free dc events
What should we see in DC?
My company offered me a free hotel room in DC for 6 nights because a trade show got canceled and the rooms were already paid for. We go next Friday. Because we just got this offer last week, we haven’t had much time to plan for this. Usually we plan vacations 6 months in advance and have a really clear picture of what we want to do when we get there. This time we are unprepared.
So, what are the must sees? Anyone know of any out of the way, hole in the wall really interesting places that tourists don’t usually know about but are really cool to see? Any suggestions for good tourist guides? Should I bother with a Frommer’s guide? Any interesting events going on next weekend that would be cool to attend? We’re taking all suggestions into consideration, cuz we really don’t know what we want to do!
Thanks in advance!
Judi – lucky you! I wish I could snag a free week’s stay in DC! While it is probably too late to get passes for a White House Tour or a Capitol tour, it would be worth asking your local congressperson’s office if you could get a couple tickets. They are both really great and informative tours.
The monuments, Lincoln, Jefferson, and Vietnam Veteran’s are, in my opinion, absolute musts. I’d suggest going towards the end of the day; there will be fewer crowds, and it’s particular moving to see the Vietnam Veteran’s memorial just as the sun is going down.
There are scores of museums in DC. I’d recommend tailoring your museum visits to what your interests are, because although 6 days is a long time, it would be next to impossible to visit all of them.
If you really like art, I’d carve out at least a day or two to visit the National Gallery and the American Art Museum/National Portrait Gallery, and the National Museum for Women in the Arts. If you are interested in architecture, the Building Museum is wonderful (sounds boring, but it’s really great). The “big” Smithsonian museums (Air & Space – with the planes, Natural History – with the dinosaurs, and American History, with the first lady gowns) are all great, I’d suggest going to si.edu to see what exhibits are there to plot out where to go at each of them.
All of the museums I listed are free (the Women in the Arts asks for donations, though). The Spy Museum is a newer museum but it’s interesting and takes about 3 hours to go through. It’s about $20 but really worth the money.
The Holocaust Museum is extremely moving, and while it’s free, I’d recommend getting tickets ahead of time at ticketmaster.com so you can avoid the lines.
In terms of hole in the wall restaurants, I love Queen Bee in Clarendon (it’s on the orange line of the metro). It’s not a fancy place, but they have out of this world asian food. Another place for great food is Ben’s Chili Bowl, at the U Street metro (there are also historic walking tours at U Street, you could combine that with a stop at Ben’s). Ben’s is a small restaurant with mostly counter service and they have great chili dogs, fries, etc. It’s popular with the locals as well as tourists. If you want something a little fancier, I love Georgia Browns for traditional, southern style comfort food. It’s right in the district.
If you like the performing arts, go to ticketplace.com for information about how to get half-price, day of performance tickets. Ticketplace has tickets for just about every show in town, from small theatre companies to large, famous places like the Kennedy Center. You can save a lot of money getting tickets there.
Hope this helps and have a great time in DC.
