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Romantic Trip to DC now becomes Family Vacation: HELP

Well, it's been a while since I've been here, and I've missed you guys! Or the ones I don't see regularly on facebook anyway!

I'm kinda hoping for some help in an urgent situation. I need some restaurant and general DC public transportation tips.

I had a romantic getaway planned with the husband - spending a Thurs - Monday in Washington, D.C. Now I need to make it family friendly.

Due to our original babysitters illness and lack of any other adequate adult supervision, we just purchased 3 additional plan tickets for my 5, 6, & 11 year old to join us.

So, things will have to change. Like our room at the Hotel George. Is that place gonna be kid friendly? They had no issues with us adding our chidlren to the reservation and changing our room to accomadate. But is it an adult oriented place in general? I know NOTHING of public transportation in DC - can someone help me with that? And finally- can someone please give me some kid friendly & fun atmosphere eating spots?

Exploring a new place seems exciting with the husband, but a little itimidating with my kids. Any suggestions?

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Permalink Reply by kommishoner on January 29, 2010 at 9:58pm
I don't know about the Hotel George, but from googling it and seeing it's near Capitol Hill, I think you should have noooo problems finding kid-friendly activities. There's a big public market area in Capitol Hill that has a farmers' market on weekends, and you're close to all the Smithsonian goodness.

Public transportation in DC is very do-able. Just ask for a Metro/tourist map. You'll be fine. The stops are in mostly reasonable places (for example, if you want to go to Arlington cemetary, get off at the Arlington stop and you're basically at the gates; walk up a short hill and you're at the Iwo Jima memorial). It's a subway system (there are busses too, though I never took one); buy each person a ticket before you get on, you can load as much money on at once as you like, stick it in the slot on the turnstile, and in you go; your ticket gets spit out on the other side (sorry if this is too elementary, but you did say you knew nothing. ;)

You'll have a great time, though I'm sorry about the loss of your romantic weekend.
Permalink Reply by Floor Pie on January 29, 2010 at 10:27pm
If you're using a stroller, avoid the Metro during rush hour at all costs! DC yuppies would sooner toss the stroller on the train tracks than make space for it.

If the weather is cooperative, there's a lot of fun outdoor stuff on the Mall -- sculpture gardens, fountains, even a merry-go-round. All the Smithsonians are free. My kids like the Air & Space museum and the Natural History one (although that one can be insanely crowded). We usually bring a picnic lunch, but one time we stopped in a pizza place right by the Metro stop near the National Archives that was pretty good and well-suited to kids.

The National Zoo is fun, too. Pandas!
Permalink Reply by Herasmus B. Dragon on January 30, 2010 at 6:18am
Welcome to DC!

I don't know that hotel, but in terms of stuff to do everyone's correct, you're in the right place. The Metro is extremely accessible from anywhere in the city. You can get to all the Smithsonian, the Zoo (use the Cleveland Park station to avoid an long uphill walk), the Eastern Market that Kommish talked about, several shopping malls, all the monuments, and more restaurants than you can possibly imagine. The front desk will give you all sorts of brochures and maps. You can go to wmata.com to plan some travel in advance. You didn't say the dates of your trip, but the stations at Arlington Cemetary and Rosslyn (not much touristy there, but that's how you get to Georgetown) are going to be closed Feb 12-15, but I'm sure they have shuttle service avaliable from surrounding stations. Note about the pandas, Tai Shan is going back to China. His farewell party was yesterday.

If you'd still like the romantic part of your getaway, I'd be happy to pick up your kids on my way home from work and take them to a movie or something, give you an adult dinner in the city alone. Except Feb 12th, that's O's birthday party.

EDIT: I went to the Hotel George's website, and if I were choosing a comfortable place for a 5,6, & 11 year old, I'm not sure neo-stylish and ultra-modern hip boutique hotel would be it, but that's just me. Your kids might be fine in that atmosphere, whereas my heathens would destroy a marble statue or two. They do have a kids' program, including *accredited babysitter services*.
Permalink Reply by Mamawho on January 30, 2010 at 6:54am
The Metro is easy-peasy to use. You can buy all-you-can-ride passes for weekends and such, too. I've found ideas for stuff to do here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/gog/?nid=top_gog There is a kid-friendly tab.

FP - that deli/pizza place is my go-to lunch spot when we're out and about.

I recommend doing the tour at the National Archives. There are plenty of hands-on things - buttons to hit, etc. If you wanna, stand in line to see the Charters of Freedom. GirlWho thought it was pretty awesome to see the Declaration of Independence, but the line can be really long.

Are you going to come into Virginia to see Mt Vernon? It's yellow line to Huntington, and then the 161 or 162 has several trips a day that divert to the estate. It's pretty neat to see and has a good restaurant and gift shop.

Oh, and the Smithsonian brochure that is available at all the Smithsonians is really handy. It has a good map of the National Mall, the metro stops there, etc.
Permalink Reply by Mamawho on January 30, 2010 at 7:02am
GirlWho's teacher and other folks have told me that the Postal Museum is actually really cool. We haven't been there yet - maybe this weekend! If so, I'll report back.
Permalink Reply by Joe Mama on January 30, 2010 at 7:08am
And you forget the best part - US!
With a little advanced notice about dates someone in the DC OS crowd is usually able to play family tour guide for a day. Between the Dragons, the Whos and my family we have boys and girls from under two to 12 so kid friendly outings are always a good thing.
Permalink Reply by RBridwell on January 30, 2010 at 8:35am
Hey guys, this is all fabulous and extremely helpful! I would love to meet up with some of ya'll if possible. We're flying in on Feb. 25th and will be staying through March 2nd.

Sadly, I confirmed and my hotel is non refundable, so we're pretty much comitted to Hotel George. We will be spending as little time as possible there since we'll have the demons, I mean children with us.

I definitely want to do Mt. Vernon, but was afraid of figuring out how to actually get there. Our hotel is like a block from Union Station so I am assuming that we'll no problem taking the train everywhere. Correct?

Also, is it worth it to do the Trolley tours? No strollers, thank god!
Permalink Reply by Mamawho on January 30, 2010 at 9:29am
I can message you the routes for the trains and buses to get to Mt Vernon - it's pretty easy. Alexandria, VA has some neat historical stuff, too, like Gadsby's Tavern, which counts George Washington amongst its frequent customers.

There is a double-decker tour bus that you can hop on and hop off in DC. It's touristy and a little cheesy, but the kids might get a kick out of it.

RBridwell said:
Hey guys, this is all fabulous and extremely helpful! I would love to meet up with some of ya'll if possible. We're flying in on Feb. 25th and will be staying through March 2nd.

Sadly, I confirmed and my hotel is non refundable, so we're pretty much comitted to Hotel George. We will be spending as little time as possible there since we'll have the demons, I mean children with us.

I definitely want to do Mt. Vernon, but was afraid of figuring out how to actually get there. Our hotel is like a block from Union Station so I am assuming that we'll no problem taking the train everywhere. Correct?

Also, is it worth it to do the Trolley tours? No strollers, thank god!
Permalink Reply by Mamawho on January 30, 2010 at 12:28pm
Permalink Reply by Joe Mama on January 30, 2010 at 1:48pm
be aware that tickets for this one sell out on busy days - and are one of the few museums in the city that cost more than a couple of dollars, so plan ahead.
On a money note - both the Smithsonian Natural History and Air and Space have Imax theaters that rock - but are also a little pricey if you have a crowd. We usually budget in for a show and never regret it, but for most of us "kid-friendly" includes "on a budget"...


(and you are right aboutUnion Station - both the train (goes outside of DC) and the Metro (local DC subway) run there)

Mamawho said:
Permalink Reply by RBridwell on January 30, 2010 at 3:06pm
We saw this exhibit while it was in Houston, and it was pretty spectactular!

Mamawho said:
Permalink Reply by MamatothaMax on January 30, 2010 at 3:42pm
We love the Metro. We lived about 40 minutes from a metro station and went into the city as often as we could.

My only advice is to space everything out. The Mall is jammed packed with places to go and see but if you try and hit up everything in one day you will exhaust yourself.

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