Washington, DC

our route, with food & parking options circled

We recently took the family to Washington, DC. We don't get down to "the District" often, but the monument area is packed with impressive sights and things to do.

Parking by the tidal basin ("National Mall parking," 1540 Maine Ave SW, Washington, DC 20024), we headed north to the Washington Monument, only to discover that the free tickets to go up it are given out starting at 7am and gone long before we arrived (at 10am). It's impressive from the outside, though, too, so we enjoyed the sight before heading east towards the Capitol. 

We walked down the mall until it became clear the kids couldn't do the planned circuit if we went all the way to that building (and east of it- I wanted to see the Library of Congress and Supreme Court), so we swung back west and enjoyed the architecture of the myriad museums that dot the area. Going by the food truck row (see drawing above) whetted our appetites, so we went north to the restaurant area after 'enjoying' a disappointing view of the White House (you cannot stand as close as they used to let you). 

The food was good, and afterwards, we were pleasantly surprised to stumble across the new (and not yet completed) WWI monument in that area. We snaked back southwest to the WWII monument, reflecting pool, Vietnam memorial, and Lincoln monument. We concluded the day walking past the Korean War monument and MLK, Jr memorial. It was about 6 miles of walking, which was the childrens' limit.

Overall impressions:

- We need to spend more time here. There is much history, beauty, and things to explore. We didn't even get to the museums.

- The architecture is wonderful; even if you don't do the museums, simply walking around is a great time out.

- Finding food can be a problem, which is why I circled the food areas above. Carry some with you or plan your route to take you to a restaurant.