While in NJ, we took a little trip down to Washington, D.C. Steve has never been, and surprisingly (not), neither have I. So on one Friday, we packed up our rental car, grabbed my two sisters and headed down to Washington.
We didn’t have A LOT of time there, so the first piece of advice that I would give you is to make sure you have the time to spend there. We went down on a Friday (got in late), and only really had all of Saturday to explore because we were leaving Sunday. So we really had to crack things out quickly.
We prioritized things like the monuments, the White House, and a few museums. Prioritizing is a MUST! You don’t actually realize it, but there is a lot to see there. The Smithsonian is made up of twenty museums, for example. Oh, and pretty much everything is free!
Because of traffic and what not, we didn’t get down to Washington and checked into the hotel until about 4:30 PM. We stayed at the Courtyard Marriott Washington Downtown/Convention Center. It was pretty decently priced (except for the mandatory VALET PARKING, which I wasn’t aware of – $150 down the drain…) and really nice, but a bit of a walk to any of the sights.
In hindsight, I probably should have booked a hotel closer to things – walking around in the heat/humidity while 5 months pregnant is hard! But everything was so expensive that this worked out being the cheapest one when we booked. There are dozens of Airbnbs as well, but I would advise against that mainly because of parking. It is really hard to find parking there, and you have to pay an extortionate amount for parking lots/garages. Definitely look for a hotel first, as they are pretty much guaranteed to have parking (even if it’s only valet parking…).
Getting around Washington, D.C. is pretty easy for the most part. Everything is very easy to locate, and you can get to everything on foot. It is a lot of walking, so bring your sneakers! Another easy way to get around Washington, which Steve absolutely LOVED was by scooter. You can rent scooters using apps like Uber to ride around the city with. They’re literally all over the place! You go on the app, locate a scooter near to you, reserve it, then pick it up and go! Pretty self explanatory, and cheap too! Steve and my sister had so much fun riding them around.
As I said earlier, we didn’t get down until late on Friday, so we didn’t get to do much that day. We decided to see the Lincoln Memorial – it was the furthest thing from our hotel, so it made sense to get that out of the way first. Plus, the sun was starting to set so it made the walk in the heat slightly more bearable! We also got some incredible views of the Washington Monument from there. We grabbed a bite to eat on the way back to the hotel at a place called Burger Tap & Shake and it was sooo good – definitely recommend!
On Saturday, we got up early and prepared for a long day of sight seeing! We grabbed a quick breakfast at Pret a Manger (couldn’t believe they have Pret in the States!). We then headed to the museums first. They all close at 5:30, so we felt it best to see them first. We prioritized three – the Natural History Museum, the American History Museum, and the National Gallery of Art. The Natural History Museum and Gallery of Art were amazing, but not going to lie in that we were a bit disappointed with the American History Museum. It was just…okay. To be honest, I should have known I wouldn’t have been impressed when the first thing that I saw was the Batmobile… Like yea, there was a bit of history, but not enough real American history, in my opinion. We thought it would bring you from the beginning – the early settlers, up until modern history. But there wasn’t any of that. Just American inventions, etc. Ah well.
After the museums, we walked around and saw the rest of the sights/monuments. When we went to see the White House, I didn’t realize until AFTERWARDS that what we saw (and the only pictures that I took) were of the BACK of the White House… The only picture I got of the front was this awful grainy picture later that night. Ugh, way to go, Laur.
Also, leave it to Steve to cut off EVERY. MONUMENT. in EVERY. PICTURE. that I asked him to take. Boy needs a crash course in IG husband training. Case in point…
Even though we didn’t have that much time to spend in Washington, D.C. it was definitely worth the visit! So yea, in a nutshell, here are my top tips:
-Give yourself at least two full days to see things
-Book a hotel vs. Airbnb
-Budget for parking expenses
-Be prepared to walk A LOT
-Make sure you actually get a decent shot of the White House LOL
Have you been to Washington, D.C. before? Let me know how your trip went and what your top sights to see were!
xx Lauren
