This week I booked our flight to spend Christmas in Washington D.C. I am ridiculously excited. I've been planning this trip for months, but it didn't feel real until I plunked down the cash to actually get us there.
This will be the twins' first flight. With five of us, it tends to be budget-breakingly expensive to fly anywhere. And the thought of flying with three kids and all their stuff just freaked me out when they were younger. But I managed to score a great deal on airfare (thank you Kayak and Bing travel), making it almost break-even with the cost of driving+two extra nights hotel+crazy parking costs in DC. To get this awesome deal we will be flying on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve, which is not perfect, but it's ok. I had already reserved passes for Christmas Eve services at the National cathedral, so my only concern with flying in on Christmas Eve was getting in early enough for that, and absent any major hiccups we should be ok.
I also contacted our congressman months ago to line up tours. I was a bit surprised that anything was available that week, and sadly, the White House is not giving tours then. But we will get to tour the Capitol and I will get to tour the Supreme Court (they didn't have space for the five of us, and I think the rest of the family was relieved to get out of the Supreme Court tour, anyway). I also asked for gallery passes for both the House and Senate. I don't really think they will be in session then, but with the Jan 1 fiscal cliff deadline, I thought it was within the realm of possibility.
We will be spending Christmas Day at Mount Vernon, which seems to be the only place open, and I'm thankful there's that. I think it will be pretty cool to spend Christmas at GW's house. I'm trying to talk the family into seeing White Christmas at the Kennedy Center that night, but they are resisting. No one else shares my love of musical theater.
The rest of the week we will be hitting the museums and monuments. We love museums, but I'm a little bit afraid we might get museumed out. If anyone has any suggestions for not-to-miss attractions, I'd love to hear them. I've never been to DC before, and I'm a bit overwhelmed by how much there is to do.
Now, if we can just survive Thanksgiving. It is truly my favorite holiday, and I love cooking Thanksgiving dinner. But this year we are going to Hometown and I am not cooking and not at all excited about that trip. I can do anything for three days, right?
10 comments:
I love DC at Christmas! I used to go there every year from the 19th-24th in college to see JP and his family before flying home to spend Christmas with mine. Some ideas off the top of my head:
- White House Christmas tree; in the park across the street from the WH there's the giant national tree as well as smaller trees for each state. Lots of fun to walk around and check out each one.
- I get easily museumed out, but even I could spend several hours in most of the Smithsonian options along the National Mall. Way more than just art there's collections of clothes, jewels, etc. And they're all free, so there's no pressure to stay any longer than you want to.
- Georgetown. I love this area of DC; take the metro there and then wander around the streets. Lots of shops and restaurants; good for an afternoon.
- The National Zoo! It can also be accessed by the metro, great, free zoo that's a little ways away from the rest of the Smithsonian options.
- Old Town area of Alexandria, VA. Also a metro stop and super cute town with stores and great restaurants. There's a town square that seems to almost always have live music.
- Dupont Circle is my favorite area of downtown DC. Great restaurants, gelato places, etc. and home of my very favorite bookstore. You can take the metro or just walk; it's a mile or so from the WH and is bustling late into the night.
I'm sure there's more, but that's the bulk of what we did. I just did the Capitol tour for the first time and it was incredible. If you're wandering around and ever need a place to sit down indoors, Union Station (near the Senate buildings/Capitol) has a huge indoor mall and food court. It's not the most cosmopolitan lunch option, but it would be cheap and there's a ton of variety. Union Station itself is also beautiful and worth a walk-around. Have fun!!
(Oh and I love the Kennedy Center. Their shows are always great and the setting is so pretty. Try to get someone to go with you! JP does not appreciate musical theatre and I'm holding out hope that one of my children will accompany me when they get older :))
Canal Park (near the Navy Yard metro) just opened and has an ice skating path. You can also ice skate by the National Archives.
The Washington Monument is still closed to guests but you can go up in the elevator at the Old Post Office Building for a very good view--it will probably be chilly but it's free so you don't have to stay long.
The Wilson Aquatic Center is near the Tenleytown metro and is an indoor pool--it's $4 per kid and $7 per adult for non-residents. There's a hot tub, a "leisure" pool for kids, etc.
The DC libraries are often pretty nice too--all the ones I've been to have a special teen room with magazines and such.
If they haven't ridden the metro before, that in itself might be interesting to them--how much a ride will cost at different times of day, where/how to transfer, etc.
If your kids are adventurous eaters, maybe try a new type of food? DC has good Ethiopian restaurants and I think Dukem (near the U St. metro) is good food at a reasonable price and the menu explains what everything is. Last time I was there, they also had dancing to watch. Or Sidamo is a pretty typical coffee shop but they offer a traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony on the weekend.
If you have a car, there's a lot going on at National Harbor, like a whole ice carving display. But it isn't cheap.
I don't have any recommendations for you. I just wanted to say, "That sounds like so much fun! Have a blast!"
You've got to visit the Newseum! Great for kids your kids' ages and unlike a standard museum.
Your trip sounds awesome! With all these suggestions, I really want to go there now!
I spent Christmas last year in Washington.. My best friend's family invited us over and the experience was awesome! Good luck on your trip!
Thanks for all the great suggestions and well wished. You guys rock!!!
LL, I need the name of the favorite bookstore! I definitely can't miss an awesome bookstore!
Wow! Your trip sounds fun! I'll ask my wife if we can go to DC this Christmas. Thanks!
Hey LC! It's Kramer's Books and it's right on Dupont Circle. According to my friend it also has a fabulous brunch!
Thanks, LL!
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