We only have one night to stay. We will get there in the early afternoon tomorrow, and leave Friday eve. Thankfully, DH has been racking up the Marriot rewards points, and our room will be comped. We are planning on the Jefferson and Lincoln Memorials, as well as the Washington Monument, and hitting Smithsonian's Air and Space, the Natural History, and the American Indians museum. Our time is quite limited, we are traveling w/ very smart 10 and 7yr. old (boys). We are hoping to have a great dinner in town on Thurs. (we are on NY Ave), and a fabulous lunch in Chinatown on Friday. Do any of you smart ladies have any sort of recommendations? Yes, I know I posted this in the wrong forum. But I know it will take forever in the travel forum to get any response. Thanks LYNNE

Wow that's a lot to try to do in one day, especially with the heat and air quality issues there. I've never been able to do more than 2-3 of the history stuff even when I was young and healthy.

Restaurants: I cant remember where some of them are but Tony Chengs Seafood and Mongolian BBQ is good, , There was a Hard Rock Cafe near the convention center which shouldn't be too far from you. There used to be a Planet Hollywood, but I think it shut down.
Ruth Chris's Steak house but we're talking mega bucks there. There are a lot of small Mom and Pop type restaurants around there that may not look like much but have terrific food.


I don't know which Marriott you are in off NY Ave, but they all have good restaurants inside.

Enjoy yourself I dont know where you are coming from, but there is still alot of construction on various parts of 395, 95 and 495 in Va, MD and DC

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~ Christine ~
Grammie to Trinity Lorayne Jean Keens Born June 9, 2011 Loving my awesome guitar picking 100% Country Boy boyfriend Kenny !
RIP Daddy~ 01/24/1930-06/01/2007 I miss you !
Dont Think you Can .. know you can ~ Jeff Hardy

I would go to Hard Rock which is next to Ford's Theatre. The weather has been cool and rainy but today and the next couple of days it will be warm. The monuments should be quick but the museums will take more time. I was at the American Indian Museum in Jan. with my class and they loved it. I teach 5th grade.

Wear comfortable shoes. Thats the best thing I can tell you besides to bring plenty of cash for food and drinks.

I agree with the previous poster. Just a hint: if you go off the main streets, you will find all the traditional food like pizza, McDonald's, Subway, etc. for better prices than the museums. But if you want nontraditional food, eat at the Native American Museum. You can eat some Native American food.

Geez, if I were you, I wouldn't eat at a chain restaurant while vacationing. (I wouldn't eat at a museum either.) Try something new! I don't have names of places because my in-laws who live in DC always pick the restaurants, but there are plenty of decent non-chain restaurants that aren't too pricey. I suggest you try www.yelp.com. Search on restaurants in DC and you'll see a ton of reviews of different places. Good luck - enjoy your trip.

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If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition, and then admit that we just don't want to do it.

- Stephen Colbert.

I recommend Five Guys for a fantastic burger lunch! Not real pricey, a bit more than McD's but soooo much better. Get a single burger for each person(or a double if you're a REALLY big eater)and a larger order of fries to split. You'll get a paper lunch bag full of fries, more than enough for 2 adults and 2 kids to share.
Not sure exactly where they're located but they do have a website Home Page | Five Guys Burgers and Fries so you can check out the locations.

Take plenty of water with you, especially for the trek between the monuments!

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Ahh thats something I already miss Five Guys aka Heart Attack in a bag !! yes great burgers fries and free peanuts all you can eat !!

But they are nothing like Rays Hell Burger or Rays Steakhouse in Arlington VA.

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~ Christine ~
Grammie to Trinity Lorayne Jean Keens Born June 9, 2011 Loving my awesome guitar picking 100% Country Boy boyfriend Kenny !
RIP Daddy~ 01/24/1930-06/01/2007 I miss you !
Dont Think you Can .. know you can ~ Jeff Hardy

Yup, there's nothing like that greasy brown paper bag full of fries-yummy!!

A friend of mine just moved to Arlington from Alexandria. I'll have to check out Rays Hell Burger when I go visit her in August. I LOVE a good burger!

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Jesus SAVES by shopping smartly and using double coupons!

Air and space museum will usually be an all day affair. I am from DC..wish you well..take the subway to get around town !

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Be prepared for a line most days its not much of a place, but well worth it. They are cash only no fries just some tater tot type things.

The steak place owned by the same owners is called Rays the Steaks and Hellburger is in the old Rays the steak.

I am from Alexandria lived there my whole life until 7 weeks ago sure gonna miss some places there in the DC area.

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~ Christine ~
Grammie to Trinity Lorayne Jean Keens Born June 9, 2011 Loving my awesome guitar picking 100% Country Boy boyfriend Kenny !
RIP Daddy~ 01/24/1930-06/01/2007 I miss you !
Dont Think you Can .. know you can ~ Jeff Hardy

We are back, and had an awesome time. Our hotel was not as close to town as we thought it would be, but we got extremely lucky w/ our parking spaces. Last night, we hit the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Monument after the sun went down, and with binoculars got to catch a bit of the luau that was rocking at the White House. Of course there was the backdrop of the Capitol Bldg. . My seven year old, afer seeing the Washington Monument, commented, "This is the best day of my life." And upon seeing the Lincoln Monument, stated, I am so honored to be here. Wow...We wanted to have lunch with an old friend of DH...We haven't connected in a while. We ended up having lunch on his terrace, the floor beneath the penthouse sweet in a condo on Pennsylvania ave. That was pretty glorious! After that, we hit the Museum of Natural History, and the the Air and Space museum . It was a great time!

Glad you had a great time. It was warm on Friday but if you stayed in buildings it was bearable.

Awww.....what a sweetheart your 7YO is! Glad you had a great time.

cj/

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