Washington D.C.

What an amazing and fantastic city, our nation's capital! We packed A LOT into the three days we had, so keep that in mind as your continue reading. The best thing you can do for yourself is make a list of what you want to see and do prior to going on your trip. You won't be able to do it all, unless you have a solid week there and are willing to go full steam the entire time. It would take you about three days just to go to all of the Smithsonian Museums, so just pick out a couple that sound the most interesting to you. But if you only have three days and want to get a taste of the best of DC, prepare to walk until your feet and ankles are swollen and your knees curse your every step. If you're wondering if it's worth it, yeah, it is!
Day One

Smithsonian National Zoo: Fantastic and highly recommended. Beautiful habitats, lots of animals including my personal favorite the Giant Panda. Their animals all seemed so healthy and happy, it made our visit really wonderful. It isn't so big that you spend a lot of time walking between exhibits, but it's spread out enough so as not to feel crowded. You won't see giraffes or rhinos, but you'll see cheetahs, orangutans, and an elephant nose shrew!
Free. $10-$20 for parking.

Arlington National Cemetery: This is a humbling and beautiful place. Be prepared to walk, it's very large. Here you can visit JFK and Jackie Kennedy's graves with the Eternal Flame, the Tomb of the Unknowns, the Mast of the USS Maine, Robert E. Lee's house and much more. If you have a loved one buried at Arlington the visitor center can help you in finding a grave. The Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns takes place at the top of the hour every hour until 5:00, at which point it becomes a restricted area to all civilians.

Free. Hourly parking fee.

Lincoln Memorial

Monuments: How you choose to see the monuments comes down to how far you want to walk, which ones you want to see, and the rest of your plans. It's difficult to park around them, so once you find a spot take it. The distance from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial is just short of a mile with the WWII, Korean, and Vietnam Memorials in between. So here's how we did it.

Washington Monument: We started here. It was dark when we got here, and seeing these structures at night is beautiful. I suggest planning to see the monuments twice, once at night and once during the day (especially around sunset). Right as you turn toward the Lincoln Memorial you'll see the WWII Memorial, a beautiful fountain feature. Then start walking along the Reflecting Pool to the Lincoln Memorial. If you are facing the Lincoln Memorial the Vietnam Memorial is to the right of the Pool and the Korean War Memorial is to the left of the pool. These two should really be seen during the day.

Vietnam Wall



Iwo Jima Memorial

Now you'll have to get back in your car and drive to the Iwo Jima Memorial. And good luck, we drove around it three times before giving up and parking on the street to walk. And although we did not go to the Jefferson Memorial, I can tell you you'd have to drive to that one as well.

Free to see all monuments, but the Washington Monument does require a time specified ticket if you want to go to the top.

Day Two:

Me on the Capital Steps

Capital Building: We just walked around it. Took pictures. Moved on. However, tours are conducted and there is a visitor's center.

Free, but ticket required for tours.

Supreme Court: Another look and go on our part. But again, you can take a self guided tour or visit lectures and exhibits.
Free.

Library of Congress: This one we went into. The inside of this building is breathtakingly beautiful. Tours are available and are the only way to look inside the Main Reading Room. I'm not sure what else you see on the tour, but on your own you don't see much other than the large, two-floor main lobby.
Free.

National Archives: Home of the Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights and the Constitution. This was the only building we stood in line to enter (about ten minutes) and then stood in line on the inside to see the documents (twenty minutes). Photography is no longer allowed. National Treasure is no longer a plausible movie.
Free.



Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

Smithsonian Natural History Museum: This is a great, and quite large museum. We didn't go into every exhibit hall, just picked what sounded the most interesting. Highlights for us included the Dinosaurs/Hall of Paleobiology, the Hope Diamond and the Hall of Mammals. I imagine kids would have a great time here.
Free.

Fords Theatre: The infamous theatre where Lincoln was shot. And yes, you can see the both where he was sitting very clearly and it is memorialized. The theatre itself is beautiful, and small. We saw A Christmas Carol for a very reasonable price and it was fantastic. No seat is a bad seat since the stage is large and the auditorium small. Across the street is the Petersen House, where Lincoln died hours after being shot.
Tickets must be bought for shows. Theatre tours require tickets, varying price. Petersen House is free.

Day Three:

Smithsonian National Museum of American History: This is a huge museum. So plan to either skip a lot, or spend a lot of time here. It covers about every stage of American history that you can imagine with lots of fascinating exhibits and items. Highlights include the original muppets, the hat Lincoln was wearing before he was shot, Dorothy's ruby slippers, one of the first teddy bears, a hall of dresses worn by our First Ladies, and a hall that takes you through each of the major wars America has been involved in. It does get tiring (just because it's so expansive), there's lots of reading (which to be honest we mostly skipped), and probably isn't the most exciting place for young children.
Free.

White House and Visitor's Center: The Visitor's Center is about a block from the White House. A few exhibits and information centers, but that's the best detail I can provide as we didn't spend but three and a half minutes there. So we walked on down to the sidewalk in front of the White House and took a gander. Pretty cool, nothing but a iron fence and a lawn with its own zip code between you and that big ol' house. Well, all that plus the snipers on the roof. We easily got a picture taken of us in front of the White House, but during a busy season I imagine it's pretty hard to accomplish pictures without tons of other people in front of you. There's only about a...oh, I don't know...twenty yard viewing area. And go ahead and feel paranoid, you are being watched. ;o)
Free. If you want to tour the White House you'll have to write your Member of Congress, which must be done at least 30 days in advance. **UPDATE** As of March, 2013 White House tours have been cancelled indefinitely. 

National Aquarium: Tiny, tiny, tiny. And underground. You won't be seeing anything you haven't seen in every other aquarium, in fact you'll be seeing a lot less. Fish, an octopus, some crocs, and a turtle or two. One of the few places you even have to pay to get in to, and not really worth it. Going as slow as possible we were in there maybe 30 minutes. It's on the same block as the White House Visitor's Center, but keep your eyes peeled for the sign and door, they hid it.
$9 for adults, $4 for children under 11.

Old Post Office Tower: A beautiful building, with a tower that is the third tallest structure in DC. Take the elevators up to the 270 foot high viewing area for a beautiful 360 degree view of the city. Great views of the Capital Building, White House, Lincoln Memorial, and Washington Monument. There are a few stores and eateries in the Post Office as well.
Free.

National Museum of Crime and Punishment: By far the most fun of all the museums we went to. Very interactive with police training simulators, a safe cracking simulator, a fingerprint station, and much more. You can escape a prison cell or become part of a police line up. See a realistic crime scene and then follow the evidence through the crime lab and autopsy to solve the crime. Plus an entire hall dedicated to real life criminals and killers. I highly recommend two things for this museum...give yourself plenty of time (a couple of hours) and go when it won't be too crowded. I don't know when it wouldn't be crowded, other than winter, but it probably isn't nearly as fun if 45 people are in line in front of you to try the simulators.
$19.95 for adults. $14.95 for children 5-11. Free for educators.

Chinatown: Great for a meal. Lots of restaurants from upscale to casual to choose from. Not much shopping like most Chinatowns, but still fun for a walk through and dinner.

As a couple of side notes...we stayed outside of Baltimore every night but one and drove into the city. With light traffic it took about an hour and a half. Driving in the city isn't too bad if you're a confident driver but you'll want GPS and parking is a bit of a task. You'll save yourself a lot of aggravation if you're willing to leave the car somewhere and walk or take taxis (or venture onto the subway or bus system). I recommend November as a good time to go. Yes, it is cold. But the general population of any given city block seems to be pretty low compared to say, June. It's well worth the trade off of having to lug around a heavy coat, scarf, and gloves. And last, be prepared to be scanned and searched everywhere you go. Which kind of goes without saying. But seriously, they have their fish in the National Aquarium on lock down.