Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Family vacation, D.C. , New York area

it appears, we need to do some homework, and a good travel guide.

New York is out, first Command decision of the trip.

Downtown DC us surprisingly free of what I consider good lunch restaurants near the tourist attractions but one I highly recommend is Old Ebbitt Grill . Reasonable price and good food including a good raw bar.

Kenneth,

In all seriousness, prioritize what's most important for each of you; what you each like and want to see. You can cut through a lot of planning by coming back on here with that list.

Make sure you include how you're planning on traveling, where you'd prefer to stay, how much driving/traveling you want to do after you get to DC, and what your price ranges are (DC joints are NOT cheap in any way, shape, or form).

You'll get plenty of guidance.

Worth noting is they close pretty early and they aren't down town so it's a side trip. We were staying with my wife's aunt in Virginia and it seemed between hitting the DC sites and meeting with family the only time we made it out that way was after closing hours.

That's too bad. I call those trips duty, not vacations. Any of the fine museums are well worth the stop though.

Have a good one,

You owe it to yourself to see the USMC Museum.

As her aunt was in her early 80's and had some health problems we knew making the trip was a priority. We also learned more about my wife's family history of when they had to flea the Bolsheviks and the time they spent in Persia, something my MIL has never really talked about. So the family time was time well spent.

We still managed to see most of the mall, went North to see the Liberty Bell, got an authentic Philly cheese steak, saw Amish country, Hershey Pennsylvania then swung South to NC, hit a few Civil War sites, a nice museum in Raleigh, swung through Norfolk then back to Northern Virginia. Somewhere along the line we visited some caverns in Virginia but I forget which ones. It was a nice break from the heat.

My only regret is we didn't visit Arlington.

Step one, ideas on lodging please. Not looking for expensive, nor bargain basement. Matthew and I love a good solid breakfast, on site if possible.

We will be driving to D.C., but once there, Sounds like mass transit is best. So I guess we will need parking at the hotel/motel.

Hate to bother you guys will all these minute details, but there is a lot of very knowledgeable people here. If you're offering, I'm honoring.

Appreciate any advice..

If you are driving into DC then either do it at 6 in the mornig to beat traffic or do it after 9. Anything in between will cause a coronary. Traffic will dictate when you come to and leave town. Sitting on I-95 with 300k other people sucks....period! We stayed at my cousins house in Quantico and rode the Metro into and out of town. It beats trying to find a place to park and it darn sure beat fighting the traffic.

Been many years since I "did" DC but I can tell you I've been to that area a few times within the recent past. The seafood around the Inner Harbor of Baltimore was excellent. I'm sure there are plenty of options regarding seafood, but I know the Inner Harbor has a number of excellent restaurants.

Drive from waste-con-sin to Gettysburg then head south hit what battlefield fits your timing than here http://www.wmata.com/rail/station_detail.cfm?station_id=41 than to the mall to see the sites (both day AND nite } off to Arlington ...than to Fairfax /NRA ...I could go on and on ....

btw ...hit the metro at the opening or close of the day !! I was so close to a $$ dc chic on the metro /hanging on the pole---/ overstuffed cattle car that when we got off 30 mins latter ...she was wit my child...f that chit ever again. and I lived there in the early 80's ......omg what acumdumpster

Baltimore indeed has far more good seafood restaurants than DC if they plan on getting up this way but it's an hour to an hour and a half on the best of days.

If you're flying in and out of DC then http://gandmcrabcakes.com/ is very close to the airport.

We went with our 3 teenage daughters, I planned on driving, the girls said we would need a week in DC so we flew in to Philly and rented a car We spent one day at Gettysburg, we all watched Ken Burns episode about Gettysburg week before we went, that helped alot. We stayed in Virgina, used the metro in DC,best way to get around there, has a stop in the mall. If you all have cell phones you can spend more time at the things that interest each of you, we should have done that. You have to have rsvp. to go up Washington Monument. We contacted our senator prior and got a tour of the capital. If you like to walk you can put on a lot of miles there. We were disappointed with Mount Vernon, we got on the beltway to run the rat race. Would do it again,[not the rat race] every citizen should, it was moving for me. The Lincoln memorial was special.

That place is very very cool.

The Birdwatcher tour; Gettysburg, Valley Forge, one day in Philly for Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell.

Two days max in DC ergo pick your priorities.

Use any extra time this leaves you to visit some points of interest en route.

MAYBE NYC for The GreenDoors of H&H.
Griffin & Howe is very cool and easier to get to.
Walking the path of Picketts Charge is moving.
As is Little Round top.
Simone car Museum is better than a Philly Cheese Steak.

Here's another thought:

Turns out Amtrak (train) runs between DC-Manhattan on the hour, 22 hours a day, Grand Central Station in NYC is right in the middle of everything. Transit time is 3 1/2 hours each way, you might not be able to beat that in your vehicle, and of course Amtrak has WiFi etc....

If some in your group really wanted to do Manhattan its doable in a day from DC, leave way early and plan on getting back late.

Birdwatcher

Harper's Ferry, Gettysburg, Sharpsburg, Manassas Battle Field Parks..

Annapolis, Arlington ( already mentioned)...

Lincoln, Jefferson and Washington Monuments...

1600 Pennsylvania Ave to walk out front with a sign telling the occupants what a horse's ass he is...

or you can call the switchboard... 202-456-1414, ask about White House Tours...