A Relaxing Weekend in Washington, DC
Most of our family trips have been to destinations where we’ll never return. We’ve generally loved the places we’ve been, but the world is big and our travel budget is not. With so many amazing locales out there, it seems worthwhile to assume that we will not pass any particular way again and sightsee accordingly.
Washington, DC is a notable exception to this rule. Just a few hours from us via car, our nation’s capital offers so many attractions that it’s hard to believe we won’t find many reasons to go back over the years. This takes the pressure off quite a bit, and so on a recent trip to DC, we simply handed the kids a guidebook and told them to find fun things for us to do.
They rose to the challenge with aplomb.
Our first stop was the Museum of American History, where Julia (7) was dying to see Abraham Lincoln’s hat and Evan (5) wanted to check out the sports team uniforms. Many other exhibits (most notably the hands-on Invention at Play area) caught our eyes as well, but when attentions lagged, we moved quickly on. The freedom from “must see” museumitis was a welcome relief.
That afternoon, we moved on to the Air & Space Museum, where Amelia Earhart’s plane, the IMAX theater and the promise of freeze dried ice cream all held kid appeal and a ride on the SpaceWalk simulator turned into the surprise hit of our visit. We capped the day with a visit to the sculpture garden and dinner with friends.
Day two found us heading to Mount Vernon in Northern Virginia. I had never been to George Washington’s family estate, but it turned out to be a fascinating place to explore and well worth the short drive out of DC. We returned to the city just as dusk was falling; perfect timing for exploring the monuments. The kids loved seeing DC’s traditional sights at sunset, and we loved having a car on site to cart them home when it got too dark.
The next day, we walked around the exterior of the White House, took a boat ride down to Potomac to say our goodbyes to DC, and then hit the road. We hadn’t seen the vast majority of what Washington DC has to offer, but the kids had loved our trip and we were all relaxed. I could get used to this kind of family travel.
August 7th, 2009 | by Rebecca Tompkins 4 comments
1. Amy @ The Q Family on August 7th, 2009
I agree that there are so many places to explore and see but sometimes it’s good to visit the familiar. For our family is Orlando. I guess since we used to live in South Florida so it’s the logical location.
But now that we have the taste of DC, we absolutly love it. I think every family with kids should visit Washington DC. It’s such a great city and great bargain for family. You can go to all the museum for the whole week without paying any admission fees. So many things to do and see for all interests. We can’t wait to go back.
2. Jamie Pearson on August 7th, 2009
I sort of fear the DC trip for the reasons you mention. We’ll probably go once with our kids, and once only. No pressure though ;)
3. Carolina on August 7th, 2009
Taking the pressure off is especially cool when you’re traveling with kids. There are places we go to, where I immediately think, yeah, we’ll be back. For me Hawaii is like that, and I’m guessing Washington D.C. will be too. We’re headed there next summer..I wish my son would get excited about seeing Lincoln’s hat, I’m guessing he’ll be more excited the sports uniforms though.
4. Notti Bianche - Washington, D.C. on June 10th, 2010
[...] time in the city was about as different from a SATC episode as you can get. I spent my weekend in DC with my son, taking in all the great family-friendly attractions. But I had one night – ONE NIGHT! – to go out for something akin to a free-for-all [...]
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