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| Kid Friendly Foogli Events: |
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Museums
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Air and Space museum |
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There are two Air and Space Museums, and both are really worth it. The one on the Mall is free, as is the one near Dulles (Udvar-Hazy Center, Chantilly, Virginia), however you will have to pay $12 for parking at the Dulles one. If you are even remotely interested in planes, you'll enjoy both so it's well worth the trip. The one in Chantilly has more planes and other flying machines on display (basically it's a history of flyingincluding a full section on space travel. IMAX movies (approximately $8.50), both regular and 3D are available at both
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National gallery of art |
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If you love art, the National Gallery always has some great collections, and some good variety - paintings, photography, sculpture. So check their website and you can see what special collections they have showing along with their regular exhibits.
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National Portrait Gallery |
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Must love portraits to go here! But it's great if you do. They have a room of American Presidents that's fantastic, and then the rest of the portraits are gathered into relevant collections like Colonial portraits and American Revolution portraits, which is great if you're like me and need to do this museum in a few trips! This museum is also right next to the Spy Museum and in the middle of Chinatown, so you can break up your day with some different activities.
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Spy Museum |
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This is a fantastic museum with something for almost eveyone (I say 'almost' because I'm sure there is someone out there that doesn't love James Bond, but I haven't met them yet!).There is a lot to see here, and also some fun interactive aspects to the exhibit. General admission is $18.
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Holocast Memorial museum |
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This is a hands down one of the best memorial museums that I've been to. Because of that it is somewhat depressing, but just in the right way because it makes us remember. The way the museum is organised and all the exhibits are truely a fantastic memorial to everyone who lost their lives during the holocast and also to those who tried to help the Jews during WWII. I think this is an important museum to visit, and possibly a life changing experience for children of a certain age to be exposed to, but of course you should be conscious of the purpose of this museum before taking your children.
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National Aquarium |
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Located near the White house on 14th Street in The Commerce Building, the aquarium is easy to get to and a fun field trip. They do daily animal feedings and aquarist talks at 2pm. General admission is $7, but note they do not take credit cards.
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Cruise the Potomac |
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| There are several pre-organised cruises that you can find around town, some are sightseeing tours (which includes normally either a real person or a recording giving details of sights along a standard route either out of Georgetown or Old Town Alexandria), and some are chartered by companies and they sell tickets and you just cruise and drink. But you can also organise your own party by chartering your own boat (another website). You can also just hop on a boat from Georgetown to Old Town (or vica versa) from the docks for a short cruise past the monuments and then you can continue your party at a bar/restaurant at your destination (note that the 'taxis' don't run all night, and have a variable schedule throughout the year. |
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George Washington Masonic Temple |
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| Built in the 1920's by more than two million American Freemasons, this memorial, museum, library, performing arts center, and concert hall is open to the public, seven days a week. With it's prime location on a hill overlooking Old town Alexandria, it has one of the best views of the town and the Potomac. 10am -4pm. Guided tower tours daily at 10am, 11:30am, 1:30pm and 3pm. Masonic Tours on the first and third Wednesday of each month. |
Activities - outdoor
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jazz in the sculpture garden - National gallery of art |
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Bring a picnic, blanket and your friends to enjoy live jazz every friday evening. This is only in the summer and will start up again May 22, 2009. Get there early to get a good parking spot and grass location, it's VERY popular. They do have a cafe there where you can purchase food and drinks, but the lines are somewhat unbarable, as is the line to the restrooms, so for the best experience, try to come prepared and in need of nothing other than the desire to have a good time with your friends and listen to jazz!
official website |
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Running, biking, hiking etc. (non-competitive) |
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| To enjoy the outdoors more leisurely, here are some links to getting out and about in the DC area. There are loads of hiking trails, of different levels, including kid-friendly trails. If you need some motivation, or just someone to hike with, there are organised hikes, and most of the clubs are free and offer other activities like camping, biking, backpacking as well as hiking. another website. For dog friendly trails check out this website. |
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Washington Monument tour |
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Tours of the Washington Monument are free but if you want to plan ahead you can purchase them online for $1.50. You can just go down there and see if there are tickets but then of coures you run the risk of having to wait for a later tour or not getting a ticket at all depending on how popular it is that day. There are loads of museums to spend time in while you wait, so so long as you are not in a hurryThe tour takes approximately 30 minutes, but you can stay up at the top for as long as you want. However, the windows you look out of are quite small so you can't hog them for long!
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Wolf Trap Music |
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The Wolf Trap has a very eclectic series of performances to fit all tastes (opera, popular bands, musicals etc). They have several stages, but in the summer specifically they have a stage that has covered seats infront but a lawn beyond that where you can bring a picnic hang out with your friends in a more relaxed manner. Lawn seats are around $25 depending on the artist and it's a fantastic way to see a band. It is located out in Virginia in the direction of Dulles airport.
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Memorials by moonlight Walking Tour |
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this tour takes place only between memorial and labor days but is well worth it, the Monuments are lit up beautifully at night, and you'll get the added bonus of the informative guide when you take the tour.
official website |
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bike Trails |
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One of the greatest things about living in DC are the bike trails. The Mount Vernon trail offers you great views of DC monuments and Maryland, not to mention the bridges, the potomac and the parks that you bike through. Bring a picnic and stop along the way and enjoy it all! Generally the path is pretty flat, there is some terrain south of Old Town, where the path goes through the woods as it meanders around the GW parkway, but that's walkable if you're exhausted by then or with small children.another website.
Other great trails are the C&O trail, which used to be a towpath for the canal and goes for 184 miles, starting in Georgetown and heading north, it is a very scenic bike/walking or jogging route.
There are numberous other trails, check this site for more details. |
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watch the airplanes - gravelly Point |
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With views of the Potomac, Washington, and Regan National Airport, this is a great recreational park (with picnic tables and loads of grass to play or lay on). However besides ALL this, the best thing about this park is the exhilerating view of landing (or taking off) planes from Regan Airport. Mere feet from the beginning (or end, depending on weather) of the runway you can spend hours just watching planes. Bring food and something to lie on because you won't want to leave! Bonus, if you own your own kayak or boat, you can put in here AND this is on the Mount Vernon bike path (listed above) so you can ride your bike to the park. Note though, in case it's not obivious, you can NOT fly kites here.
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Movie on the mall (summer only) |
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National Mall between 4th and 7th, they run a movie every monday night at dusk (around 9pm) for a couple of months in the summer, check website for schedule of movies and dates. You need to get there early if you want to be close to the screen, but they are good at setting it up for audio so you can hear from pretty much anywhere. Bring a blanket, stuff to eat and drink, and don't forget to take your trash with you when you go!
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Kayaking on the potomac |
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As far as I'm concerned there is nothing more fun that getting out on the river for a kayak (in warm weather!), and Jacks is the place to rent. They are right under the Key Bridge in Georgetown and I have never seen them run out of kayaks. Location wise from there you can paddle up the river where it's very serene, or down river to the monuments (although if you're new to kayaking you may not make it to the monuments, so I suggest staying close to home initially at least!). $10 for the first hour, $20 for the second and $35 for the whole day. $5 to launch your own boat.
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Mount Vernon |
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George Washington's country home Mount Vernon of course offers all the educational tours and experiences that you'd expect, but it is also a fantastically beautiful place to just walk around. From the beautiful views of the Potomac from vast lawns behind the house, to the gardens and country roads that you can take to look around the rest of the large property, you can choose whether you just wander around yourself or take the guided tours. If you have seen the Nicolas Cage movie you might enjoy the National Treasure Tour that includes areas of the house usually not open to the public. Also note that for a few dollars over the admission price you can get a years pass - well worth it if you even think you might come back. General Admission $15, various other prices for kids, seniors etc.
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Duck tours |
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Whether you've lived in DC for longer than you can remember, or just have friends visiting, you should give the DC Ducks tour a try, just for fun! It really is an unusual feeling when you drive into the water in one of the original WWII DUKW amphibious vehicles. A 90 minute tour is around $30 and well worth it we think, you might learn something new about DC in the process!
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Sailboat Races - wednesday evenings |
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| Starting April 22, 2009 till early September there will be sailboat races at Annapolis Harbor. 6:05pm. So grab a seat by the water and watch around 150 yachts race around marks in the bay. official website |
Activities - indoor
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Supreme Court |
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The Supreme Court offers a variety of visitor entertainment and that will be a completely different kind of fun if you are at all interested in the judicial system! As far as listening in on oral arguments of a current case, you will have to A) show up on a day that they are having oral arguments (10am start, lines start up to 2 hours earlier depending on interest of case) and B) wait in one of two lines to get in. The first line will allow you to sit in on the whole argument (or for as long as you want) the second line is a 3 minute line, that (obviously!) allows you only three minutes in there, but if you are in a hurry or get there too later for the first line, it's a great alternative so that you don't feel like you missed it completely!
This link shows you which actual cases are going to be in-session for which day. This link will give you an overview of the next year or so of in-session days (with no case description) in a downloadable pdf so you can plan ahead if you want. NOTE that although for instance it might say "October 2008" that actually is the calendar from that time forward, so that would be what you'd want to review for the months AFTER that date. Here are the next few dates for 2009 when they will be in session: FEB, 23,24,25, MARCH, 2,3,4,23,24,25,30,31, APRIL, 1, 20,21,22,27,28,29. But as always check information in case it changes!
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Go-Kart Racing |
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The closest go-kart place seems to be in Sterling, but they get great reviews, so while we haven't tried it yet, it might be worth a go (ha ha!). Prices are reasonable ($24.50 for 'arrive and drive' per person) but call for party pricing and availabilty.
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The White House |
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| So of course you can walk around the outside on a nice day and take your photos, but you can also take a tour of the inside, if you have the patience and the forethought to organise it! You need to make the request through your member of Congress (find your elected officials). Requests are accepted up to six months in advance. |
Restaurants/Hotels/Spas with a twist
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Hotel Monaco - Old Town Alexandria Virginia |
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This hotel is making our Foogli list because it is not only one of the nicest places to stay in Old Town but also because they have done a great job of making this a fun, colourful experience (modeled apparently after the colours of the Union soldiers uniform), and to top it all, like Old Town itself it is pet friendly and you can even order a bowl of goldfish to your room if you're feeling lonely or in need of someone to give you undivided attention! Priced around $230 and up depending on where you look/time of year, and an endless amount of other options!
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Creative
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Paint This - Old Town Alexandria |
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Paint your own pre-made ceramic items, from bowls to vases and lots of things inbetween.
official website |
NOTE: All prices were accurate at time of posting. Please double check the cost of activities if price is an issue.
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