Team Farmer Goes To Washington

January 19, 2012

Team Farmer celebrated the Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend with a roadtrip to Washington D.C.

Day 1: We started at the White House first thing in the morning…

Then we headed over to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History:

This is a hit for the adorables – dinosaurs, animals, rocks, Oh MY!

Afterwards we took a tour of the Mall. Youngest adorable was so excited ALL DAY to say hello President Lincoln (he and Abe have a close Wii relationship)…

…but he zonked out right as we were walking up. Sorry kid.

Day 2: the Smithsonian Museum of American History – my personal favorite

Filled with pop culture, our presidents (“a glorious burden”), our nation at war, etc, etc, etc. This museum alone could take days.

I usually limit the gift shop purchases to books, but my younger adorable had me at hello with this Civil War hat.

Luckily, he wore it the rest of the trip. You can see the Running Man there with perhaps his favorite thing in the whole world: a map. Oldest adorable with his gift shop winnings: a President Sticker book.

Day 3: we handed the trip-planning over to the 4 and 6-year-olds in our group.

Choice #1 the Udvar-Hazy Center (which is reserved for the really big planes and space shuttles the Smithsonian can’t fit into the Air and Space Museum on the mall. A MUST-SEE if you have boys and visit the area.(!)

Choice #2: Gettysburg battlefields and museum, located 80 miles to the north (we know this because Running Man biked this with disabled veterans 2 years ago), and kinda on our way home.

Choice #3: the Balitmore Aquarium, also kinda on the way home and outstanding as aquariums go.

They chose #3, which shocked and stunned us – did you hear the description of the Udvar-Hazy??

Everyone else in the world had also decided on the Aquarium, so it was a very busy place!

Anyhoo…

If you have older adorables, don’t miss this Spy Museum, we’re saving it until ours are a wee bit older, but I *can’t wait*!

And Mount Vernon in Alexandria, VA in warmer weather is just incredible. Love downtown Alexandria’s great shops and restaurants too. You can actually stay in Alexandria and utilize public transportation into D.C., which will save tons of money. Several years ago we stayed at a Best Western that was perfectly fine (free breakfast too), but the reason I remember it was the huge *free* snack room where we loaded up for our day. It was Heidi Heaven!

Westin Hotel Deal

The Running Man found a very reasonable rate for the Westin, downtown D.C., but I needed to call to secure it. Whilst I’m chatting up the lady, she mentions this special “Year of Your Birth” discount code. We paid $179 the first night (which is much more than we usually do), but the 2nd and 3rd nights were $71, since The Running Man was born in 1971. So our total averaged out to $104 per night, downtown Washington D.C. Except for that lousy $40/day to park our car, I thought this was pretty reasonable. It’s a national deal, so check it out if you are planning any upcoming trips!

What are your favorites in D.C.? Have you taken your adorables there?

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Category: Family Trippin'
Tags: Families in D.C., Family trip to Washington D.C. |

8 Comments »

Cathy
on January 19, 2012 8:59 am
Looks like a great time! That “Year of Your Birth” code is quite awesome! 🙂
Gina
on January 19, 2012 9:44 am
Oh, my goodness! Why didn’t you tell me you were coming here? I would have come to meet you 🙂
Whitney
on January 20, 2012 12:12 am
Wow, such a great trip! Younger adorable looks so cute in that hat!
Julie R.
on January 20, 2012 7:38 am
Heidi – thanks for the trip rundown. I have only been to DC twice, both within the past 6 years, the last being Nov ’10 – LOVE that place. However, I haven’t really been out of the mall area. I could spend weeks in those museums.
Looks like our boys have matching civil war hats, mine got his in Gettysburg last year and my deal was when he got it that it had to be part of his Halloween costume and it was. He made a great civil war soldier – actually I need to correct myself – when people asked what he was he said — “A union civil war soldier from the Battle at Gettysburg” — was the full description. =)
Thanks for the tip about the Westin.
jeff
on January 20, 2012 8:19 am
I liked the first shot of the future home of one of the boys. It would be nice to have a President we could be proud.
Keonté
on January 20, 2012 3:25 pm
Wow! It looks like you all hit all the great spots. I love going to D.C. I don’t get there often enough, considering I live just right outside of it. Thanks for sharing your family’s trip.
Sarah
on January 20, 2012 5:24 pm
My boys would LOVE the Udvar-Hazy! We’ve added it to our list of things we must see!
Mary C.
on January 21, 2012 10:08 am
I was there for a business trip, starting on MLK Day, and visited the MLK Memorial, along with thousands of others. Despite the crowds, activities and tv cameras, we found it beautiful and inspirational, in a peaceful setting. The frigid wind coming off the Tidal Basin as we walked to the Smithsonian Metro stop was a little much, but the view across the water of the Jefferson Memorial was beautiful!