Washington dc trip on chol hamoed

amother

Black

Tue, Sep 26 2017, 6:23 am

I'm trying to plan a trip to DC overnight for chol hamoed , & I reserved a hotel near the Chabad shul, but that's about it- I would appreciate any info about places to eat, recommendations of where to go (we have two teenage boys), or any other general recommendations about planning -thanks!

thanks

Tue, Sep 26 2017, 7:31 am

There is a free walking tour of the National Mall. Great way to start the day. You need to sign up on-line.

amother

Black

Tue, Sep 26 2017, 12:57 pm

mommy3b2c wrote:

We're going to. Two tweenage boys and a toddler boy. Anyone know anything about the duck tours?

We went on the duck tour in Philadelphia, it was awesome! Great for all ages! I just got a bit nervous when the boat/bus plopped into the water

doctorima

Tue, Sep 26 2017, 1:11 pm

Kesher Israel is a more MO shul; I would say just check the davening times at each shul and choose the one that works best for your schedule. As for activities, for boys that age, the Spy Museum should be perfect.

Many of the activities in DC are free - Smithsonian Air and Space for sure (there's also another branch of it called Udvar-Hazy in Virginia), also possibly Natural History or American History, the Bureau of Engraving. Walk by the White House, check out Washington Monument and Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials, possibly also the Capitol and Supreme Court, the zoo if you want to see the pandas - that should be enough for a few days!

Also check the kosher restaurant - Eli's/Charbar - to see if they will be open and will have a sukkah.

eschaya

Tue, Sep 26 2017, 2:00 pm

Agree with all of doctorima's post. Also, silver spring is really not far at all, so you may wish to consider davening/eating there if the above options are not ideal for you.

amother

Amethyst

Tue, Sep 26 2017, 2:10 pm

amother wrote:

Smithsonian (lots to choose from). Capitol. Spy Museum. Ford's Theater. Arlington. The Mall and the Memorials, esp the Vietnam War Memorial.

Holocaust Museum.

Take a bus tour. And/or a walking tour.

doctorima

Tue, Sep 26 2017, 3:33 pm

Char Bar is not so far from Kesher Israel (15 minute walk?), not sure how far it is to Chabad, but the food is great, so that's a nice option to plan for lunch or dinner. Also, keep in mind that even if everything looks really close together on a map, there's quite a lot of walking involved to get around to all the different attractions. Unfortunately, parking there is a disaster, so you shouldn't plan on using your car; some combination of walking and taxis/Uber (or subway) will work best.

amother

Black

Tue, Sep 26 2017, 5:21 pm

Thanks for all the responses, there seems to be an overwhelming number of things to do, & not much time! If anyone has gone with teenage boys, which Smithsonian did they like best? I think we'll do a Smithsonian museum Monday afternoon, then go to the white house & do the capital tour Tuesday morning & then another museum either spy museum or newseum Tuesday afternoon, I also want to try to see the monuments Monday night on one of the tours, is there anything else to try to squeeze in that shouldn't be missed? We have to leave at about 5:00 on Tuesday

doctorima

Tue, Sep 26 2017, 6:07 pm

Here's a wonderful trip report by a frum person (not me!) who went to DC for 5 days and hit most of the main attractions, that can help you get a feel for what would be the best choices for your family:

http://forums.dansdeals.com/in.....53300

The conventional wisdom is that for teenage boys you can't go wrong with Air and Space. For one more, it's a tossup between American History and Natural History - look at their web pages and pictures on Tripadvisor to get a sense of what your kids would enjoy more. I'd forgotten about Newseum, but I still think that teenage boys will prefer Spy Museum.

cozyblanket

Tue, Sep 26 2017, 7:25 pm

I would consider staying in the Silver Spring area. There are more minyanim and great food - max's and ben yehudah and a few more. DH and your boys can even catch a learning seder at the YGW kollel in the morning.

go to the National Archives and the smithsonian museums.
the monuments are beautiful at night

cozyblanket

Tue, Sep 26 2017, 7:27 pm

You mentioned a white house tour. Did you reserve it already? They are hard to arrange last minute... or so I hear...

amother

Black

Tue, Sep 26 2017, 8:03 pm

cozyblanket wrote:

You mentioned a white house tour. Did you reserve it already? They are hard to arrange last minute... or so I hear...

Yes, I did, I also tried last year, but not early enough

amother

Black

Tue, Sep 26 2017, 9:10 pm

doctorima wrote:

Thanks for the link, it looks really good!

HeartyAppetite

Wed, Sep 27 2017, 11:20 pm

amother wrote:

Yes, I did, I also tried last year, but not early enough

How do you reserve a white house tour? Who would I have to contact?

I heard that there is something called a Newseum there that is very interesting.

amother

Black

Thu, Sep 28 2017, 8:47 am

HeartyAppetite wrote:

How do you reserve a white house tour? Who would I have to contact?

I heard that there is something called a Newseum there that is very interesting.

You apply on the website of your congressman, I think it's might be too close for chol hamoed, but you never know, good luck!

doctorima

Thu, Sep 28 2017, 10:26 am

HeartyAppetite wrote:

How do you reserve a white house tour? Who would I have to contact?

I heard that there is something called a Newseum there that is very interesting.

You apply through your Congressperson or Senator, but it usually has to be done months in advance, so Sukkos isn't likely, but you could start planning and applying now for Chol Hamoed Pesach.