D.C. Trip - Day 5

Our extended stay hotel Chase Suite Hotels, gave us a welcome good night's sleep. It had a door that divided the kid's space from ours that allowed us to put kids to bed and still plan the next days activities. The king size bed probably had something to do with it too. The breakfast buffet got us off to a great start in the morning as well. They also had apples at the front desk that made a morning snack for the kids effortless.
If you haven't had a chance to, you should take your kids on a major city's mass transit system like the Washington D.C. Metro. That is exactly what we did Friday morning. It was a great experience for our kids considering they hadn't ridden a train in a long time, let alone one that went underground. It also gave them a good chance to interact with people who would strike up conversations with them.
We boarded the train at the Shady Grove Metro Station in Maryland and got off at Metro Center in order to walk through some of the Historical Downtown of Washington D.C.
We went to The Castle first to gather general information regarding all of the National Mall museums. This is the main information hub, but there are also a few exhibits in the building. If you have time, I recommend wandering around a bit. This is a very beautiful building inside and out. It was also the visit that started our security checkpoint educational training. If you are heading to the museums in D.C., prepare to wait in some security lines.
Next stop - The National Museum of Natural History. We headed to see the gems and minerals first, no surprise since our oldest is a girl who likes everything sparkly. I think my son was willing to go along because he was looking to match the gems that he mined in North Carolina.
We decided just to eat in the Museum Café to keep things simple when it came to preparing for the day. The food was actually much better tasting than we anticipated. It was little expensive, but we expected that after talking to some friends who had recently visited The Museum of Natural History. There were many options, so the kids were happy and the parents were less stressed. (Chicken fingers for child #1, Pepperoni Pizza for child #2, Sandwich for mom and Chili Dog for dad. Toddler enjoyed trying a bit of everything before settling on child #1's french fries.)We let the kids call the shots when it came to deciding what to do for that day. They tempted danger in the prehistoric wing. They did investigative research on Elephants (special information booths about elephants spread throughout the museum). They also started trying to figure out what things could have been in the movie Night at the Museum 2. This particular activity continued during our consequent visits to all of the Smithsonian Museums.
Our goal was to keep the first day easy going. We decided to just visit one museum and then to head back to Rockville, MD. The Metro ride back to our car was a little less exciting than the trip into D.C., but we all really liked the idea of just sitting in an air conditioned train car for a while to recover.
We tried a local chain restaurant for dinner, Chicken Out Rotisserie. Our decision was based on deal information that we found at mykidseatfree.com. It was a family style roast chicken place that served a meal much like Thanksgiving dinner. My kids weren’t all that excited about it, ironic isn't it considering we went there based on the idea that kids eat free. I guess our kids would have been free anyway. It must be stated that my kids are very picky eaters and that must be considered when using their personal opinions about food as guidelines.
After dinner we retired to the hotel for the night. We made sleeping arrangements, pulled out the hide-a-bed and then all crashed in front of the T.V. and Phineas and Ferb for an hour before turning out lights for the night. You might ask, "Aren't you a little old to be watching Phineas and Ferb considering you had your own T.V., away from the kids?" Why yes, yes we are.
What the toddler enjoyed: Looking for monkeys, looking for bronze statues, and beating bronze statues of monkeys. She also enjoyed a little pole dancing.

Washington, D.C. - Local Recommendations

I love having insider information. With it, you don't have to worry about whether or not restaurants will be good or the entertainment will be age appropriate.

I mentioned before that my sister-in-law and brother-in-law lived in Washington D.C. for a summer. I also have a friend that currently lives in D.C. All of them gave me the exact same recommendations for restaurants, so here they are:
Cosi
au bon pain
Potbelly Sandwich Shop
There will be something for everyone one at these restaurants considering that the recommendations came from those with and those without kids. I like the idea that I won't have to compromise on taste in order to keep my kids happy.

My D.C. friend also recommended the best museums to visit with kids.
National Museum of Natural History
National Air and Space Museum
National Building Museum
The National Building Museum is not located on the National Mall, but close to it and I understand it is worth the slight detour. D.C. friend also recommended going to the Eastern Market to get a real for the city and buy "cool food." The market is also located off the mall to the east of the capital building and it has a Metro Station of it's very own.

Some Cheaper Eating Options

While traveling, one of our biggest expenses is food. Some of the ways we've found to save money are:

Extended Stay Hotels
If you know that you are going to be spending 3 days or more in one place, extended stay hotels are a great option. The kitchens or kitchenettes provide a great way to prepare your own meals at a fraction of the cost of eating out. Preparing meals can even include picnic lunches. With kids that are particular eaters, making your own meals provides a way to give them nutritious meals that they enjoy eating.

Kids Eat Free
Many restaurants have nights that they let kids eat free with entree buying parents. There are even websites that keep track of these restaurants. Here are a few websites that I used when planning our Washington D.C. trip. These websites let you put in zip codes or addresses, so you can use them for more than just travel. Find deals close to home and enjoy a night out with your family.
Coupon Divas
MyKidsEatFree.com
Kids Eat For

Coupon Books
Look into getting local coupon books for the areas you will be visiting. This only works if you are planning on staying in an area for at least a week and you plan ahead with enough time to receive the books before you leave home. Coupon books provide coupons for local places that you wouldn't even know about otherwise.
Entertainment Book

Our D.C. processional...

We will be staying in Rockville, MD for our 6 days in D.C. We chose to stay outside of D.C. proper to save a little on the hotel stay. My sister-in-law, who lived in the D.C. area for a summer, suggested we do this and use the Metro to access National Mall. Our family of 4 can get 7 day unlimited Metro passes for $188 and have full access to Washington D.C. for our entire stay.
During our time in Maryland, we planned to spend most of our days in Washington D.C. with a side trip on Sunday to visit friends in Virginia. Our first thoughts were to spend our 5 allotted days all at National Mall. This is definitely doable considering the number of museums and memorials that are located there. The fact that admissions to most places are free also made that option very attractive. But once we realized the possibilities that the Metro pass offered, we looked for other options.
We debated visiting Arlington National Cemetery. It is such an impressive sight, very awe inspiring. It would also be a chance to really give our kids an idea of how many men and women have died in service to our county, our rights, and our freedoms. A friend suggested that it is much more impressionable if you find a person from your own family history that is buried there. Arlington National Cemetery is just a short distance from National Mall and has a Metro station nearby.
We talked about going to The Pentagon. Friends told us that the 9/11 Memorial is something to see. Part of the memorial can be view from the outside, but there is another part that can only be seen when touring the inside of The Pentagon. By the time we were thinking of doing the tour, all of the reservations for the entire time we were in D.C. were gone. If you plan on doing this tour, try to make your reservations as soon as you can.
We did decide that we needed to visit the National Zoo. We believe it will be a fun break for the kids to see living things for a day. The National Zoo is run by the Smithsonian Institute, so like most of their facilities, admission is free. If you are choosing to dive your own car, there is a parking fee. If you are using the Metro, there is a station located just outside the entrance.
We also decided that we wanted to see all or most of the memorials located at National Mall. When I mentioned this to a friend, she suggested that we see some of them at night. Most of the memorials have 24/7 access. However, Rangers are only on duty from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. for questions and if your kids are like mine, they like to ask people questions. Another important tidbit is that if you plan to go to the top of the Washington Monument you must have tickets. Admission is free, but you must have a ticket in order to reserve your time. Tickets can be obtained online for a small processing fee. Order these as soon as you know you are going to reserve your spot or they might sell out.

Still processing...

After choosing our buried treasure's location, I proceeded to call family members and arrange times to visit. A cousin of mine graciously offered her home to us for a night and her husband as a tour guide the next day while we visited Old Salem to learn more about the Moravian Culture. We knew that Old Salem, NC could take a few days to explore in depth, but we also knew we still wanted to spend most of our family vacation in D.C., so we chose the short but sweet visit with the Moravians. We would be able to get the condensed version of history with an expert tour guide (my cousin's husband) in our employ. We were determined that we needed more adventure in our lives though, so we opted to take a day to visit the home of Thomas Jefferson, Monticello.

The process continued...

Lucky for us my husband has a very flexible work schedule, because once we started telling family and friends the plan, they all had ideas of things we could do along the way. Friends from church suggested gem mining in North Carolina and my parents suggested visiting extended family in North Carolina. So...we decided that it would be a good idea to spend a couple of days in North Carolina on our way to D.C.
First, I stared researching gem mines. I never imagined I would be a treasure hunter, but it sounded like fun and there are so many options. My husband and I finally agreed upon Emerald Hollow Mine because it is the closest location to family and it seemed reasonable in price. Other mines that we looked at were: Emerald Village, Gem Mountain, Old Pressley Sapphire Mine, Elijah Mountain, Cherokee Ruby and Sapphire Mine, Gold City Gem Mine, and Rose Creek Mine.
The only problem with our mining scheme was that we needed to be well rested in order to dig for treasure. Tired kids digging for treasure might not be any more fun than bored kids raking leaves at home. So it was determined that we needed a resting point along our drive. Rock Hill, SC looked good for the final resting point (at least for day 1 of our trip). It shortened day 1's drive and it's not too far from buried loot.

The process...

My husband and I decided we wanted our kids to see and experience some historic places they had studied. When we moved to the East Coast from Denver, CO, we were presented with an awesome opportunity to do so.

We knew from the beginning that our main focus was going to be Washington D.C. Starting with that, we found the most basic route from our home in Florida to D.C., determined the amount of time it would take us to get from point A (home) to point B (D.C.), and booked the extended stay hotel. We used Expedia.com because they have a rewards program that will help us with our future travels as well as give us good deals. There are more options though: Priceline.com, Hotwire.com, Travelocity.com, and Orbitz.com. If you happen to have a Mypoints.com account, you can earn point for travel there as well.

The Beginning

What ever happened to the Great American Family Road Trip, where the adventure relied as much on the travel as on the actual destination?

My family has been planning our first true road trip from Florida to Washington, D.C. for the past few months. It started with a basic drive from our home to our extended stay hotel in Maryland, but when we started to tell our friends and family about our plans, they helped us create a true adventure.

It's true that our initial 13+ hour drive to Maryland has now turned into a 3 day journey, but in that 3 days we will be treasure hunters, honored guests, and true historians.