We went to Washington DC! We had been wanting to go for many years so we were very glad to be living only a four hour drive away! We booked four nights in a hotel, JW Marriott, that was walking distance to many of the sights. Hotwire was a lot cheaper than the other sites for this booking.
When we arrived we were excited to be upgraded to a corner 9th floor room with a beautiful view!

The first day we were eager to check out the sites. We went straight to the National Portrait Gallery which is connected to the Smithsonian American Art Museum. We checked out the portraits of all 50 presidents- the Obama one is colorful and interesting- as well as the portrait of Michelle Obama, which was nicely staged. The building is just incredible. We checked out some more American Art, such as a cute folk art and a self-portrait underwater!

Next we headed to the North lawn of the White House and Lafayette Square across the street, a bustling area with street musicians, activists, and hoards of tourists. It was fun to see the White House from so close up! And to look at the impressive sculptures in the square.

We were exhausted so we had pizza in the room (this was actually incredibly hard to buy), and then at 8pm went to see the US Marine Band play outside the Capitol. This was the most magical part of the trip, as the light was just gorgeous shining on the beautiful Capitol building and the reflecting pool. We walked around the back to the Library of Congress and were treated to more beautiful golden-lit sights, far from the crowds. We checked out the Neptune fountain, which wasn’t anything like the Trevi fountain in Rome.

DAY 2: The second day we ate at a nice patisserie called Pret a Manger! Delicious warm pain au chocolat! Then we checked out the White House Visitor Center, which is not terribly impressive but does have a nice video with great quotes about the White House by presidents and staffers. We walked to the South lawn, where you can see the White House from the front but from a much further distance. It was interesting seeing the sniper on the roof, and all the secret service people everywhere, plus the pretty gardens and trees around the house.

We headed to the National Museum of American History, to be there first and beat the crowds. This is the best approach in Washington DC, and the only time of day when the popular museums are bearable. The museum had some well-done exhibits about transportation. We ate in the cafe, which was mediocre and very expensive. But that is the problem with Washington DC- it is very hard to get food in the tourist areas. We hit up the National Air and Space Museum, which was ridiculously crowded at 1pm- bad idea! But what are you supposed to do in the middle of the day, if all museums must be seen at 10am before the crowds?? There are many more hours in the day than the hour from 10-11am. In search of a less crowded experience, we went next to the National Gallery of Art– we needed AC so walking around outside was out of the question. This was a pretty good option because there are couches to sit on, and it is not too crowded. It was lovely to see the Van Gogh and Monet paintings. For dinner, we had Hard Rock Cafe, which was not even like the same restaurant as the awesome ones in Honolulu and LA.

DAY 3: We took a picnic of Pret a Manger to go see the memorials in the early morning light. We couldn’t find parking but ended up at the Tidal Basin Parking, which is a great one to know about. Here we sat with a spectacular view of the Jefferson Memorial across the water. This was the second nicest thing we did, visiting the Jefferson Memorial in the morning. It wasn’t crowded and it was so lovely! The monument is gigantic, hard to even show in a photo!

Since we were near the Holocaust Museum and we wanted our kids to learn about it, we walked there and made it in time to be first in. Because we didn’t have tickets ahead of time, we had to ask for them at the desk, even though it’s free. There were some crowds in the adult section but the children’s section was almost empty. The children’s section is done so well, and you really get a feel for how Daniel’s life changed from a lovely life on a pretty street with a nice house, to being sent to the ghetto and then a concentration camp. It definitely makes you cry on more than one occasion but it is appropriate for children. Children can also go in the upstairs memorial area and light a candle, and look at the tiles made by children on the bottom level. The building itself is one of the most interesting parts of the Holocaust Museum. It has elements of a concentration camp in its materials and its crooked lines speak of uncertainty.

My son and husband, who went to the adult section, were depressed after, as expected. We ate lunch at Corner Bakery Cafe, a place we loved in Calabasas, which was disgustingly dirty and awful in Washington DC. Wow, bad.

That afternoon we walked past the North lawn again- this time even more hectic and incredibly hot- to the Renwick Gallery, another free Smithsonian museum. It was awesome! The building itself is gorgeous and the special exhibit was Burning Man. We saw many of the amazing sculptures straight from the desert and the Burning Man Festival! It was crowded but the crowd was very hip.

Through the blazing heat we walked the long distance to the Spy Museum, which is supposed to be less crowded than the free museums. It was horribly crowded, dark, and cramped. Yikes. We decided not to go in. So we had a chocolate malt smoothie (the malt is extra and tastes incredible) at Shake Shack, a very crowded place, but relaxing with its large bay windows. In place of the Spy Museum, we headed to Newseum, which is in a beautiful glass building. Newseum has one great floor dedicated to kids, the second floor, where kids can make news themselves. But it is kind of frustrating because parents can’t see anything on the other floors then. We took turns. Some of the exhibits were very good, such as one about how dangerous the journalism profession is. We saw displays of award-winning photos. Overall, though, news is depressing.

This was kind of a depressing day because we did two depressing museums, lots of very hot crowded walking, and had two truly awful meals, the last being at Panera Bread, unbelievably disorganized and disgusting, not like any Panera I’ve seen.

Despite our exhaustion we found the energy to go to the Lincoln Memorial at night, just to cheer ourselves up! It was beautiful, with the obelisk of the Washington Memorial reflected in the pool. But it was tour-bus crowded, a madhouse. By this point I was kind of wishing we spent all this money on a tropical vacation, where you laze by the pool looking up at palm trees and sipping pina coladas…. Oh but then we wouldn’t have learned so much about our nation.

DAY 4: We had a lazy morning at the hotel for Father’s Day and then headed to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, to be first there at 10am. This museum is notorious for being incredibly crowded so I was a little anxious. We found a long line outside, but once inside, for the first 45 minutes, it was wonderfully spacious and uncrowded. We looked at the gem section, which was the third best part of the trip. Wow! I have seen many gem sections of natural history museums and this was by far the best. Incredible! It just went on and on with more and more beauty. It was impossible to take it all in! But it sure filled me with wonder. I thought of my uncle in South Africa who is a geologist.

There was an air quality warning and everything outside had an eerie orange glow. We walked across to the Smithsonian Castle to have a rest, but it wasn’t really much worth visiting. The building is quite nice but inside it’s musty. The gardens in the back smelled lovely, but they were too hot to explore. The food in the cafe looked gross. Next we caught an uber to Newseum, since the tickets are two-day tickets and quite expensive. There were still some things to see. My daughter got spy glasses in the gift shop, which were a big hit. We had a Father’s Day lunch at Hamilton, an attractive restaurant near out hotel. Wow, what a yummy breakfast burrito!

In the late afternoon we braved incredibly high temperatures (yes, don’t come to DC in the summer) and brown air to see the last of the memorials. We caught an uber with a very sick, coughing driver to the World War II Memorial, an impressive memorial around a huge fountain, then walked to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, which was covered in roses for Father’s Day- it was very sad to see people crying there. Next we visited the Korean War Memorial, which is beautifully done with sculptures of men fighting, rising up out of the bushes, and some incredible trees around a pool. We walked past the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, where you walk in the middle of a cut-open rock, and then see his statue. It is located on the tidal basin, with some nice breezes off the water. Lastly, we really liked the Roosevelt Memorial which is quite extensive, with many sections showing scenes from the times, the years of the Great Depression. Unfortunately, the waterfalls need some chlorine and smelled very bad.

We didn’t want to eat another meal in the tourist area again, so we really lucked out when we ended up in the George Washington University area called Foggy Bottom, by uber. Finally, a place with residents, not tourists! Cute students were everywhere dining in sidewalk cafes. We ate at Roti Mediterranean, a hip counter-service place with incredibly yummy yellow couscous, spicy lamb meatballs, and purple coleslaw. Wow, a taste sensation! We were so happy to be somewhere nice. We shopped at Whole Foods, and alas, there was a huge wait at the registers. Wow, these poor people who live in cities! We just wanted to be in the burbs where you just park your car in a lovely spacious lot, and then stand in line for maybe one minute to pay for your groceries! But then we wouldn’t see these amazing sights…

DAY 5: Our last day, we were very happy to get out of the city. We ate Pret a Manger one last time, and then drove to Mount Vernon, George Washington’s home. No one wanted to do it but I’d already bought tickets and I’m glad I did, because it was great! The gardens were lovely, the house tour was fast and well-done with a different docent in each room, and the museum was super interesting. I could have looked at it for three times as long. Washington had a very eventful life. The views over the Potomac River from the side arches of the house were lovely. I always love being high up over water.

The drive home was very long because of traffic and accidents. Wow, we were so exhausted! While it’s great to see the capitol of your nation, I don’t really recommend it in summer or with young kids that much. There are way easier vacations to do. It is a struggle, especially with the extreme amount of walking and the lack of food in the tourist areas- lots of whining goes on, ruining the joy. I’m glad to have seen our capitol with my own eyes, and to have learned so much history, but I can’t say I felt refreshed after this vacation!