Vacation ideas in Washington DC and Maryland

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Here’s just a few random thoughts on visiting dc: stay in a hotel outside the city. it will be cheaper and most decent hotels that are within a reasonable distance of a subway stopwill offer a free shuttle service. pack a lunch, eating at museums or vendors carts is paying a lot for crappy food.

either that or visit a place that caters to the business crowd. union station as well as l’enfant plaza both have malls with lots of places to eat and have subway stops. save any driving for getting to places outside the city.

the subway is the way to go. last i checked they still had day passes that are the cheapest way to go for tourists. although you might want to try to schedule your subway trips to avoid rush hour.

the crowds can be a bit overwhelming. the highways around the dc area are congested and can be very
confusing. i lived there for 20 years and could still end up on the wrong road going to the wrong way so get detailed directions if you’re driving anywhere.

If you’re into colonial history or civil war history you’re coming to the right place. There’s enough civil war battlegrounds within an hour or so drive of dc to keep a civil war buff happy for months. if you’re into the outdoors there’s lots of that in dc too.

rock creek park, roosevelt island, c&o canal, haines point (there’s an awesome sculpture of a giant emerging from the ground there) and many more. the pentagon is only offering tours to specific kinds of groups the last i checked so you probably won’t be able to do that. [url=”https://www.washington,org”%5Dwww.washington,org%5B/url%5D is a pretty good source for links to dc area attractions.

camden yards in baltimore is beautiful if you want to see a baseball game. check out the military bands schedules. they offer free outdoor concerts at the capitol all summer long.

sorry, can’t find a link, may just be the schedule isn’t published yet. august 12th is the annual Army band’s 1812 Overture performance on the grounds of the Washington monument. It features Old Guard’s cannon unit and is not to be missed if you’re in town that day.

Just take a blanket and a picnic dinner and you’re all set for a great evening. https://www.usarmyband.com/events/overture_1812.html The Smithsonian Museum complex is all free in dc and can keep you busy for weeks on end. check out http://www.si.edu for info on them.

take the
subway out to wheaton and ride one of the world’s longest escalators. august is prime tourist month in dc and extremely hot and humid so be prepared for that. be sure to contact your congressman for tours of the white house, capitol, etc.

most popular attractions in the area now require advance ticketing, you’ll want to check that out to avoid disappointment. there’s so much to do in the dc area that i would try to focus your trip to target your interests. there’s just no way to see and do even a fraction of what’s available even if you had a month for your visit.

i hope you have a great time! lori.

m f wrote:

we would like to visit wa dc and maryland in early august. white house of course and other places. what are some of must see in wa dc. i was told that if we want to take a tour of the white-house we need tickets way in advance.

how do we go about getting the tickets and who do we contact. is pentagon open to the public and how do we get the tickets to any of the government places.

we are a family of 4 with a 20 yr and a 16 yr old children. We do not drink, smoke or dance. What are some family oriented
things to do and see around that area.

It will be August so indoor and outdoor places will be good. Inexpensive places is what we are looking for. I did notice that the hotels out east are more costly than in illinois.

Thank you,
Melissa

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