Help with timing Please

While my husband is in a meeting all day on Friday my children and I (ages 16 and 21) will be seeing the sites. Do you think that it is possible to do all of this in 1 day?

Begin at Jefferson memorial making our way back through all of the memorials. have lunch( any recommendations here would be helpful).

Then Spend the afternoon on the mall seeing American History museum, Natural History and then National Gallery of Art? OR do you think we should view the memorials another way and spend the whole day on the mall?

I have reserved spots with the Bike the sites blossom tour for Saturday but I am having second thoughts about that.

Planning on the Newsmuseum on Saturday afternoon.

We are only there Thursday afternoon through Sunday morning.

I rely on tripadvisor and would appreciate any insights.

Help with timing Please

Some of this will depend on the cherry blossoms. If they%26#39;re out by Friday, which is a real possibility, the Jefferson Memorial will be jammed all day, so get there as early as possible. If they%26#39;re not out, I%26#39;d recommend skipping the Jefferson and FDR Memorials because they%26#39;re on the wrong side of the tidal basin and your time will better spent elsewhere.

Plan A (blossoms out): start at Jefferson, then FDR, then walk through West Potomac Park to Lincoln, then head east past Vietnam, WW II, and Washington. This leaves you at the west end of the Smithsonians at about lunchtime. It%26#39;s a lot of walking in one day, so do it if you%26#39;re up to it.

Plan B (no blossoms): start at Lincoln and work you way east.

Help with timing Please

If you are only using Friday as the day to do the touring, I would go to the museums during the day and then visit the memorials at night. I don%26#39;t know how many you will be able to do but they are all beautiful at night with the lights shining.

You could probably do the 3 museums listed in one day by closing time.

I don%26#39;t know much about the Bike the Blossoms but you could probably just walk around the tidal basin and that area by yourself and save your money if its a little expensive for the tour.

While on the mall, you could go over to the Native American Indian Museum and eat in the cafeteria there which is good (a little expensive but good). Otherwise there aren%26#39;t many places other than cafeteria style food along and around the mall.

Did you have anything else planned for Saturday other than the Newseum?

Currently on Saturday we are planning the blossom bike tour at 9:30 followed by lunch and the newsmuseum. I actually thought that I would do Arlington if we skip the bikes.

Another question we are eating at Jaleo, TenhPenh and Central. Do you know what the attire is for these restaurants?

Thanks

Helene

As of today, I believe the National Park Service is predicting that the cherry blossoms will be out by this weekend. So, I think it could be crazy around the Tidal Basin on Saturday for a bike tour, even at 9:30 am. I%26#39;m not sure where the bike tour goes, but I must admit that I would not like to be trying to ride a bike anywhere near the Tidal Basin for the next couple of weeks.

I, too, would probably spend the whole day in the museums on the Mall and save the monuments for the evening (although it will likely be chilly). They look especially great when they are lit up at night.

Have you considered doing a Segway tour? They don%26#39;t actually go to the monuments (not allowed by NPS), but they do go to the White House, Capitol, Smithsonians, Ford%26#39;s Theatre, etc. It%26#39;s a fun tour and they allow riders above the age of 16, so you%26#39;re OK on that. Our kids (aged 20 and 17 at the time) had a blast last summer when we did this tour one evening.

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