“My parents are coming to visit! Where should I take them?” Having lived in Washington, DC for more than 15 years, I finally have the my-parents-are-visiting tour down to a science. This Fall, both my parents and my husband’s parents are coming to DC within a month of each other. With this duo visit in mind, we carefully curated a list of must-see places—so we can hit the same spots with both sets of parents!
This list isn’t ordered by priority, but sorted based on geographic area in order to make touring more efficient. It’s kid-tested, and parent-approved!
Start on Capitol Hill, the neighborhood named by Thomas Jefferson.
US Capitol Tour
No more scaffolding! With the newly restored rotunda open to the public, the Capitol is stunning, inside and out. You could get a more personal tour from your Representative or Senators’ office, or through the Capitol Visitor Center. (Book a tour) The Visitor Center offers a 45-minute guided tour, and includes a brief orientation film (a good time for parents to rest off their feet if they’re not be used to walking so much).
The Visitor Center tour guides take about 20 people through the crypt (and the intersection of the 4 quadrants of the District of Columbia), the rotunda and the national statuary hall. In case you’re wondering if it’s hard to hear during the tour, don’t worry. They’ll equip you with a headset so you can hear your guide clearly, despite the many other tours happening at the same time. If you really want to impress your parents, find the two statues in the Capitol that represent your state. (Or your tour guide will know where they are placed.)
Bonus: You can get passes to the visitor galleries of the chambers of the House of Representatives and Senate. If Congress is in session, you might see them at work, or even voting! (Seriously, it’s very interesting.) The chambers look different in person than on C-SPAN, and it’s fascinating to watch the side conversations happening before a vote.
US Botanic Garden
The Botanic Garden is located on the southwest end of the Capitol building (House side)—and it’s one of the oldest botanic gardens in North America! The Conservatory is a giant greenhouse with all sorts of plants from jungle to dessert. (My mother-in-law loves orchids, so I’m sure she will be hanging out in the Orchid Room, which displays 200 orchids.) Around Christmas time, look out for carolers in the evening.
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is probably one of the most impressive buildings in Washington, DC—and is across the street from the White House. And its history is equally fantastic! It was originally established in 1800, but the library (housed in the Capitol) was burned down when invading British troops set fire to the building in 1814. Then, retired President Thomas Jefferson offered his entire personal library (6,487 books) to Congress as a replacement for $23,950.
Bonus: You can get a library card to enter the book collection, which has 158 million items!
This goes without explanation—the White House tours are difficult to reserve! But at least walk by 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and take some photos.
White House Tour
I tried to schedule a tour through our Representative, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, but none were available when we had parents visiting. It may be a good idea to get a visiting parent to put in a request from their hometown Representative or Senators. Keep in mind that you must schedule a tour at least three weeks in advance of their visit for security clearance purposes.
Renwick Gallery
After the White House, walk toward the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, and then across the street to the Renwick Gallery. The Renwick houses the Smithsonian’s contemporary craft and decorative art. If you only have time for one thing, go upstairs to see Janet Echelman’s 100-foot woven sculpture. It’s a map of the energy released during the Japanese earthquake in 2011. Sit on a bench and just stare as the sculpture changes color.
Ever wonder how time was kept in the 1800’s (well before the ubiquitous cell phones in our pockets)? The US Naval Observatory was established to care for the US Navy's marine chronometers and other navigational equipment, and it calibrated ships' chronometers by timing the transit of stars across the meridian. In 1845, the observatory began dropping a time ball, the first of its kind, at Mean Solar Noon to alert all ships and civilians in the area to the exact time. Back then, people had an unobstructed view of the observatory from the docks. Today, it operates one of two Master Clocks, a cesium atomic clock. Instead of looking for a time ball, you can always call to get the exact time from a voice announcement: 202-762-1401
Bonus: When the skies are clear, you’re able to see the stars (or planets) through a 12-inch refracting telescope. (We saw a star cluster 145 light years away!) Also, the Vice President lives on the property, so keep an eye out for his motorcade.
Tours are only available on select Monday nights, from 8 - 10pm, and require advanced reservations.
My husband and I both have dads who are engineers, so the Air & Space Museum is certainly a must-see. (It’s the same for most dads and moms who grew up in the 1960’s watching the space race! An estimated 530 million people watched astronaut Neil Armstrong as he took "...one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind" on July 20, 1969.)
The Apollo 11 Command Module, which housed Neil Armstrong, "Buzz" Aldrin and Michael Collins during the first manned lunar landing mission, is displayed on the first floor of the museum. It’s striking how small this module is—and it took the astronauts more than 51 hours to reach lunar orbit. (If your parents complain about the long flight, you could always impress them with that fun fact!)
Bonus: After touring the museum, we saw A Beautiful Planet in 3-D IMAX, filmed by astronauts aboard the International Space Station. The most breathtaking part was seeing the cities of South Korea aglow at night—and then seeing its neighbor North Korea, which was shrouded in darkness. (Watch a trailer.) We may see Voyage of Time, directed by Terrence Malick (who also made The Thin Red Line) with my husband’s parents. Earlier this year, the Smithsonian upgraded its IMAX theater to a new dual 4K laser projection system with a 74-by-49-foot screen, one of the largest in the Mid-Atlantic.
Other Museums on the Mall
We were able to run through the Natural History Museum (my mom wanted to see the Hope Diamond and my dad wanted to see the exhibit on early humans and Neanderthals) as well as the American History Museum (the Star Spangled Banner and Julia Child’s kitchen, which my mother-in-law is excited to see).
The one museum my parents really want to visit was the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture. However, passes are reserved through March 2017! You could try to get same day passes from the Museum’s Constitution Avenue entrance beginning at 9:15 am daily. (They’re not available online yet.)
If your moms, like ours, love beautifully manicured gardens, Faberge and Imperial porcelain, then make sure you spend an afternoon at the Hillwood Estate. Near Cleveland Park, it’s the former home of Marjorie Merriweather Post, the owner of her father’s $20 million cereal company who transformed it into the General Foods Corporation. Marjorie’s home reflects her life as the daughter of C.W. Post, wife of financier E.F. Hutton and later, wife of Ambassador to the Soviet Union, Joseph Davies.
Be sure to visit the French parterre (a fancy name for a formal garden), the rose garden and the Japanese gardens. Inside the mansion, the massive 1950s kitchen is a must-see, as is her pink bathroom and closet. The Hillwood Estate asks for a suggested donation of $18—and you can pay whatever you can, without pressure. It’s open Tuesday through Sunday.
Bonus: If you can make it before January 1, 2017, visit the special exhibit showcasing the art deco style in Japan, which flourished from the 1920s to 1940s.
By far, the best time of year to visit Washington, DC is when the cherry blossoms are in bloom! Tell your parents to visit then—but if they’re buying airplane tickets, it’s a gamble to schedule! The average peak bloom date is April 4, according to the National Park Service. (Follow the Bloom Watch and then update your Facebook or Twitter background photo during peak bloom!)
What’s the quickest way to see as many monuments as possible? Depending how fast your parents walk (and the weather), it’s possible to see several monuments in one day. I’ve always started at the Jefferson Memorial (which is a 15 minute walk from the Smithsonian metro station) because it’s my favorite. From there, it’s an easy walk to the Franklin D Roosevelt Memorial (10 minutes) and then the Martin Luther King Memorial (7 minutes).
After that, you could walk northeast to the DC War Memorial (3 minutes) and then the World War II Memorial (5 minutes). Or you could walk northwest to the Korean War Veterans Memorial (8 minutes). I think the Korean War Memorial comes alive at night, so you may want to go after dark. If you continue walking northwest, you’ll get to the Lincoln Memorial (3 minutes), which is equally breathtaking at night. And from there, you could walk to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall (3 minutes).
If you decided to go to the World War II Memorial first, then you could walk northwest to the Constitution Gardens pond (3 minutes). My mom loves to sit by the pond and watch children feeding the ducks, but it depends on the time of year, of course! Next, you can walk west to the Vietnam Memorial Wall (7 minutes) and the Lincoln Memorial (3 minutes).
Bonus: While the Pentagon Memorial isn’t near the National Mall, its a short metro ride away. The Memorial is dedicated to the 184 people lost in the terrorist attack at the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. Each victim is memorialized with a cantilevered bench and a lighted pool of flowing water. The placement and direction of each of the 184 Memorial benches represent whether they were on the plane or in the Pentagon during the attack.
The National Cathedral, completed in 1990, took 200 years to envision, plan and build. It’s beautiful, and tall enough to see from all over the District. In fact, the top of the tower is the highest point in Washington. The Cathedral isn’t Catholic; rather it is a part of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, and serves as “a house of prayer for all people and a spiritual home for the nation.”
The stained glass windows are stunning—and be sure to point out to your Apollo-loving parents one window which contains a 2 3/8" sliver of moon rock as its centerpiece! “Piece 230 of Apollo 11 rock no. 10057” was presented to the Cathedral by Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, “a fragment of creation, from beyond the Earth”.
The outdoor gardens are equally beautiful, and there are many benches under trees to take a break. Don’t miss the Bishop’s Garden!
There are so many amazing places to visit in Washington, DC—and this list is just a start. If you have recommendations for places you love to take your parents, I hope you’ll share! (And, it’s fun to visit new places in the city we call home, regardless of whether we have visitors in tow.)