Memorable moments in DC

I love to talk to Miss J and Mr. Z about our trip even long after we were back. I love to hear about their view on each trip and learn about what they like or dislike on the trip. Sometimes the answer is fairly predictable and sometimes it surprises me.

For our recent trip to DC, here are their choices:

Favorite Activities:

Miss J: The walking tour of the monuments with DC by Foot. But she said 'Next time, I want to go up the Washington Monument'. Almost a month after the trip, she still remembered what we learned from the tour that the Washington monument that we saw wasn't the original design.. Wow! I didn't even know that she paid attention.

Mr. Z: The Metro ride all over DC. But he said 'Next time, we have to ride the Green line. We didn't ride the Green line this time'. He also likes the Transportation exhibit at the National Museum of American History. Surprisingly, we spent the least amount of time here than other museums we visited. But the boy has his obsession with trains and all thing with wheels.

Favorite Food:

Mr. Rojo: He loved the hot dog we got from the stand right in front of the National Museum of American History. It was the spicy polish sausage that was the size of a pipe. Yum-O

Me: My softshell crab at Old Ebbitt Grill was to die for. The atmosphere there was so DC. All the suits and ties at the bar reminds me of the West Wing. :)

DC on a Budget

I know you guys probably have had enough for DC trips for a while. But I can't help to post about how we did this trip on a budget. It's probably one of my best trip that I have planned everything and think about budget and try to stick to it. Most of our other trips were just wing-it type.. We planned and then we went and then we came back to pay the price later. So here are some of the things we did to give us a fabulous vacation without breaking the bank.

1. Accommodation - Using Priceline for hotel : This was my 2nd time I have used priceline. Everytime, I feel very nervous. It's hard to be calm when I don't know what hotel I will get. But overall, I was very happy with our bid. I got a 3.5 star hotel (Sheraton Crystal City) for $80/night during the busiest week in DC - the Cherry Blossom week. Typically, we love to stay in an apartment or hotel suite with kitchen. But this trip, after I did the price comparison between a condo in downtown DC versus a hotel across the river, I found that we would save over $500 (even after adding the cost of eating out for staying in a hotel) over a week stay.

2. Transportation - Using public transportation aka the Metro : The Metro ride was actually one of the highlighted during this trip for Mr. Z. So needless to say, it's priceless and very budget friendly for us. We stayed in the hotel that only a few stops from the Mall. I checked out the fare in advance and compared to the 7-day pass. I found out that it was cheaper to actually buy individual tickets rather than the pass. Because normally, we planned one museum per day so we just took the metro to our destination and we walked around.

3. Transportation - Drive to DC : That's another reason why we chose DC for our Spring Break vacation. Flying for a family of 4 could easily cost over $1000. In order to save on traveling fee, we opt to find a vacation spot that within a driving distance. DC is about 10 hours from Atlanta. It wasn't bad thanks to portable DVD.

4. Food - Check out cheap eat : I am a big fan of TripAdvisor forum. There are great posts about where to eat on different budget. I also checked out Washingtonian for their cheap eat list. It was a great source to find out where the locals are eating without breaking a bank. We did spurlge one night for a fabulous dinner at Old Ebbitt Grill.. All I have to say is.. Yummo!!

5. Food - Restaurant gift certificate : I admitted that I just recently discovered restaurant.com. It has been such a great site to give us permission to eat out without breaking our budget. Then I realized that I can do the same during my vacation. All I had to do was a little bit of planning. I first checked out what restaurants were available in the area that we will be in or visit during our trip. Then I checked out the review from travelling forum like Tripadvisor. In the end, I opted for the more familiar restaurants that we knew well. I got gift certificate for Ted Montana Grill and Z Pizz. Also to add more to the saving, wait when restaurant.com runs their 80% off promotion to buy your gift certificate. I got $10 gift certificate for $0.60. During our trip, we had great dinner for less than $40 for a family of 4.

6. Shopping - Set price for souvenir : This might not be an issue for everyone but for us it was always the one area that nudge us way pass our budget. So this trip, we had set the limit on the souvenir per kid and it was much easier to shop. There wasn't whining about wanting that $50 toy because they could read the price and saw that it's over the budget.

7. Activities - Find free or cheap activities around town : Granted DC was easy to do cheap activities because most of the museums are free. But this can also be applied to other cities as well. We actually went to Baltimore for a day to visit the Children museum. I know that doing museum everyday will probably bore Miss J and Mr. Z to death. So a little break from that was a big welcome on this trip. We were able to save money on the Baltimore trip because we had a national wide family pass that the Port Discovery is a member. So we didn't have to pay for the entrance fee. Be creative and find a way to have fun without breaking a bank!

What other ways do you do to help saving on your trip? Please share! :)

Photo Friday: Vietnam Veterans Memorial in DC

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial in DC is one of the most memorable place for me. During our DC by Foot tour, we learned about the story behind the design by Maya Lin.

There was such a controversial during the selection of the winning design by her due to her ethnicity during that time. The memorial is simple but yet has evoked such emotion when you visit. I don't know anyone personally who has died during the Vietnam war. But as you walked down the path and scanned through the name of men and women on the carved black granite stone, and you saw the reflection of yourself and other visitors, you can't help but shed your tears.

I love her quote that she wrote upon entering her design to the VVMF .

The Memorial is composed not as an unchanging monument, but as a moving composition to be understood as we move into and out of it. The passage itself is gradual; the descent to the origin slow, but it is at the origin that the Memorial is to be fully understood. At the intersection of these walls, on the right side, is carved the date of the first death. It is followed by the names of those who died in the war, in chronological order. These names continue on this wall appearing to recede into the earth at the wall's end. The names resume on the left wall as the wall emerges from the earth, continuing back to the origin where the date of the last death is carved.

DC with Kids Day 6: The Air and Space Museum

As we approached our last full day in DC for our week long vacation, we had already dreamed about the next time we will visit this fun-filled-family-friendly city. We hardly scratched the surface of what DC has to offer us. But today, we couldn't go home without visiting the most visited museum in this country - The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.

We had planned only one stop today knowing how big the museum is. We started our day early and headed to the metro. After a quick breakfast on the bench along the Mall, we headed to the museum entrance. The line was long but it moved rather quickly. After we got in, we found out that we just missed the 11am tour. A quick stop at the information desk was very helpful. A volunteer pointed us to the 'How Things Fly' room. This room is amazing and perfect for kids of all ages. Kids get to learn about what makes thing fly with an interactive hand-on exhibits. Each one teaches them the concept of air and space. We spent almost an hour in this room alone.

The next stop was to check out the Skylab space station on the second floor. Along the way, we also checked out the Apollo 11 and the Man on the Moon displayed. Do you know that all exhibits in the museum are the original items not replica. It made the experience even more surreal to see all these amazing items that had been out in the space. A line to the Skylab was long but don't get discourage. It moved rather quicky. The kids got to walk through the space station and check out what living and working in the space was like.

By the time, we walked through the space station, it was lunch time. We went outside to grap a quick lunch from the McD stand next to the museum. We had a nice time eating there with the structure outdoor that was a great playground for the kids. Then we headed back to wait for the 1pm tour.

The tour started at the Wright Brothers & the Invention of the Aerial Age exhibition. A gentleman who leaded the guide was very knowledgeable and nice. We got to learn about what it took for the Wright brothers to get that first plane up in the air. It was a long tour so it might not be suitable for younger kids. We stayed for half the tour and figured that it was enough for Miss J and Mr. Z so we headed down to the Museum store. The Museum store was a fun place for them in itself. Don't forget to go down the basement to check out the original model of the U.S.S Enterprise Model, used in the filming of the first Star Trek series. I think it was the highlighted of the trip for Mr. Rojo..

By this time, we were done as in.. physically tired and couldn't check out any more exhibits. This museum would require more than one day to fully explore. And we would have to save them for next trip. :) We walked outside to take a quick snack break on the lawn in front of the museum. The weather was perfect. It was such a nice day and everyone enjoyed sitting there and peopel watching for a while...

Photo Friday: Lincoln Memorial at Night

One of my favorite spot during our spring break trip to DC was the Lincoln Memorial at night. We went there during our walking tour with DC by Foot tour guide.

It was one of the highlighted of our trip. It's a must-do in my opinion. The tour was fun, educational and very affordable. We walked from the corner of 15th and Contitution Ave to the Washington Monument. From there, we got to learn about the history of the monument and the Capitol Hill in which we could see from the distance. Then we walked to the World War II Memorial. Along the way, we heard the story about the White House and the Jefferson Memorial. My most memorable part of the tour has to be the Vietnam Veteran Memorial Wall. Do you know that it's not the War memorial because Vietnam war is not official war?

Once we got to Lincoln Memorial, the Sun had already set. The memorial was well-lit and had a lot of visitors even during night time. I love to just sit on the steps and look out to the reflecting pool.

Check out other travelers' Photo Friday at Delicious Baby.

DC With Kids Day 5: The National Zoo!

When traveling with kids, we plan our trip around them. This trip is no difference than our other family trip. With that in mind, we took them to the National Zoo for a break from all the museum and history. The weather during our visit was so varied from day to day. The first day we were cold and pulled out our sweater and jacket. But today, it was a nice sunny day.

We got on our train from our hotel and hopped on the Yellow line and connected to the Red line at Gallery Place/China Town stop. We felt so comfortable traveling around DC with the Metro now that we could figure out our stop or even exchange to different line. Then we hopped off at Cleveland Park stop. The Zoo is actually located between Cleveland Park and Woodley Park stop. But if you got off at Woodley Park, you will be walking uphill to the Zoo instead of walking downhill from Cleveland Park stop. A little tip I received from the Tripadvisor forum..

It was pretty busy at the Zoo today. I guess everyone came out when the weather was really nice. We checked out the map and decided to start from the back. We stopped by the stroller rental booth to rent a double stroller. Eventhough Miss J and Mr. Z are already capable of walking on their own, we knew that the amount of walking today would be too much for them. The best decision we had made that day!!

The Zoo itself wasn't that impressive in my humble opinion. But the kids enjoyed them tremendously. We checked out the baby gorilla, the Ape House (make sure to hold your breath.. The smell was the worst I have ever experienced!!), the Tigers and the Lion.

At lunch, we ate at the Mane Restaurant. It was packed by the time we got our food. The food was pretty decent for the park food. Afterward, we walked around to check out other animals and of course the Panda and the Elephant.

By the afternoon, we were wiped out. We headed out to the Woodley Park station and stopped by Open City for early dinner. This is a great restuarant with the neighborhood feel. They had breakfast all day so I satisfied my craving for pancake and ordered the Organic Wholewheat Oatmeal pancake. It was delish!!

I originally planned 2 stops today. The Zoo and the Air and Space museum.. However, things never go according to plan. We were so tired from the walk all day. We decided to do the Air and Space tomorrow and headed back to the hotel for an early night.

DC With Kids Day 4: Capitol Hill and DC by Foot

Today was the day with great plan and great expectation. I had secured tickets for the Capitol Hill tour and planned for the evening tour of the monuments from DC by Foot. But things don't work according to plan...

We started of early enough (or what we thought..) and hopped on the Yellow line to head to Capitol Hill. Once we arrived at the Visitor Center entrance we found out that there was a long line to go through security. Our tour time was 10:15am and now it's 9:50am. I was hoping that they might be a little bit flexible with time.. Oh.. No.. We missed our ticket time by 5 minutes and there was nothing they can do. If we still want to do the tour, now we had to go wait in the walk-up line that can be anywhere between 30 mins-1 hour wait. So consider yourself warned, if you have your Capitol tour, be early!

Since we didn't have any other big plan till the evening, we decided to wait. Mr. Rojo was an ever loving dad waited in line for us while Miss J and I walked around and checked out the information room. It was a great place to spend time there. There were so many information of the House and the Senate, short movies to tell you about the history and what the Senate and the House do.. We didn't walk around and check out everything. I went back to check on Mr. Rojo and Mr. Z. The line was moving along but it was still a long way to go. So I took them to have a quick snack at the Capitol Hill cafeteria. It was a really nice cafeteria. I would think we probably would enjoy our lunch time there if we had a chance. But before we could even finish our snack, the fire alarm went off!!! We headed to meet up with Mr. Rojo and followed the evacuation route out of the Capitol Hill. So that was pretty much our Captitol Hill experience. :)

Well, it was a nice day so we took our time in front of the Capitol Hill and the Union Station park. Then we headed to the Union Station for lunch. It was crazy busy there. Too many food to pick from... After a fulfilled lunch, we decided to head back to the hotel to take a quick break before heading back to town again for our walking tour.

I found out about DC by Foot tour from the TripAdvisor forum. It was a FREE, tip based walking tour of Washington DC. The tour took us through the heart of National Mall by visiting Washington Monument, World War II Memorial, Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall, Lincoln Memorial and Korean War Memorial. It was such a great, high energy tour that was full packed with history that won't bore you to sleep. The walk started from the corner of 15th and Constitution Ave. NW and ended at the Lincoln Memorial.

We learned a lot of fun facts like the current Washington Monument wasn't original design. Or if you look closely, you will see 2 different color stone. That's because the construction was stopped for a long period of time before they finished the monument.

One of the highly recommened activity is night tour of the monuments. We didn't plan but by the time the tour ended it was already dark. But the Lincoln Memorial was still packed full of visitors. And it was breathtaking indeed! We just took it all in with all the beauty and sense of pride for the history of this country.

It took us approximately about 2 hours for the whole tour. I highly recommended anyone who will visit DC to check them out. After the tour, we walked through George Washington University to take the Metro back to the hotel. By that time it was already dark but we felt pretty safe walking in DC. It's one of the thing that we really love about DC. It feels very safe to walk around even at night in the downtown area. I'm sure there are certain areas that not safe but as far as the popular tourist places we have no issue there.

DC With Kids Day 3: Port Discovery Children's Museum - Baltimore

Ok.. Technically, it's not a day in DC but it's just a short car drive from DC.

Why on earth would I want to go to Baltimore when I have so many things to see and do in DC?

First reason would be I don't want us to get 'Museum-overload' on this trip. Admit it.. there are only so many things you can appreciate from a museum in one trip. And taking into account of the attention of the 5 and 7 years old, that amount will reduce dramatically. Secondly, this trip was as much their vacation as ours. So a trip to a children museum would be a great idea. Third reason is pretty selfish if I must say. We went to Baltimore before when Miss J and Mr. Z were still little and we didn't get a chance to check them out. I have always wanted to go there. Lastly, we already have a membership that allows us to get in for FREE.. So that settles and here we were in Baltimore heading to Port Discovery's Children Museum..

We arrived there right before lunch so we decided to have lunch at McD before we started our journey. The museum is very close to the Harbour so it is an easy walk from the Aquarium. As soon as we walked in, the kids didn't wait to climb on the 3-story playground. It's one of the coolest play structure I have ever seen. There are so many things for them to do.. The structure is made from steel so it looks very artsy and industrial.

At 5 and 7 years old, both of them were big enough to be able to do all the climbing themselves so we didn't have to go in to help them. But for younger kids, parents are welcomed and encouraged to help them out. They ran around all over the place trying out different things ranging from Rock Climbing, Slide, Suspension Bridge, or Tunnel Bridge. They spent a good hour just climbing and then we started to walk around to check out other areas.

There was a gas station and a grocery store that was a big hit for them. Kids can learn to shop for the healthy food and check out at the cashier. They can learn about ATM and gas station. After that, we head up to check out the cookie decorating. Miss J did a really good job on her cookie and Mr. Z did just as well for a 5 years old. :) The finished products were there for long. It was in their tummy right after they finished.

Then we went to check out the Water room. This was probably one of another highlighted room for them. Mr. Z enjoyed playing with the rubber boat and lego boat. Miss J loved to build the dam and see how she could manipulate the water flow. She also did really well with the bubble hoola hoop.

After oh... I don't know.. a really long time, it was time (at least for me and Mr. Rojo) to leave. We had pretty much spent almost 4 hours there. I haven't had much experiences with too many Children's museums but I have to say that the Port Discovery Children's Museum is definitely one of our favorite museum.

DC With Kids Day 1-2: DC by Night and Museums by Day

Our first day in DC started off rather late. We arrived around 5pm after 11 hours drive from Atlanta. Our first priority was to eat.. We missed our exit to the restaurant that I had planned. Note to self, if you don't know the HOV lane exit, don't get in.. HOV lanes in DC are really good during rush hour I will assume because once you get in it will be a while before you can get out from that lanes. After a quick check-in, we headed down to find some food. We ended up at Noodle & Company which was about a block from our hotel. It was not bad but it wasn't something that impressive either. However, it filled us up and gave us energy to start our night in DC.

We decided to check out the metro and took the train to the Tidal Basin area. I was hoping that we could catch the ranger guided lantern walk tour. However, we didn't bring our flashlight and by the time we got there the tour had already begun. Nevertheless, we walked around the Tidal Basin and enjoyed the view of the Jefferson Memorial at night and was able to catch the sight of the Cherry trees at night.

The next day, we headed down to the Mall on the Metro Blue line. It was raining in the morning when we got to our Smithsonian stop. We stopped by at the Smithsonian Castle to get the map and coffee. Since most museums aren't opened till 10am we had some times to roam the Castle and checked out the museum shop.

Then we headed across the lawn to the National Museum of Natural History. It was really big and impressive to say the least. We know that we won't be able to see everything in detail having a 5 years old whose attention span is shorter than 5 minutes. So we just let them lead and take us where they wanted to see.

Our first stop was the Fossil room with all the Dinaosaurs. Then we headed to the Mammal. After the Mammal we took a quick break for our snacks at the basement which also has cafeteria and the kids shop. Next Miss J picked the Ocean room to check out all the underwater creatures. It was huge and had so many things to see. I could spend half a day just in this room. But we all know that it won't happen when you travel with kids. The neat things about this museum is that there are so many buttons for them to push.. It sure kept them interested for a while!

After wandering for a while, it was time for lunch. We headed to the Old Post Office Tower. I have read that they had a great selection of food at their food court. And if the sky opened up, we might get a chance to enjoy bird eye view of the downtown DC from the top of the tower.

At the back entrance to the food court, there is a bike tour shop nearby. I made a mental note to put it on our to-do list for next trip. They also had kiddie bike attachment so we can ride with them. The food court was packed!! We were able to find a table on the third floor and enjoyed our lunch. After lunch, we looked up and who knew.. the sky was as bright as Summer day. We headed to the line for tower observation deck. The wait wasn't bad for a busy week in DC. We took the elevator up and got the best view.

Next stop for today is the National Museum of American History.. The rain started again right after we got to the museum. I have to say.. God is looking out for us this trip. :) Ambitious planning is good but flexibility is the key when traveling with kids. Even though there are so many interesting exhibits to see at this museum, we realized that our kids were at the melt-down-too-tired-to-listen point. So we headed directly to the transportation exhibit and then the museum shop. No Lincoln, no ruby shoes for us this trip. But they got to see all the trains, cars and trucks that they will remember. Then it was time to pack and head back.

Our dinner plan for tonight was to head to Ted's Montana Grill. I had planned it in advance and purchased the gift certificate for discount from restaurant.com. We were able to enjoy great dinner under the budget. The restaurant was a short 5 minutes walk from our hotel. It was a great first full day in DC.

Spring Break in DC

Last week we enjoyed our spring break in our capital city. It was our first family trip there but it was my third trip to DC. We had done quite a research using my normal site - Trip Advisor to gather all the information. We stayed there for 7 days/6 nights at the Sheraton Crystal City. I snatched such a great deal for $80/night during the busiest week in DC from Priceline. It was the same week as the Cherry Blossom Festival.

The hotel is in a perfect location. It is right across the street from the metro station. We parked our car and didn't moved it for the whole week. Miss J and Mr. Z really took into city living and using the metro to heart. They each learned how to read the metro map. They knew which stop we were supposed to get off. Being the most obessive compulsive person in the family, Mr. Z's goal was to ride every single line. Unfortunately, we didn't manage the Green line so we probably will have to go back again in the future.

We managed to save during our vacation with a great planning this trip. I checked out a few restaurants in the area and was able to purchase $10 certificate from restaurant.com for $0.30 for a couple restaurants. Since we stayed in the normal hotel this time instead of condo or apartment rental, cooking is out of the window. Dining out was planned so that we won't break the bank. There were plenty of cheap eat around town if you know where to look.

We lunched at the Ronald Reagan's food court, the Old Post Office Tower's food court, the Union Station's food court and even had snack at the Capitol Hill's food court.. You see the theme here... :) But I had to say we really enjoyed the polish sausage we got from the food stall right in front of the National Museum of American History.. We also tried out a few local restaurants like the Open City when we went to the National Zoo or the Old Ebbitt Grill next to the White House..

Now on to the what-did-we-do in DC... I don't think I will be able to fit it in one post. So stay tune on the detail for each day on our adventure!

13 Things to Do with Kids in DC

I know it has been a while since my last update.. I have been busy planning our Spring break trip to DC. It has been overwhelming with all the information... What to do, where to stay, where to eat. Well, I think I have done all I can and finalize our plan. Here are a few things we plan to do during our trip.

1) Tour Capitol Hill - This has to be done in advance. We called our senator and requested tickets for the tour. We also did the same for White House tour but unfortunately we didn't get the tickets. Apparently, we picked the busies week to go there. It will be the Cherry Blossom week in DC.

2) National Museum of Natural History - There are so many museums in DC that it can be the case of too many choices. So I narrow it down to a few museums that will be more interesting for Miss J and Mr. Z. Nothing will beat seeing a big Dinosaur and other types of fossil.

3) National Museum of American History - Miss J has learned so much as a first grader. I hope that she will enjoy checking out this museum

4) National Zoo - We love animals especially if we don't have to take care of them ourselves. :)

5) National Air and Space Museum - I admit I think I'm as excited or even more so to check out this museum than my kids

6) Old Post Office Tower - A lot of reviews mentioned that this is much better place to view than Washington Monument. Plus great place to have quick lunch.. hmmm.. someone mentions food?

7) Union Station - I think Mr. Z will be happy with this choice. Can't miss Union Station when you have train obessessed kid.

8) Cherry Blossom Lantern Walk - One of the perk about visiting DC during Cherry Blossom week is variety of activities available. I'm looking forward to night tour.

9) DC By Foot - I have read about this free tour guide (tip only). I can't wait to check them out. They will provide the tour for the monuments..

10) White House Visitor Center - Eventhough we didn't get the ticket to the White House, a visitor center will provide plenty of information for us to get started.

11) Arlington National Cemetery - If we have enough energy left, I would love to see the change of guard at the Arlington. It will be a great tribute for the fallens.

12) Rent Paddle boat at Tidal Basin - And if we have energy left from all above activities, it will be a fun afternoon to rent a paddle boat at the Tidal Basin

13) Visit Old Town Alexandria - We will be staying in Crystal City which is only 1 stop from Old Town Alexandria. It will be neat to go check this old town out one evening.

These are just things that I have planned for our 5 days visit. I didn't realize how many things we can do in DC. Maybe we might need the revisit trip in the future as well.