Photo: iStockphoto
We’ll be spending a couple of days this week in Washington, D.C. It’ll be my kids’ first trip. (They are 10 and 9.) Am looking for non-obvious things to do and good things to eat as well. Staying downtown without a car, FWIW. Will gladly throw in a piece of Freakonomics swag for the best suggestion that gets put to use. Thanks in advance!
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International Spy Museum.. hands down!
n tot he nth power for the International Spy Museum… The Georgetown locks make for a nice stroll. You can check out the Exorcist. stairs too while you are in the area.
If the weather is nice, go to the National Zoo. It’s free, and the Panda exhibit alone makes it worth the trip. Also, if you are there between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., there is a good chance that the orangutans might be using the O Line, an overhead cable system that crosses one of the zoo’s paths and allows the orangutans to go from their exhibit to a study center. http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/ThinkTank/OLine/default.cfm
You can take the Metro’s Redline to get there.
I’d also recommend Camelot on 19th and M Street NW. It’s a great dinner theater with loads of entertainment the boys will love!
Um, isn’t that a strip bar?
Newseum. Spy Museum. Eat at Ben’s Chili Bowl ( but just once, more than that may kill you). American History @ Smithsonian renovated top to bottom a couple of years back.
yea, plus the udvar hazy in dulles
This one may be obvious, but if you haven’t done the international spy museum before, it’s great for adults and kids alike.
The Bureau of Printing and Engraving is pretty cool as well, and is a bit more off the beaten path, I’d say. I’m sure a 10- and 9-year-old would be interested in seeing stacks and stacks of money being printed.
Air & Space Museum
Really, the best of the obvious things over just a couple of days wouldn’t leave you enough time for the obscure anyway. We were there for a long weekend last year with 2 9-yr-olds & I could’ve used 3 more days just to hit the highlights with them. They really liked it a lot.
The International Spy Museum is convenient and fun. And the United States Botanic Garden (next to the Capitol Building) is great, free, and not overwhelmingly large (i.e. it don’t test one’s attention span). Also, I imagine the weather is perfect for it this time of year.
Georgetown Cupcake (3301 M St NW)