Washington, D.C. with the kids

  I just recently took the Amtrak train from Newark, NJ to Washington, D.C. with my kids to meet my husband who was already there on business for the weekend. If you can start out in NYC you'll get a better seat selection, but we did fine, although I did  have to ask a lady if she wouldn't mine switching rows with me so I could sit next to my children. Pack hearty snacks as the cafe food leaves much to be desired, although the kids really did enjoy walking back there.

Despite rain and cold weather we had an absolute ball in D.C. The city is gorgeous and there is so much to see. If you can squeeze in a weekend there this spring, I would highly recommend it. 

My kids are 5 and 8, so we'd spend about half the day touring and then come back to our hotel to relax and enjoy the pool. Then we'd head out for an early dinner. Our hotel, the Marriot at Metro Center was conveniently located walking distance to the Mall as well as the White House. I would highly recommend our hotel. The location was fabulous, it has a Starbucks in the lobby, a heated indoor pool and 2 good restaurants. One restaurant was very family friendly, featuring a delicious breakfast with a reasonable price for kids.

We walked almost everywhere as things were so close. My kids really enjoyed the Air and Space Museum, Washington Memorial, White House, The National Museum of the American Indian, National Gallery' of Art Sculpture Garden, Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial and the Frog Exhibition at the National Geographic Museum. There so much more to see, but we were only there a limited time so we stuck to what seemed to be the most kid-friendly.

As far as dining we had a great meal in the Native American Museum. The museum is gorgeous and has casually cafeteria featuring an amazing selection of Native American foods. For dinner we had an excellent meal at Ceiba It is a trendy, Latin restaurant and not something I would have taken my young kids to but the hotel had it listed as family friendly. We went early before the real scene starts. The staff could not have been nicer to the kids. 

Mary Kate

Comments

[josh]

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