Trip planning help

The annual trip for DL the Elder and I has now been decided (it was to be Tokyo but sadly mother nature dealt a harsh hand ),and I have flights booked to IAD for June.
That's about all I have done though!
Ok, the brief is that neither DL the Elder or I have been to the Washington area. I quite fancy a side trip to Philadelphia /Amish country / Virginia Beach ( I'm happy to hire a car but DL the Elder will NOT be doing any driving despite her requests to do so :0 ) and she fancies a trip up to Memphis/ Nashville as she'd like to see Graceland (I've already been to both and Graceland ).
So, where to stay in Washington (she'll check hotels on the bed bug registry LOL) , what to do there (and elsewhere) and how long will be enough?
I've 12 nights to play with and all suggestions and advice will be very welcome.
Thanks
DL
PS- DL the Elder is a reasonably active 73 yr old (she climbed up to the crown of the Statue of Liberty with me in January and sky dived in a windtunnel a few years ago ).

Last trip I stayed at morrison clark inn a historic property and the room I had was excellent. Well it was actually a parlour suite!

To visit

Take yor pick of the (at least) dozen seperate museums that form the Smithsonian Insititution. Visit 'The Castle' which is now its main visitor centre for a guide book and advice.

The national gallery.
National Archives (honestly not as boring as it sounds)
Supreme Court
Library of Congress
Walk the Mall to see the memorials etc - on a nice day will take a good few hours and take a picnic
Congress - free tour (bookable in advance). I also did a (paid for) walking tour around the grounds. They have a super dooper $1bn visitor centre now.
Diplomatic Reception Rooms at the State Department
Old Town Alexandria
Mount Vernon (The Washington Estate)
Georgetown
Union Station
The Kennedy Centre - they do tours - and the views from the rooftop terrace are fabulous

Lots of museums have airport style security so be aware of that.

As I don't drive I can't help with any further out of town trips but Alexandria and Mount Vernon are accessible by subway and subway and bus

I have a list of other things which is on the other PC. Will dig it out and PM it to you.

He he - I was in the Nat gallery of Art yesterday and the security check was so cursory ... but that's not the same everywhere.

A nice place to stay is in old town Alexandria, the Kimpton Morrison House is lovely and Alexandria is very nice to stay in with pleasant restaurants and boutiques, and easy to get into the city itself which I generally find a bit bland. That said, the W Washington is a fab place to stay.

As Tonty has covered the most, I'll add a couple - the Air and Space Museum next to Dulles is fab (check in for your return, then take the shuttle to the Museum, they'll have a space shuttle soon). The news museum is new and is fascinating. The National Gallery of Art is wonderful.

Try Old Ebbit's Grill for a slice of Washington life and good seaford. Look out for jazz bars, they like these in DC and many are excellent.

MrsPJH and I are currently exploring south west of DC. The Blue Ridge Mountains are spectacular; Pigeon Forge and Sevierville are not. Will road test Tonty's and slinky's recommendations next week after Nashville.

Train ride out to Arlington Cemetery, easy to do!

Stay at the Park Hyatt. Stayed there last June excellent hotel. Book through Amex fine hotels for extra benefits if you have the card. y)

Apply to the British Embassy in Washington for a tour of the White House.

Take the Washington DC Hop-On-Hop-OFF bus tour.

We also did a trip to Atlantic City for a few days from Washington. The Boardwalk however reminded me very much of Barry Island.

Daffodil

As Tonty has covered the most, I'll add a couple - the Air and Space Museum next to Dulles is fab (check in for your return, then take the shuttle to the Museum, they'll have a space shuttle soon). .

They've had a space shuttle (Enterprise IIRC) for ages! (at least since 2008) Unless they moved it out since last May... While you are there DL go up to the observation tower (free) via the lift and you'll have a wonderful view of both runways at Dulles.

The Old Post Office in Wadshington is also a place where you can get great views over the city. (That's if they still let you go up the tower.)

Luray Cavern in the Blue Ridge Mountains is also a good place to visit - very interesting. Tour inside takes you around a large cavern. Trip there is pretty too.

When we went to DC in Oct '09, went to the Holocaust Museum - was very interesting. Plus another vote for the Udver-Hazy Air/Space museum at IAD. We stayed in the Fairmont in town - was excellent.

If you want outlet shopping, the Leesburg Corner Premium Outlets are not far by car and have a good range of outlet shops.

As Tonty has covered the most, I'll add a couple - the Air and Space Museum next to Dulles is fab (check in for your return, then take the shuttle to the Museum, they'll have a space shuttle soon). .

They've had a space shuttle (Enterprise IIRC) for ages!

Indeed, Enterprise has never actually been in to space though. It will be replaced by Discovery, and then Enterprise will go to the USS Intrepid museum at NYC.


Space Shuttle Enterprise, October 2009.

Apply to the British Embassy in Washington for a tour of the White House.

Don't rely on it, I 'applied' a few years ago sing their web form and am still waiting for a reply !

[honey lamb]

I agree with all of the above. Washington DC is a great city to visit.

To expand on items on the list:

Go up the Washington Monument (by lifts) for a panoramic view of the city.

In Arlington National Cemetery visit the tomb of the Unknown Soldier and watch the Changing of the Guard which in summer takes place every half hour (every hour in winter). It is incredibly moving.

Visit the war memorials on the National Mall. At the Korean memorial the movement of the shadows makes the figures seem like they are moving too.

Go to Kramer's Bookshop at Dupont Circle where Monica Lewinsky used to work. There is a restaurant attached to it.

The hop-on-hop-off bus is great but we did the trolley bus tour which was fun.

Union Station is great.

On one occasion I stayed at the Mandarin Oriental (before I discovered VF and the status the MO held within these portals ) as there was an excellent promo on Expedia. It is very convenient to the Smithsonian Museums and is round the corner from the Holocaust Museum. The views over the tidal Basin are great.

On my last visit a friend I was meeting up with stayed at the Kimpton Monaco which is on the edge of Chinatown and was once DC's General Post Office. Attached to it is the Poste Moderne Brasserie which has an incredible Brunch menu including these cocktails y)

Enjoy Washington. I do

[honey lamb]

Apply to the British Embassy in Washington for a tour of the White House.

Don't rely on it, I 'applied' a few years ago sing their web form and am still waiting for a reply !

I was lucky in that I have a friend who worked in local government and got us invites through their local Congressman. We were lucky as it was just a couple of weeks before 9/11 and shortly after that visits to the White house were suspended

tontybear wrote:
Daffodil wrote:
Apply to the British Embassy in Washington for a tour of the White House.



Don't rely on it, I 'applied' a few years ago sing their web form and am still waiting for a reply !
I was lucky in that I have a friend who worked in local government and got us invites through their local Congressman. We were lucky as it was just a couple of weeks before 9/11 and shortly after that visits to the White house were suspended

We did get a reply from the British Embassy and good communication leading up to the visit with regards to date changes etc. This is one response from the Embassy: -
[i]"I realise that some of you have already replied to me that you cannot make this new date, apologies for that, but the White House re-scheduled this as they are closed on Saturday this week.
Congratulations, your White House tour has been approved for Friday, 4th June, the name of your group is the WARD GROUP, ID I3129. The time of your tour is 10:30 am, but plan to arrive 15 minutes earlier for security check in, please take attached letter with you on the day.
Your security details have already been sent to the White House. Please take note of items you cannot take in with you. There are no storage facilities at or around the White House, so please plan to leave your belongings at your lodgings.
Enjoy your tour.”
However when we arrived at the White House that morning all tours after 10:30 had been cancelled due to President Obama hosting some important function. The Embassy had advised us by email that morning of the cancellation but we had not checked our emails before we left the hotel. We did see the Presidents Cavalcade arrive at the White House with the Police getting hysterical threatening to arrest everyone while trying to keep the onlookers back from the sidewalk.

Thank you everybody for all the suggestions -I'm currently in sunny Devon so I'll be perusing in detail when I get home tomorrow.
DL

I'm planning on visiting DC too, but I was told the Embassy don't arrange tours for us anymore which made me very sad as I am a politics NUT and really only going to DC for all of the politics related activities

I'm hoping to go in October, so thanks for all the comments too. I hope it's just like it is in The West Wing!

Probably staying at the Sofitel, looks very nice.

I'm planning on visiting DC too, but I was told the Embassy don't arrange tours for us anymore which made me very sad as I am a politics NUT and really only going to DC for all of the politics related activities

There is still plenty of political activity available!

There is the WH visitor centre and you can also pre book a tour of Congress via the Congress website. I'be not been to the $1bn visitor centre yet - when I went 4 years ago you got your ticket from a tent in the grounds !

In that case I shall be sure to visit congress...how exciting.

Congress is amazing, and well worth the tour.

I've been in and in the real parts for work, but would still do the public tour.

[honey lamb]

I'm hoping to go in October, so thanks for all the comments too. I hope it's just like it is in The West Wing!

Probably staying at the Sofitel, looks very nice.

For the tour you only see a part of the White House. Downstairs is mostly the First Ladies' libraries/rooms with their different china etc. Upstairs is more interesting with the Ballroom (where the President makes most of his press announcements/speeches and which is surprisingly small followed by a series of rooms leading to the Lincoln Dining Room

When we were there they were rehearsing for the state visit of the President of Mexico with a guard of honour on the lawn. When it was finished the soldiers marched off but it was into a dead end and they had to hide behind the bushes until the formalities were over

Congress is amazing, and well worth the tour.

I've been in and in the real parts for work, but would still do the public tour.

If its half as impressive as the Houses of Parliament I'm sure it will be great

Take the Washington DC Hop-On-Hop-OFF bus tour.

Daffodil

We were fortunate that when we took the bus tour, the driver ran out of paper for our tickets and told us to pay when we got on the next bus. Of course, we didn't get off the bus until we done the tour loop. :w

Top advice...

..do take an appetite for walking and appropriate footwear.
..don't (was we did) go in Spring Break. Everything that could be booked was completely booked up.

Go up the Washington Monument (by lifts) for a panoramic view of the city.

If you can't do the Monument, then take Mandy's advice (below). They do still let you up the tower.

The Old Post Office in Washington is also a place where you can get great views over the city. (That's if they still let you go up the tower.)

Don't miss the FDR memorial. It's slightly away from the Mall itself. I think all the presidential memorials have Park Ranger talks; those we happened upon sounded interesting and informative.

Visit the war memorials on the National Mall. At the Korean memorial the movement of the shadows makes the figures seem like they are moving too.

That was a particularly interesting work; we thought it featured the soldiers without being bombastic. It also stands in stylistic contrast to both the WWII (always odd to see that signed as "1941 - 1945") and Vietnam memorials.

Go to Kramer's Bookshop at Dupont Circle where Monica Lewinsky used to work. There is a restaurant attached to it.

I can recommend the restaurant. I didn't know that's where ML worked...

Union Station is great.

The Post Office museum that is just across the street is worth a trip too...

Compare and contrast the location and size of the White House and the Capitol buildings.....

Top advice...
..don't (was we did) go in Spring Break. Everything that could be booked was completely booked up.

We hit spring break in LA and Vegas last month ): - we're travelling in June so will hit the break up of the US schools.
Thank you everybody for the advice - I need to press on and make some plans and reservations as it's seven weeks until we go .DL