Two Days in Washington DC with Teens

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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.

Ponies on the Beach and More

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This itinerary is ideal for families who enjoy camping, but can easily be modified for hotel stays as well. From crowded Rehoboth beach to the quiet beaches of Assateague Island, there is ocean front for everyone.







Advance Planning:

• If you are not camping, book a hotel within an hours drive of Assateague National Seashore. The Residence Inn in Salisbury, MD is clean, comfortable and less than an hour’s drive to the entrance. Campgrounds are first come, first serve; plan to arrive early.
• Campground reservations can be made at Cape Henlopen State Park in Delaware. If you are not camping, there are many alternatives for lodging in both Rehoboth and Lewes which are on either side of the state park.

Day 1 (as many days as you like!): Assateague National Seashore, MD and Rehoboth, DE
Followed by a drive up route 1 to Cape Henlopen

Arrive (or wake up) in Assateague early to see the wild ponies sleeping on the beach. On your way into the National Seashore stop at the visitor’s center where you can pick up a brochure and trail guides for the 3 nature trails. Or print out the trail guides beforehand http://www.nps.gov/asis/planyourvisit/brochures.htm .
The trails are short and worth walking both for the chance to see the wild ponies as well as for the enjoyment of seeing different ecosystems. Be sure to watch the ponies from a distance—they are wild animals!

After taking a walk or two and driving along the paved roads, park at one of the beach entrances and enjoy the sand and surf.

From Assateague National Seashore, drive north through Ocean City, MD toward Rehoboth. For a lunch stop try McCabe’s Gourmet Market in Bethany, DE which is right on your drive north (although on the left side of the road).

Stop in Rehoboth Beach and head for the boardwalk. There is metered parking along Rehoboth Ave and with a little parking karma you can find a spot. The meters all take credit cards so you won't need to fish for quarters or leave when your change runs out.  Take a walk along the boardwalk, enjoy the people watching, browse in the shops and enjoy candy at Dolle's or an ice cream cone.  While some ice cream stands boast far more flavors, for truly outstanding homemade ice cream try Archie’s which is especially good if you like fresh fruit in homemade vanilla ice cream—perfection!

Day 2: Cape Henlopen State Park, DE
If your family likes ferry rides take the round trip Cape May ferry from Lewes to Cape May, NJ. Children fares are $7 round trip and adult fares are $14 round trip.

But you don’t need to go anywhere to have a great family stay in Cape Henlopen. There are beautiful beaches, kayak rentals, a long pier for fishing and excellent sunset views, a Frolf (Frisbee golf) course, lots of biking trails, a bird nesting area which is roped off, but often staffed by volunteers who will share their binoculars, and much more.


Tips: The main swimming beach rents umbrellas and chairs, so don’t worry if you forgot to pack yours. But do pack your lunch in bring it in from Lewes or Rehoboth as the concession food isn’t too special.

Not to Miss in Southern New Mexico and Arizona

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Advance Planning:

• If you are traveling during the summer then book your campsites or hotels in advance.
• Book a tour of Carlsbad Caverns if you want a guided tour
• Book a tour at Kartchner Caverns

Day 1: Carlsbad Caverns

Followed by a 170 mile drive to White Sands

If you are in an RV stay at White’s City campground—a campground straight out of the 1950s, complete with a ‘Million Dollar Museum’ with a speaker blaring a boardwalk caller.

Get to Carlsbad Caverns early.  Start with the self-guided Natural Entrance tour and get the audio guides for kids and adults.  Both are good, although teenagers and even some pre-teens will likely find the kids much too young. Continue with the self-guided Big Room tour and then a guided tour if you made reservations. If you are at Carlsbad for an entire day during the summer, stay for the bat flight program each evening.

Neither my words nor my two dimensional photographs can possibly begin to describe the magnificence of Carlsbad Caverns.  In short—go!  It is spectacular in beauty, in soundlessness, in darkness, in speleothems, in expanse, in nearly every natural measure.  We explored for over 5 hours and heard not one complaint from any one—we were all captivated.

From Carlsbad to White Sands is about a 170 mile drive which is often more pleasant in the cool of the evening.

Day 2: White Sands

Followed by a 280 mile drive to near Kartchner State Park

Like Carlsbad, it is difficult to describe the beauty of White Sands.  The dunes are fabulous for imprinting footprints, fabulous for photographing, fabulous for making sand angels, fabulous for rolling down, crawling up, jumping off, but most especially fabulous for high stepping down, kind of like a run, which we called the moon walk—such a blast!  Here everyone will be a kid!

The 275 square miles of white gypsum sand has engulfed the desert creating the largest gypsum dune field in the world.  The Tularosa basin has the perfect conditions for creating this spectacular wonder—gypsum, dry air and wind.  Gypsum is soluble in water, so most everywhere else in the world it isn’t in crystallized form.  No water drains from the Tularosa basin, so all rain water that falls pools together in lakes and eventually evaporates.  As the water evaporates it leaves behind gypsum crystals which then get broken down by the wind and when broken into small enough particles, are blown into huge dunes across the flatlands.

Day 3: Kartchner Caverns

Stay two nights at or near Kartchner Caverns

If you are camping, Kartchner State is one of our favorite State Parks.  You need to arrive before 6pm, so if you are coming from White Sands, you will likely need alternative accommodations where you can arrive later.

Kartchner Caverns is a living cave as it is still wet and the formations are continuing to grow in the cave and a fabulous contrast to Carlsbad Caverns. The caverns were discovered in 1974, but kept secret until the mid 1980s and then developed as carefully as possible to protect the cave—and it is spectacular.  The cave is warm and humid—70 degrees and 99% humidity! 

And the sights are spectacular!  The soda straws, draperies, stalagmites, stalactites and other formations that are still growing are translucent—amazing to view.  Everything shines with moisture—the cave is subtly lit so visitors can view the formations. 

Outside the cave there is an excellent foothills loop trail for wonderful above ground vistas.  If you have teens, you can take an early morning walk while they are still sleeping!

Day 4: Bisbee, Arizona

Bisbee is a small town near the Mexico border, just under about a one hour drive from Kartchner Caverns.  There you can tour the Queen Mine—an outstanding Darwinian tour of a copper mine.  Our guide was a wizened prospector, or rather miner, who had lots to share about the life of a miner underground.  This isn’t Disneyworld; he didn’t waste time with frivolous admonitions such as ‘keep your hands and feet in the car at all times (not even possible as the ‘car’ was only 8 inches wide) or ‘don’t wander down any dark mine passageways’.

Day 5: Sonora Desert Museum and Saguaro National Park

Total drive about an hour up to Tucson

The Sonora Desert Museum is really more of a natural oasis than a museum.  There are plenty of activities for young children.  In addition there are animals and plants native to the desert in their natural habitat as well as a small ice cream stand which is always a good stop on a hot day!

The Saguaro Desert National Park is split into an East and West (also known as the Tucson Mountain District) portion.  Both are wonderful to visit, but walking in the desert in the heat of the day is draining for anyone— I recommend choosing one to focus on with your kids—whichever has a program on the day you are visiting that more interests your family.

More Time

If you have more time visit Sedona (a longer post on that in the future) and then head up to the Grand Canyon and the Hoover Dam (also topics of future posts).

A No-Admission-Just-Walking Day in Minneapolis

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So you’re driving around the country (more on that in future blogs) and you find your family in Minneapolis for a day.

No Advance Planning Needed!

Morning:
Talking a morning walk may not be the first activity most families would choose on vacation, but walking through the habitrail-like skyways above Minneapolis is fun for all ages. Sure, they’re warm and dry, but they also have coffee and snack bars all along the way, stores for shopping once the stores open, lots of windows to look out over the city and many twists, turns and forks. Enter near the Target Store on Nicollet or the Hilton on Marquette between 10th and 11th. Wander through, stop for coffee, juice, muffins and see who can navigate the family all the way to 1st street.

If you have a good snack in hand (make your purchase before you get too close to the Mississippi as food options decline quickly closer to the river) then all in tow may have enough energy to make their way to the Stone Arch Bridge where you can read the notices on the West Side Milling District and the waterworks that powered the mills. Returning to the west bank of the Mississippi, head to the Guthrie Theater where you can take a self-guided tour with a free iPod download. Look down on the Stone Arch Bridge and see if you can trace the walk you’ve taken.

For lunch try Allie’s Deli and Catering at 527 Marquette for tasty sandwiches made to order to recharge after your walk.

Afternoon:
In the afternoon head over to the sculpture garden across from the Walker Art Center. Not only does it have the Spoonbridge and Cherry sculpture (which all visitors to Minneapolis should see), but it’s a great place to wander at whatever pace your kids prefer. We like finding sculptures to imitate. George Segal’s Walking Man is a pretty straightforward sculpture to imitate. Other more modern pieces require more creativity to mimic. Spend time viewing a piece of art. Then have each family member try to replicate the artistic presentation of the selected sculpture.

By the end of this Minneapolis walk, you’ll be ready to sit down and put your feet up!

A Day In New York City

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New York is a fabulous place to visit as a family. Here's one (of MANY!) itineraries to try on your next visit.

Advance Planning: Book hotel reservations and get tickets to a Broadway Show. You can also wait in line for tickets at TKTS in Times Square on the day of your show for less expensive tickets, but that means less touring around the city and fewer show options. One hotel option, although moderately expensive for New York, is the Marriott Marquis in Times Square. Less expensive hotels can be found farther from tourist hot spots.

Arrive Friday night. Stay at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square for the Wow! factor-- kids (and parents) will love the glass elevators which have guests selecting the floor before entering the elevator.

Friday night:
Go out to an Italian dinner-- try Amarone-- reasonable sized portions, fancier dishes for more adventurous palettes, basic pasta for the less adventurous.

Walk around Times Square-- listen to the voices. How many different languages can your children hear being spoken? Climb to the top of the red stairs and have someone take your family photo with Times Square brilliantly lit in the background.

Saturday morning:
Take a cab to the Tenement Museum in the lower East Side at 108 Orchard Street to arrive by 10am. Get tickets for one of the GREAT tenement tours lasting an hour. While waiting for your tour, stop in for a coffee and lemonade or croissant at 88 Orchard Street then walk down to the Chinatown markets along Grand Street. Can you find two Chinese characters that are the same in different signs?

Come back in time to browse the great Tenement Museum bookstore before your tour then take your tour. Afterward have lunch at 88 Orchard Street-- salads, sandwiches, smoothies-- good food.

Saturday afternoon:
Walk back to Times Square If you have an evening show or at least up to Union Square via Broadway if you have time before an afternoon matinee. There's a great market in Union Square to browse on Saturdays.

Go to an afternoon matinee (see advance planning).

Saturday evening:
Have drinks at The View-- a revolving bar where guests under 21 are permitted before 9 pm. Or for something more active, check out the view from The Top of The Rock at Rockefeller Center. The view here is similar to the Empire State Building without the cool factor and generally without the lines. If you still want to walk, walk 10 to 15 minutes on over to the Apple store just to check out their glass cube entrance.

Have dinner someplace casual but with atmosphere. Plenty of restaurants to choose from, Vnly is one nearby place with a menu that includes an excellent baked mac and cheese. After dinner, watch the skaters at Rockefeller Center or skate yourselves. Walk around Rockefeller Center window shopping before heading back to your hotel.