Little background.

My soon to be 16 year old is obsessed with WWII and loves going to museums. Last year we hit one in Illinois which has a very rare Japanese tank and a pretty good collection still being worked on that we got to see.

He wanted to hit the US ordinance museum which was in Virginia but has been shut down. It seems some of the collection went to Fort Lee while others are scattered around to other museums.

He settled on heading to Dayton, OH to hit the National Museum of the USAF which should be a good time, but the wife and I thought since we are already heading that way we would continue on and head to D.C and do some of the usual tourist stuff for the kids and possibly hit the Smithsonian. We have a few days to play with, so if there is something in Virginia, WV, Penn., that would be great too. Side note, we are continuing on to Alabama to visit family, so we would like to not head too far north or into the Carolinas.

My questions. I hear traffic is tough the closer to D.C you get so we thought we would look for lodging nearby and go from there. Where is a good place to start, good days to do the usual tourist stuff if any, and are there any other museums that might be better to check out?

Any input would be appreciated

Go by the VFW in your area and see if they can set up some time for you kid to talk to a WWII vet. It would make the museum and monuments come alive.

Quote from: LMT on February 25, 2014, 07:53:40 AM
Go by the VFW in your area and see if they can set up some time for you kid to talk to a WWII vet. It would make the museum and monuments come alive.

Thanks, he has taking it a lot further than that. He is an "honorary" member of the 101st chapter here in Michigan, and has met tons of vets. A friend of my moms is Mark Bando who has done extensive research on WWII and he gave us some ideas as well, but thought I would hit up the DMF for ideas for that area that Mark might not know about plus all the ins an outs of D.C.

ItsaDuc, I have been to DC many times as a tourist, found my most enjoyable has been staying in the Old Town section of Alexandria,VA
From there it is fairly easy to get into DC and a nice neighborhood to stay in.
I am sure you already know, but if he is really into WWII make sure to go to the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in DC.
Fascinating info on the history of what happened (although some parts are very disturbing obviously)
find info here : http://www.ushmm.org/information

My parents went a few years ago, and my dad hates dealing with city traffic.  They stayed at a hotel near the terminus of the DC metro system.  From there, it was a 5-10 minute drive to the metro station that had a parking area.  They used the metro for every bit of their travel inside the DC area.

JM

+1 on the metro. It's really the easiest way to get around DC as long as you stick to the touristy areas. If you decide to go off the beaten path, then you might need to brave the traffic a bit.

Quote from: Mulletbiker on February 25, 2014, 08:34:28 AM
ItsaDuc, I have been to DC many times as a tourist, found my most enjoyable has been staying in the Old Town section of Alexandria,VA
From there it is fairly easy to get into DC and a nice neighborhood to stay in.

This is a good suggestion. Look for a place within walking distance from the Yellow Line. The King Street stop is at the western end of 'old town' - driving into DC is a pain, can be tricky and parking is limited and/or costly

If you do use the metro - some survival tips, especially at rush hour.
- On escalators, STAND RIGHT, walk left... and don't stop on the left part way you'll get bowled over.
- The metro single day unlimited passes are set up to work only in non-rush hour times - this is on purpose. Rush (in the jargon 'peak') hours are posted. WMATA.com
- WAMTA.com has a remarkably good trip planner - if it knows where you're going. I can get confused by intersections.

Other notes...
- DC has 4 quadrants, NW, NE, SE, SW - there are instances where some intersections appear in each quadrant (yeah confusing) - so be sure you look for that quadrant designator.
- Any of the Smithsonian museums are free, as is the national gallery - which despite the common misconception is not part of the Smithsonian
- The WWII memorial is worth the visit
- The majority of the museums are within walking distance of each other - so you have the ability to see a lot

Oh - what dates does this fall around? There are some special things as spring kicks off

also, how mobile do you want to be? you can use Metro to get into town, and then use Capital Bike Share to get around the city and see a lot more and easier -> http://capitalbikeshare.com/

Thanks everyone for the info. This is what I was hoping for and knew I could count on you all.

I wasnt sure on how good the Metro system was/is, so good to know that is a viable option to getting around town. Unfortunately the bike idea wont work, but a great idea! (our daughter is autistic and still not able to ride, but we are working on it.)

Slide Panda...great info. We are heading there first week in April. Its sort of a throw together trip that we keep adding to. I hear spring in D.C. is nice, so we figured why not. 

I went in April one year and got the see the Cherry blossoms.  It was impressive!

JM

Yep. That's what I was wondering about

If you're there at blossom time, bite the bullet and go to the tidal basin as early (like dawn early) as you can metro there. You'll actually be able to enjoy the sight without jockeying with 250000 other folks.  And a cherry blossom sunrise over the basin is pretty epic

Thats what I was thinking when the wife said head to D.C. but I also envisioned the million man march to get there. 



It will be good for the kids and my daughter will love to see that. Thanks again.

The blossoms are a huge draw so there a lots of people trying to get a look. The suckers go via auto...and all get stuck together and really cannot get the best views.

If you're dedicated to it a dawn ride on the metros the way to go. Pack a breakfast and picnic under the trees

if your son's a WWii buff, don't miss the Air & Space museum on the Capitol Mall which has a lot of aircraft from that period, and try to make the trip out to the A&S wing out at Dulles Airport http://airandspace.si.edu/visit/udvar-hazy-center/ - Dulles is hard to reach on public transport, but worth the effort.

I'll second the suggestions to look at Northern Virginia for lodging; while I loved Old Town Alexandria when I lived in the area, it's hard to beat Rosslyn (right across the Potomac River from Georgetown) for convenience to Metro & more.

Big thanks to all the advise. Got in yesterday. No hassles. Staying an Alexandra near Old Towne. The Metro is very easy to navigate once you do it once or twice. Knocked out a bunch today...Arlington Cemetery,  Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, White House, WWII memorial and Capital Building.

Thanks again guys.