Two Days in Washington DC with Teens

Tweet

Summer is nearly here and it’s time for a family trip to Washington, D.C. While our nation’s capital, offers much more to visit than our Nation’s Capitol, beginning on the Mall is certainly a fine starting point. As with all my blogs, there is far more to see than can possibly fit into two days, regardless of how fast you walk. So use this itinerary as a guide to build your family’s visit.

Advance Planning
If you can plan in advance, contact your state senator or representative for tickets to the White House (over 6 months in advance), Washington Monument, Federal Bureau of Engraving and/or Capitol. While all except the White House Tour tickets can be acquired once you arrive, it will require both getting up early and waiting in line. Tickets to the Capitol are generally easiest to come by if you are late in the planning process. Below I incorporated a visit to the Capitol on Day 1.

Get tickets to both the Spy Museum and Operation Spy in advance if you are visiting during a peak tourist season and save the wait in line.

View from Walking Tour

RSVP for a Free Walking Tour of DC at http://www.dcbyfoot.com/  

Make dinner reservations in advance.

Get a Circulator Bus map from their web site: http://www.dccirculator.com/ . Not only is it only a $1 to ride, you get a view of the city as you travel!

Book your hotel—there are abundant options in and outside the city. If you can get a good deal in the city, it is very convenient as many of the sites are fabulous at night and it’s nice to be able to stop back at the hotel before dinner or to pick up a raincoat if the weather changes. The Liaison near the Capitol is an excellent boutique hotel, in a terrific location that sometimes has good deals.

Day 1
Breakfast at one of many cafes. West Wing Café on New Jersey NW near the Capitol though chaotic is one of the most reasonably priced places for breakfast, lunch or a coffee.

Start your day at the Air and Space Museum. Definitely take a free, guided tour offered several times during the day. The tour guides are knowledgeable and bring the exhibits to life—even for teens. The flight simulators cost $8 per person and are appealing to anyone who likes simulating barrel rolls—the long lines tend to move fairly quickly.

For lunch head next door to the American Indian Museum. Try to arrive by noon to avoid the crushing crowds. Although the cafeteria options can be overwhelming and aren’t well organized, the quality of the food is outstanding—healthful and tasty.

Close up of Interior of Capitol Dome

Take a slow walk over to the Botanical Garden and then to the Capitol for a tour. If you have extra time, find out where your senator’s office is and stop in.

After your Capitol Tour walk along the north side of the mall. Select any of the Smithsonian museums that appeal to your family’s tastes before heading to dinner.

After dinner head to the meeting point for a tip-based DC by Foot walking tour of the monuments at night. Keep in mind that you end up at the Lincoln Memorial from which you may want to get a cab to return to your hotel, as the two closest metro stops are not all that close.


Day 2
Split your day between the Spy Museum http://www.spymuseum.org/ and the Newseum http://www.newseum.org/ . While both of these museums have substantial admission prices, they are both very well done and are geared for adults and teens.

Newseum

Starting at the Newseum, follow their suggested visitors’ route to seeing the museum. That way you’ll end up at the interactive game floor once you are saturated with news. The Newseum also has a high quality café, so have lunch before walking over to the Spy Museum.

Just past the Spy Museum is a Frozen Yo http://frozenyo.com/ for a post walk snack before beginning your Operation Spy adventure.

If you have extra time before dinner stop by the National Portrait Gallery which is open until 7 pm to see the presidential portraits. Or your teens can hang out in the atrium while you tour the exhibits. If you have made reservations in advance, Jaleo or Rosa Mexicano are both a short walk from the Portrait Gallery.

Sedona to the Grand Canyon to Vegas

Tweet

There is much to see within several hundred miles of the Grand Canyon. Using the Grand Canyon as your center point, a myriad of trips can be created. As you create the trip that fits your time frame and travel schedule use the following as suggestions to flesh out your travel plans with children and teens.

Advance Planning

• If you are traveling during the summer or spring break then book your campsites or hotels in advance.

 Sedona

Activities: Bell Rock hike, sustenance at Red Rock Café, Slide Rock State Park, Oak Creek Canyon

Sedona is a great town for hiking and walking—you can be easily rewarded with spectacular views with very little energy. However, the hikes are so beautiful I highly recommend taking a longer walk to appreciate the vistas.

One great hike is up Bell Rock. There is a small parking lot at the trailhead that gets quite full – so head out early or off peak if you can.

Just a short drive from Bell Rock is the Red Rock Café—a great place for a hearty breakfast before your hike or a rejuvenating lunch following.

Take your time driving north from Sedona to the Grand Canyon through Oak Creek Canyon. Not only are there beautiful vistas, but Slide Rock State Park can also be found in the canyon. This is a great spot when the weather is warm to put on your bathing suit and slide down the natural chutes formed by the creek. In the summer months the park gets extremely crowded and there can even be a wait to park. So arrive early to minimize having disgruntled children in your backseat.

Stop at the lookout at the north of Slide Rock State Park for views back down the canyon towards Sedona. This is a must for the driver, as with hairpin turns and a narrow road, the driver will want to stay focused on the road not the vistas while driving.

Grand Canyon
Activities: Ranger Talk, Hike Partway down the South Kaibab Trail, Ride the Shuttle

Both the north rim and the south rim offer fabulous views of the Grand Canyon. While some people prefer one rim over the other, the best choice for your family is likely to be whichever is closer to your route it’s over 200 miles to drive from one rim to the other. The south rim hosts far more visitors as snow closes the north rim for much of the year and the north rim is generally less accessible. If you are visiting the Grand Canyon along with Sedona (to the south) and Vegas (to the West), then you will most likely want to visit the South Rim.

Start with a ranger talk at the visitor center. Check the schedule in advance. For younger children you can pick up a Junior Ranger guide with activities for children to complete as they learn about the canyon.

If you’re feeling fresh and full of energy start with a short hike along the rim and down into the canyon. The South Kaibab trail is somewhat less traveled and has fabulous views into the canyon.

Hike at least part way down into the canyon. Remember: This is a canyon—knees aside, most people will find themselves more tired and moving more slowly on the return trip so plan accordingly. Ensure that you have adequate water for your group—everyone should carry his or her own water, kids too—and a snack to re-energize for the return trip is well advised.

Game suggestion: The observation game. If you need a diversion from “how much farther?” “Look up at the top of the rim, that’s how much farther”, here’s an easy game all ages can enjoy. Whenever you pass a group of hikers, everyone observes how many people there are, their relative ages, what the fellow hikers are wearing, perhaps even snatches of conversation. Then each member of your hiking party can ask an observation question or 2 such as, “What was written on the smallest child’s T shirt?” or “What color was the first hiker’s back pack?” Everyone in the group tries to answer; hopefully the question asker remembers the correct answer to his or her question. Everyone scores a point for each question answered correctly and the asker gets a bonus point for stumping all but one responder.

Back along the canyon rim take a shuttle ride. The shuttles are not only the only way to drive along the rim of the canyon, they are convenient, frequent and driven by helpful and generally talkative drivers.

Hoover Dam
Activities: Take a Dam Tour

Not only is a tour the only way to see the giant turbines in the Hoover Dam, it is a great way to learn about the history of the dam for kids and parents alike. The ticket prices are steep ($30 per person in 2010), but the tour guides are generally very entertaining, the views from the top of the Dam are quite breathtaking when looking down to the Colorado river and the tours are quite educational both in the engineering of the dam and the history of its planning and construction.

Las Vegas
Activities: Walk along the strip, view the hotel extravaganza, ride a double decker bus ($7 for a 24 hour pass)

There is plenty for children and teens to see in Vegas. The fabulous facades at the major hotels are attractions in and of themselves. Three that are worth stopping to view are the Bellagio Fountains, the volcano at the Mirage and the Sirens of Treasure Island at the Treasure Island Hotel. All keep the times of their shows posted and crowds will gather in advance of shows for a front row standing view.
Let your children and teens experiment with their cameras in Vegas—from the juxtaposition of lines and color to the neon lights at night—there is ample material for any photographer to experiment with day and night.