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Worth noting, though, that there's not much business right on The Mall. You have to walk a little away from The Mall to find restaurants. Best bet will be to time your touring to be around 7th street NW (Archives) when you're ready to eat. Lots of stuff up 7th street towards Verizon Center.
Cool, thanks. I'll look into it. Though this crew is almost definitely going to end up at 18th St Lounge and/or Flash. Not really the Churchkey types. Unfortunately for me.Don Quixote said:
Ouch - sorry you're going through this.
I've asked you to stump for Petworth before, but I never asked how you intended to handle school. That seems to be my wife's chief impediment to even looking at more affordable neighborhoods.
My in-laws recently retired to Easton, a larger town 15 minutes east of St. Michaels. I don't know how old you are but if you're nearing retirement and want to talk to someone about it let me know.
Appreciate it! We're still a few years off and won't move while my in-laws are still alive. It hasn't surpassed Boise yet as a retirement spot but I'll keep you in mind if/when the time comes.
Weird, I just stumbled into the DC thread as you were posting this.
"It was on Upshur Street, in Petworth, a Northwest Washington neighborhood that four years ago had little more than a Pizza Hut, a few takeout joints and Domku, a since-shuttered Scandinavian restaurant." What a coincidence, that's exactly when the Funke family moved in. We're so cool that hipness travels with us.
Not to nitpick, but Georgetown Law School and Georgetown University are not in the same location. Georgetown U is in 'Georgetown;' it is at the western end of the area referred to as 'Georgetown' near the Key Bridge over to Rosslyn (Arlington). The Law School is over near the Capitol, off Mass Ave, between 2nd and 3rd Streets, NW just up the road from Union Station.
You can buy Archives tickets online for a specific time, but I doubt there will be much of a line on an October weekday. I've been on a Saturday in the Summer and probably reached the DOI in about 20 minutes.
Zoo is in a hilly area. Woodley Park Station (red line) is the one marked for the zoo and is relatively close to the Connecticut Avenue entrance at the top of the zoo. The Columbia Heights Station (yellow/green lines) isn't too far away and is a downhill walk to the Rock Creek Parkway entrance at the bottom of the zoo. If you are tired after walking around the zoo and don't feel like walking back up hill, you can easily Uber to a metro station to head back downtown.
It's a pretty easy walk across Memorial Bridge. Not especially windy unless it happens to be windy in the entire region that day. The bridge is pretty low. But, once you get to Arlington, there's a lot of walking through the Cemetery and then obviously a walk back out of the cemetery. On the way back, maybe use the metro station to go back downtown somewhere if you're tired. Or, again, Uber. With multiple people, Uber may be better for some of your shorter distance trips than Metro.
I've seen food trucks on Maryland Ave SW behind the Air and Space Museum. I think maybe I've seen some around the American Indian Museum on 3rd or 4th street and possibly 14th street near the Washington Monument. There are a lot of food carts (hot dogs, chips, soda, ice cream) along Constitution Avenue. But, the real food trucks are usually in those other spots.
Metro is a good plan for everything from where you're located. Foggy Bottom stop is orange/blue line which will take you straight along the south part of the mall. For the north part you can walk over to the Red Line stop at 18th and K. Also you should think about doing the Supreme Court Wednesday AM, when you can likely sit in on oral argument. It's pretty cool to see.
I know that zoo like the back of my hand- used to live down the block, know I live a 5 min drive away with three little kids- and unfortunately there's just no easy way to do it. The main Connecticut Ave entrance is between two metro stops, both will force you to walk a bit before you even get there and then climb uphill to get back to the exit near the stops (Connecticut Ave). The other entrance on the south end (Rock Creek Parkway) is less crowded and lets you start with the uphill part and finish with the downhill, but is really only good if you have a car. There's no cabs or metro down there because it's in a wooded area, might be able to get an uber though.
It's not only feasible from the Lincoln Memorial, it's an amazing walk. Probably the most beautiful part of the city. The Memorial Bridge is great and has a ton of foot traffic. However it's obviously a longer walk from your hotel. You could walk down there (downhill) and then hop on the blue line from the cemetery to get back to your hotel easily
There are food trucks around the Mall, but they mostly suck, and the only other options without wandering many blocks north are the museum cafes. If possible try to time things so you're at the Capitol or Supreme Court around lunchtime. Tons of great casual dining options down there, the best of which are off Pennsylvania Ave SE. I work right around there so I can give you specific suggestions when you have more details about your plans.
Sounds like you'll be here when the Nats are in Chicago for Games 3 and 4? If you want to have a few beers and watch me die a thousand deaths in three hours, let me know. I'm already dreading it.
There's also a ton of fairly casual stuff in Foggy Bottom since it's a college campus. You won't go hungry.
Much appreciated on the "undergrad and grad schools aren't in the same place" tip. That would not have been a good look. And since I have a few DC maps handy that have been studied recently, I'm following the geography.
Or time your Archives trip around meal time and walk up 7th Street. Tons of restaurants.
Thank you!
Looks like there's some 7-day passes for public transit that will suit our needs well. And thanks for the heads-up on seeing the Supreme Court in action. When we went to London we carved out some time to see Parliament go at it and loved it, so seeing Supreme Court oral arguments in person would be our thing.
IN. That Presidents exhibit looks fantastic. Should be able to time it with one of the docent tours, too. Also right by the International Spy Museum, which is also on our list. Thanks!
Bruce Dickinson said:
Also near Ford's Theatre, if that is on the list too.We're dropping this one from the itinerary. Partially from lack of enthusiasm, partially because our White House tour booking just came in at an overlapping time.
Yeah Bureau of Engraving is underwhelming. I work close to the mall and ridiculously close to Ford's Theatre/ Spy Museum. If you're in that area on Tuesday or Thursday and want to do even a five minute cornhole I'd be up for it.
I've stayed at the Courtyard by there the last two times because it is a good bargain. Also next to π
There's tons of good stuff just east of the LOC/Court. Your best bet is south on the 200-400 block of Pennsylvania Ave SE just to the southeast of the Hill complex- that's where you'll find Good Stuff Eatery, We the Pizza, a new taqueria, a couple classic old bar/restaurant spots like Tune Inn and Capitol Lounge, and a couple nicer places if you're feeling classy. Not nearly as much if you're up north but there's a couple decent options on the 200-400 block of Mass Ave. There's also the Senate and House building cafeterias- you can do Dirksen (Senate) from the Court, which is on the north side of the hill. You can also hoof it over to Eastern Market 6-7 blocks to the east for tons of good options of all kinds (let me know if you want to do this and I'll give you some recommendations), or go to the Union Station cafeteria just to the north for tons of fast food options and high school kids on class trips.
Daikaya Ramen on 6th street.
Along Pennsylvania Avenue towards Eastern Market and then 8th Street SE (Barrack's Row), there's a bunch of stuff.
If kids are old enough to rent bikes, a ride through Rock Creek could be nice. I think you might have to be 18 (or maybe 16) for bikeshare rentals. Personally, if I wanted to get away from touristy DC for a little bit, I'd walk around some of the residential areas in Georgetown, Capitol Hill, or Dupont Circle. Some classic DC row house neighborhoods are nice to walk through.
Definitely listening to Eastern Market suggestions. Think we would like hoofing it over there, having a good meal, then grabbing public transit back to the Mall.
We had Daikaya Ramen circled as a possibility. That's in ink now. Thanks!
A couple quick ones that jump to mind for Eastern Market, I'm sure there's many others I'm forgetting:
