Weekend in D.C.

[Senor_Taylor]

Hey all! The lady and I have an anniversary coming up first week of November and we want to spend a weekend in D.C. doing the touristy things since I've never been to anything up there. I figure we'll drive up Saturday morning and spend the night there. Any tips on what to do and where to go?

I want to hit up the typical stuff like the monuments and I definitely want to go to the Air and Space museum.

Where's a good place to eat lunch, dinner, etc. Where should we stay? We want to do a full day Saturday and then like a half day Sunday and head back.

[davej]

I'll let others handle the where to say and what to eat bit, but as for the air & space, like the one by Dulles better than the DC one. (mostly because it has a freaking SR-71, oh, and some space junk)

[CaptainHenreh]

I'll let others handle the where to say and what to eat bit, but as for the air & space, like the one by Dulles better than the DC one. (mostly because it has a freaking SR-71, oh, and some space junk)

true story. :thumbup: DC A&S is for tourists, Udvar-Hazy is for people who think jetplanes are fukkin' boss.

[Jake]

Definitely grab some food and beer at Drafting Table on 14th and Q St NW. Fun bar and they have a duck grilled cheese that's pretty bomb.

Nice dinner = a few good options between Navy Yard and Georgetown that are all waterfront and really good. Look at Farmers Fishers Bakers in Georgetown or Agua 301 or Bluejacket at Navy Yard. Make reservations for dinner anywhere you plan on going, unless you're cool with a little wait at the bar first. Friday and Saturday nights in DC get busy.

Look at hotels in Rosslyn instead of DC, they should be cheaper and you're right across the Key Bridge from Georgetown, so you can walk there or take Metro into the rest of the city easily enough. There's a Holiday Inn and a Marriott both nearby.

Download an app for the Metro on your phone so you can look at the map and schedules. Some weekends they will have track work or fewer trains running, so you'll want to see a schedule to ensure you're not standing there waiting 20 minutes for a train. Alternatively, Uber or look into a Car2Go weekend membership (if they do those?).

Not sure what's in the Renwick Gallery right now but they had some pretty sweet installations the last time I was there.

Air & Space is always a great museum to check out. I also always enjoy the Newseum, it's a paid entry but worth it.

[SlimKlim]

Yeah the Dulles Air & Space has The Challenger, SR-71 Blackbird, Enola Gay, Concorde, etc etc. The DC Air & Space I believe has more space exhibits, but I haven't been to that one recently. Unlike the other Smithsonians there is a $15 per car charge at the Dulles A&S, but it's worth it.

Depending on how slowly you take in museums, you could easily fill your weekend just seeing the typical sights and checking out all the free Smithsonians. I've also heard the Spy Museum is good but I think its like $20/ticket.

One of the best places I've eaten in DC is Luke's Lobster on E & 7th. Best lobster roll I've ever had outside of Massachusetts, they have the right northeastern style hot dog buns too. One of the things I still deeply miss since finding out I was a celiac. It's a great place to grab lunch but you will probably spend $40 to feed two.

I'd also personally recommend avoiding Founding Farmers if you're looking for a fancy dinner spot. It was all the rage a few years ago and I went to the DC one for a birthday dinner, and was just completely at a loss for how the place had become so hyped. It was absolutely packed and at the time you could barely get a reservation but the food just... sucked.

[JPolen01]

Plus one on avoiding founding farmers. Went for brunch one and was less than impressed. If you are into history of crime, the crime and punishment musuem is fantastic. I believe it is paid though. Walk the Mall and look at the monuments. The WWII memorial is quite amazing if you have never seen it. Same goes for the Lincoln Memorial and MLK Jr memorial. Obviously walk by the White House if you have never seen it.

If you want something to do at night besides bar hop check out the DC Comedy Club. Tickets were around $20 I think but they do also have a 2 drink minimum. Sometimes they have big names other times it's no names.

Georgetown is great for eating and shopping. Beware the shopping is high end. It is a great car spotting neighbourhood though.

A good spot for a romantic dinner in Georgetown is Restaurante Piccolo. Old row home turned restaurant. Small space with a nice fireplace. Also homemade pasta. It's where Emily and I are dinner before I asked her to marry me.

[Senor_Taylor]

. It's where Emily and I are dinner before I asked her to marry me.

Whoa whoa whoa, let's slow down there buddy

Any suggestions on cheap quick places to eat? We're not trying to blow money on fancy dinners.

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[Jake]

. It's where Emily and I are dinner before I asked her to marry me.

Whoa whoa whoa, let's slow down there buddy

Any suggestions on cheap quick places to eat? We're not trying to blow money on fancy dinners.

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Ben's Chili Bowl and Good Stuff are both good go-to's. Drafting Table, like I said before, on 14th. Local 16 is good, as is Pasha. They're both on 16th/17th St NW.

[.RJ]

Any suggestions on cheap quick places to eat? We're not trying to blow money on fancy dinners.

Does not exist in DC. If you're venturing out towards the burbs on the way to the A&S museum, Spacebar in Falls Church is good.

[Senor_Taylor]

So we have are at Arlington Court Suites Saturday night, driving up Saturday morning. We want to go to the Newseum, Spy Museum, A&S museum near dulles, national gallery of art, possibly Tysons (I'm still not sure what that place is) and the typical DC tourist spots like the memorials and national mall. How much time would all of this take and in what order? I have no idea where any of this stuff is.

The Kennedy center has free concerts? This is really my "first" time in D.C. so I want to be a super mega tourist.

[JPolen01]

Tysons is literally 2 malls, Tysons 1 and 2. Skip that shit. Going to the museums and walking the mall could take you all day depending on your pace and how many monuments/memorials you want to see. The Air and Space musuem near dulles is probably a good 30 minutes each way so that is going to eat up a lot of time. Personally I would skip that and save it for another day. Hit the one in DC. It's still pretty cool.

Get a map of the Smithsonian and plot out the things you want to see. No one mentioned the zoo but that is also a good thing to hit if you have never been. It's part of the Smithsonian so it's free.99.

[Senor_Taylor]

Kelsey and I arent fans of zoos ethically. I don't know, the A&S museum has always been a dream of mine to go to. I want to see the space shuttle Won't I drive past it on the way in?

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[fiveoh2go]

If you're going to the Dulles A&S, Willard's Real Pit BBQ in Chantilly (10 mins away from the museum) is a must for lunch. This place is the truth.

BBQ Ranch? Not even once.

[Ryan T]

Any suggestions on cheap quick places to eat? We're not trying to blow money on fancy dinners.

Dude Chipotle is everywhere up there, try all of them! I spent 4 days in Rosslyn earlier this year and the staff knew me before I left.

[Jake]

Kelsey and I arent fans of zoos ethically. I don't know, the A&S museum has always been a dream of mine to go to. I want to see the space shuttle Won't I drive past it on the way in?

Sort of but not really. You'll do 81 North to 66 East and take 66 all the way to Arlington where you're staying (or into DC, it turns into E St or Constitution Ave).

Two great food options near your hotel to look at, both of which are walkable - Ragtime and Tupelo Honey. Look up their menus and see what you think. Just more options closer to home base.

FWIW I thought the Spy Museum was not worth the time or money. It's expensive to get in (I think $17 a person?) and seemed to cater more toward kids when I was there. The Newseum is also paid entry at a similar price point and far far more worth it.

I'm with Polen, skip the A&S museum in Dulles (come back another weekend and do Katie's Cars & Coffee and the Dulles A&S, that's all geographically closer) and do the one in DC proper. It's still way cool.

Just getting around will eat up a lot of your time, whether you Metro or Uber or walk. The DC A&S and Newseum are both in the same walkable area of the Mall, and you can walk (or Capital Bikeshare, look them up if weather is good) to some of the monuments as well.

Trying to get from DC to Dulles to Tysons will only make you want to jump in front of a Metro train. Which, please don't, they have enough delays as it is.

[SlimKlim]

You should probably temper your expectations both on how much you can see in a weekend and how much money you're going to spend. DC cheap isn't Harrisonburg cheap.

Definitely avoid Tysons, I can't even think of any tourist attractions. It's just traffic, office buildings and shopping/car dealerships. I avoid that places like the plague.

The Dulles A&S is probably 10-15 minutes out of your way if you come in on 66. You can probably expect to sit in the car for ~15 minutes waiting to get into the parking lot. Then once you've had your fill there (we stayed for a couple hours), you can take the toll road to get to your hotel, which will be less congested than 66 (although not quite as painless as it could be since you don't have an EZ Pass to pay the tolls).

I don't think it'd nuke your whole day to catch the Dulles A&S on your way in, but it might be more enjoyable to just come back up sometime and hit Katie's C&C then hit the A&S as Jake suggested so you aren't rushing. The Challenger isn't going anywhere.

[Mike]

Any suggestions on cheap quick places to eat? We're not trying to blow money on fancy dinners.

Dude Chipotle is everywhere up there, try all of them! I spent 4 days in Rosslyn earlier this year and the staff knew me before I left.

:lol: :lol: :lol:

There's a bunch of McDonalds too!

[HAULN-SS]

If you're going to the Dulles A&S, Willard's Real Pit BBQ in Chantilly (10 mins away from the museum) is a must for lunch. This place is the truth.

BBQ Ranch? Not even once.

Turrble unless you like liquid smoke.

Better off driving to Carolina Brothers in Ashburn

[.RJ]

Neither of them are great. Good, but not great.

[SlimKlim]

If you're going to the Dulles A&S, Willard's Real Pit BBQ in Chantilly (10 mins away from the museum) is a must for lunch. This place is the truth.

BBQ Ranch? Not even once.

Turrble unless you like liquid smoke.

Better off driving to Carolina Brothers in Ashburn

The smells coming off that place on any given weekend are downright intoxicating. It's like 5 minutes from my house.