Washington, DC?

W

whickums

250+ Posts
Possibly going there at the end of June for a couple of days. What attractions/restaurants would you recommend? Any pearls of advice to give?
 
smithsonian / national mall - bring comfortable walking shoes

what kind of restaurants are you looking for? expensive / fine dining? kitschy / cool?
 
I guess for the sake of keeping things cheap we'll skip the "fine dining" places. Looking for restaurants that are well reputable but not too costly. Any type of food is fine.

I figured we would go to all the govt buildings and I'd love to see some of the museums at the Smithsonian.
 
NEWSEUM!!! Also, the Nats new stadium is gorgeous and very accessible. Old Ebbits Grille (sp?) is a great restaurant near the White House and isn't too expensive.
 
The Nationals new stadium is very nice and accessible via the metro, however I wouldn't make a trip down there unless you're going to the game. The Navy Yard is not the nicest part of town and there's not much else to do down there.

Old Ebbitt Grill is my fallback when anyone comes in town to visit. It's across the street from the Treasury building (which is right next to the White House). The original one was a favorite of Grant, Teddy Roosevelt and a couple others. The wood paneling and decor is from the original though.

Some other cool things to do include the Udgar-Hazy Center at Dulles Airport (several hangars filled with hundreds of planes from WW2 to the Blackbird to the JSF model to space shuttles), the Spy Museum, Manassas battlefield. Of course you also have all the monuments, memorials, etc.
 
contact your Rep. and Senators' offices to help you schedule tours. check their websites to see what all they can schedule, as it's limited. Ask for a Capitol tour from an intern, as it's much better than waiting in line with the sweaty masses, and the intern will most likely be from TX. Schedule the tour for the morning so you can grab a tasty and cheap breakfast in the Dirksen Senate cafeteria before you arrive for your tour. Then go check out the Library of Congress (get your Rep. or Sens. to set up a tour) and the Supreme Court. For lunch, Armand's Chicago pizzeria on the Senate side has a $5.99 all you can eat lunch buffet during the week. Walk over to Union Station and you can hop on a trolley tour of the city. I recommend the Park Service's night time tour of the monuments but the other trolley tours are pretty good. you can hop on and off all day, and you can do a separate Mount Vernon day trip. Beware, the DC Duck tour is pretty much a waste of time and money.

Beware of hard hit grounders and long balls while walking on the Mall in the evening. Softball is very serious business.

Arlington Cemetery to see the changing of the guard, JFK eternal flame, etc.

the Old Guard has twilight tattoo near the Washington Monument in the Summer on Wednesday nights. Marine Corps has one at 8th and I on Friday nights (you need a reservation) and sunset parade at Iwo Jima on Wednesday nights. Navy Band has a free summer concert series on the Capitol steps on Monday nights during the summer. Air Force band does them on Tuesday nights at the Capitol and Friday nights near the base of the Washington Monument.

WH public tour is overrated and you have to be in a group of 10 or more to get tickets. Best bet is if you know someone that can hook you up with a West Wing tour, or if you find out when the WH Summer Garden Tours are and plan around that.

If you can't get tix to the top of the Monument, go to the tower of the Old Post Office Pavilian for a comparable view. it requires no wait in line for tickets.


Ford's Theater on 10th Street. There are several t-shirt shops on that street if you want to pick up cheap and cheaply made souvenirs.

Check out the National Cathedral if you're in NW.

Foodwise...

Clydes for crabcake sammich. (Clyde's happy hour menu name was the inspiration for the Starlight Vocal Band's song "Afternoon Delight") There's a Clyde's in chinatown and one in Georgetown. Old Ebbitt is owned by the same folks that own Clyde's.

Brickskeller for large beer selection.
RFD also good beer selection and it's in Chinatown

Tune Inn (capitol hill) for dive bar atmosphere - good burgers and cheap beer (miller high life pitchers) and you might see Ralph Hall there hanging out
Ebenezer's over by Union Station for coffee and maybe live music
Old Ebbitt Grill by the White House. good raw bar and oldest saloon in DC

the top of Hotel Washington at night for a fantastic view of the city - you can have drinks or dessert. or both.

Five Guys Burgers are cheap and good. You can find them in Georgetown, Dupont Circle, Chinatown and near Metro Center. For lunch, Bread Line is also good option, and not far from the White House. If you like Greek food, try Zorba's Cafe in Dupont.

not sure what your price range/preference is, so try washingtonian.com for restaurant recs.
 
General Caveat about the Metro - on the escalator stand to the right, walk to the left.
 
Twilight Tattoo is done, or at least we used to do it at the Ellipse. I don't think it would have changed. Wear sunglasses. Sounds obvious but wear 'em.

Enjoy your show put on by the 1st Bn 3d US Inf (The Old Guard).
 
oops, that's right the dangers of cutting and pasting an old post. hotel washington closed for renovations in dec. and will reopen as the W. sad.

Twilight Tattoo has apparently moved once again - it's now at Fort McNair.The Link
 
That makes sense though. The Old Guard has a Company there, Alpha Company. They are the ones who dress in the Colonial uniforms. That is also the place I witnessed a ghost sighting and recording/detection. There are some catacombs and tunnels below it, most filled in with concrete. But there is some major hauntings there. Too bad they don't do a ghost tour there. A lot of tortures and imprisonments as well as hangings occurred there. Fort Leslie J. McNair, a good spot for Tattoo for scheduling reasons, for sure.

But what about gate security and being open to the public. It was always easy to get on there for civilians from what I heard. I was at Ft. Myer in the Old Guard so I know more about that security. Many a MPs were cool enough to ride me up the big assed hill by ANC.

For sure go to ANC and check out the changing of the guard. It is something that will stick with you for a long time.
 
this is like deja vu - I vaguely recall a conversation on here with someone about "Gardens of Stone," as my old roommate used to date Bravo Company of the Old Guard.
laugh.gif
 
That was prob. me. They finished Gardens of Stone just before I was assigned there. So many of the guys in that film doing various things served with me.

The on post things were mostly filmed in Headquarters, Hotel Company dayroom and Echo Company. Summerall Field, of course, which is in between Post HQ, across from the line of Old Guard Companies and in front of the backside of most CSM and Officer housing. Command Sgt. Major of the Army house is the one closest to the Post HQ bldg.

That movie was requisite viewing and was watched much more than it should have been.
 
ha, ok. yeah, my roommate made us watch that movie wayyyy too many times. it's good, but only in very small doses.
 
went in 99 and loved it... way more to do than i thought. One can't miss thing is the Holocaust museum... but make sure you set aside enough time as it is not something you want to rush through.

Going again in Dec so thanks for all the food suggestions. Any suggestions on where to stay? General areas or streets anyway... it's been a while and in 99 it was a school trip anyway so i didn't make any of the arrangements.
 
Holocaust Museum is a must but you have to go early to get tickets to be admitted later.

Also, I enjoyed the Cafe of the Americas in the Pan AM station/Mall. It has specialties from all 50 states. It was fun to just read the menu and try different specialties.

I think the Lincoln Memorial and especially the Vietnam Veterans Memorial are best viewed at night.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Recent Threads

Prediction Results Threads

2024 Schedules

Back
Top