Three Days in Washington, D.C.: An Itinerary for Families

My family and I recently took a road trip to Washington, DC to spend 3 days sightseeing, getting our fill of cherry blossoms, and attempting to see every monument while eating and enjoying our way through the Nation's Capital. Spring Break is a nutty time, filled with hoards of middle schoolers, tourists from other countries, and fairly long lines at some museums. However, the beauty of the flowering city made the crowds worth it! I'd love to share what we did and provide some do's and don'ts that will hopefully help you if you decide to visit lovely DC!

We planned our trip with about a week's notice so most of the itinerary I pulled together during the 8-hour car ride to the city. For the road trip, I made a quick trip to Target and bought a bunch of snacks and a small woven basket that fit well between the captain's chairs in our second row. I've learned that something easy and fun to help kids pass time and patiently wait out each passing hour is to buy several small trinkets and wrap them. We allowed our son to unwrap one present every hour. It was a lifesaver! Everything from tic-tacs and candy bars to small fidget toys, a book, coloring supplies, and comic books.

We got into town in the early evening. We stayed at the Kimpton George in Capitol Hill. We had an amazing view of the capitol right outside our door! Other hotels that were suggested to us were:

• Hamilton Hotel - Iconic hotel (though not budget-friendly) steps away from museums and monuments

• Willard Intercontinental - Another iconic hotel with the White House as its neighbor. The Round Robin Bar has been around since 1847. Be sure to get the mint julep!

• Rosewood Washington - Located in Georgetown, one of my favorite areas of DC. It is pricey but worth it for all their added touches.

• Dupont Circle Hotel - Another great area of DC, if you're into cool shopping, fun happy hours, and oyster bars - this location is perfect.

Our first night we ventured into Dupont Circle to check out Embassy Row. Our son is into geography so it was fun for him to see all of the different countries' flags hanging from the different buildings. We ate at Hank's Oyster Bar and had an amazing lobster roll. Definitely would recommend it! We also visited the Kramers Books as I'm a sucker for independent bookstores. (They even have a restaurant and live music!) Most stores were closed but I was bummed we didn't get a chance to pop over to Logan Circle to go to two stores I love: Salt & Sunday - a perfect little unique home goods store where I would buy every piece of their dinnerware if I could. They have an online shop so check them out and support a small business! And second, Miss Pixies - this is a vintage home furnishing store (YES! I LOVE HOME FURNISHINGS!). Everything in the store is purchased at auction and they have the most fabulous unique vintage pieces.

Full First Day in Washington, DC

Traveling with an 8-year-old, we had to tailor our itinerary to lean towards kid-friendly activities. But the great thing about DC is SO much of it is already kid-friendly! We started the morning at the Capitol and checked out:

• The Supreme Court

• Capitol Building - Tip: Register in advance to get a tour inside the Capitol building. We were too last minute to get in but I've heard it's fantastic!

• Houses of Representatives

Next, we took a spin through the botanical garden (not a ton in bloom in late March) and walked over to Unlimited Biking along the wharf to rent bikes. HIGHLY recommend bikes if you have little ones with you. While it was fairly crowded, the bikes got us around to all of the monuments and memorials in one afternoon. We were BIG fans of the FDR monument. The cherry blossoms made it almost magical and of course, my son loved that FDR's dog is part of his monument.

We had a late lunch at one of my favorites, Old Ebbitt Grill. It's a must (but be sure to book reservations if you want a table). I prefer to sit at the old bar in the back as it's more fun and the bartenders are old-school cool (with a touch of gruffness which is quite charming). Order the crab cakes! It's located right next to the White House which makes it a convenient way to do some extra sightseeing. We were exhausted and went back to our hotel for the evening.

Day 2 in Washington, DC

We had initially intended to make this "museum" day but when we heard it was supposed to rain the next day, we changed course a bit. We began our morning by grabbing some breakfast at the Eastern Market in Capitol Hill. Highly recommend a trip through this market and (again) hitting up the loveliest little bookshop - Capitol Hill Books. Bookstores are my happy place! We then took the metro to the National Zoo, then on to the Museum of American History (who doesn't want to see Dorothy's Red Slippers?!?).

Capitol Hill Neighborhood

After leaving the museum (and 18 million middle-schoolers), we had another late lunch at a Jose Andres restaurant, Oyamel Cocina Mexicana. I don't know if it was because I was tired and hungry but it may have been my favorite meal of the trip! I wish I could have tasted everything on the menu, but the ceviche was bananas good. Located in Penn Quarter, you have easy access to Ford's Theatre and home to the FBI headquarters. You CAN take a tour of the FBI Headquarters but be aware you need to go through a process of contacting your state representative at least a month in advance to get it scheduled. You can find the guidelines here. Again, being wiped out we headed back to our hotel to rest our feet. (We did get pizza delivered to our room and highly recommend &Pizza. Being from Detroit, we are picky about our pizza, and this delivered.

Day 3 in Washington, D.C.

Rain, rain, go away! Our last day was spent in complete downpours but luckily The Kimpton George gave us 3 big umbrellas which was a huge lifesaver! We started at the National Archives as our little history buff was keen to see the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Tip: We waited over an hour to get in. You can go online ahead of time and reserve a specific time to get in and skip the lines. Note: One of my favorite things during the trip was the Russell Lee's Coal Survey. Amazing and eye-opening photography that sheds light on the American Coal Mining communities post WWII.

Next, we were so excited to go to the Spy Museum but the tickets were sold out! GAH! I later learned that tickets sell out well in advance (as this is one of the only paid museums). So - anyone looking to go to the Spy Museum, remember to go online in advance and reserve your ticket or you'll end up just exiting through the gift shop like us! Next up was the Art Sculpture Garden then on to the Museum of Natural History. Super cool to see the Hope Diamond. Our last museum stop was the Air & Space Museum. Sadly, we didn't make it in. While it's a free museum, you need to reserve timed tickets in advance. If you don't happen to reserve tickets, we were also told there's a little hack to get in. You can get a $35 membership which gets you special access passes. Shhhh... you didn't hear it from me!

Our last evening was spent wandering Georgetown. Most stores were closed by the time we got there but we had an amazing dinner at Farmer Fishers Bakers. HIGHLY recommend. My husband said the chicken and waffles were the real deal.

Overall, it was a whirlwind few days but we packed in as much as possible.

General Tips:

• Use the metro as much as possible. Easy and clean mode of transportation. I'd be sure to make sure your hotel is near a metro stop!

• Instead of paying the $60 hotel fee to park overnight, I downloaded the app Parkopedia Parking which gives you lists of nearby parking places and their prices. We were able to park at Union Station for $20 a night. So a fairly good savings!

• I've done the Monuments by Moonlight tour in the past and I'd highly recommend it. We knew we'd be exhausted in the evenings and likely not apt to fully enjoy it, but if you are on a couples trip - it's a must.

• Make sure you check out the entrance requirements for everywhere you want to go. We thought with everything being free, we could mosey on it. Not the case so be sure to check out ticket reservations that are needed.

• Wear layers in the spring. DC can be 70 one day and rainy and 40 the next.

• If you're going to do Arlington, plan to make a day out of it.

• A great way to see the full panoramic city is to go up to the rooftop bar, Vue, at the Hotel Washington. It's a stunning way to see the city and monuments lit up at night.