Washington D.C. trip planning

[candaceb]

EDIT: Look at post 17 for trip report

We were supposed to go to D.C. between Christmas and New Year's in 2019, but then the government shut down and most of the museums and sites we wanted to see were closed, so we stayed home. Then there was COVID. Now we are planning a trip for that same week this year. We got a bit of a hook thrown into our plans when DS was invited to a bar mitzvah in Columbus on New Year's Eve, but we've decided he is going to skip the service and just go to the party, so we don't have to chop a whole day off our trip. We would have been driving home the afternoon of the 31st - instead we will drive to Columbus. That leaves us 3 full days in the city. I have been twice before, but the last time was in high school. DH lived there for a bit after college. DS has never been.

DS is 12 and very into airplanes. Looking for timing and itinerary input if anyone has suggestions.

We will drive from MI and spend the night near Dulles, so we can get up and go to the Udvar-Hazy Museum on the first day.
Drive into the city and stay at a hotel starting on the 27th. I'd pick practical over fancy - like I know we can get free breakfast and a fridge in the room at a Hilton Garden Inn but at a Marriott we'd get neither. Planning on using SpotHero for parking unless I find a great room & parking deal. Any hotel suggestions based on location would be welcome.
Other things I know we want to do:
Air & Space Museum - reservation for 12/29 at 10AM
Washington Monument
Capitol tour - I got a reservation for the 28th at 10AM
National Archives - 28th at 4:30pm
White House - placed a request through our Representative - we'll be thrilled if we get it but fine if we don't
Library of Congress - need to try for a reservation 30 days in advance
Museum of American History
Museum of Natural History
Zoo if the weather cooperates
Spy Museum
Portrait Gallery
Night time drive through the monuments.

on the "if we can fit it in" list:
Museum of the American Indian
Museum of African-American History
Holocaust Museum

Any off the beaten path suggestions?
Restaurant suggestions? We would prefer ethnic over fancy. I know to try to get to the American Indian museum for the fry bread.

TIA

[SnuggleBuggles]

Hotel- look over in Arlington. The Courthouse area has a good Hilton Garden Inn (I've never known a HGI to have free breakfast...adding it as a bed and breakfast promo is usually a good deal though). Hyatt Place would probably tick your boxes though. There is also a Residence Inn. It's a super easy Metro ride in- very close and fast.

If you want a splurge meal- Rasika for Indian. It's wonderful!

Can you break your itinerary down by day for us? It looks like way too much for the number of days I think you have but I need to see it laid out.

Eta- we spent almost 2 hours at the Archives. Could have spent longer but had lunch reservations.

Put the Willard Hotel on your list to check out the holiday decorations (and champagne cart at happy hour!)

[Tenasparkl]

Hotel- look over in Arlington. The Courthouse area has a good Hilton Garden Inn (I've never known a HGI to have free breakfast...adding it as a bed and breakfast promo is usually a good deal though). Hyatt Place would probably tick your boxes though. There is also a Residence Inn. It's a super easy Metro ride in- very close and fast.

For my DD's choir trip last spring we stayed at the Residence Inn Arlington Roslynn (in Arlington). It was very easy to get to all of the places we wanted to go. We were mostly in a bus, but several of the parents rented scooters and found it very easy to get over to the Lincoln Memorial, museums etc. and had a great time (and some delicious paella) in the process. I was a little jealous that they had the adventure when I was on the bus with the kids! There's a starbucks, Target and lots of food options very close by which were all super helpful.

[scrooks]

Eek! I don't have any suggestions but this thread is making me think. We had toyed with the idea of a Christmas break trip to DC but I had no idea so many museums needed reservations!

[ett]

My kids really liked the National Postal Museum when they were around your DS's age.

You have a lot on your to do list. I know we would never be able to get though that list in a few days as my kids can spend hours at each museum. For example, they can easily spend 3-4 hours at the Museum of American History.

[gatorsmom]

We were supposed to go to D.C. between Christmas and New Year's in 2019, but then the government shut down and most of the museums and sites we wanted to see were closed, so we stayed home. Then there was COVID. Now we are planning a trip for that same week this year. We got a bit of a hook thrown into our plans when DS was invited to a bar mitzvah in Columbus on New Year's Eve, but we've decided he is going to skip the service and just go to the party, so we don't have to chop a whole day off our trip. We would have been driving home the afternoon of the 31st - instead we will drive to Columbus. That leaves us 3 full days in the city. I have been twice before, but the last time was in high school. DH lived there for a bit after college. DS has never been.

DS is 12 and very into airplanes. Looking for timing and itinerary input if anyone has suggestions.

We will drive from MI and spend the night near Dulles, so we can get up and go to the Udvar-Hazy Museum on the first day.
Drive into the city and stay at a hotel starting on the 27th. I'd pick practical over fancy - like I know we can get free breakfast and a fridge in the room at a Hilton Garden Inn but at a Marriott we'd get neither. Planning on using SpotHero for parking unless I find a great room & parking deal. Any hotel suggestions based on location would be welcome.
Other things I know we want to do:
Air & Space Museum - reservation for 12/29 at 10AM
Washington Monument
Capitol tour - I got a reservation for the 28th at 10AM
National Archives - 28th at 4:30pm
White House - placed a request through our Representative - we'll be thrilled if we get it but fine if we don't
Library of Congress - need to try for a reservation 30 days in advance
Museum of American History
Museum of Natural History
Zoo if the weather cooperates
Spy Museum
Portrait Gallery
Night time drive through the monuments.

on the "if we can fit it in" list:
Museum of the American Indian
Museum of African-American History
Holocaust Museum

Any off the beaten path suggestions?
Restaurant suggestions? We would prefer ethnic over fancy. I know to try to get to the American Indian museum for the fry bread.

TIA

I second the suggestion for Rasika if you like Indian food. It's delicious! Our kids went on a tour with their school of Washington DC when they were in middle school so approximately the same age as your DC. Three days isn't a ton of time to see everything you have listed unless you plan to pack numerous visits into each day. If I were you, I'd take the zoo off the list because there are plenty of other great zoos in the country. The Capitol, National Archives, and Library of Congress tours were excellent. I'd replace the Portrait Gallery for that age with walking around the monuments and memorials. The Korean War Memorial is really impressive. So is the Vietnam War Memorial and the WW2 Memorial. But we also enjoyed walking around the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, Thomas Jefferson and FDR. They are so well done. Those were much more impressive to me and my kids than the Spy Museum. It's full of interesting trivia but wasn't as impactful. I'd move that to the "if there's time" list. The Holocaust Museum is extremely well done and i"d say that takes priority over the Spy Museum and Portrait Gallery. You may want to consider visiting Arlington National Cemetery. Have a great time!

[ett]

I second the suggestion for Rasika if you like Indian food. It's delicious! Our kids went on a tour with their school of Washington DC when they were in middle school so approximately the same age as your DC. Three days isn't a ton of time to see everything you have listed unless you plan to pack numerous visits into each day. If I were you, I'd take the zoo off the list because there are plenty of other great zoos in the country. The Capitol, National Archives, and Library of Congress tours were excellent. I'd replace the Portrait Gallery for that age with walking around the monuments and memorials. The Korean War Memorial is really impressive. So is the Vietnam War Memorial and the WW2 Memorial. But we also enjoyed walking around the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, Thomas Jefferson and FDR. They are so well done. Those were much more impressive to me and my kids than the Spy Museum. It's full of interesting trivia but wasn't as impactful. I'd move that to the "if there's time" list. The Holocaust Museum is extremely well done and i"d say that takes priority over the Spy Museum and Portrait Gallery. You may want to consider visiting Arlington National Cemetery. Have a great time!

These are great suggestions for the OP. Definitely take some time to walk around the monuments and memorials.

[lizzywednesday]

...

You have a lot on your to do list. I know we would never be able to get though that list in a few days as my kids can spend hours at each museum. For example, they can easily spend 3-4 hours at the Museum of American History.

I could easily spend ALL DAY at American History, but I abridged it for DD to hit the highlights - Ruby Slippers, Mr Rogers's sweater, Howdy Doody, and Star Spangled Banner (those are my faves, anyway) - because we were almost done for the day.

[lizzywednesday]

...
Holocaust Museum

...

There are two options for the Holocaust Museum - there's the full exhibit, which will take about 3-4 hours and is multi-floor, will make you cry, and will take several hours rest & reflection; and there's the shorter "child's view of the Holocaust" exhibit (Daniel's Story - in a bit of 6-degrees, one of my college classmates is a descendant of the family that donated the artifacts & provided their story), which will take about 2 hours, and will still require rest & reflection.

If you're going to visit, and I do recommend that everyone makes the time to do so at some point, I'd suggest blocking out the whole day to allow for the rest & reflection. You'll need it for your psyche; I did and I have been through both exhibits - first when I was 16, and we visited Daniel's Story, and again when I was an adult in my early 20s (full exhibit) with my BFF. We planned our day knowing we'd need rest and reflection after our visit.

[SnuggleBuggles]

There are two options for the Holocaust Museum - there's the full exhibit, which will take about 3-4 hours and is multi-floor, will make you cry, and will take several hours rest & reflection; and there's the shorter "child's view of the Holocaust" exhibit (Daniel's Story - in a bit of 6-degrees, one of my college classmates is a descendant of the family that donated the artifacts & provided their story), which will take about 2 hours, and will still require rest & reflection.

If you're going to visit, and I do recommend that everyone makes the time to do so at some point, I'd suggest blocking out the whole day to allow for the rest & reflection. You'll need it for your psyche; I did and I have been through both exhibits - first when I was 16, and we visited Daniel's Story, and again when I was an adult in my early 20s (full exhibit) with my BFF. We planned our day knowing we'd need rest and reflection after our visit.

Daniel's Story is still closed (hasn't rep=opened after Covid closures). Agree that it leaves you emotionally wrung out and it's hard to want to do a lot else that day. It hits everyone differently but it, as well as the African American museum, are 2 of the more challenging ones.

OP- we often go to DC to visit family and just do one whirlwind weekend day sightseeing. There are many days that we can hit 3-4 museums but we only go to 1-2 exhibits. Have you narrowed down what to see where? Note that you need reservations at African American as well. You might already be too late to get those. I can't remember their current release schedule. Same thing with WA Monument.