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You need to get up before breakfast....
Hi, Donna:
For the last eight years of my working life, I had an office in the heart of downtown D.C., and an apartment in Arlington, Virginia, a stones throw away from the National Mall, just across the Potomac River. I never got tired of the monuments and the museums, the history and the grandeur of that place. I was always a dumbstruck tourist, especially when wandering the many halls of the many distinct branches of the Smithsonian. Through most of those years, I left my vehicles at my home in Arizona, and used public transportation in and around Washington. That worked fine for commuting to work and basic shopping, but it was a pain for everything else, so I didn't get out and around nearly as much as I would have liked. My very last year, since I knew it would be my last year, I drove my Jeep back, and made a great point of maximizing my many opportunities to see cool stuff.
One thing you'll find, since you're going in the summer: D.C., especially the area around the National Mall, is one of the most heavily tourist-packed places in the U.S. It's like Disneyland, or the Grand Canyon, but then you add in all the millions of people who live and work there, the busloads of school kids on field trips, the tour groups? You'll hear a half dozen foreign languages spoken pretty much every block you walk, but what all of it translates to is CROWDS, teeming, billowing, frustratingly clueless, particularly at the more popular attractions. Huge throngs of tourists take a good bit of the fun out of doing touristy things!
During that last year, when I had my vehicle, in order to beat those crowds, I'd go out on "dawn patrol," every weekend morning. I'd pick a location: the Capitol building, the Jefferson Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial. I'd drive into town before the sun came up, park wherever I liked (no competition for parking spaces, not on the weekend, not at that hour), and I would take wonderful photographs before, during, and after the sunrise. Since you'll be there at least one weekend, you really should try it; you don't need to focus on a single location; just go to the National Mall and drive around; the museums aren't open yet, but everything else is right there, and without the crazy crowds and all the cars, it's a completely different experience--especially on a Saturday or a Sunday. Early is better during the week, also, though you'll be competing with commuters for space on the Metro coming into town. You'll want to get to the museums and such the minute they open, at 9 AM, hopefully before the buses arrive!
Be aware that summertime can be seriously hot and humid, making for miserable walking around weather; my daughter, born and raised in hot Phoenix, thought she was going to DIE when she visited me in DC one summer. The Smithsonian Museums are blissfully air conditioned if you should find yourself wilting out there on a muggy day. Speaking of the museums, my personal favorites include the Museum of American History (great exhibit on the history of transportation in this country--"America on the Move"; hopefully, it's still there; they do change exhibits periodically). They have Thomas Edison's Light Bulb, Abe Lincoln's Hat, Betsy Ross's flag; you name it. And of course, the Natural History Museum (Dinosaurs! The Hope Diamond!); the Air and Space Museum (if you like airplanes and spacecraft, be aware that there are two Air and Space museums: one on the National Mall, and the other, in a larger facility, out by Dulles Airport). The Museum of the American Indian is fabulous, as is the National Museum of Art. Something for every taste, quite literally.
Agreed that Mount Vernon and Monticello are half day excursions--although Monticello is a bit of a drive, just to get out there; you might want to work that into a loop that includes Richmond and/or Shenandoah National Park. That will show you some of the "real" Virginia, which is mostly rural, retaining a bit of the flavor of the old south. Northern Virginia--Arlington, Alexandria--have very little connection to the rest of the state, politically, culturally, even historically. It's really quite a pronounced difference.
Special events require advance planning, but they are definitely special: the Cherry Blossom festival in the spring; Memorial Day, when "Rolling Thunder" roars through town; the Fourth of July, with one of the best fireworks displays anywhere. Day trips: Annapolis, as Buck mentioned, is very nice; there's good fishing for Stripers on Chesapeake Bay, if you're into that sort of thing. Great Falls--a bit of wild river just 15 miles from downtown, approachable on both the Virginia side of the Potomac, as well as the Maryland side (waterfalls and rapids for crazy kayakers). All around, there are lots of civil war battlefields and locations of importance from that era.
In short, there's plenty to see and do; your time will pass very quickly. Stay as close to the action as you can get, so that you don't spend too much of that time traveling on the Metro, which can be like a cattle car at peak commuting times.
If you'd like to see some of those "dawn patrol" photos of the monuments and all the rest, check out this gallery on my website:
Dawn patrol photos of Washington D.C.
Give the first page a minute to load and it plays like a slideshow, advancing automatically every few seconds.
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Enjoy!
Rick
