Washington DC

[TOFB4ISU]

I travel to DC fairly regularly. If I have a newbie with me, I try to start the touring with the changing of the guard at Arlington and end with the steps of the Lincoln Memorial at night. Also check out Udvar-Hazy Museum at Dulles. As stated, travel by foot or METRO. Period.

 

[EvilBetty]

go get a crab cake at koco's pub in baltimore. it changed my life. seems pricey until you eat it. totally worth it.

 

[algonacy]

I love the idea of going to DC in the spring, hope you have a great time. I agree with others that staying near the METRO is a great idea. No matter where on the Metro it is hugely convenient. No, I am only posting to give you one opposing view on staying near Ocean City, Maryland. That place is a pit and I can not suggest strongly enough against staying there. Unless you're young and single, I could not offer any compelling reason to ever me go there. The Rehoboth Beach area was much nicer for me and my family. Have fun with your plans and good luck!

 

[mj4cy]

do NOT do the "hop on hop off" bus tour. my parents and i did that and they completely oversold the buses. after about 1pm the buses were so full you couldn't get on any of them, so we had to walk everywhere despite paying their ridiculous price.

when/if you do the national mall plan your meals before you go. the food vendors in that area are absolute garbage. 100 food trucks all selling the exact same crappy food. don't settle for it. dc has world class food, make a food part of your experience.

We did the hop on/hop off bus tour, but we had our hotel hook it up for us.....had zero problems (other than paying more than we should have but we didn't care)

 

[wesley_w]

All the above are great suggestions and I would add going down to Mount Vernon also, it's a real short drive, I think only about 10 or 15 miles.

 

[arobb]

I strongly recommend planning a day or two at Gettysburg. The museum is outstanding and the battlefield is largely unchanged since the battle (except for the roads and monuments).

 

[cyclone13]

couple of additions besides the ones that have been suggested by other posters:visit the White House - contact your conggressman/conggresswoman to apply for the ticket(s) for you. Be flexible since there are limited tickets distributed every day.Visit Pentagon - go to their website and request approval. It's neat just to be in the building. Smithsonians Museums are free. Just FYI that there are 2 Airspace Museums: one is on the Mall and the other one, Udvar Hazy center is offsite. The Udvar Hazy is the one that houses a space shuttle. You need to take a cab or bus to get there. Walk at the Mall at night. National Park Service has a ranger-led evening tour that begins in front of WW2 Memorial. They take you too WW2 Memorial, DC War memorial, MLK Memorial and FDR Memorial. And stay on the right side on the escalator: DC residents are extremely impatients if you stand of the wrong side on the Metro escalator. I personally witnessed a gal screaming at couple of tourists because they blocked the walking side on the escalator during rush hour.

 

[Sparkplug]

We were in DC because my wife was integral in her school getting a blue ribbon award....they held the award ceremonies at the Omni. Looked pretty sweet! And agree it's right near the red-line metro. Do you remember the 100 + foot tall escalators to get down to the subway?

When that escalator is not working you get a workout. Parts of the Pelican Brief were filmed at the Omni.

When end riding the Metro stand to the right or get run over.

 

[CycloneBob]

You have a lot of good advice here. We took 2 family vacations to DC including Gettysburg and Mt.Vernon. Totally worth it each time; a ton to see with minimal expense. Key is staying close to Metro and using it.