at the Library of Congress and U.S. Supreme Court
Smithsonian Museums
6:00 PM Dinner: Roti - F Street
Guided Evening Sightseeing of Washington, D.C.

Thu, Apr 7
9:40 AM Mount Vernon Estate and Gardens
1:00 PM The Smithsonian Museum of African American History & Culture
Smithsonian Museums
6:00 PM Dinner: Hard Rock Cafe

Fri, Apr 8
9:00 AM Arlington National Cemetery
United States Marine Corps War Memorial
Lunch: Tour Director distributes $15 cash per person
 
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"What says the ibb besides you’re gonna get shot?"

Unless you're the one doing the shooting

:idea:
 
brocolocoli said:
Second the udvar hazy museum. I wouldn't want to drive even a geo metro in DC. I'd park and take the metro in and walk.

If you're traveling near Dayton Ohio stop by the national air force museum as well.
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This is definitely an option we are not afraid to do some walking .

Where should we be looking at for places to stay.
 
ThePanzerFuhrer said:
This is definitely an option we are not afraid to do some walking .

Where should we be looking at for places to stay.
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We stayed in Virginia and drove in to park at the mall when we were there in February.
 
Chadwick said:
I have nothing to add as far as trip goes and planning
Here for picture of Suburban! And to follow the road trip once it stars!
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Took it on a 65 mile trip today to take the family pictures and it drove beautifully.

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The kids loved it tons of room so why not I like to live dangerously :lmao:
 
Air and Space in Dulles > Air and Space in DC

DC is just a tour of all the "history making" stuff. They got the Bell X1 and the Wright Flyer on the cieling, shit like that. Dulles is an expansive museum full of all the shit that's interesting but isn't historically remarkable enough to be in the tiny DC facility. You've got cutaway engines, a B29, a Space Shuttle, etc, etc, etc.
 
Other than Dulles you can take the metro and easily walk everywhere you would want to go. My wife and I have flown up there for several day trips. Your taxes have already paid for about everything there so it’s nice to be able to just walk in.

No itineraries should be necessary. Just pick up the map and start walking. I did the capital tour a couple years ago. It was worthwhile. Last time I was there the air and space Museum at the Smithsonian was under construction but I believe that’s done now.
 
Stay as close as you can to the Huntington station on the yellow line. There is a free park and ride lot there. This will have you staying in Alexandria, yet giving you easy access to be at the downtown mall within 15 minutes. I always took the yellow line to L'Enfant Plaza, which is right near the Southeastern portion of the mall. The passes won't cost a lot of money, and staying in South Alexandria shouldn't cost a lot of mone aside from that, Motorcharge 's suggestions are on point.
 
It a little bit out of DC on 66 but the NRA museum is worth visiting in my opinion. We would stop in there on a rain day when working up there. It was free and had easy parking.
 
We were in DC in July. Skip the air and space in DC and go to the one in dulles. It's 1000% better in every way. The one in DC had like 4 planes in it and crap ton of people. It is under renovation.

We did the holocaust museum and was let down. A lot of stuff had been removed while we were there.

Museum of American history was pretty neat.

Spy museum was ok if you have the time.

Check to make sure you don't need tickets. Some museums needed them and some didn't.

We stayed not far from a trail station and it was easy to navigate where we needed to go by subway.
 
We stayed at the Dupont circle area and basically walked every where. More than one 30K steps day in there. I had a good attitude and enjoyed everything. The Mall, the Lincoln Memorial, Arlington etc. It was a special visit and I could have spent double the time there.

I hurried through the museums due to who I was traveling with, but I could have spent alot more time.

Also, I enjoyed the Native American museum. That was interesting and not something that everyone would go see.
 
How old are the kids ? I ask because my first experience there sucked . I’m not sure you could pay me to go back for a trip . Forget about driving , you will be walking and I’m not sure you can comprehend the amount of walking until you get there . If the kids are below 10 I would probably cancel it because you will be miserable . That’s my $.02
 
Would not recommend driving the sub anywhere near DC. Driving here is unlike anyplace else for level of shear stupidity, and parking sucks even for a mid size car.
 
Last time I went to DC for pleasure and not work I parked west of DC off interstate 66 and took the Metro into town.
 
sdmuleman said:
Would not recommend driving the sub anywhere near DC. Driving here is unlike anyplace else for level of shear stupidity, and parking sucks even for a mid size car.
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:lmao:

The fuck are you talking about? DC is the perfect place for pussy-ass drivers (pretty much all cities in the south are) since it's has been carpet bombed with traffic lights, dedicated turn lanes, merge lanes and all the other "mentally handicapped accessibility" features those kind of drivers need to exist. The only places that are easier are the "retirement cities" like Ft Myers, Phoenix, shit like that.

If he can do Chicago he can do DC.
 
Ransil said:
I'm here now , one of the best plane museums around you need a minimum 1 full day to view it all.

DC the spy museum is good stop.
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That is on the way down there. Would be a perfect thing to break the drive in half. I always wanted to see that place.
 
ThePanzerFuhrer said:
That is on the way down there. Would be a perfect thing to break the drive in half. I always wanted to see that place.
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If you stop in Dayton and then go to the Air and Space at Dulles, then you will see the Enola Gay(Dulles) and Bockscar(Dayton)

As everyone said stay outside of town and use the metro to get into town. We always stayed on the east end of town around Lake Arbor area as that was close to my Grand Parents retirement home. Prior to that they lived over by Mount Vernon. If you have time I would suggest the drive out to Mount Vernon.

Get a hold of you state rep and they can get tickets to the capitol, white house, Washington monument, etc. I miss the days of just walking into all the places but now you need tickets prior to going.

And even if you are not into Art, I highly suggest at least walking though the Smithsonian art museums. They tend to be the least crowded. But there is something about seeing original works of art to make you appreciate it more.
 
You really should re-plan the trip for July 4th. The DC fireworks are huge, huge enough that you can just drive to the top of some random parking garage 10mi out and watch them. :laughing:
 
Last time I was there 6 or 7 years ago there were credit card kiosk rental bike racks all over the mall, used them a couple times to cover some ground.
 
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