Returned from 4 day DC vacation

First I want to thank everyone that gave me ideas and suggestions for my trip, a BIG help.

Myself, husband and 11 yr. old son. We spent 4 days in Washington. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Capitol. I did my homework and it all worked out wonderful. The Holiday Inn Capitol is very nice, clean and location is great, one block from Air %26amp; Space and Tourmobile stop, make sure you ask for a room overlooking the courtyard. When we arrived they said there was no notation on my reservation about that. I knew from postings here to make sure I asked in my reservations not near the train tracks. They gave us a room over the courtyard. I would recommend this hotel to all. We arrived Wednesday around 2:00 and we had tickets for the Washington Monument for 4:00 (ordered them online for $1.50 each plus .50 for postage). We drove so we walked to the monument (10-15 minutes) it was a nice walk after 9 hours in the car. My complaint with the Washington Monument was the staff. If I was not from the U.S. I would wonder if everyone in the U.S. was miserable. The Park Staff was not very friendly. We got to the monument early and saw a sign that said tour 3:30 so we stood aside with some other people that were early. When asked what tour time we had we told a staff person and he pointed to were to stand. Then he asked us again and we told him again and he told us we were not in the correct waiting area. We all looked at each other and told him that was were he told us to stand. He than pointed again to another area. It was hot and late so maybe he was tired. When it was our time for the tour some people were sitting on the bench and when the staffer came to get us he said follow me...NOW! I was shocked! The people were not getting off of the bench fast enough for him. On the elevator the person running it said you go to the top look out and then come down one floor and you can look out again. That%26#39;s it!!! Nothing about the monument (we found out the history of it on the Tourmoblie the following day) On the way down not a word! There are carvings or quotes on the walls on the way down and you can see them from inside the elevator but we were never told what they were or what they said. The elevator did slow down but not enough to read them!

I think I will email the Parks department about this encounter.

Our first full day started at the B of P%26amp;E at 7:30 to get tickets for the first tour. It was interesting to see the money being printed, our son’s favorite part of the trip.We took the Tourmobile for the two days (adults $30.00 and child $15.00) right across the street from B of P%26amp;E, it was cheaper then the others. It was great...There was always a seat and never a long wait. The tourmoblie also includes the Arlington Cemetery tour which was our first stop ( $6.00 if you take the tour at the cemetery). The changing of the guard was moving. Then to the Lincoln Memorial, WW I, WWII, Jefferson Memorial, etc.

Second day was American History and Natural History Museums. Lunch at Union Station (beautiful place). Some of the museums are open late and some open early at this time of year. Took a not planned side trip to the Ford Theatre and the house across the street where Lincoln died. That was a very informative side trip, highly recommended. I learned a lot and my 11 year old son even enjoyed it. He had learned about it in school but found out being there was better.

Third day we had not been able to get a tour of the Capitol with our State Rep. We waited too long . As we waited for the Tourmobile in front of the Air and Space to go to the Capitol we met a family from California that was taking the tour. We told them we did not have the tour we were just going to take pictures. They invited us to tag along with them. What was the worst to happen, they would say no when we got there. Well they said yes! It was a wonderful tour and we learned a lot. It took a couple of hours and put us off schedule but well worth it. After the tour we went to the White House (no tour) took pictures from the front gate. I thought the White House was bigger!

Fourth day the Air and Space Museum (first floor opens at 9:00am). Then our 9 hour drive home.

Over all a wonderful trip, we did everything we had planned to do and some, we had a couple of 12 hour days (our son fell asleep on the Tourmoblie, woke up and ready to go again!). Tourmobile guides very friendly, we even had to change vehicles once at the end of the day before they stopped running and the driver called ahead and asked the other driver to wait for us. Security in all of the building was either scan your bags or hand check them. We carried snacks and bottle water and never had a problem.

Since we drove in we brought a cooler with frozen water, danish and muffins for breakfast so we started each day not having to find breakfast. Lunch was on the run (with snacks in between) and dinner was McD’s and Subway. Thanks again everyone!

Returned from 4 day DC vacation

Thanks for posting your trip report. I%26#39;m sorry to hear about your encounters with less than friendly park rangers. It%26#39;s interesting because we were in Philadelphia this past weekend and the park rangers we encountered there were all helpful and friendly--go figure. I think it%26#39;s great that you were able to tag along with another family and tour the capitol! Glad to hear that you all enjoyed yourselves!

Returned from 4 day DC vacation

Sounds like you had busy and memorable trip! Is the Holiday Inn still offering free meals for kids? And did you have any time to use their pool?

As a former volunteer with the National Park Service (stationed primarily at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial), I am sorry that you had an unpleasant experience with the Park Rangers that day. Not to excuse their rudeness, but by way of explaining what they are responsible for, hopefully you will understand what a complex job they have. They have multiple jobs to do and not always the right amount of help (volunteers and paid staff), equipment and conditions in which to do it. They deal with millions of people each year and some days it can be challenging. They have to protect the memorial from damage (inside and out), keep the area free of obstacles, protect the visitors from getting hurt, answer questions, provide crowd control, first aid, and, of course, information about the memorial itself. Each person has a lot going on and there are not always volunteers available to pitch in every day.

I hope that your experience with the Rangers doesn%26#39;t ruin any part of your memory of our beautiful city.

I also have to agree that the Philadelphia Park Service staff are great. Some of the rangers assigned to the various buildings really know their stuff and are passionate about the buildings and areas they work in. They make the tours very enjoyable.

drwong,

Our son used the pool one night and enjoyed it. There were a few people in it but not enought to not enjoy it. The other nights he was to tired to swim (we have a pool at home so it was not a big deal to him). We did not eat at the hotel but they did give us discount coupons for meals at the hotel and I do believe kids eat free. We were always out at dinner time.