How We Spent Our Summer Vacation in DC
After we had our tickets clipped and entered the BIG maze I expected to accompany my 12-year-old daughter through the special exhibit at the National Building Museum in Washington, DC. But she was already gone at the first turn. If I didn’t want to run to catch up I’d be going it alone. I expected to run into her at each of the many dead ends, but she was never there. Even when I finally made it to the center of the maze, where I could see over the shorter walls, she was nowhere to be seen. Finally I emerged out the other end hoping to find her. When I turned around, she was already coming out of the maze for the second time. Such is the crazy energy that takes hold of kids when they face amazing things like an indoor maze made out of plywood with walls ranging in height from 3 to 18 feet.
My kids and I have been to Washington many times over the years to visit our extended family. We’ve seen the primary sights, many times (maybe too many). We’ve grown a little weary of the monuments, the zoo, and why is it that all roads seem to lead to the Air and Space Museum? Of course all of those places are important, but how many times can a kid zigzag across the mall? So on a recent visit I encouraged my daughter to help with the planning. That’s how we got to the maze.
She also led us to the International Spy Museum where she learned how to be a special agent circa 1955 (it is a museum after all, not a training center). There was a whole floor of real spy gadgets and stories, and she memorized details of an alter-ego spy identity that she still knows by heart! There was also a floor devoted to facts and memorabilia about James Bond, including some up-close and personal time with a cardboard cutout of 007 himself. By the time we finished, she was eager to see her first Bond movie in hopes of understanding what all the fuss was about.
Across the street from the Spy Museum is the National Portrait Gallery, which blew us both away even though the Katy Perry portrait that she came to see was gone. Don’t let the boring name fool you! There is a lot of cool stuff here, including a modern art gallery on the third floor. And, unlike the other two museums, it’s free!
One of my favorite things to do in Washington is to run along the towpath next to the defunct canal system bordering the Potomac River. The towpath might be even better for bicycle riding since you can cover more ground (it’s 185 miles to Cumberland, Maryland). You can borrow bikes at Fletcher’s Cove, which also rents canoes, kayaks, and rowboats in both the canal and the river. We took a canoe upriver until we got tired of fighting the current, and then coasted back. It certainly beats the alternative of floating downriver only to fight the current all the way home. The river itself was quite murky and must be home to lots of fish, judging by the number of fisherman.
We also sprinkled in some classic Washington stuff. There are free concerts everyday (365 days a year!) at 6 pm at The Kennedy Center. In July, many of these shows are put on by the National Symphony Orchestra’s Summer Music Institute, which is made up of some of the country’s most talented musicians between 15-20 years old. They may be young but they’re pretty good! My daughter plays cello, but needs to be a little more diligent at practicing if she’s gonna’ play on this stage. We enjoyed dinner upstairs at the KC Café, which was crowded with people fueling up for the many shows at the center.
And, of course, we toured the Capital Building. It was a great way to reinforce what my daughter had learned in school about our government and democracy. Neither the House nor Senate was in session while we were there but that didn’t matter much (it’s not like they get much done anyway). We got our tour tickets ahead of time through our congressman, though the White House tour tickets were harder to come by. Just across the street from the Capital is the Library of Congress, another beautiful building worth visiting.
On our next visit to DC we’ll keep looking for new and different things to do, along with more of the classics. There’s just way too much to do on a single vacation.