Change of dates - hotel and schedule help

We have decided to change our dates for our family (dh, myself, dd18, ds17 %26amp; ds11) after Christmas trip to 12/29-1/2. This way we will be in the DC area for our Anniversary (New Years Eve) which is our 20th. We are thinking or going to First Night Alexandria. Here is our tentative plan:

Friday 12/29 - driving down from Ithaca, NY (visiting family there) - hope to arrive by 4pm -- need ideas for pm. Possibly monuments at night and National Christmas Tree.

Sat. 12/30 - DC day - need some help planning this one. Places we want to see include: Smithsonian, Air and Space Museum, White House, monuments in DC, Ford Theater, Natural History Museum (is this open??), just to start. If there are any suggetions, we are open.

Sun 12/31 - Old Town and First Night Alexandria

Mon 1/1 - Arlington Cemetary, etc Anything we didn%26#39;t get to on Sat that is open

Tue 1/2 - Check out and go to Mount Vernon on the way back home (SC)

We are thinking of staying at the Embassy Suites Alexandria. Rates are pretty good and it is pretty close to the Metro.

So, how does this look. If there are any suggestions, please feel free.

Change of dates - hotel and schedule help

I would take that ';DC Day'; on 12/30 and divide it up into Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. You%26#39;ve got quite a bit scheduled there!

Do some research and decide which sites you want to see. Technically, ';Smithsonian'; is something like 20 different museums. It%26#39;s the American History Museum that%26#39;s closed until 2008 so you%26#39;re ok with Natural History.

The museums are open on New Years Day, so you can schedule some time then.

I%26#39;d also use some of Sunday 12/31 to tour more of the DC sights you want to see. Old Town is worth seeing, but not on a short trip at the expense of missing sights in Washington, my opinion. You%26#39;ll see a bit of it and get a bit of a feel for it on Sunday night at the First Night celebration, so I wouldn%26#39;t spend time there during the day.

Old Town is close enough to your hotel that you could ';pop in'; before you head to Mount Vernon if you run into something on NYE that you absolutely have to go back for.

Speaking of the hotel, I%26#39;m a big fan of staying in DC if you%26#39;re visiting DC. But with NYE in the mix I%26#39;m not sure what the rates are like, so maybe the ES is a good option for you. I%26#39;m not familiar with it.

Change of dates - hotel and schedule help

Irishfan,

You made some good points. Here is a tentative plan with revisions.

Fri - Arrive, check in , Night time tour, Christmas Tree

Sat - AM - Air and Space Museum, Mall Area

Afternoon/evening - National Gallery of Art and ice skating

Sun (NYE) - Arlington Cemetary tourmobile, metro into DC, Ford Theater, etc

PM - First Night Alexandria

Mon - AM - Museum of Natural History

Tues - Mount Vernon

Of course this is still a work in progress, but how does it look as a general plan?

Keep in mind that January 1st is a Federal holiday, so most government institutions (e.g., the Smithsonian) will probably be closed!

I checked with the Smithsonian website and it says they are open everyday except Christmas. I will double check closer to our trip.