Washington DC

[Odysseus]

If your husband really wants to experience some military culture, you should try to have a meal at the Army/Navy Club. I say "try" because it is a members-only club, but if you belong to one of the reciprocal clubs or know a member, you can get in. There's a tremendous amount of history there.

You can also check out the Old Guard Museum. The 3rd Infantry Regiment, or Old Guard, is the oldest continuously serving infantry regiment in the Army. They do the ceremonial details for the Military District of Washington, including Arlington.

[eagleexpress]

Google Smithsonian, and see all the monuments. That's a good start.

Would these be good tours for little girls?

[eagleexpress]

Go to a Nationals game. It's a nice ballpark and since they're a crappy team, you won't have a problem getting tickets. The Smithsonian museums are fantastic although when I went in '08 the American History one was closed. The Air & Space museum is my favorite. And everything is free. The Smithsonian doesn't have a fee, at least up to 2 years ago.

We are huge baseball fans sounds like fun

[eagleexpress]

If this is your first time there, the best way is to take one of the tour bus deals.
They drive you around and stop for 20 or 30 minutes at all the important monuments.
It saves you lots of time trying to map them out and fight with traffic and parking.
Plus they usually have a guide that answers questions and adds historical background
stories. And, if you will call ahead to your state representative's office, they will usually
get you set up with complimentary tickets for the bus tour, and also for the capital tour.
Even if your rep is not in town, their office staff will be glad to help you.

We have a tour scheduled our 3rd day in town:D

[eagleexpress]

Marine parade at Iwo Jima, check to see if they still do it. It's a twofer, because after the parade, the Netherlands Carillon plays music. When I was a kid the bell ringer let me pull a lever or two. Lots of bang for the price of a gallon of gas and a bucket of chicken (optional). Bring your own sodas.

That sounds like a great time will check it out

[eagleexpress]

There is so much to see and do. Definetely get passesfor one of the bus tours, but make certain its one that goes to arlington. You can hop on and off all day. Go to the national archives to see the constitution and the declaration of independence, as well as tons of other stuff there. The national nuseum of art will literally take your breath away, even if you don't. Think you're a huge art fine. Seeing a monet, a manet, and a picasso up close is amazing.

The holocaust museum is fantastistic. If you have young children, just do the regular tour, not the special one. Its completely appropriate for children, but I don't think the in depth one is. The air and space museum is a must see, pay for at least one imax museum. The kids wull love the space simulators at the end of the tour (although there is a cost for them).

Get tickets ahead of time for the tour of the washington monument. They're cheap, but allow you to avoid the wait with a pre arranged time to enter. I've never been but heard the spy museum is excellent. There is a cost though.

The smithsonians are all free. Look them up and plan ahead as to which ones will be of most interest. The monuments are well worth seeing. My favorites areWWII. Vietnam and the lincoln memorial. If you haven't made hotel reservations yet, the embassy suites downtown is nice and reasonable. Get up eary for the free breakfast, its good but the lines can get long by 900 a.m.

How much are the tours and are they kid friendly?

[eagleexpress]

Used to run past that just about every morning. Seeing the Iwo memorial never got old.

Speaking of Parades...in the summer time at Ft. McNair every Wed is the Army's Twilight Tattoo as well.

Is it hard to get onto the military bases there?

[eagleexpress]

If your husband really wants to experience some military culture, you should try to have a meal at the Army/Navy Club. I say "try" because it is a members-only club, but if you belong to one of the reciprocal clubs or know a member, you can get in. There's a tremendous amount of history there.

You can also check out the Old Guard Museum. The 3rd Infantry Regiment, or Old Guard, is the oldest continuously serving infantry regiment in the Army. They do the ceremonial details for the Military District of Washington, including Arlington.

That sounds like fun as well husbands best friend was in the Old Guard and left in 2006 he invited us to go when he was there just never made it

[eagleexpress]

Bureau of Engraving and Printing, especially if you have boys. While it sounds phenomenally boring, everyone I have ever sent there has loved it. National Archives, especially for the kids, so that they can see things like the Declaration of Independence. Kids universally love the Air and Space museum, and most will like the Museum of Natural History, even if only to see a real moon rock and the Hope Diamond.

The Mellon Gallery of Art has a very nice collection, but this may bore your kids to tears.

Remember that the only way you can get White House tours now is to call your Congresscritter, and do this way in advance, because they have a strict limit on how many they can get per year.

Your husband may want to visit USNA at Annapolis. It's a beautiful campus, and certainly a lot of great history there. You'll need a car to get up there; no public transit either to Annapolis from DC nor in the city of Annapolis itself (although the city itself is quite small and easily walked).

How long of a taxi ride is it we are flying so trying to pinch pennies

[Adam Wood]

We have a tour scheduled our 3rd day in town:D

You may want to re-arrange that to be for your first full day in town, because those tours are an excellent way to "get your bearings" once you arrive. After that, start buying MetroRail one-day passes. This will be vastly more convenient for you, especially after a long day of walking around The Mall and such. The Metro is quick, convenient, clean, safe, and quiet. My favorite subway system in the world (and I've been on a lot of subways).

How long of a taxi ride is it we are flying so trying to pinch pennies

I would guess well over $100 each way from central DC. It's about 40 miles away. Far better way to do it: Rent a car for one day in the city itself (not at the airport). If you do that on a weekend day, it should be plenty cheap. A quick-and-dirty pricing of a car picked up at Union Station on June 4 for a 24-hour rental is $27 plus tax for a total of $33.68. That gets you the car without your having to pay $40/day to park it in the District, and it would afford you the possibility to go drive around some of the pretty Maryland countryside around there, too.



Best money-saving tip: stay in Arlington or Pentagon City or Crystal City or Alexandria and take the Metro into town. You get much better deals on hotels across the Potomac and many of the hotels there run shuttles to the Metro station(s) as well as Reagan airport. You can get something like an Embassy Suites or a Residence Inn that has a fold-out sofa for the girls and feeds you breakfast in the morning and whatnot for ~ $250/night or better, and only have to pay for one room that way without being stacked up like cordwood like you would be in the District.