Short DC Vaction - what to do?

[justme]

Going up to DC for work soon and decided to take Wed-Fri off and play tourist. It'll be just me, no rental car so I'll be sticking to the Metro and maybe the buses. I did the same thing two years ago, but thanks to a broken foot didn't see much. Made it to the space museum, two of the Smithsonians that are on the mall (natural history and American I want to say), the Washington Monument, the general tour of the Capitol, a night tour of the monuments (missed FDR and Korea due to foot), the archives (that's where the Constitution is, right?) and the Old Post Office tower.

Looking for suggestions of places to see. I like photography, so if there's any good places to take pictures. Also good restaurants and things to do at night that won't be sketchy with me being by myself. I'm staying at Hotel Harrington.

Oh, female late 20s if that changes what you recommend.

Thanks!

[NancysSummerSip]

You are not far from Ford's Theater; I highly recommend a tour.

Also a short Metro ride from Georgetown; we stayed there last year, and loved the whole area. Very good shopping and dining; lots of embassies and old homes and architecture.

Also, straight south of your hotel, at Water Street and 12th Avenue (near the Mandarin Oriental Hotel) is the Maine Avenue Fish Market. Tourists never go there, and they should. The food is awesome and cheap, but the setting is pretty basic. There is picnic table seating on the south side of the market, but that's about it. If you love seafood of any kind, you won't get it fresher and better than here.

[swamp]

Zoo.

[Bob Ross]

Apr 30, 2013 10:46:59 GMT -5 justme said:

Looking for suggestions of places to see. I like photography, so if there's any good places to take pictures. Thanks!

The house where they filmed the movie "The Exorcist" is in Georgetown, including the famous stairway that the priest took a tumble down at the end.  Get a photo of yourself on that, and you'll be the hit of all future dinner parties.

Note:  It helps if you bring a can of pea soup, can do the crab walk, and can rotate your head 360 degrees. 

[Tennesseer]

Arlington National Cemetery, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the changing of the guard.

[Deleted]

All of what others mentioned and some more.Have fun!

dc.about.com/od/nationalparks/a/RockCreekPark.htm
 

[ontrack]

I would recommend the National Cathedral as well.  It's not on a metro, but the bus runs right by it.  Old town Alexandria is nice, and you can take a tour boat between there and Georgetown.  The Holocaust museum is powerful, and the walk around the tidal basin hitting the WWII memorial, Lincoln Memorial, new MLK memorial, and Jefferson is always great if your feet are up for it.  The cherry blossoms are done blooming, so there won't be as many people clogging the tidal basin.

[pinkbow832]

This is the best time of year to be in DC- everything is in full-on Spring mode and it's not 100 degrees yet!  Are you planning on being in town over the weekend also, or just Wed-Fri?  I ask because the embassy open houses are coming up, and I think they're normally the first 2 Saturdays in May. 

You've gotten some great suggestions (Georgetown, Holocaust museum, Arlington cemetery, National Cathedral- make sure you see the gardens too!) but here are a few more from a DC resident:

Food truck lunch- food trucks have exploded here in the last few years, and there are some really good ones.  My personal favs are the pho trucks (Pho Junkies and Pho on Wheels), but DC Empanadas and Takorean (Korean tacos) are fantastic also.  You can check foodtruckfiesta.com to see a map of where the trucks are daily.

Library of Congress- one of the places that I love to take people when they come visit.  It's beautiful and a great (and free) place to spend an hour or two.

Eastern Market- within walking distance of the LoC and one of my favorite things to do in the summer www.easternmarket-dc.org/

Rent a bike from Capital Bikeshare and take a ride along the mall.   You can pick up and one station and drop off at another, so it's a quick and easy way to get around the monuments.

For photos, I haven't been yet, but the gardens at Dumbarton Oaks and Hillwood both look amazing.  Dumbarton Oaks is in Georgetown, so it would be a great place to walk up for a visit if the weather is nice.  A good free alternative are the gardens at the National Cathedral and the Botanical Gardens by the Capitol building.

The 14th and U st. area is a great place to wander around, shop, eat, and hang out.  Georgetown is also a great place for the same thing. M st in Georgetown has a lot of chain-type stores (Banana Republic, H&M, Zara, Benetton, Sephora, CB2, etc) and 14th st is a little more local with some vintage stores, furniture shops, and a lot of new bars/restaurants. 

If you're near your hotel and need a good place to eat, check out Chef Geoff's downtown (13th st. nw b/t E &F) or Central (Pennsylvania Ave & 11th st. NW).  Rasika is an excellent Indian restaurant nearby (7th & D NW), but would probably require a reservation.  The rooftop at the W hotel overlooks the White House and is a great place for a ($$$) drink on a warm night.

I hope you have a great time! 

ETA: If you need any info on metro/bus logistics and the easiest ways to get places, you can check wmata.com for metro's trip planner, or send me a  PM!

[Deleted]

Wow, your post reminded me that it's been 23 years since DH and I relocated from the Washington DC area to the SF Bay area.

Dang, are we old!

We used to love to walk throughout (most!) of D.C. Since you were a gimp the last time, I hope you'll have nice weather. We used to walk from MIL's townhouse in Arlington (now across the big mall) to the Smithsonian museums. A lovely, long walk during nice weather.

You've gotten some great suggestions and I'll second a couple. I loved dining at Dupont Circle. The international diplomat population has had a great influence. I doubt it's still there but if you can find an Ethiopian Restaurant, try it! Very unusual and tasty, mostly vegetarian food.

We also loved visiting George Washington's home at Mt. Vernon. Looks like there's a cool option to travel there from D.C. by boat:

www.mountvernon.org/more/directions/visiting-mount-vernon-boat

Alternatively click through the directions part of the Mt. Vernon website and read about visiting by bike from Alexandria which is also a fantastic town. I used to work at the foot of Prince Street.

Have fun!

[Deleted]

pinkbow832 said:

Eastern Market- within walking distance of the LoC and one of my favorite things to do in the summer www.easternmarket-dc.org/

 

Got to get there early on Sat a.m. I'm sure she's gone to her great reward but we used to love ordering sunnyside up eggs which would get translated to "Two eggs lookin' at choo".

[tcu2003]

I love the Einstein statue in front of the National Academy of Science (basically, if you're facing the Lincoln Memorial, Einstein is across the street to the right). The Newseum is also pretty cool. And the Library of Congress.

[justme]

Awesome suggestions. Thanks everyone!

I'm only there Wed-Fri...traveling by yourself makes hotel costs add up quick! Staying to Sunday would almost double the costs with everything.

Pinkbow - thanks for the offer of help! I learned the gist of the metro last time I was there since I stuck to places close to a stop due to my foot. I also have an app DC Metro Transit which last time I was there seemed quite accurate on the times - crossing my fingers that it still is. I also forgot about the bikes since I couldn't use them last time.

I'll keep checking back if others want to chime in!!

[NancysSummerSip]

Eastern Market is awesome! Also went to Dumbarton Oaks on our trip, and it was totally worth the walk to get there - it was all uphill from the hotel!

[wvugurl26]

Check out the all day Metro pass. I think when I looked a couple weeks ago it was $14. Going during the week you should miss most of the Metro track work.

I'm in the MD burbs and the zoo is high on my list of things to do.

[justme]

Wow - the all day pass was $9 back in 2010! If I just stick with buying the all day passes I don't need to worry about the SmarTrip card right?

[wvugurl26]

It looks like it has to be on the card. You can buy the one day passes online. If you do it that way you just pay $14 plus shipping. I'm assuming shipping is less than the cost of the card. Then on the following days you could just load it up in the morning.

I've got 4 of the stupid things floating around so my only problem is grabbing the one with money on it.

[Nazgul Girl]

   Smithsonian and the area around the Washington Monument over to the Lincoln Monument.   They're both wonderful.