Great American Vacations: Travel to Washington DC

We set aside one day to hike around the National Mall and memorial parks areas between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument. We walked a full circuit from the Washington Monument over to the World War II and Declaration of Independence Signers Memorials, up to the Viet Nam and Lincoln Memorials. Then back along the other side of the reflecting pool to the Korean War, World War I memorials and back to the Washington Monument. It was worth the several miles walked and the time we gave to visit these places. I think a full day is about right to walk this route. Here's where we went.

Washington Monument - Definitely worth the time to go to the top. This is one of those places you want to get reservations for in advance. I guess you can show up in the morning and get tickets, but we found it much easier to do our reservations in advance. The day we were there, all tickets for the day had been given out well before noon. If you do make online reservations, make sure you go to the ticket area and exchange your receipt for actual tickets before getting in line. The park rangers get really fussy with you if you try to enter with the receipt. All types of photography are permitted, but pay attention to the limits on the size of the bags you can take in.

Korean War Memorial - Also a good memorial. The soldier statues are very dramatic.

Viet Nam War Memorial - Nothing needs to be said about this one.

Declaration of Independence Signers Memorial - Off the beaten path, one of our boys wanted to see this memorial. I sent him over there with my camera and he took the pictures you'll find on this site.

Lincoln Memorial - Awe-inspiring. My favorite memorial. If you have trouble with stairs, they have an elevator from ground level that takes you from the gift shop up to the memorial itself.

World War I Memorial - Largely forgotten, this is tucked into the woods near the Korean War Memorial. That's too bad. World War I veterans were every bit as heroic as those of other wars.

World War II Memorial - Large, somewhat disjointed but worth spending time here. I can't believe it took so long to get this memorial done.

By the time we'd visited all these memorials, we didn't have the steam to trek out to the Jefferson Memorial. I'm sorry we missed that one, but even the boys were out of fuel by this point. Washington DC needs to come up with some form of transportation to the Jefferson and FDR Memorials - they're so isolated compared to the other monuments.

I love history, so I was straining at the leash to get into the Smithsonian American History museum.

We all loved the military history gallery. The displays from all the wars were fantastic. In particular, the Hanoi Hilton and helicopter displays were very moving. We spent quite a bit of time in this gallery, as well as in the Lincoln and the Presidents exhibitions.

For the most part, that was all that the museum offered us. We saw all the things you hear about every time someone talks about this museum: Ruby slippers, Archie Bunker's chair, Oscar the Grouch, Mohammed Ali's boxing gloves. Those were about the only notable things in the other exhibits. The Entertainment gallery was really small; the musical instruments section was comprised mostly of violins - almost no brass or woodwind instruments. The boys walked through that area and looked at us like, "Is that it?" The first floor wasn't interesting at all. Things like the evolution of the vacuum cleaner and the history of the steam engine just weren't something we wanted to see. The boys got bored by the end of our time here. We should have looked at the map and gone only to the galleries of interest to us.

On the plus side, photography was allowed almost everywhere and seeing the Star Spangled Banner that inspired our national anthem was a special moment for an old mlitary veteran like me, even though it was about the only think in the museum you can't photograph. We also appreciated the extended summer hours!

We were at the Holocaust Museum on the first day of our trip. This is another place where we made our reservations well in advance. I don't know if the place was sold out when we got there, but there were a LOT of people in there. If you go, be sure to make a reservation.

The museum is a bit confusing when you first arrive. You're not sure whether to go downstairs or upstairs, and the main area is a noisy sea of people (lots of middle school and high school kids).

If you go downstairs, there is a movie theater there that runs short movies on the Holocaust. We sat through one and found it to be definitely worth watching. After that we went upstairs and figured out where we were supposed to go for our timed tickets.

When our time finally came, we took an elevator to the top and made our way through the exhibits back down to the main floor. I've read a great deal about World War II and the Holocaust so there was very little on display that I wasn't aware of.

That said, some of the displays had a definite emotional impact. I'm sure every person is hit by a different thing - for me, seeing the uniforms the Jews wore in the concentration camps jolted me. The pile of shoes didn't hit me as hard as the massive diorama showing the gas chamber at Auschwitz, and the explicit videos of executions had less effect than did the eye glasses and other personal effects from victims. Like I say, I'm sure it's different for each person. I will say this though; if you can walk through that rail car and not come out at least a little haunted, you have no soul. THAT was powerful.

One thing they did at the Holocaust Museum that I thought was smart. Some of the videos on display are very graphic and very disturbing. These videos are shown on monitors that are lying on the floor behind a wall. You have to look down over the wall to see them. The wall is tall enough to keep shorter people (i.e., younger kids) from seeing them. That's a good idea, although I have to question why any parent would bring a younger child in to that museum.

I'm not sure how our boys felt about this museum. They didn't say a lot but they didn't seem like they'd been affected by the museum. Of course, when you ask them about it you get the typical teen-age "I dunno." If I had to guess I'd say they didn't really think much of the Holocaust Museum.

In retrospect, we probably should have left this one off the itinerary, especially with the boys there. A school field trip? Maybe. A family vacation . . . probably not so much. Certainly, it wasn't an upbeat way to begin a family vacation.

No photography is allowed in the exhibitions.

Using the Metro subway system in Washington DC is the easiest, safest solution you have for navigating the city on your vacation. Understanding it initially, however . . . not so easy. I mean, what do you expect? A government agency is involved.

The Metro's website wasn't much help. They've got a bewildering array of tickets and passes and different prices for different times of day and longer and shorter rides. Trying to understand the system from their website was a lost cause. We found a podcast online that tried to explain the Metro; that wasn't much help either. They talked about how easy the Metro is, then launched into 15 minutes of tickets and passes and different prices for different times of day and longer and shorter rides. Sensing a pattern here?

Let me make it very simple for you. Get a one week unlimited pass. This was the simple solution I was looking for, and the one you'll want. Buy one pass and use it as much as you want, whenever you want.

After flying into DC, we shuttled to our hotel checked in, and then went to Crystal City mall. Inside was a Metro Store where we could purchase these golden unlimited pass tickets. Golden they were - I think they cost around $40 each for a week. They were worth it though. For about the cost of a car rental for a week we had free run of the Metro. No looking for parking, no gas, no parking fees that everyone charges.

Note: You can't get these passes at all metro stops, and the Metro website is comparably incoherent when it comes to finding places to buy them. Plan ahead. You can order the passes in advance by phone and have them mailed to you, or you can call the Metro's customer service number on their website and they can steer you to a Metro Store close to where you'll be located. The week on your pass doesn't start until your first train ride, so there's no problem with purchasing the passes in advance.

The US Capitol Tour is an activity you almost have to book in advance. You request reservations through the office of your congressman or senator and their staff sends you the free ticket vouchers. When you get to the Capitol, you go through security, then present the vouchers to the information desk and get your tickets. Everyone in your time slot (and there are probably a couple hundred) queues up to start the tour.

Perhaps I was expecting too much, but this tour was a bit of a let down for me. The tour started with a 20-minute movie (which was pretty good), then everyone broke into groups of 20-30. Our group was led up to the Capitol Rotunda, where we got a long explanation on every statue and painting there, including the artwork inside the dome. There were many, many groups in the Rotunda and the noise in there was overwhelming. If you have trouble hearing, stay close to your guide or he/she will be drowned out for you. Your group stays in one spot while in the Rotunda so unfortunately you don't get a chance for a close-up look at all the artwork. After that we moved to the Old Senate Chamber and saw a bunch more statues in there. Again, lots of groups and lots of noise. We returned to the Rotunda and then went downstairs to another room and saw a few more statues. After that, our tour was done.

Don't get me wrong. It was neat to see the Capitol, and the Rotunda is absolutely beautiful. I love sculptures and I enjoyed seeing many of them, particularly statues of Lincoln, Washington, Reagan, Jefferson, Robert E. Lee and Texans Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin. Our guide was incredibly knowledgeable, personable and enthusiastic - he REALLY knew his stuff. It wasn't a long tour so it didn't wear you out. We were allowed to take pictures, which is always important to me.

You can enhance your experience by requesting chamber passes from your representative - for 15 minutes you can go into the visitor gallery of the House or the Senate and watch them spend your grandchildren's money. We decided not to do that - maybe the tour would have been more impactful if we had.

On the down side, the security limitations are somewhat absurd. You can't bring a shoulder bag in larger than a small notebook computer case, so plan to leave much of your camera equipment at the hotel. To their credit, the security people tried to work with visitors who weren't complying with the size requirements.

Also, don't get too far from the tour or a security person will fuss at you. My wife walked across the Old Senate Chamber to get a photo and a guard sniped at her to return to her guide. If we must stay with the guide, that's fine; in that case, however, the group should at least walk around each room so you can get a closer look at each statue or painting. They'll tell you in advance but you can't bring in drinks or food. They have water fountains near the bathrooms in case you get thirsty. Use the bathroom before you do your tour. I don't think they have facilities once you get started.

Clearly, the Capitol Tour is worth doing - I mean, it's the Capitol, for crying out loud. Just temper your expectations and do the gallery visit.

We figured that even if our boys got bored looking at stuffed animals and musty museum displays elsewhere, they certainly would enjoy seeing all the cool spy-vs.-spy stuff so we put it on our schedule. We also bought tickets for Operation Spy, an interactive role playing adventure. My plan was to send the boys to Operation Spy. My wife wanted to do it too, but only if I did it. I didn't want to, but finally conceded and got a ticket for myself as well.

Operation Spy was a blast. It's really well set up. The employees do a great job of trying to make it realistic and the sets they have for the adventure are extremely well done. They make you think as you go through the adventure, and it's very easy to slip into the role and make it seem very real. They limit the adventure to ages 12 and up and that's a good idea. Kids under 12 wouldn't understand all the steps in the adventure. Our 16 year olds LOVED it.

After we finished Operation Spy we toured the museum. All in all it was an OK museum, especially if you're someone who likes to read spy novels. If I had to do it all over again, I might just get the Operation Spy tickets and skip the museum, especially since the tickets aren't free (like other museums). We all ran out of interest before we ran of spy museum exhibits. They pack a lot of stuff into a relatively small space.

There were many, many options for hotels in Washington DC. We finally elected to go with Embassy Suites - Crystal City, in Arlington Virginia. The Embassy Suites offered the following advantages:

Free breakfast - not a dry, nasty muffin and watery juice, but a full breakfast with eggs made to order, bacon and sausage, etc. By eating a big (free) breakfast we found we could minimize our lunch purchases and save money.

Internet access - we didn't read the website close enough. The rooms have Internet access . . . but you have to pay an outrageous fee every day to use it. We hauled our notebook along on the trip and then didn't use it because we didn't want to get bankrupted by the charges. Booo. They do have a small room by the pool with three computers you can use for free. We ended up checking our emails there.

Shuttle service - Embassy Suites offered a free shuttle to/from the airport, as well as to a metro station and a few other places. We ended up using the shuttle a lot and it was a leg-saver. They even took us to the car rental place and picked us up from there. Good stuff.

Free drinks every night at the manager's reception - We didn't think we'd be back to the hotel in time to hit the daily manager's reception, but we actually made use of this a few times. My favorite brand of beer is free, and they had those on tap every evening.

Pool and hot tub - We used this almost every night. Our legs HURT after all that walking and the hot tub felt great. The boys ended up in the pool, one more than the other. There were about eight billion unruly kids in the hotel while we were there, and they swarmed the pool to the point where the lifeguard wouldn't let anyone else in for awhile. Yes, the pool had a life guard, a foreign exchange college student from the Ukraine who actually took her job very seriously. You parents with younger kids would appreciate that. The girl also wore her swimsuit very well. Our teen boys appreciated that.

We got a two-room suite that was spacious and very comfortable. The boys shared the fold-out bed in the living room and we had the king-sized bed in the bedroom. On the first day the boys squalled for a bit about sharing the bed, but they were so tired every night from all the walking that they went to sleep with very little fussing. It had a refrigerator and a microwave. We made good use of those. We picked up sodas and food from the drug store at Crystal City Mall and avoided the expensive drinks from the hotel machines and really outrageous food service menu.

We had one problem with the hotel, and it was a big one. On Friday evening we got back to our room and found a disposable flash light sitting on the table. This should have been an indicator that we were in trouble. We also found a note that said the hotel would be shutting down most of their electrical systems THAT NIGHT from 11:00 until 4:00 or 5:00 a.m. the next morning for "routine maintenance." Okay, my first question was, why did they wait until the last minute to tell us? Next question - if this was routine maintenance, it had to have been scheduled for some time . . . why weren't we told about this when we booked our reservations?

11:30 rolls around and off goes our power. No clock, TV, fridge or air conditioning. My wife heard another guest complaining to an employee that their child had diabetes and needed to keep their insulin cold. They were told to pack the insulin in ice from the ice machines. One member of our family has medical equipment that needs power - no luck there either. We raised the issue to a security guard, who got on his cell phone and called a supervisor. There was nothing they could do but move us to another hotel. So at 11:30 we're going to pack up, wake up two sleeping kids, drag them down five flights of stairs and go out to find another hotel?

The situation was completely unacceptable. We didn't pay to stay in a costly hotel with stone-age accommodations. I don't think we were unreasonable to assume that our air conditioning, microwave, fridge and TVs would actually have electricity to power them.

It's a shame - other than this situation, we really liked the hotel in spite of the confiscatory rates for Internet access in your room. Chances are you won't have to deal with this nonsense, and you'll really like staying here. If it does happen to you, though, I hope you get more advanced notice than we did.

If you don't want to take the chance, you can still benefit from our tactic. Stay outside of Washington DC, but find a place close to the Metro. You'll save a ton of money!

The Air and Space Museum gets more visitors than any other museum in Washington DC, and after spending several hours there, I can see why.

I loved seeing the famous old planes, like the Wright Brothers flyer and the Spirit of St. Louis. My wife and the boys loved the newer jets. We made fools of ourselves in front of the thermal camera display, but everyone else did too so that was OK.

The museum itself was very manageable in size. You'd think a building full of aircraft would be huge but this one was not too big at all, and we had no trouble walking through every gallery of the museum. Of course, many of their aircraft are showcased at a second building, the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.

If you take younger kids to the Air and Space Museum, your favorite exhibition may be "How Things Fly." This gallery has lots of hands on activities designed just for kids. We walked through the exhibition and you could tell the kids just loved it. Plan to spend a half hour in this room with your kids as you budget your time.

The food court at the Air and Space Museum is awful. Their menu is a selection of things from McDonalds and a few other restaurants - poorly prepared. We ordered McDonald food and it came out pretty bad.

We didn't try out the simulator, but we did go to the IMAX Fighter Pilot movie. This wasn't worth the money to us. Kind of a mushy, politically correct fluff film about a military training exercise. We should have spent the time on a simulator ride or the planetarium.

If you visit Washington DC, make sure to carve out time for the Air and Space Museum. I think it appeals to all generations. Just look for another place to grab lunch.