Travel plan idea blog

A five day, activity-packed trip to Washington, DC

I hope you enjoy contest entry #4 and also hope that we'll see more people competing in my travel writing contest for the $1,000 in prize money.

Pre-trip: call local congressional office, arrange for free tours of Capitol, FBI, Bureau of Printing and Engraving. Contact Ticketmaster to get advance, free tickets to the Holocaust Museum and the Washington Monument. Make reservations in advance for tea at the National Cathedral, and to see the Capitol Steppes. Make sure to check the Washington Post Weekend section the weekend prior to your visit---fun, free activities abound in DC. New sneakers for trip, which will involve lots of walking: $70

Day One: Arrive in Washington DC by train---stop for coffee at Starbucks ($5) and take a quick tour of Union Station. Take Metro ($2) to Metro Center, to J.W. Marriott ($200 per night), which is centrally located for everything you want to do in DC. Unpack.

Go to Ticketplace, buy 1/2 price ticket to show at Kennedy Center ($40); get there by 6 to see the free show at Millennium Stage. Cab to Kennedy Center ($8) have a light dinner on Rooftop Terrace ($35). After the show, walk back to the hotel, getting to know the Foggy Bottom, White House, and downtown area on your way.

Day Two: Breakfast at the hotel ($15). Tour Capitol (free----Congressional private tours take about two hours, typically from 10 - 12) then head to Union Station for a Duck Tour ($35) around the city. These amphibious vehicles take visitors all over the city---a tour and an adventure. (1:30 -3:00) Note: there are often half price ticket coupons on their "web" site.

Work in lunch or a snack at Au Bon Pain in Union Station ($10). Spend rest of afternoon touring Capitol Hill area----a quick peek at the Folger Library, a visit to the Library of Congress, and a longer visit at the Sewall Belmont House (all free, donations encouraged at the third.) The House, which was once the home of the National Women's Political Party, is one of the lesser-known treasures of the DC area.

Dinner and drinks at La Colline (fixed price dinner with wine about $45)---try to get a seat near the windows looking at the Capitol, and see if any newscasters are taping with the Capitol as a backdrop. And check out the restaurant for any famous faces. Take the walk down Pennsylvania Avenue from the Capitol to the hotel (no cost, and a gorgeous walk) End day two with a long swim in the JW Marriott pool.

Day Three: Breakfast at the Corner Bakery, around the corner from the hotel ($6). Take the five-minute walk to the Bureau of Priming and Engraving on 14th Street. Get the 8:30 tour of the Bureau of Printing and Engraving, and watch new money be made, and old money be shredded.

At 10, be at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum (use Ticketmaster for advance, free tickets) and plan to spend at least two hours touring this remarkable place. Take a cab to Georgetown ($8) and wander around the shops, University, and neighborhood. Wonder, as DC residents always do, how people can actually afford to live there.

Cab to the National Cathedral ($5) by 3:00, for a tour of the Cathedral followed by a rooftop tea ($33). If you pick the right day, you may be treated to the choir practicing. Back to the hotel for a quick rest, then a quick walk to the Washington Monument---try to arrive at the top of the monument just as the sky is changing from day to night for spectacular views of the beautiful city.
Walk back to the Hotel Washington on 15th Street, for drinks and a light dinner at their outdoor restaurant ($25), which also offers wonderful views of the city.

Day Four: Breakfast at the Old Ebbit Grille, up the street from the hotel ($18)----keep an eye out for famous faces, and for the important and the self-mportant.

Spy morning follows---walk to your visit to the FBI (a great two hour tour, including lots of gory info about famous and infamous killers, a shooting demonstration) followed by a trip around the corner to the International Spy Museum ($18 admission---but if a museum charges in DC, it has to be worth the price!) to learn everything you ever wanted to know about espionage.

Late lunch in local Chinatown ($18), followed by a free tour of Ford's Theatre and Museum (where President Lincoln was killed) . Stop at National Archives (free) to see U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.

Back to hotel (walking, of course) to shower and change for 7 p.m. Capitol Steppes show at the Reagan Center ($40)---former Congressional staffers sing hilarious songs poking fun at politics. After the show, drinks and a light dinner at the Hay Adams hotel bar across from the White House (really expensive, at about $40, but lovely).

Day Five: The Smithsonian.

Pack and store your bags at the hotel. (Hotel bill: about $800). Breakfast at the Corner Bakery ($12).

Take the full day to tour the city's greatest free treasure---the museums of the Smithsonian, most of them located on the mall between the Capitol and the Washington Monument. Start at American History (politics, pop culture), and wander as your interests dictate, to Natural History (dinosaurs, gems), the Air and Space Museums (planes, astronauts), the art museums (your choice of traditional, modern, Asian, sculpture). Try to catch an Imax film $6---an oldie but goodie is "To Fly" at Air and Space. Take a break and ride on the carousel ($3) in the mall.

Make your way back to the hotel, pick up your bags, and cab to Union Station ($8). Pick up dinner at one of the Union Station eateries ($10) to eat on the train home. (Train ticket price depends on originating destination.)

And make plans to come back soon: you still haven't seen Arlington Cemetery, the Supreme Court, the National Zoo, the Woodrow Wilson House, the Philips Collection...

Denise Neary

Posted by James Trotta at March 12, 2006 8:43 PM