Washington DC?

We are headed there in a couple of weeks. It will be a quick trip and we will only have 2 days there. We will be staying with friends in Maryland. What should we see? Any tips on parking, avoiding rush hour, the Metro system? Thanks!

The Metro is worth it. But only two days! There is so much to see. The National Archives, the Air and Space, the Museum of Natural History, the monuments!!! If the kids are going, the younger ones would appreciate the Museum of Natural History more than the Archives. What are they and you interested in? Have them vote for their favorite and see where you end up!

woo hoo! We want pictures when you come back. :D

I like the Museum of Natrual History too. Where ever you end up only visit the exibits that your family is interested in. The metro is clean and super easy. There is little to no parking you must take the metro. Wear broken in sneakers or shoes.

What a awesome area. No matter where you go you will enjoy it. i havent been in 4 years.

The Metro is awesomely easy to navigate.

Definitely see the Museum of Natural History. Also the Jefferson and Lincoln Memorials are fantastic, along with the Vietnam Wall.

You can take a tour of the Treasury and see money being printed. Kids really think that's neat.

I also love the National Gallery----lots of statues, paintings, etc.

Ford's Theatre, where Lincoln was shot, is great to see. Plays are still performed there.

If you had time, taking a trip to Mt. Vernon would definitely be worth it.

Have lots of fun!!!

Thanks for the tips. Yes it is a fast visit, but better than nothing right? My parents and brother are meeting us there and we are staying with a friend I grew up with so it will be fun no matter what we do. Thanks!

We just retruend from spending a week in Washington, DC. My dd had to go there for a Leadership program-Musband and DS stayed there for the week to sight see-what a wonderfuld place-my favorit was the National Archives, you can see the original Declaration of Indepence. How Cool !!

Ford's Theater is closed for renovations, but the Perterson house where Lincoln died is still open.

Metro is fabulous-saves time & money

Glad you had such a wonderful time. The archives are my favorite as well.

I loved the national art museum - which is often overlooked. It is right by the Smithsonian.

I haven't been since I was a child but I have been wanting to go back when the kids get a little older, I hope you have an awesome trip!

just remember the smithsonian museums (all of them) close at 5 or 5:30pm.
the national park service has a passport that you can get stamped at most of the national parks. most of the monuments in dc are maintained by the park service and there are ranger stations near most of them where you can get your cancellation stamps for that location. the one for the washingtion monument is supposed to have about 18 cancellation stamps that you can get all at once.

You must stop by the National Archives & see the Declaration of Independence & Constitution. Read them (if you can; one is becoming so faint you can barely make out the ink) Walk along the Mall from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial (the Lincoln Memorial is my favorite). Pick one of the Smithsonian Museums (you won't have time to see the all, although the building of the Museum of the Native American is pretty cool). There's also the Holocaust Museum.

Definitely take the Metro. All the lines are numbered and color-coded.

Well, we are back. We went down Friday morning and came back late last night. The reason we went was to watch my dad run in the Marine Corps Marathon. That took all day Sunday. Saturday was our only day to look around DC. We went to the Air and Space museum, visited the WAshington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Memorial and glimpsed the White House. We saw the few things we really wanted to see. We had thought we would look around on Sunday, but there ended up being no time at all for that. The race was a madhouse. Thanks for all the tips! We had a great time, even if it was a complete whirlwind.

Glad you had fun in D.C.! Maybe you can go again and spend more time there. It's such a fabulous place.