22 out of 30. That’s my total for my November goal to blog every day. It’s not 100%, not even really close, but I’m happy with it!
Today is the end of Thanksgiving weekend (Saturday night) and it takes my breath away (literally— I’ve had a pounding heart and shortness of breath all day long) to look down the barrel of the next 25 days. It is always the busiest, most hectic time as we have various holiday obligations, holiday delights, business craziness (for which we are grateful!), ending semesters at school, buying gifts, and trying to make everything special while also trying to keep the main thing, the main thing.
Today is also Small Business Saturday. We have been SO BLESSED in the past 4 years of our business, For Such a Time Creations. God has used this little dream of ours to provide funds for ministry, for missions, for fun, for an adoption, and for support. He has allowed us to do work for our church and other ministries at cost and for fundraisers at a lower price for them. He has let us use it to employ our children, and the time spent working side by side with my family members is so special to me. I truly see this as a creative outlet for me that I think has partially saved my sanity through these past four sometimes stressful years.
We have made new friends and discovered new missions through this business. We are blessed every time people trust us with a special time in their lives, every time an organization chooses us to create their tangible memories. We hope that we steward well all that our customers trust us with, and that the God who has entrusted us with so much is pleased with our business decisions.
We believe that we were given this dream “for such a time as this,” as long as that time lasts.
Just Look...
Saturday, November 30, 2019
Tuesday, November 26, 2019
Tiny Changes
We are rearranging our house a bit (moved the dining room table to the main room, moved the little breakfast room table and the couch to the old dining room, adding a closet to our bedroom) and I'm struck by how totally different a place can seem with very small changes. Everything in the downstairs feels new to me every time I walk in, and it's just from making tiny changes.
It makes me realize that trying to drastically overhaul an entire life is completely unnecessary. You can see things from a new perspective and be pleased with progress just from making tiny changes here and there. I try to remember this as I set goals for myself, but inevitably I forget and end up trying to do way too much, which almost always results in failure.
Tiny changes. Tiny changes are how you change your world.
It makes me realize that trying to drastically overhaul an entire life is completely unnecessary. You can see things from a new perspective and be pleased with progress just from making tiny changes here and there. I try to remember this as I set goals for myself, but inevitably I forget and end up trying to do way too much, which almost always results in failure.
Tiny changes. Tiny changes are how you change your world.
Fall Break Adventure Smorgasbord
In keeping with my logging of travel on here, I thought I would do a post about Fall Break '19, which was a smorgasbord of adventure.
Our original plan was to head to Florida and go to Sea World and Busch Gardens. Then Kraig found out about a conference he needed to attend the following day (after our trip) and, in consulting a map, I realized that it made a lot more sense for us all to just go straight to the city of his conference from Florida, then come home. THEN I decided to make some stops along the way! It was a great trip, and a great way for our kids to see more cities and historical sites, PLUS we stayed in some great Airbnb's.
Day 1, Saturday
Drove straight to Florida. If you have never stopped at the Clothing Carnival on the way, I highly recommend it. It's around Valdosta, and it's a great stop. Chacos were $30!!!
We had planned to buy tickets online, but at the last minute we decided to be cheap and see what they had to offer for people who went to time share presentations. We found a ticket outlet, didn't like the offerings, went in a second one, and got a great deal. We ended up not only getting tickets to both parks but we also got a meal plan at both places for all six of us and almost for cheaper than the online ticket only price!
Our Airbnb for this part of our trip was in Lakeland, which ended up being an excellent choice. The place was perfect for our family and the location was fabulous.
Day 2, Sunday
We went to Sea World on this day after our time share presentation. We all loved it SO MUCH. The weather was supposed to be rainy but ended up just being cloudy. It was excellent weather, tiny crowd, easy drive in and out. The meal plan paid off SO MUCH just at Sea World because there were lots of food and snack options and we ate far more than our money's worth. We had intended to get dinner once we left the park, but we ended up deciding to eat supper there too and save money!
Day 3, Monday
We went to Busch Gardens on the second day. It was awesome, for sure, but a lot of what we remembered and loved about it had changed (no safari ride, for example). The weather was ick, so we got wet often and many of the rides were closed. However, it was still a great day and there was almost NOBODY there. We didn't feel like the meal options here were as good as Sea World, but we, again, ate dinner before we left the park.
Day 4, Tuesday
This was our driving and stopping day. We left at a decent time and drove north along the coast. Our first stop was in St. Augustine. We went straight to the fort and walked around, then drove through the old city. We grabbed lunch and headed further north to Savannah, GA. On that stop, we parked at the visitor center (free) and got a map. Using the map, we hopped the city trolley (also free), the dot shuttle, and rode to the famous ice cream shop, Leopold's. After getting our cones, we decided to do some walking. We saw one of the famous cemeteries, the beautiful church, Flannery O'Conner's house, and several squares (including the one where Forrest Gump was filmed). We were close enough by then that we just walked back to our car. The next leg of our drive took us north to Asheville, NC, which is where Kraig's conference was and where we spent the night in our next Airbnb. I hated that we weren't here longer because her place was just adorable!
Day 5, Wednesday
Kraig had his conference, so we all left the Airbnb early and dropped him off. I had considered a lot of different plans for this day and had actively researched hikes and waterfalls and such. It was VERY foggy and cloudy, which really limited our options. We stopped at a Goodwill while we waiting for the fog to burn off some, then headed to a town along the Blue Ridge Parkway (I can't remember the name). At that point, we stopped at the visitor center and I went in to ask the ranger for advice. He recommended heading north to Mt. Mitchell, then stopping several places on the way back down. That's exactly what we did! Mt. Mitchell was pretty (though foggy). We walked to the top (more of a climb than I expected), then hiked down and around. I found that a short hike and a short walk aren't at all the same thing and my physical condition horrified me. The kids loved it. We then drove down, stopped at several overlooks and spots, including Craggy Gardens. The fog really hindered our views, unfortunately. We got back into Asheville and intended to do some shopping downtown (parked at the visitor center) but Kraig finished a bit early, so we picked him up, ate a late lunch downtown (do not recommend where we went), and headed back to Cleveland.
Day 6, Thursday
At home, which I 10/10 recommend. I give my bed and my house a 5 star rating. ;)
Day 7, Friday
With Francisco too this time, we left and headed to Damascus to bike the VA Creeper Trail. We thought we were going to have to drive two cars and ended up deciding taking the van with the bike rack and four bikes and renting three more was cheaper than driving two cars. We used a different company this time, Shuttle Shack, and we liked them (coupon online too). We also started the trail later in the day this time (around 1), which I HIGHLY recommend. We enjoyed our drive down very much, just like last time. We turned in our bikes and headed to downtown Damascus to see one of the Love installations (at a waterfall), then went to downtown Abingdon. I LOVED that city! We saw the Barter Theater, an old college, another Love installation (or two), the oldest restaurant in America, and ate pizza at Luna's, which was SO good. We then drove to Bristol, which is where our final Airbnb of fall break awaited. I got this one on the last minute and GOODNESS, it was nice! So perfect for us!
Day 8, Saturday
We had a family reunion in Bristol at 1, so we had some time after checkout of our Airbnb and we used it to explore downtown Bristol. We parked along the street and walked till we saw a most beautiful bakery, The Blackbird Bakery. It was DELICIOUS and adorable! We then walked the streets (saw another Love installation) and shopped a bit. We loved the flags on both sides of the street, we took the typical picture of one foot in each state, and we looked at the famous sign. We ended that day with a wonderful family reunion, then headed home to Cleveland!
Day 9, Sunday
Rest and relaxation and church in our sweet little hometown!
Our original plan was to head to Florida and go to Sea World and Busch Gardens. Then Kraig found out about a conference he needed to attend the following day (after our trip) and, in consulting a map, I realized that it made a lot more sense for us all to just go straight to the city of his conference from Florida, then come home. THEN I decided to make some stops along the way! It was a great trip, and a great way for our kids to see more cities and historical sites, PLUS we stayed in some great Airbnb's.
Day 1, Saturday
Drove straight to Florida. If you have never stopped at the Clothing Carnival on the way, I highly recommend it. It's around Valdosta, and it's a great stop. Chacos were $30!!!
We had planned to buy tickets online, but at the last minute we decided to be cheap and see what they had to offer for people who went to time share presentations. We found a ticket outlet, didn't like the offerings, went in a second one, and got a great deal. We ended up not only getting tickets to both parks but we also got a meal plan at both places for all six of us and almost for cheaper than the online ticket only price!
Our Airbnb for this part of our trip was in Lakeland, which ended up being an excellent choice. The place was perfect for our family and the location was fabulous.
Day 2, Sunday
We went to Sea World on this day after our time share presentation. We all loved it SO MUCH. The weather was supposed to be rainy but ended up just being cloudy. It was excellent weather, tiny crowd, easy drive in and out. The meal plan paid off SO MUCH just at Sea World because there were lots of food and snack options and we ate far more than our money's worth. We had intended to get dinner once we left the park, but we ended up deciding to eat supper there too and save money!
Day 3, Monday
We went to Busch Gardens on the second day. It was awesome, for sure, but a lot of what we remembered and loved about it had changed (no safari ride, for example). The weather was ick, so we got wet often and many of the rides were closed. However, it was still a great day and there was almost NOBODY there. We didn't feel like the meal options here were as good as Sea World, but we, again, ate dinner before we left the park.
Day 4, Tuesday
This was our driving and stopping day. We left at a decent time and drove north along the coast. Our first stop was in St. Augustine. We went straight to the fort and walked around, then drove through the old city. We grabbed lunch and headed further north to Savannah, GA. On that stop, we parked at the visitor center (free) and got a map. Using the map, we hopped the city trolley (also free), the dot shuttle, and rode to the famous ice cream shop, Leopold's. After getting our cones, we decided to do some walking. We saw one of the famous cemeteries, the beautiful church, Flannery O'Conner's house, and several squares (including the one where Forrest Gump was filmed). We were close enough by then that we just walked back to our car. The next leg of our drive took us north to Asheville, NC, which is where Kraig's conference was and where we spent the night in our next Airbnb. I hated that we weren't here longer because her place was just adorable!
Day 5, Wednesday
Kraig had his conference, so we all left the Airbnb early and dropped him off. I had considered a lot of different plans for this day and had actively researched hikes and waterfalls and such. It was VERY foggy and cloudy, which really limited our options. We stopped at a Goodwill while we waiting for the fog to burn off some, then headed to a town along the Blue Ridge Parkway (I can't remember the name). At that point, we stopped at the visitor center and I went in to ask the ranger for advice. He recommended heading north to Mt. Mitchell, then stopping several places on the way back down. That's exactly what we did! Mt. Mitchell was pretty (though foggy). We walked to the top (more of a climb than I expected), then hiked down and around. I found that a short hike and a short walk aren't at all the same thing and my physical condition horrified me. The kids loved it. We then drove down, stopped at several overlooks and spots, including Craggy Gardens. The fog really hindered our views, unfortunately. We got back into Asheville and intended to do some shopping downtown (parked at the visitor center) but Kraig finished a bit early, so we picked him up, ate a late lunch downtown (do not recommend where we went), and headed back to Cleveland.
Day 6, Thursday
At home, which I 10/10 recommend. I give my bed and my house a 5 star rating. ;)
Day 7, Friday
With Francisco too this time, we left and headed to Damascus to bike the VA Creeper Trail. We thought we were going to have to drive two cars and ended up deciding taking the van with the bike rack and four bikes and renting three more was cheaper than driving two cars. We used a different company this time, Shuttle Shack, and we liked them (coupon online too). We also started the trail later in the day this time (around 1), which I HIGHLY recommend. We enjoyed our drive down very much, just like last time. We turned in our bikes and headed to downtown Damascus to see one of the Love installations (at a waterfall), then went to downtown Abingdon. I LOVED that city! We saw the Barter Theater, an old college, another Love installation (or two), the oldest restaurant in America, and ate pizza at Luna's, which was SO good. We then drove to Bristol, which is where our final Airbnb of fall break awaited. I got this one on the last minute and GOODNESS, it was nice! So perfect for us!
Day 8, Saturday
We had a family reunion in Bristol at 1, so we had some time after checkout of our Airbnb and we used it to explore downtown Bristol. We parked along the street and walked till we saw a most beautiful bakery, The Blackbird Bakery. It was DELICIOUS and adorable! We then walked the streets (saw another Love installation) and shopped a bit. We loved the flags on both sides of the street, we took the typical picture of one foot in each state, and we looked at the famous sign. We ended that day with a wonderful family reunion, then headed home to Cleveland!
Day 9, Sunday
Rest and relaxation and church in our sweet little hometown!
Sunday, November 24, 2019
All My Life You Have Been Faithful
This probably won’t be a very long one, but it’s one of those crystal clear moments I had today where I could see directly into the heart of this belief system of mine and I want to document it for the times it won’t seem as free from “self” as it did today.
***And I clearly wasn’t the only one, because when Dawn got up to give the welcome, she danced around the very topic that God was addressing in my own heart, though she had a slightly different point that she made today.
We did that Bethel music song, “Goodness of God” in praise and worship. As we were singing the part that says,
Just as those thoughts filled my head, my gaze fell on a young widower in our church... and he was singing with gusto. I looked just a little past him and saw a woman with chronic health issues, head raised toward the heavens as she sang. Further over in the sanctuary, someone battling terrifying family issues... a family deserted by their father... a widow who lost her husband tragically at a very young age... a family battling a horrible situation... a mom who lost her only son to drugs and mental illness... and every single one of those people I just named were singing those lines and praising His name. Then, to my immediate left, Angela’s hand slipped into the air... mom, dad, sister killed in a typhoon, orphaned at 8... moved from the only place she had ever known to a new home and new people... lived there for three years, then moved again, this time to another country, culture, language, and people... “all my life You have been faithful, and all my life You have been so, so good”...
Within me, it was welling up, “But that’s not GOOD! None of that is goodness! Goodness isn’t cancer, it isn’t death, it isn’t tragedy, it isn’t bad health, it isn’t drugs, it isn’t divorce or abandonment, it isn’t becoming an orphan! How can all of these people sing and MEAN those words? Those words are true for people like me who haven’t ever had to suffer, not for these people who have lived loss, who are walking through fire...” I’ve always had such fear and dread of what could be awaiting me in my future, anxiety of living through the time the axe is going to fall. I KNOW I am not charmed, I KNOW I’ve just been blessed and lucky so far and one day it’s going to run out. I live in fear of that day.
But all of a sudden today, as clear as could be, it hit me: The song, my faith, it doesn’t say that all my life has been GOOD. It says HE is good. That HE is faithful, and faithful means beside you, not keeping anything bad from happening but walking with you through the bad. And every person with hands raised, head tipped back, singing these words today who have lived the experiences I named above, they are all testaments to the rest of us that we CAN survive the worst and come through the fire, maybe not unscathed but stronger and with Him beside them.
There were others there today who I could name who are right in the middle of the hardest curve ball life could throw at them. There were fresh griefs, new terror, chronic sorrow, lasting tragedy... and those people, too, were singing. And if any of them looked around them like I did, they got a beautiful reminder that, while we wish the promise was for an easy life, it was actually for faithfulness and a good, good God... and we wouldn’t trade those in the midst of the hard for an easy life without Him, not now, not tomorrow, not yesterday, not ever.
***And I clearly wasn’t the only one, because when Dawn got up to give the welcome, she danced around the very topic that God was addressing in my own heart, though she had a slightly different point that she made today.
We did that Bethel music song, “Goodness of God” in praise and worship. As we were singing the part that says,
“And all my life You have been faithfulI got emotional, as I always do, because He HAS been so faithful all my life, He has been SO GOOD. And then I remembered that a year ago right now, I had just ended a scary series of tests and wait to see if a tumor was malignant or benign, and then that just six months later, I was waiting for more tests on the same tumor, this time surgically removed. As we did that song today, I marveled at how different my life COULD BE today if those test results had come back different.
And all my life You have been so, so good
With every breath that I am able
Oh, I will sing of the goodness of God”
Just as those thoughts filled my head, my gaze fell on a young widower in our church... and he was singing with gusto. I looked just a little past him and saw a woman with chronic health issues, head raised toward the heavens as she sang. Further over in the sanctuary, someone battling terrifying family issues... a family deserted by their father... a widow who lost her husband tragically at a very young age... a family battling a horrible situation... a mom who lost her only son to drugs and mental illness... and every single one of those people I just named were singing those lines and praising His name. Then, to my immediate left, Angela’s hand slipped into the air... mom, dad, sister killed in a typhoon, orphaned at 8... moved from the only place she had ever known to a new home and new people... lived there for three years, then moved again, this time to another country, culture, language, and people... “all my life You have been faithful, and all my life You have been so, so good”...
Within me, it was welling up, “But that’s not GOOD! None of that is goodness! Goodness isn’t cancer, it isn’t death, it isn’t tragedy, it isn’t bad health, it isn’t drugs, it isn’t divorce or abandonment, it isn’t becoming an orphan! How can all of these people sing and MEAN those words? Those words are true for people like me who haven’t ever had to suffer, not for these people who have lived loss, who are walking through fire...” I’ve always had such fear and dread of what could be awaiting me in my future, anxiety of living through the time the axe is going to fall. I KNOW I am not charmed, I KNOW I’ve just been blessed and lucky so far and one day it’s going to run out. I live in fear of that day.
But all of a sudden today, as clear as could be, it hit me: The song, my faith, it doesn’t say that all my life has been GOOD. It says HE is good. That HE is faithful, and faithful means beside you, not keeping anything bad from happening but walking with you through the bad. And every person with hands raised, head tipped back, singing these words today who have lived the experiences I named above, they are all testaments to the rest of us that we CAN survive the worst and come through the fire, maybe not unscathed but stronger and with Him beside them.
There were others there today who I could name who are right in the middle of the hardest curve ball life could throw at them. There were fresh griefs, new terror, chronic sorrow, lasting tragedy... and those people, too, were singing. And if any of them looked around them like I did, they got a beautiful reminder that, while we wish the promise was for an easy life, it was actually for faithfulness and a good, good God... and we wouldn’t trade those in the midst of the hard for an easy life without Him, not now, not tomorrow, not yesterday, not ever.
Friday, November 22, 2019
The Road Not Taken
Our kids are right smack in the middle of the growing into adulthood years. Well, I guess every year is a growing into adulthood year, but... the teen years REEK of it. ;) With the youngest at 14 and the eldest at 20, there hasn't been a TON of life decisions and choices yet, but occasionally I will see a picture or a path or a possibility or even a person, and I am just overcome with thanks that, even when we didn't know what was best, He did. Garth's "Unanswered Prayers" starts playing on repeat in my head, or "God Blessed the Broken Road".
Other times, I will catch a glimpse of something we thought might be a reality for one of them that has not shaken out, and I feel nostalgic or sad. In those moments, that old Little Texas song, "What Might Have Been" drifts through my mind.
My favorite poem has always been "The Road Not Taken", by Robert Frost. I memorized it as a young, young kid, and have kept it close since that day. When I was in high school, so solid and certain of my future, that poem's first stanza served to remind me that I had done my research and looked down the paths available to me, and I was choosing well. I knew where I was headed and what I would do there, and I could see my future mapped out ahead of me as clearly as a path to travel.
But even as the whispers of what might've been tap on the door on my hard days and flit through my dreams at night, the steady rhythm of unanswered prayers and the full orchestration of the blessing of the broken road is the soundtrack to my life. I know I am right where God wants me to be, beside those He wants me beside, in front of those He wants me in front of, doing the work He wants me to do. And for however long He allows me to walk this less traveled by road I have chosen, I will walk it in faith that He ordained it. And that is what makes all the difference.
Other times, I will catch a glimpse of something we thought might be a reality for one of them that has not shaken out, and I feel nostalgic or sad. In those moments, that old Little Texas song, "What Might Have Been" drifts through my mind.
My favorite poem has always been "The Road Not Taken", by Robert Frost. I memorized it as a young, young kid, and have kept it close since that day. When I was in high school, so solid and certain of my future, that poem's first stanza served to remind me that I had done my research and looked down the paths available to me, and I was choosing well. I knew where I was headed and what I would do there, and I could see my future mapped out ahead of me as clearly as a path to travel.
I remember in college, after a really drastic life change period that included a 180 degree change in my major and a resulting complete flip in my career plans and the end of a relationship that was almost four years long and that I had been certain was my future spouse, that poem came to rest in an essay I wrote in my Teaching Writing class. In those weeks and months, everything I thought I knew about my life and myself and my future was rocked, but I was the one doing the rocking. I wasn't taking the path I had always expected to take. I wasn't going to be a physical therapist, and I wasn't going to marry my high school sweetheart. Instead, I was going to do the one job I always said I would never do... become a teacher. And, in a crazy and unexpected twist of fate that shocked everyone who knew me, I not only ended the long and steady relationship, I started a new one almost immediately and we got engaged in just 7 short months. And yet... this path. This was the path that I knew was the road for which I was created.Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,And sorry I could not travel bothAnd be one traveler, long I stoodAnd looked down one as far as I couldTo where it bent in the undergrowth;
The years passed, time marched on, and life became so busy that I didn't have much time to assess the roads I had or had not taken. We had a wedding, bought a duplex, learned to budget, I got a master's degree, my first teaching job, we ran around with friends, we bought a house, had a baby, went on vacations, served the Lord, fought and made up, had another baby, I started taking pictures, built our forever house, found new interests and hobbies, raised those babies, lost friends, binge-watched a lot of shows, grew established in our jobs, spent time with family, made new friends, buried some loved ones, spent time in nature, went to parent-teacher conferences, rediscovered old friends, fell in love with each other lots more times, cheered for our babies, marked some milestones, fell in love with Jesus in new ways, started a new family business, watched our extended family dynamics change, dated, answered the call to adopt, raised a lot of money, brought home three not-babies, learned to grow as a whole new family, cooked a lot, screen printed and vinyled and printed a wagonload of shirts, vacationed more, taught kids to drive, made changes to our house, found time to watch tv again, and eventually entered the last phase of our careers and the kids-gaining-independence years... And way led on to way.Then took the other, as just as fair,And having perhaps the better claim,Because it was grassy and wanted wear;Though as for that the passing thereHad worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally layTomorrow, I turn 42. Although 42 isn't old by any terms but especially not today's, in terms of my life circumstances some things are in twilight at this point. The "at home years" with my kids are just 3-6 more years, probably. My career is in its final third. And so now we come to the sigh. What did Frost mean by the sigh? Was it a contented, happy sigh? I'm grateful for the road I took and the difference it has made is a happy one? Was it a disappointed sigh? There are parts of my path where I wish I had chosen differently and the difference has not been favorable? Is it just that... a sigh? Just a "here we are now, it is what it is" sort of sigh? Was it an exhausted sigh? SO. MUCH. LIVING. So. Much. Road. And I. Am Just. SO. DANG. TIRED???
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I honestly don't know. Maybe this is the gift of literature and poetry that I try to impress upon my students, the gift of being able to interpret literature the way you want to and to sort of read yourself into the works. As I sit here tonight, on the eve of #42, if I'm being honest, there are whispers sometimes of what might've been. Not on the big things, like my faith or my marriage or my kids or even where we settled and put down roots or sometimes my career... But just on the day to day choices I have made along the way. Where would I be today if I had followed some dreams earlier? Is it ever "too late" to do some things? Have I missed some windows of opportunity by holding to certain roads?I shall be telling this with a sighSomewhere ages and ages hence:Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I took the one less traveled by,And that has made all the difference.
But even as the whispers of what might've been tap on the door on my hard days and flit through my dreams at night, the steady rhythm of unanswered prayers and the full orchestration of the blessing of the broken road is the soundtrack to my life. I know I am right where God wants me to be, beside those He wants me beside, in front of those He wants me in front of, doing the work He wants me to do. And for however long He allows me to walk this less traveled by road I have chosen, I will walk it in faith that He ordained it. And that is what makes all the difference.
Thursday, November 21, 2019
My Favorite City on Earth
Having been to Washington, D.C., approximately a million times (give or take), I always have people ask me what they should do and see there. I've been sending this information out to people for years, and I tweak and add to it every year or so as things change. I figured this was a good place to let it land.
Attractions:
Monuments
Obviously, first and foremost is all of the Memorials. You can walk it and hit most of them in a few hours. Lincoln, Vietnam, Korea, and Einstein are very close to each other. You can walk the circle in an afternoon or morning. While you are at Lincoln (get a map for everything), go about two blocks to the right (facing Lincoln, to the right) off the beaten path a little. Really cool Einstein statue and most don't know it's there (you can climb all over it and it makes for a cool picture). The only one that is a little out of the way is Jefferson, but it is SO one of my favorites. FDR is in the vicinity as well, and it is very worthwhile. MLK is beautiful. The Washington Monument is closer to the Smithsonians.
Here is the best order for touring the monuments, in my opinion. Start at Jefferson. When you leave that memorial, go left and walk around the tidal basin. There will come a point where you have to go over the bridge and just keep bearing to the right to the Tidal Basin. You will then come upon the FDR Memorial. The first entrance you come upon is actually the end of the memorial, so if you go through that way, you are going backward. This is fine, but if you want to go through the correct chronological order, go through it to the beginning and walk backward to where you started. J Once you finish with FDR, keep walking around the tidal basin until you reach the MLK Memorial. After that one, go out and cut right (across the street), then take a left down the sidewalk. This will bring you to the Korean Memorial on your right. You can do it, Lincoln, Einstein, and Vietnam right there together, then head BACK down the opposite side of the reflecting pool and fields to get to the WWII Memorial. You can walk straight across to the Washington Monument from the WWII Memorial.
(No metro stops are close to the monuments)
Museums
All of the Smithsonians are fantastic, but if you have to be choosy, Natural History is top choice for most. American History is also a fan favorite, with Air and Space coming in next. Natural History has all of the amazing animals in it and Air and Space has TONS of cool things to do. My personal favorite is American History, but it’s really about personal interests. My kids loved Natural History the most. I have not been to American Indian but I hear it’s not the best. African-American History just opened and it’s impossible to get into. There is also an Art Museum there on the mall. American History and Natural History are beside each other and Air and Space is diagonally across, so plan to do them in a way that makes sense logistically. (Smithsonian metro stop)
If it's not terribly crowded, I'd hit the Archives but I wouldn't wait too long there. My kids said this was the part we could have left out, for them. It’s close to American History and Natural History, if you want to walk to it while you are at the Smithsonians. (Archives/Navy Memorial stop)
The National Portrait Gallery is REALLY cool if you like art. They have the American Presidents exhibit that alone is worth the trip over. It’s the official portraits of the presidents. This museum is a little off the beaten path, toward Chinatown, but the beauty of it (other than its close proximity to a metro stop) is that is stays open until 7 or 7:30, which gives you something to do at night. (Gallery Place/Chinatown metro stop)
Holocaust Museum is essential, in my opinion. However, you do have to reserve tickets for certain times of year and they are probably already taken. Option 2 for that museum is to go early (8 or so) and get in line for passes. They will give you a timed pass and you can come back at your assigned time. IF it didn’t work out for you to go there or if you choose not to take the time, at the very least, you should go and go to the bottom to the temporary exhibit currently America's Response. It does not require passes to the PE and it is the most powerful exhibit they have ever had there. Obviously this museum is my #1. (Smithsonian stop is the closest metro stop)
***Closes in December 2019: So far, everything I have mentioned is free. The next one is not free, but it’s the best there…The Newseum. The Newseum should be near the top of your list. It's my second favorite museum but it does have an admission cost. It's a two day ticket, so plan it for a day you could go back the next day if you wanted to. It’s near the Navy Memorial metro stop. They also have a great cafeteria (though not cheap), if you want to eat there.
The International Spy Museum is another that costs, but some people like it. It’s pretty text-heavy and parts of it are boring, but parts of it are so cool like when you can crawl through the ductwork in the ceiling and spy on people. I wasn't nuts about this place but a lot of my tenth grade boys were when we went.
Important Sites
SKIP the Bureau of Engraving and Printing unless you just want to be bored out of your ever-lovin mind. But if you like boredom, you can take a tour of it. I do not recommend it.
Walk by both sides of the White House. This can be done when you are finishing the memorials or when you leave the Newseum.
The Capitol tour is cool if you have lots of time, has to be booked in advance. There is also a Capitol Visitor’s Center you can go to if you don’t do the tour.
The Library of Congress is really incredible, even if you aren’t into books. It’s just a gorgeous building and you can just walk in and take the public tour if one is happening. If not, you can just walk around. It’s worth a stop. (Capitol South metro stop)
When you leave the Library of Congress, you can go right and walk past (and even INTO, we found out this last trip!) the Supreme Court.
Union Station is very cool, but it could be skipped. They do have a great Pizzeria Uno there. It’s a metro stop but is a little out of the way to walk to if you don’t metro to it.
For sure try to catch the Ranger talk at Ford's Theater. You need to check a schedule beforehand to see when those are offered. It's out of this world amazing. You need to book in advance. (Metro Center metro stop)
A really cool nighttime activity if you like music or performance at all, take the metro to Foggy Bottom/GWU stop and then catch the free shuttle to Kennedy Center and watch a free performance on Millenium Stage at 6. They have one every night and you can see the schedule online. We make sure to do this on every trip and it’s been some of the highlights of our visit.
Personally, I don't think a trip to DC is complete without going to Arlington. However, Arlington is a little out of the way. You have to either drive or take the metro over. Even still... wow. And my very favorite monument (have I said that at least three of them so far were my favorites?) is over by Arlington. It is the Iwo Jima Memorial, the guys lifting up the flag? If you do decide to go to Arlington, be sure to see the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the Challenger memorial that is near it, and the Kennedy gravesites. For some reason, Arlington is one of my favorite places on earth. Last time we were there we were able to see a funeral. Wow. Honestly, especially if time is limited or if it’s bad weather or if you have whiny walkers with you, taking the tram is your best bet. It’s $9 or so and totally worthwhile because they stop at all of the major sites and they offer an explanation the whole time.
If you love animals, hit the zoo. I’ve been twice and absolutely love it. You can take the Cleveland Park metro stop and walk a flat mile to the zoo or the Woodley Park stop and walk an uphill mile OR you can do what we did and cab over (we got a van for our family of 7 and the drive was $20). It’s a great zoo.
I would at least drive or cab down Embassy Row, the flags are cool to see. And while you are over that way (the zoo is in this area too) the National Cathedral... wow. Amazing and beautiful.
I have only been to Mt. Vernon once but I would highly recommend it IF you have enough time. You can take a metro bus or a cab there but it’s pretty far out. (Or drive if you have your own car.)
Food:
I can tell you that if you are in the mall area (right down from the USHMM), the Ag Department, has the best cafeteria you have ever been to. The public can get in and it is cheap and amazing.
The cafeteria at the Newseum is REALLY good, though a little costly.
The greatest place for food is at the Reagan Building, which is a few blocks past the Washington Monument. It’s a food court with TONS of options. It’s pretty close to the American History Museum.
Union Station has lots of food options as well.
If you do the Kennedy Center performance, there is a little burger place just down the street from the shuttle stop that was really good.
There is a Shake Shack near the International Spy Museum.
The USHMM has a great (kosher) cafeteria that isn’t crowded at all.
Extras:
Something I discovered a few years ago that I didn't know about before is DC by Foot. It's free walking tours. I now try to find them every time I visit a city (free tours by foot). I've done four in DC (Arlington, Lincoln’s Assassination Tour (4 times), Memorials, Library of Congress and Capitol), one in New Orelans, and two in NYC. WOW! Imagine the best history teacher you have ever had who is also a professional storyteller. That's what these are. We did the Arlington one and the Lincoln Assassination tour (which, for all of us, was the highlight of our trip). You NEEEEED to do the Lincoln Assassination tour. It's at night and only on certain nights. Check that schedule online too.They are free except you just tip your guide. Best thing you can do.
Lodging:
Well, when we go with our students, we have gone to the George Washington University area and stayed about a block from a metro. It is so safe, you can be out at any hour of the night, and you are right beside the metro. We have also stayed in the Woodley Park area with students.
That was my preference for when our family went. HOWEVER... It was soooo expensive. Therefore, we have stayed in Alexandria on both October trips and, while a bit more work, it was fine. If you don't mind a little bit of extra effort, I can give you two plans that will save you TONS of money...Pick which one depending on family size, maybe. When we were a family of four, we stayed at the Holiday Inn Express in Old Town Alexandria. There is a free shuttle that they run to the airport. It is only about a five minute ride to the airport. At the airport, you can get on the metro and ride it right into the city and go anywhere you want. The only thing is, you have to make sure you aren't coming back to the hotel any later than the shuttle runs (I think 10 is the latest). We got metro passes and it worked out beautifully. Our hotel was only about $129/night as compared to nearly $350 at my preferred location. The other nice thing about that particular hotel is that across the parking lot was a giant grocery store with a little breakfast buffet. We went over there every morning and got breakfast for around $2-$3 each and ate it on the bench while waiting on the shuttle. One night we even ate supper there when we got back late (Ritz crackers and cheese and pepperoni, haha!). There is also a shuttle that takes you into Old Town Alexandria.
As a family of 7, it was going to be costly everywhere I looked for two rooms (at cheaper hotels). Then I found the Embassy Suites Old Town Alexandria and it was PERFECTION (with one exception). Our room was $213 per night and it slept 7 of us comfortably (with one on a recliner chair or on a cot). The BEST things about this hotel were the food that came with our room and the proximity to a metro and shuttle. The morning breakfast was MASSIVE. That is how we were able to take picnic lunches into the city every day, even with big eaters. They ate a HUGE breakfast that filled them up. Also, if you get back in time, they had food out at night as well and our crowd loved it the night we got back early enough for them to have cheese and crackers and cokes after dinner, haha! The proximity to the metro from this hotel was incredible. Literally across the street and through the parking lot was the King Street/Old Town Alexandria metro stop. And the King Street trolley stop is also directly across from the hotel, which provides you with outside of the city dining options that are a little cheaper, a beautiful waterfront to explore, historical walking tours you can book in advance, and also the water taxi departure point (we didn’t ever do this because it’s pretty costly for a family of 7, but it would have been a fun thing to do—it will take you all the way to National Harbor or just to the monuments). The ONLY downside of this hotel is the parking cost ($32 PER DAY) and the size of the garage. {I did learn from Trip Advisor of some parking options, but we didn’t try any of them so I can’t be sure of their success. One was that there is street parking that’s free on the weekends, but you have to be around to move your car a lot. Another option is that apparently the Alexandria Visitor’s Center (on King Street) offers free parking passes, and you can get a new one each day. However, you would have to be able to get there every day to get one AND find a spot. There is apparently a parking garage a few blocks away that is cheaper than the hotel one ($7/day, I think?). And then some people used the overnight parking at a metro stop a few stops away (only $4 a day, I think) and just metro’d to the hotel. You can search this on the metro website (stations with overnight parking).}
Transportation:
Metro in DC is the way to go. It’s incredibly easy, relatively cheap, and WAY beats trying to get around in your own car. Just use the maps and pay attention to the directions you are going. If you are going to be there a week, a metro pass is the cheapest because your fares depend on where you are going and on the times of day you are traveling. It’s very very safe, even late at night. We loaded $10 the first full day on each card, $10 the second day, and $10 the third day, then on the fourth day we used what was left. We each got off with 50 cents left on each card, so it worked out beautifully.
We did realize on this past trip as a family of 7 that metro is not as cost-effective with a big family as it is with smaller ones. We drove into the city the first afternoon (on our arrival day) and had an easy time finding a parking garage where we paid $10 to park while we explored the monuments. That’s $10 total as opposed to approximately $10 per person per day for our metro riding. However, we weren’t sure if it would be hard to find spots in a garage on the other days, how much time it would take to drive in and out on weekdays, and if garages were close to the places we were going, so we only used a garage one day.
Getting there (may not apply):
As for flying/driving, tickets out of Chattanooga are usually around $200-300 each. That's actually a pretty good deal (we used to fly with our students until we discovered Megabus). The thing with DC is that the drive isn't too bad (we had to drive back HOME on our family trip after I MESSED UP HORRIBLY and we MISSED the Megabus) BUT parking is usually very costly. So it all depends on how much you want to spend. I am a CHEAPO and would prefer to drive over fly (due to cost) but we elected for the CHEAPEST, which is Megabus. Tickets on Megabus from our area range and can be $40ish round trip. You can't beat that. It's comfortable, has decent wi-fi, and takes you directly to Union Station where there is a metro stop. Our first family DC trip (eliminating the RENTAL CAR HOME) would have been around $750 (not counting food) total except that we had to spend a little bit more on activities since the free stuff was all part of the government shut down.
For our second full (large) family DC trip, we drove up and did have to pay for parking (Megabus wasn’t as cost-effective for 7 people as using our own van).
Big Family Edits:
I’ve worked a lot of commentary into the above points, but I’ll break down a few of the ways we did this trip this year with our larger family and still managed to be cost-effective.
We wrestled a lot with lodging decisions. I looked at some AirBnb properties, HomeAway, and the various options like those. My concern with booking one of those was simply that I don’t know much about the residential areas of DC and some parts are, I’m certain, pretty sketchy. In addition, it was essential that our property be near a metro stop and very few of them were. We also looked at hotels that were “cheaper” hotels, but booking two rooms at a cheap hotel ended up costing more than this nicer hotel with a suite. Again, being close to a metro stop limits you somewhat. I would recommend the Embassy Suites Old Town Alexandria ALL DAY, EVERY DAY to anyone, especially those with large families who are trying to save money. The proximity to the metro was PERFECT for us and the GIANT breakfast meant that we could save by doing picnic lunches.
One of the biggest expenses for our family is always food, partly because we are large in number and partly because three of our five kids are HUGE eaters. I went to the grocery store before we left and got foods that were easy to pack: granola bars, dried fruit, apples, bananas, Little Debbies, Pringles, packs of peanut butter crackers and cheese crackers, loaves of bread, and peanut butter. We filled a backpack with these foods every day and did a picnic lunch. We DID buy drinks for lunch every day (at $2-$3 per drink!), but you could also pack waters, I suppose. Most museums will let you in with water bottles if you drink out of them first. By eating the massive cooked to order breakfast before we left the hotel, they could make it with a lighter lunch. Then every night, we ate dinner at a restaurant. We did try to find decently priced restaurants (Saturday night at Theisman’s next door to our hotel, Sunday night at a burger place just down from the Kennedy Center Shuttle Stop at the GWU-Foggy Bottom metro stop, Monday night at a pub on King Street (took the King Street trolly down and just found something that looked good), Tuesday night at a pizza place called Lena’s that was recommended to us by a friend at the Braddock Rd metro stop (the stop before Old Town Alexandria/King Street). On Wednesday, we went to the Newseum in the afternoon and I knew how great the food there was, plus I knew that we had our night walking tour and cheap food would be hard to come by, so on Wednesday we ate our dinner out as lunch at the Newseum and then had our picnic dinner on benches beside the White House near Layfayette Park.)
I already mentioned the metro costs for a larger family. I do think that for a large family, driving in and parking is much cheaper. However, it’s also a crapshoot, because you may not find a spot or a garage and it takes a lot of time. We spent $210 on metro passes for a family of 7. I would probably do the same next time we go, just because it’s so easy to get everywhere (and saves so much time) doing it that way, even though it’s a little costly. If you are going somewhere a distance away (the zoo is really the best example of this), especially somewhere that doesn’t have a close metro stop, taking a cab (we used a minivan cab) is cheaper than using the metro. We cabbed to the zoo and back.
The only attractions listed here that cost money would be the Newseum, the Arlington trolley (or you can walk for free), the Spy Museum, and Mount Vernon. We didn’t have time for Mt. Vernon on this trip and I don’t like the Spy Museum at all, so that left the Newseum and Arlington. We just visited the American military cemetary in Manila when we picked our kids up in June, so this trip we just did the Newseum.
Sample Itinerary:
This will obviously be dependent on what you choose to do, the age of your kids, how hard your family can go, and a million other factors. Our family tends to go hard on vacations (leave the room early, take no breaks, walk a ton, come in late). We did take it a little easier on this one just because it was our first one with our three new kids and we weren’t sure of their stamina. The other thing about DC is that most of the things you would want to do shut down pretty early, so you do get quiet and calm evenings to rest if you want them. We also avoid malls and things like that on vacations. Below is the itinerary for our family for our last trip. A few things changed last minute, so I included in brackets what we MIGHT have done at that time. I am happy to help you work out an itinerary based on what you want to do.
Saturday-
Left at 5:30 in the morning, stopped for gas/breakfast, rest stop bathroom, gas station for bathroom and drinks (ate packed lunches). Arrived around 2 and decided, based on weather, to go straight into the city and park in parking garage instead of going to the hotel.
Parked in a garage near the Orange Mandarin hotel (very near the Jefferson Memorial) for $10.
Walked the monument loop described above.
Walked back to the car, drove to the hotel, checked in, walked next door to Theisman’s for dinner.
{We had a DCbyFoot tour of the Monuments and Tidal Basin scheduled for Sunday. However, Sunday was predicted for 100% rain and Saturday was beautiful, plus we got in so early on Saturday that we decided to cancel our Sunday tour and just do the monuments by ourselves on Saturday. It was a good choice, although it didn’t even rain at all on Sunday.}
Sunday-
Metro to Smithsonian stop
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Picnic lunch on the National Mall
Smithsonian Museum of American History
Archives
Metro to Foggy Bottom/GWU stop
Dinner at pizza place down the street
Kennedy Center shuttle to Kennedy Center
6:00 Performance
Shuttle back to metro
Metro to Alexandria
Monday-
Metro to Smithsonian stop
Air and Space Museum
Picnic on the National Mall
Natural History Museum
{We could have done this day faster and possibly gone to the zoo or Arlington. However, this was a day where some people were having some times and some moods and we felt like we needed to take it easy. Also, they really enjoyed the Natural History Museum and took a long time in it.}
Metro’d back to our hotel, changed clothes, and hopped on the trolley to Old Town Alexandria.
We rode it all the way to the waterfront, got off and walked around, walked a few blocks back, looking for somewhere to eat. We ate at a little pub, then walked to the closest trolley stop where we caught the trolley and were back to our hotel by 8.
Watched movies and rested.
Tuesday-
Metro to Metro Center
10- Ford’s Theater Ranger Talk (booked)
Taxi to Zoo
Zoo
Taxi back, asked him to drive us by National Cathedral and down Embassy Row
Dropped us off at the Portrait Gallery
Gallery Place/Chinatown metro to Braddock Rd stop, walked a few blocks to Lena’s (Italian place) for dinner
Metro to Alexandria
Got back to the hotel in time to catch the evening reception and the kids loaded up on cheese and crackers
Movie and packing in the hotel
{We were supposed to have a DCbyFoot tour of the Capitol and Library of Congress on this afternoon. I found out Monday that it was canceled and so I moved the zoo to Tuesday. Otherwise, we would have gone to the zoo Monday and done both museums in the morning on Monday.}
Wednesday-
Left a little later from the hotel that day
Metro to Capitol South
Library of Congress (caught a public tour that happened to be starting as we walked in)
Walked next door to the Supreme Court where we found that you CAN go in!
Walked by an around the Capitol, did not elect to go in the Visitor’s Center or on the tour
Walked a pretty long walk to the Newseum
Ate lunch in their cafeteria and spent the entire afternoon there. (There is a virtual reality thing on the 2nd or 3rd floor. We started at the top and worked our way down, which meant we got to the virtual reality part too late to do it since they stop it early. I would start there. Also, don’t miss the terrace of the Newseum (top floor), it’s a great photo op with the Capitol in the background.)
Left there when they closed at 5 and walked to one side of the White House (Washington Monument side), then walked around it to the other side.
Got drinks at a McDonald’s close by ($1 any size!!!!!) and went to the bathroom there.
Ate a picnic supper on benches under trees (it was raining) in front of the OEOB
Our DCbyFoot Lincoln Assassination Tour met in Layfayette Park at 7, ending at 9 at Ford’s Theater
Took the metro from Metro Center to Alexandria
I am sure there are things I am leaving out, but this is a pretty comprehensive list of must-sees. Dang I love that city.
Enjoy my favorite city!!!
Attractions:
Monuments
Obviously, first and foremost is all of the Memorials. You can walk it and hit most of them in a few hours. Lincoln, Vietnam, Korea, and Einstein are very close to each other. You can walk the circle in an afternoon or morning. While you are at Lincoln (get a map for everything), go about two blocks to the right (facing Lincoln, to the right) off the beaten path a little. Really cool Einstein statue and most don't know it's there (you can climb all over it and it makes for a cool picture). The only one that is a little out of the way is Jefferson, but it is SO one of my favorites. FDR is in the vicinity as well, and it is very worthwhile. MLK is beautiful. The Washington Monument is closer to the Smithsonians.
Here is the best order for touring the monuments, in my opinion. Start at Jefferson. When you leave that memorial, go left and walk around the tidal basin. There will come a point where you have to go over the bridge and just keep bearing to the right to the Tidal Basin. You will then come upon the FDR Memorial. The first entrance you come upon is actually the end of the memorial, so if you go through that way, you are going backward. This is fine, but if you want to go through the correct chronological order, go through it to the beginning and walk backward to where you started. J Once you finish with FDR, keep walking around the tidal basin until you reach the MLK Memorial. After that one, go out and cut right (across the street), then take a left down the sidewalk. This will bring you to the Korean Memorial on your right. You can do it, Lincoln, Einstein, and Vietnam right there together, then head BACK down the opposite side of the reflecting pool and fields to get to the WWII Memorial. You can walk straight across to the Washington Monument from the WWII Memorial.
(No metro stops are close to the monuments)
Museums
All of the Smithsonians are fantastic, but if you have to be choosy, Natural History is top choice for most. American History is also a fan favorite, with Air and Space coming in next. Natural History has all of the amazing animals in it and Air and Space has TONS of cool things to do. My personal favorite is American History, but it’s really about personal interests. My kids loved Natural History the most. I have not been to American Indian but I hear it’s not the best. African-American History just opened and it’s impossible to get into. There is also an Art Museum there on the mall. American History and Natural History are beside each other and Air and Space is diagonally across, so plan to do them in a way that makes sense logistically. (Smithsonian metro stop)
If it's not terribly crowded, I'd hit the Archives but I wouldn't wait too long there. My kids said this was the part we could have left out, for them. It’s close to American History and Natural History, if you want to walk to it while you are at the Smithsonians. (Archives/Navy Memorial stop)
The National Portrait Gallery is REALLY cool if you like art. They have the American Presidents exhibit that alone is worth the trip over. It’s the official portraits of the presidents. This museum is a little off the beaten path, toward Chinatown, but the beauty of it (other than its close proximity to a metro stop) is that is stays open until 7 or 7:30, which gives you something to do at night. (Gallery Place/Chinatown metro stop)
Holocaust Museum is essential, in my opinion. However, you do have to reserve tickets for certain times of year and they are probably already taken. Option 2 for that museum is to go early (8 or so) and get in line for passes. They will give you a timed pass and you can come back at your assigned time. IF it didn’t work out for you to go there or if you choose not to take the time, at the very least, you should go and go to the bottom to the temporary exhibit currently America's Response. It does not require passes to the PE and it is the most powerful exhibit they have ever had there. Obviously this museum is my #1. (Smithsonian stop is the closest metro stop)
***Closes in December 2019: So far, everything I have mentioned is free. The next one is not free, but it’s the best there…The Newseum. The Newseum should be near the top of your list. It's my second favorite museum but it does have an admission cost. It's a two day ticket, so plan it for a day you could go back the next day if you wanted to. It’s near the Navy Memorial metro stop. They also have a great cafeteria (though not cheap), if you want to eat there.
The International Spy Museum is another that costs, but some people like it. It’s pretty text-heavy and parts of it are boring, but parts of it are so cool like when you can crawl through the ductwork in the ceiling and spy on people. I wasn't nuts about this place but a lot of my tenth grade boys were when we went.
Important Sites
SKIP the Bureau of Engraving and Printing unless you just want to be bored out of your ever-lovin mind. But if you like boredom, you can take a tour of it. I do not recommend it.
Walk by both sides of the White House. This can be done when you are finishing the memorials or when you leave the Newseum.
The Capitol tour is cool if you have lots of time, has to be booked in advance. There is also a Capitol Visitor’s Center you can go to if you don’t do the tour.
The Library of Congress is really incredible, even if you aren’t into books. It’s just a gorgeous building and you can just walk in and take the public tour if one is happening. If not, you can just walk around. It’s worth a stop. (Capitol South metro stop)
When you leave the Library of Congress, you can go right and walk past (and even INTO, we found out this last trip!) the Supreme Court.
Union Station is very cool, but it could be skipped. They do have a great Pizzeria Uno there. It’s a metro stop but is a little out of the way to walk to if you don’t metro to it.
For sure try to catch the Ranger talk at Ford's Theater. You need to check a schedule beforehand to see when those are offered. It's out of this world amazing. You need to book in advance. (Metro Center metro stop)
A really cool nighttime activity if you like music or performance at all, take the metro to Foggy Bottom/GWU stop and then catch the free shuttle to Kennedy Center and watch a free performance on Millenium Stage at 6. They have one every night and you can see the schedule online. We make sure to do this on every trip and it’s been some of the highlights of our visit.
Personally, I don't think a trip to DC is complete without going to Arlington. However, Arlington is a little out of the way. You have to either drive or take the metro over. Even still... wow. And my very favorite monument (have I said that at least three of them so far were my favorites?) is over by Arlington. It is the Iwo Jima Memorial, the guys lifting up the flag? If you do decide to go to Arlington, be sure to see the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the Challenger memorial that is near it, and the Kennedy gravesites. For some reason, Arlington is one of my favorite places on earth. Last time we were there we were able to see a funeral. Wow. Honestly, especially if time is limited or if it’s bad weather or if you have whiny walkers with you, taking the tram is your best bet. It’s $9 or so and totally worthwhile because they stop at all of the major sites and they offer an explanation the whole time.
If you love animals, hit the zoo. I’ve been twice and absolutely love it. You can take the Cleveland Park metro stop and walk a flat mile to the zoo or the Woodley Park stop and walk an uphill mile OR you can do what we did and cab over (we got a van for our family of 7 and the drive was $20). It’s a great zoo.
I would at least drive or cab down Embassy Row, the flags are cool to see. And while you are over that way (the zoo is in this area too) the National Cathedral... wow. Amazing and beautiful.
I have only been to Mt. Vernon once but I would highly recommend it IF you have enough time. You can take a metro bus or a cab there but it’s pretty far out. (Or drive if you have your own car.)
Food:
I can tell you that if you are in the mall area (right down from the USHMM), the Ag Department, has the best cafeteria you have ever been to. The public can get in and it is cheap and amazing.
The cafeteria at the Newseum is REALLY good, though a little costly.
The greatest place for food is at the Reagan Building, which is a few blocks past the Washington Monument. It’s a food court with TONS of options. It’s pretty close to the American History Museum.
Union Station has lots of food options as well.
If you do the Kennedy Center performance, there is a little burger place just down the street from the shuttle stop that was really good.
There is a Shake Shack near the International Spy Museum.
The USHMM has a great (kosher) cafeteria that isn’t crowded at all.
Extras:
Something I discovered a few years ago that I didn't know about before is DC by Foot. It's free walking tours. I now try to find them every time I visit a city (free tours by foot). I've done four in DC (Arlington, Lincoln’s Assassination Tour (4 times), Memorials, Library of Congress and Capitol), one in New Orelans, and two in NYC. WOW! Imagine the best history teacher you have ever had who is also a professional storyteller. That's what these are. We did the Arlington one and the Lincoln Assassination tour (which, for all of us, was the highlight of our trip). You NEEEEED to do the Lincoln Assassination tour. It's at night and only on certain nights. Check that schedule online too.They are free except you just tip your guide. Best thing you can do.
Lodging:
Well, when we go with our students, we have gone to the George Washington University area and stayed about a block from a metro. It is so safe, you can be out at any hour of the night, and you are right beside the metro. We have also stayed in the Woodley Park area with students.
That was my preference for when our family went. HOWEVER... It was soooo expensive. Therefore, we have stayed in Alexandria on both October trips and, while a bit more work, it was fine. If you don't mind a little bit of extra effort, I can give you two plans that will save you TONS of money...Pick which one depending on family size, maybe. When we were a family of four, we stayed at the Holiday Inn Express in Old Town Alexandria. There is a free shuttle that they run to the airport. It is only about a five minute ride to the airport. At the airport, you can get on the metro and ride it right into the city and go anywhere you want. The only thing is, you have to make sure you aren't coming back to the hotel any later than the shuttle runs (I think 10 is the latest). We got metro passes and it worked out beautifully. Our hotel was only about $129/night as compared to nearly $350 at my preferred location. The other nice thing about that particular hotel is that across the parking lot was a giant grocery store with a little breakfast buffet. We went over there every morning and got breakfast for around $2-$3 each and ate it on the bench while waiting on the shuttle. One night we even ate supper there when we got back late (Ritz crackers and cheese and pepperoni, haha!). There is also a shuttle that takes you into Old Town Alexandria.
As a family of 7, it was going to be costly everywhere I looked for two rooms (at cheaper hotels). Then I found the Embassy Suites Old Town Alexandria and it was PERFECTION (with one exception). Our room was $213 per night and it slept 7 of us comfortably (with one on a recliner chair or on a cot). The BEST things about this hotel were the food that came with our room and the proximity to a metro and shuttle. The morning breakfast was MASSIVE. That is how we were able to take picnic lunches into the city every day, even with big eaters. They ate a HUGE breakfast that filled them up. Also, if you get back in time, they had food out at night as well and our crowd loved it the night we got back early enough for them to have cheese and crackers and cokes after dinner, haha! The proximity to the metro from this hotel was incredible. Literally across the street and through the parking lot was the King Street/Old Town Alexandria metro stop. And the King Street trolley stop is also directly across from the hotel, which provides you with outside of the city dining options that are a little cheaper, a beautiful waterfront to explore, historical walking tours you can book in advance, and also the water taxi departure point (we didn’t ever do this because it’s pretty costly for a family of 7, but it would have been a fun thing to do—it will take you all the way to National Harbor or just to the monuments). The ONLY downside of this hotel is the parking cost ($32 PER DAY) and the size of the garage. {I did learn from Trip Advisor of some parking options, but we didn’t try any of them so I can’t be sure of their success. One was that there is street parking that’s free on the weekends, but you have to be around to move your car a lot. Another option is that apparently the Alexandria Visitor’s Center (on King Street) offers free parking passes, and you can get a new one each day. However, you would have to be able to get there every day to get one AND find a spot. There is apparently a parking garage a few blocks away that is cheaper than the hotel one ($7/day, I think?). And then some people used the overnight parking at a metro stop a few stops away (only $4 a day, I think) and just metro’d to the hotel. You can search this on the metro website (stations with overnight parking).}
Transportation:
Metro in DC is the way to go. It’s incredibly easy, relatively cheap, and WAY beats trying to get around in your own car. Just use the maps and pay attention to the directions you are going. If you are going to be there a week, a metro pass is the cheapest because your fares depend on where you are going and on the times of day you are traveling. It’s very very safe, even late at night. We loaded $10 the first full day on each card, $10 the second day, and $10 the third day, then on the fourth day we used what was left. We each got off with 50 cents left on each card, so it worked out beautifully.
We did realize on this past trip as a family of 7 that metro is not as cost-effective with a big family as it is with smaller ones. We drove into the city the first afternoon (on our arrival day) and had an easy time finding a parking garage where we paid $10 to park while we explored the monuments. That’s $10 total as opposed to approximately $10 per person per day for our metro riding. However, we weren’t sure if it would be hard to find spots in a garage on the other days, how much time it would take to drive in and out on weekdays, and if garages were close to the places we were going, so we only used a garage one day.
Getting there (may not apply):
As for flying/driving, tickets out of Chattanooga are usually around $200-300 each. That's actually a pretty good deal (we used to fly with our students until we discovered Megabus). The thing with DC is that the drive isn't too bad (we had to drive back HOME on our family trip after I MESSED UP HORRIBLY and we MISSED the Megabus) BUT parking is usually very costly. So it all depends on how much you want to spend. I am a CHEAPO and would prefer to drive over fly (due to cost) but we elected for the CHEAPEST, which is Megabus. Tickets on Megabus from our area range and can be $40ish round trip. You can't beat that. It's comfortable, has decent wi-fi, and takes you directly to Union Station where there is a metro stop. Our first family DC trip (eliminating the RENTAL CAR HOME) would have been around $750 (not counting food) total except that we had to spend a little bit more on activities since the free stuff was all part of the government shut down.
For our second full (large) family DC trip, we drove up and did have to pay for parking (Megabus wasn’t as cost-effective for 7 people as using our own van).
Big Family Edits:
I’ve worked a lot of commentary into the above points, but I’ll break down a few of the ways we did this trip this year with our larger family and still managed to be cost-effective.
We wrestled a lot with lodging decisions. I looked at some AirBnb properties, HomeAway, and the various options like those. My concern with booking one of those was simply that I don’t know much about the residential areas of DC and some parts are, I’m certain, pretty sketchy. In addition, it was essential that our property be near a metro stop and very few of them were. We also looked at hotels that were “cheaper” hotels, but booking two rooms at a cheap hotel ended up costing more than this nicer hotel with a suite. Again, being close to a metro stop limits you somewhat. I would recommend the Embassy Suites Old Town Alexandria ALL DAY, EVERY DAY to anyone, especially those with large families who are trying to save money. The proximity to the metro was PERFECT for us and the GIANT breakfast meant that we could save by doing picnic lunches.
One of the biggest expenses for our family is always food, partly because we are large in number and partly because three of our five kids are HUGE eaters. I went to the grocery store before we left and got foods that were easy to pack: granola bars, dried fruit, apples, bananas, Little Debbies, Pringles, packs of peanut butter crackers and cheese crackers, loaves of bread, and peanut butter. We filled a backpack with these foods every day and did a picnic lunch. We DID buy drinks for lunch every day (at $2-$3 per drink!), but you could also pack waters, I suppose. Most museums will let you in with water bottles if you drink out of them first. By eating the massive cooked to order breakfast before we left the hotel, they could make it with a lighter lunch. Then every night, we ate dinner at a restaurant. We did try to find decently priced restaurants (Saturday night at Theisman’s next door to our hotel, Sunday night at a burger place just down from the Kennedy Center Shuttle Stop at the GWU-Foggy Bottom metro stop, Monday night at a pub on King Street (took the King Street trolly down and just found something that looked good), Tuesday night at a pizza place called Lena’s that was recommended to us by a friend at the Braddock Rd metro stop (the stop before Old Town Alexandria/King Street). On Wednesday, we went to the Newseum in the afternoon and I knew how great the food there was, plus I knew that we had our night walking tour and cheap food would be hard to come by, so on Wednesday we ate our dinner out as lunch at the Newseum and then had our picnic dinner on benches beside the White House near Layfayette Park.)
I already mentioned the metro costs for a larger family. I do think that for a large family, driving in and parking is much cheaper. However, it’s also a crapshoot, because you may not find a spot or a garage and it takes a lot of time. We spent $210 on metro passes for a family of 7. I would probably do the same next time we go, just because it’s so easy to get everywhere (and saves so much time) doing it that way, even though it’s a little costly. If you are going somewhere a distance away (the zoo is really the best example of this), especially somewhere that doesn’t have a close metro stop, taking a cab (we used a minivan cab) is cheaper than using the metro. We cabbed to the zoo and back.
The only attractions listed here that cost money would be the Newseum, the Arlington trolley (or you can walk for free), the Spy Museum, and Mount Vernon. We didn’t have time for Mt. Vernon on this trip and I don’t like the Spy Museum at all, so that left the Newseum and Arlington. We just visited the American military cemetary in Manila when we picked our kids up in June, so this trip we just did the Newseum.
Sample Itinerary:
This will obviously be dependent on what you choose to do, the age of your kids, how hard your family can go, and a million other factors. Our family tends to go hard on vacations (leave the room early, take no breaks, walk a ton, come in late). We did take it a little easier on this one just because it was our first one with our three new kids and we weren’t sure of their stamina. The other thing about DC is that most of the things you would want to do shut down pretty early, so you do get quiet and calm evenings to rest if you want them. We also avoid malls and things like that on vacations. Below is the itinerary for our family for our last trip. A few things changed last minute, so I included in brackets what we MIGHT have done at that time. I am happy to help you work out an itinerary based on what you want to do.
Saturday-
Left at 5:30 in the morning, stopped for gas/breakfast, rest stop bathroom, gas station for bathroom and drinks (ate packed lunches). Arrived around 2 and decided, based on weather, to go straight into the city and park in parking garage instead of going to the hotel.
Parked in a garage near the Orange Mandarin hotel (very near the Jefferson Memorial) for $10.
Walked the monument loop described above.
Walked back to the car, drove to the hotel, checked in, walked next door to Theisman’s for dinner.
{We had a DCbyFoot tour of the Monuments and Tidal Basin scheduled for Sunday. However, Sunday was predicted for 100% rain and Saturday was beautiful, plus we got in so early on Saturday that we decided to cancel our Sunday tour and just do the monuments by ourselves on Saturday. It was a good choice, although it didn’t even rain at all on Sunday.}
Sunday-
Metro to Smithsonian stop
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Picnic lunch on the National Mall
Smithsonian Museum of American History
Archives
Metro to Foggy Bottom/GWU stop
Dinner at pizza place down the street
Kennedy Center shuttle to Kennedy Center
6:00 Performance
Shuttle back to metro
Metro to Alexandria
Monday-
Metro to Smithsonian stop
Air and Space Museum
Picnic on the National Mall
Natural History Museum
{We could have done this day faster and possibly gone to the zoo or Arlington. However, this was a day where some people were having some times and some moods and we felt like we needed to take it easy. Also, they really enjoyed the Natural History Museum and took a long time in it.}
Metro’d back to our hotel, changed clothes, and hopped on the trolley to Old Town Alexandria.
We rode it all the way to the waterfront, got off and walked around, walked a few blocks back, looking for somewhere to eat. We ate at a little pub, then walked to the closest trolley stop where we caught the trolley and were back to our hotel by 8.
Watched movies and rested.
Tuesday-
Metro to Metro Center
10- Ford’s Theater Ranger Talk (booked)
Taxi to Zoo
Zoo
Taxi back, asked him to drive us by National Cathedral and down Embassy Row
Dropped us off at the Portrait Gallery
Gallery Place/Chinatown metro to Braddock Rd stop, walked a few blocks to Lena’s (Italian place) for dinner
Metro to Alexandria
Got back to the hotel in time to catch the evening reception and the kids loaded up on cheese and crackers
Movie and packing in the hotel
{We were supposed to have a DCbyFoot tour of the Capitol and Library of Congress on this afternoon. I found out Monday that it was canceled and so I moved the zoo to Tuesday. Otherwise, we would have gone to the zoo Monday and done both museums in the morning on Monday.}
Wednesday-
Left a little later from the hotel that day
Metro to Capitol South
Library of Congress (caught a public tour that happened to be starting as we walked in)
Walked next door to the Supreme Court where we found that you CAN go in!
Walked by an around the Capitol, did not elect to go in the Visitor’s Center or on the tour
Walked a pretty long walk to the Newseum
Ate lunch in their cafeteria and spent the entire afternoon there. (There is a virtual reality thing on the 2nd or 3rd floor. We started at the top and worked our way down, which meant we got to the virtual reality part too late to do it since they stop it early. I would start there. Also, don’t miss the terrace of the Newseum (top floor), it’s a great photo op with the Capitol in the background.)
Left there when they closed at 5 and walked to one side of the White House (Washington Monument side), then walked around it to the other side.
Got drinks at a McDonald’s close by ($1 any size!!!!!) and went to the bathroom there.
Ate a picnic supper on benches under trees (it was raining) in front of the OEOB
Our DCbyFoot Lincoln Assassination Tour met in Layfayette Park at 7, ending at 9 at Ford’s Theater
Took the metro from Metro Center to Alexandria
I am sure there are things I am leaving out, but this is a pretty comprehensive list of must-sees. Dang I love that city.
Enjoy my favorite city!!!
Cruise Excursions and Tips
If there's one thing I love, it's travel. The only thing I love almost as much as travel, it's sharing travel ideas and tips with other people. I have lots of posts on this blog, linked below, about various trips we have taken. I realized I had not ever done a cruise post, so this seemed like a good time.
https://athenajdavis.blogspot.com/2018/05/renaissance-weekend.html
https://athenajdavis.blogspot.com/2018/05/the-eastern-shore.html
https://athenajdavis.blogspot.com/2019/03/manatees-airboats-gators-sponges-and.html
Our Cruise Crowd
I am not sure how many cruises we have taken, I think somewhere in the neighborhood of 6-7. Of that number, we have taken a few just the two of us, a couple as a small family, and one as a family of seven. We are hoping to take another this fall with the two sets of grandparents.
Cruise Company
All of our cruises have been through Carnival, mostly because it's the cheapest and we are cheap. :) However, we have always been very pleased with Carnival and everything about them.
Cruise Ships
I was going to try and list the ships we have been on but I have absolutely no idea. My favorite ship (that no longer exists in this capacity) for a certain reason was Paradise, and that is because it was non-smoking. They don't have it as non-smoking any longer. In regard to the ships, we like the moderately sized to larger ones just due to being more steady in the water. The activities on the ships don't really vary a whole lot in my experience, and neither does the food.
Cruise Departure Ports
We have cruised out of Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville, New Orleans, Port Canaveral, and Tampa. We really liked the ports at Tampa and New Orleans because they were both very easy to get in and get out of, and in Tampa, we found a cheap independent parking lot to pay for our van while we were gone.
Cruise Ports of Call
We have made stops in Cozumel and Yucatan (Progreso) {both Mexico}, Nassau and Freeport {both Bahamas}, Mahogany Bay Isla Roatan {Honduras}, Grand Cayman {Cayman Islands}, Belize, Ocho Rios {Jamaica}, and Key West {Florida}. Of all of our cruises, my very favorite itinerary was our last cruise to Belize, Honduras, Cozumel, and Grand Cayman. My very least favorite places to stop are probably Yucatan (Progreso) and the Bahamas.
Cruise Excursions
We have done excursions through Carnival, excursions through outside local companies, and excursions on our own. We have probably learned the most about the ports and excursions, and it's the part I love to share with people. Excursions through Carnival are ridiculously expensive. However, they are also vetted and subject to inspections (I would be nervous to do certain potentially dangerous excursions through companies I didn't know much about) AND you are guaranteed to get back to the ship, no matter what happens. So there are definitely pluses to those excursions.
I much prefer doing my own research and either using a local company or going off on our own. With Trip Advisor and other online forums, it's just too easy to glean off the experiences of others rather than making your own mistakes (although we have certainly made our own mistakes).
Jamaica:
Cozumel:
Yucatan:
Nasseau:
Freeport:
Caymans:
Belize:
Key West:
Honduras:
https://athenajdavis.blogspot.com/2018/05/renaissance-weekend.html
https://athenajdavis.blogspot.com/2018/05/the-eastern-shore.html
https://athenajdavis.blogspot.com/2019/03/manatees-airboats-gators-sponges-and.html
Our Cruise Crowd
I am not sure how many cruises we have taken, I think somewhere in the neighborhood of 6-7. Of that number, we have taken a few just the two of us, a couple as a small family, and one as a family of seven. We are hoping to take another this fall with the two sets of grandparents.
Cruise Company
All of our cruises have been through Carnival, mostly because it's the cheapest and we are cheap. :) However, we have always been very pleased with Carnival and everything about them.
Cruise Ships
I was going to try and list the ships we have been on but I have absolutely no idea. My favorite ship (that no longer exists in this capacity) for a certain reason was Paradise, and that is because it was non-smoking. They don't have it as non-smoking any longer. In regard to the ships, we like the moderately sized to larger ones just due to being more steady in the water. The activities on the ships don't really vary a whole lot in my experience, and neither does the food.
Cruise Departure Ports
We have cruised out of Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville, New Orleans, Port Canaveral, and Tampa. We really liked the ports at Tampa and New Orleans because they were both very easy to get in and get out of, and in Tampa, we found a cheap independent parking lot to pay for our van while we were gone.
Cruise Ports of Call
We have made stops in Cozumel and Yucatan (Progreso) {both Mexico}, Nassau and Freeport {both Bahamas}, Mahogany Bay Isla Roatan {Honduras}, Grand Cayman {Cayman Islands}, Belize, Ocho Rios {Jamaica}, and Key West {Florida}. Of all of our cruises, my very favorite itinerary was our last cruise to Belize, Honduras, Cozumel, and Grand Cayman. My very least favorite places to stop are probably Yucatan (Progreso) and the Bahamas.
Cruise Excursions
We have done excursions through Carnival, excursions through outside local companies, and excursions on our own. We have probably learned the most about the ports and excursions, and it's the part I love to share with people. Excursions through Carnival are ridiculously expensive. However, they are also vetted and subject to inspections (I would be nervous to do certain potentially dangerous excursions through companies I didn't know much about) AND you are guaranteed to get back to the ship, no matter what happens. So there are definitely pluses to those excursions.
I much prefer doing my own research and either using a local company or going off on our own. With Trip Advisor and other online forums, it's just too easy to glean off the experiences of others rather than making your own mistakes (although we have certainly made our own mistakes).
Jamaica:
- Dunn's River Falls- Through Carnival, a great day excursion to hike the cascading waterfall, could be done by anyone and we also shopped at the top. Really great excursion we have done twice.
- Zipline- Through Carnival, lots of fun with multiple lines and levels, we stopped for a local lunch on the way back.
Cozumel:
- Beach Day- We paid for this and shouldn't have, we should have just taken a cab to a public beach and snorkeled.
- Dolphin Excursion-This was a really incredible Carnival excursion. It was professional, felt safe, and was well done. The girls (and us too) loved swimming with the dolphins.
- Dune Buggies tour of the area (snorkeling, reserve and lighthouse, shopping, lunch)- I cannot recommend this excursion highly enough. We used a local company (I read a ton of reviews in advance) and they were AWESOME. We have recommended them multiple times to other people since that time. Carlos was our guide, and here is the link: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g150809-d651462-Reviews-Cozumel_Cruise_Excursions_Private_Tours-Cozumel_Yucatan_Peninsula.html
Yucatan:
- Mayan Ruins- We did this through a Carnival excursion. The bus ride was a little long, but the ruins were great. I can't find the specific name for it, but we also went swimming in a natural lagoon-type thing there. This particular stop (Yucatan) did not appear to be a place where you would want to go it on your own. There wasn't much there.
Nasseau:
- Atlantis- We did this as a Carnival excursion, but we will not do it that way again. Next time, we will just take a water taxi over and pay for a one day pass to Atlantis. Atlantis is an INCREDIBLE site and we want to go back another time.
Freeport:
- Shopping- We just walked around on our own through the market here.
Caymans:
- Stingray City- We have done this excursion 3 times, twice through Carnival and once through a local company. It's fantastic.
- Snorkeling- On our last trip, we just walked down the street near the ship and rented snorkeling gear just off the beach area. It was great snorkeling. We have heard that Seven Mile Beach is also great snorkeling.
- Shopping- People talk a lot about shopping in the Caymans, and on our first trip, we planned to just do that. We realized very quickly that it may be cheap for one demographic of people, but NOT all. :)
Belize:
- Goff's Caye - We got off the ship and walked left to the mall area, where we found local companies. We booked a tour to Goff's Caye and it was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. It was a LONG water taxi ride, but well worth it. This was the best snorkeling we did on the whole cruise.
Key West:
- Local touring on our own- We just walked around Key West, toured the Hemingway House, went to the southernmost tip of the US, etc.. Beautiful area.
Honduras:
- Local tour, zipline, shopping, animal encounter- We learned of this local company and guide (Jeffrie Bailey Johnson) from friends of ours who went to Roatan and IT WAS SO INCREDIBLE! The company is https://www.facebook.com/roatanfuntourshn/?eid=ARBasIjlJmvvJlW1GPUwwMdlpnT15EcLqtWGw6d5VgTI5S0otS9vS2RFtgQwyoXB5RnO9sfFVMT-Yzx7&timeline_context_item_type=intro_card_work&timeline_context_item_source=100001301448985&fref=tag . We just told Jeffrie what we wanted and he made it happen! We went to the animal park (not the one all the tours go to, but another one) and had some in our crowd who wanted to zipline, so they did it there. We told him we wanted to shop, but not at the port, so he took us to an awesome hilltop market with beautiful views. It was just an awesome day. He told us that next time we come, he wants to drive us to the other side of the island. He also offered beach and snorkeling, but we didn't want to do that on that day.
- The Carnival beach beside the ship is really nice and easy to get to, if you just wanted to do it and not take an excursion.
Cruise Tips and Tricks
I highly recommend the early dining option if you are cruising at fall break, winter, or spring break. The return from the ports is very early, so it makes it easier to eat and see a show at that time.
The drink plan is WORTH EVERY PENNY. Get it.
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