Welcome to my first ever travel guide! If you’ve been following me on Instagram then you know that I looooove to travel! I feel more alive when I’m a stranger in a new city or town. Traveling is a great destressor for me! It helps me focus on my priorities and I always return from a trip feeling refreshed and ready to take on the world! I really feel like I was born with a passport in my hand haha and I’m so glad to finally be able to share my travel adventures with you all via my blog! So here’s to first of (hopefully) many travel escapades!
It has always been my husband’s mission to take our kids to our Nation’s Capital once they are old enough to understand and appreciate our country’s history. With my son (Carson) and daughter (Emily) going into 7th and 6th grades respectively in the fall, this summer break was the perfect time. Not to say that D.C. is not for younger ones, it’s a kid-friendly place with tons of things to do and see for all ages.
Cami, Black Denim Skirt, Sandals, Cardigan, Bag, Sunnies, Bralette, Belt Dupe, Necklace
We went on the 3rd week of July and stayed for 4 days and 3 nights at the Holiday Inn Washington-Capitol in downtown DC. Our hotel has an excellent location. It is walking distance to the Air and Space Museum and a handful of restaurants. It also has three restaurants onsite, one of them is The Capitol Bistro where we ate breakfast everyday during our stay and the buffet had plenty of selection and the best and fluffiest pancakes I’ve ever had! Who knew?(at a Holiday Inn no less)! There is also a Starbucks next door(winning!)! We used an Uber from Washington Dulles International Airport to our hotel and that set us back around $70. Ricky (yep that’s my hubs) requested Uber Comfort vs Uber X which priced at $60. There are buses and shuttles that you can take as other options to get downtown but we woke up very early for our flight that morning and just didn’t want to have to deal with that. The trip took around 45 minutes.
Travel outfit linked here including the best-selling Amazon Travel Make-up Case.
Tank Dress and the softest denim jacket by Goodnight Macaroon.
DAY 1
After checking in, we grabbed dinner at the other restaurant onsite called the 21st Amendment Bar and Grill. The Chicken Quesadilla was large enough for 2 people so I split it with Ricky. We hit the ground running after dinner and went to the following landmarks:
WORLD WAR II MEMORIAL. Time spent: 20-30mins. If I’m being honest, I teared up when I saw my home country, The Philippines, written on one of the pillars. This memorial pays tribute to the brave men and women that fought during WWII. It was a breathtaking sight to see especially at sunset!
WASHINGTON MONUMENT. Time Spent: 10 mins. It was under construction so we could not get inside. But we made sure to stop and appreciate this beautiful structure. We took pictures(naturally) and had a few minutes of teachable moment with the kids on what the monument symbolizes. After this second stop, we decided that we were all exhausted and Uber’ed it back to the hotel. We could have walked but everyone was really tired from the day’s events!
DAY 2
SMITHSONIAN NATIONAL AIR and SPACE MUSEUM. Time spent: 2 hours. Our mission today was to get to this museum as soon as they open because we heard that the lines get really long especially in the summer. This did not happen as we woke up late, had breakfast, and arrived at the museum at 11:30. It was a Friday morning and surprisingly, there were no lines at all and as with most museums in DC, admission is free. The highlights here and not to be missed are 1. The spacesuit that Neil Armstrong wore when he first landed on the moon, 2. The Wright Brothers’ first flyer, and 3. Amelia Earhart’s Lockheed 5B Vega plane(she flew this plane in the historic nonstop flight across US, first for a woman). The kids insisted on riding the Flight Simulation ride and so we did! Cost: $12/person, 5-minute ride, 20 minute average wait time. It was actually a pretty neat ride! My co-pilot aka my husband made sure we got turned upside down several times during the flight haha! The kids had fun and so did Ricky and I.
ELECTRIC SCOOTERS. The kids had been eyeing these scooters since we arrived. They are all over the downtown area. Ricky and I were curious as well to be honest! We finally decided to try it and downloaded the apps that correspond to the name on the scooters. There are several and the ones we downloaded were Lime, Lyft, Spin, and Bird. Uber has their own line of scooters as well called Jump but we already have the Uber app so no need to download again. Our kids do not have smartphones yet so we have to rent for them. DISCLAIMER: you have to be 18y/o and above to rent scooters and the app will ask to scan your driver’s license.We would ride 2-3 scooters at a time and 2 people would ride on one as the rent can get expensive. The average rate was 15-25 cents/minute per scooter. When an app is being used to rent a scooter, you cannot use the same app to rent a second one. You have to end the ride first and that is why we downloaded a lot of the apps that rent out since we only have 2 smartphones. Renting those bad boys(yes, the E-scooters) was probably the best thing we did on this trip! The kids cannot stop talking about it and Emily keeps saying how much fun it was riding it! WARNING: each app will tell you that it is highly recommended to use helmets while riding. We were tourists, okay?!…..we didn’t plan on using these scooters and didn’t see any helmets for rent anywhere nearby and not a single person on scooters we saw had protective gear. If we had to return to this city I would be more ready and do more research on either renting helmets or bringing our own. With that said, after the Air and Space Museum, we rode our scooters the rest of the day throughout the city and it was so.much.fun!! You can hit the Pause button in the app so you can park the scooters and it will disable it which means no one is going to be able to use it unless you hit the Restart button back up. Genius, right?! However, the clock will keep on ticking even if it is on ‘Pause’ so yes you will still be charged while taking selfie with the late President Lincoln:). Here are the landmarks we hit the rest of the day and yes we were on our scooters and yes we parked them briefly to take in the sights!
This outfit is linked here.
THE CAPITOL Time spent: 5 minutes for sightseeing and a quick family selfie.
THE SUPREME COURT JUSTICE. Time spent: 40 minutes including lunch at their cafeteria. How many times in your lifetime can you say, ‘I had lunch at the United States Supreme Court Building!’? I had the Barbecue Shrimp Wrap and the kids each had Chicken Tenders with Fries and both meals weren’t too shabby at all!
NATIONAL ARCHIVES. Time spent: 35 minutes. There was a small line leading up to the main attractions: United States Constitution, Bill of Rights, and the Declaration of Independence! Warning: put camera/phone away as soon as you enter the building. There is absolutely no photography allowed here. I saw one of the guards scold a lady in front of everyone in the room for still having her iPhone in her hand. Again, hide yo’ phones!
THE WHITE HOUSE. Time spent: 5 minutes for sightseeing and a few pictures just outside the gate. Part of the gate was under renovation while we were there. If you want a public tour of the White House, you need to plan way ahead of your arrival. You have to submit a request 3 months in advance and no less than 21 days in advance. For more info on this, click here .
LINCOLN MEMORIAL: Time spent: 10-15 minutes.
VIETNAM MEMORIAL. Time spent: 10-15mins.
KOREAN WAR VETERANS MEMORIAL: Time spent: 10-15mins. Quite possibly one of the most beautifully portrayed memorials in D.C. in my opinion.
We parked our scooters for the day and walked by the Lincoln Memorial then to the….
REFLECTING POOL. Time spent: 15-20 mins. Again, another teachable moment with the kids during this leisurely walk. Depending on your vantage point, you can see a dramatic reflection of either the Lincoln Memorial or the Washington Monument on the water.
We Uber’ed it back to the hotel as everyone was exhausted. Walking was totally doable but Uber to the hotel from the National Mall was a whopping $7 and whine-free.
Ricky and I grabbed some drinks at the hotel’s bar that night. It was a great way to end the day and so convenient!
We were all so tired that night that we just ordered pizza for dinner. Room service of course!
DAY 3
Today was an important day! We woke up early so we can be at The Arlington National Cemetary, our nation’s most hallowed ground, as soon as they open at 8am. We got there at 8:30…which, historically, with my sweet family, is not bad at all! A little side story: my husband, Ricky, served in the US Military(Air Force) for 29 years and had told me a few days before this trip that he put in a request to be buried here someday. This is our first visit here and we were looking forward to it.
ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETARY. Time spent: 3.5 hours. We paid to use the Get On/Get Off Tram and it was really worth it. We spent $28 for the four of us and that is with military discount. General Admission is $15 for adults, Children 4-12 is $7.25, kids under 4: free, Senior 65+ is $11. There are several stops on the tram and these are the stops we did and must-do:
- Kennedy Family Grave Site. Time spent: 5 minutes.
- Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Time spent: 20-30 mins. There was a memorial that day and we also watched the Changing of the Guard Ceremony. Don’t miss this. They do it every 30 mins in the summer, every hour in the fall and winter!
- Arlington House. Time spent: 5-10 mins.
- Ord & Weitzel(Iwo Jima Memorial, 5 minute walk outside gate): Time spent: 15 minutes including walk.
- Pentagon Group Burial Marker-9/11 Memorial
This outfit is linked here.
This was such a great tour and so far my favorite on this trip. It is time for lunch and we heard great things about this restaurant and it’s only 7 minutes away.
QUARTERDECK RESTAURANT. We ordered the Crab Dip and Mussels in Cream Sauce for appetizers and had the Maryland Blue Crab as main entree! They were all delicious! If I had to rate the food 1-10 with 10 being the highest rating, it would be a 9. Warning: it takes 30 mins to cook the crab so if you know you’re going to have it, order it as soon as you sit down. The restaurant takes reservation and that would be smart especially in the summer so you can be indoors (hello AC). If you don’t have reservation and they are full inside, you will be seated outside where it can get uncomfortably hot in the summertime.
After lunch(it was 2:30pm at this point) we all needed a nap so we rode an Uber back to the hotel. Cost:$11.
After a 2-hour nap we rented electric scooters and rode to the following places:
MARTIN LUTHER KING JR MONUMENT: Time spent: 5 minutes
TIDAL BASIN. We rode our scooters on the sidewalk that surrounds this man-made reservoir and the views were beautiful. In the springtime, don’t miss the Cherry Blossoms in this area.
THOMAS JEFFERSON MEMORIAL. Time spent: 10 minutes.
We went back to the hotel and ordered room service for the kids so Ricky and I could have a little casual date night.
CITYBAR at the HYATT PLACE. Located about 3 blocks from our hotel, however, we still rode the scooters because at this point we were obsessed with these gadgets. CityBar is a rooftop bar with a great view of the DC skyline. The setting was really cozy. Prices for food(more like Tapas serving) was slightly cheaper than most of the places we’ve seen in DC. We had the Fish Tacos and it did not disappoint.
Back to our hotel, we stopped at the 21st Amendment Bar. Ricky and I split a Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich with Fries and beer on the side:). Did I mention their fries are so good?!
DAY 4
Our last day here and our only plan is to go to the Air and Space Steven Udvar-Hazy Museum. It comes highly recommended and we couldn’t wait any longer. It is 10 minutes from the airport and since our flight is not until 5pm tonight, we had plenty of time for this museum.
NATIONAL AIR and SPACE STEVEN UDVAR-HÁZY CENTER. Time spent: 2.5 hours(including a 43-minute IMAX show). Admission is free.
They have lockers for luggage. You will need a quarter to lock it but will be returned when you retrieve your bags. This museum is amazing! All the displays are in a hangar-like setting that included satellites, missiles, helicopters, airplanes, and so much more! These were our favorites and shouldn’t be missed:
- Space Shuttle Discovery: she’s a beauty!
- B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay
- Concorde
- SR-71 Blackbird: couldn’t take my eyes off it the first 10 minutes!
We still had plenty of time before our flight and the kids have been begging to see a show in the IMAX Theatre onsite. So that’s what we did. Admission to the IMAX is $9 for adults, $7.50 for kids. The show was 43-minute long and featured D-Day: Normandy 1944 and it was really good.
I’m gonna have to say that this museum was absolutely phenomenal! We have been to a lot of air museums in the past and this one has the best collections of things that fly! So glad we came here and would not mind going back someday! A definite must-see!
Time to catch our flight and the hubs was feeling adventurous so we took the bus (not Uber this time) from the museum to get to the airport. Cost:$2/person and a 10-minute ride.
There were still tons of museums/places we didn’t get to see on this trip like here and here. Make sure you bring a pair of comfortable shoes for walking because you will do a ton of walking! If you ever decide to visit DC and have some questions, please feel free to reach out to me via comment below. And if you have any tips you want to share for visiting Washington DC, please leave info in the comments. I would love to hear it.
Travel outfit linked here.
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Elvie
Love this travel guide girl!! Thank you!