I’m going to be in the DC area for Thanksgiving and am planning to get together with someone for probably one of those days. (Shock, I know.) While I know the touristy areas of DC pretty well (read, the Mall), I’m still stuck for ideas. If I was by myself, I’d probably go to the Air & Space museum and catch the shuttle to the hangar at Dulles (or wherever it is) to see the new exhibit. I’ve been in DC several times so I’ve seen most of the touristy stuff, though not the really new stuff like that, the new Indian museum, and such. Any good ideas? We’d probably park at one of the park-n-rides in southern Maryland and then take the Metro wherever.
How much are you willing to spend? I mean, you can do the touristy stuff, you can do dinner and a movie, you can do a walking tour of Alexandria with window shopping…that’s always fun, especially because the stores are probably going to start putting their Christmas decorations up. Then, there’s always a Potomac River cruise, like these:
I don’t recommend the Potomac River cruise. The food is generally not great, and this in unforgivable in one of the best restaurant cities in the country. Also, you’ll get tired of the river long before the cruise ends.
Let me know if you want restaurant recommendations.
The Spy Museum recently opened, and it is quite popular. If it’s a weekend, I’d also suggest going to Eastern Market for food shopping and the flea market.
If a few drinks and Irish music appeals, the D.C. area has a number of Irish pubs, many with live music. My favorite from years ago, Matt Kane’s, is no more, but I googled on irish pub washington arlington alexandria and found several choices. This page lists quite a few of them, this page describes two, and this page has info on another. My experience is that these types of places are usually pleasantly festive.
The new Dulles museum is pretty underwhelming, and it’s about an hour drive out from the city.
The brand-new Museum of the American Indian!
I don’t agree with “underwhelming.” You can tell that it’s not done yet (5 months ago the space shuttle hangar wasn’t done and the food court wasn’t open), but there is still plenty to see. Hell, I was impressed with just the Enola Gay and the Concorde, and considered all of the other cool stuff to be a bonus. 
Whether it’s worth the trek from DC is definitely a judgement call. I live about 20 minutes away from the museum, and have been twice so far. According to the web site the shuttle hangar is done now, but I don’t think I’ll go back until the food court is open (spring 2005; there are no restaurants nearby, and the only food available at the museum right now is pre-made Subway box lunches). Because I live so close I’ve never taken the shuttle from the DC Air & Space, but according to the web site it is cheaper for two people to park at the museum than to take the shuttle (that’s just in terms of shuttle/parking fees, not gas, time, etc.).
I second this emotion: I went last month, and it is a very cool museum. My friend and I arrived at 11:15 on a Sunday morning and there was no wait for the entry ticket, and just a short wait on line for the 11:30 entry. By the time we left (around 2pm), though, the line for entry tickets was wrapped around the building.
Just in case you don’t know: several of the new museums have a two-stage process for getting in. You get on line once for entry tickets, which are stamped with the time that you’ll be allowed in the museum, then you come back to the museum at the time stamped on your ticket. I know that the American Indian and Holocaust museums work this way; I believe that the Spy museum does this, too, but I haven’t been there yet (and the tickets to that one are not free).
If you and your companion are able-bodied and the weather is temperate when you’re here, I also recommend doing what my friend and I did after leaving the American Indian museum: walk the length of the mall down to the WWII memorial. It’s a hike, but a level one, and you get to see everything and spend time talking with your friend. And the WWII memorial at the end is worth it (IMO, of course).
Thanks for the ideas. While I’ve got no problem spending a little money, it’d be capped at about 50 bucks total. She says she wants to see the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center as well, so I think that’ll be a go. Especially if we get out there early. Is there any real advantage to driving to Dulles? Honestly, I hate driving anywhere near DC. The way I see it, the advantage to driving to Dulles is that we don’t pay the shuttle fares, but I have to get the car out there and it will be about as much to park, plus whatever I spend in gas. The advantage to parking in Maryland, then taking the Metro and the shuttle, is that there is less driving but an immediate transit expense and less flexibility for going somewhere else directly from Dulles. In any case, we’ll figure something out.
If you want some excitement, you can always jump the fence at the Whitehouse. Otherwise, I recommend shopping in Georgetown.
Damn, from my University of Maryland days I was going to recommend on of these pubs. I recommend Ireland’s Four Provences for the food, atmosphere and live music. Also for resturants I recommend The Dancing Crab (for Maryland crab of course) and Blackies (for beef/prime rib).
Disclaimer: though I have confirmed via the web that these places are still open, I have not been there for years.
Y’know, Freejooky, you and I are very different people. I’m not generally a guy who digs planes, but I thought the Udvar-Hazy annex is fantastic. It’s really mind-blowing to see all those things close up and get a real idea of their size.
–Cliffy
I’ll be the first to ask: how did it go, asterion? What did you wind up doing?
Go club-hopping in Adams-Morgan (Roughly, 18th Street between Columbia and U Sts., accessible via the Woodley Park/Zoo Metro, just across Duke Ellington Bridge); there is literally something for every taste there! I recommend dinner at Fasika’s Ethiopian restaurant, catch a band at Madam’s Organ, finish up with coffee and pie at Tryst’s; these places are all within a block or two of each other. Cross the street and browse at Idle Time Books.
Or, for a fun time on the cheap, go to Politics & Prose, Washington’s best bookstore (5015 Connecticut Avenue NW, just north of Fessenden, accessible via the Tenleytown Metro). Browse, get coffee, enhance your reputation as an elite intellectual, and spend under ten bucks. I don’t want to saay I take a lot of cheap dates here, but… I do.
Window shop in Georgetown (M Street between Rock Creek and Key Bridge). There’s a hidden shopping mall along here called Georgetown Park, which is like one enormous toy store for rich people. Stop in at Clyde’s for chili.
Okay, I guess. We went to the Udvar-Hazy annex. Most of the rest of the time was spent driving–to the Metro, on the Metro, on the shuttle to the museum, and then everything in reverse. As for how the rest of it went–I’ll tell you sometime if I can ever figure out women (and see her sometime more than once every four months.)