I’m planning on taking a bus from Fairfax to the Tidal Basin to view the cherry blossoms with my two sons (5 and 2) in tow.
Will there be food vendors fairly nearby? Or will buying food require a lengthy trek (considering little legs), and I should pack a picnic?
Scheduling the jaunt so as not to coincide with a mealtime is not possible. I don’t know why it’s not possible, I just know that whenever I attempt such a maneuver it ends in tears.
There will be two food sources in easy reach. The first is the ubiquitous food cart, featuring tubed meats of every variety as well as chips and sodas. You shouldn’t have any problem finding those if you go to Constitution or Independence Ave. On the mall itself there are also food vendors. They have more selection, but I believe the service is run by the city and the quality and service of the food can be much worse.
I would probably not pack a lunch if you think your kids will be happy with the cart vendor’s choices. If they aren’t into hot dogs and the like I would go ahead and pack. Personally I would eat from a cart every day if I had a choice.
I was just down there this weekend. A lot of the Tidal Basin (maybe even all of it) is park land and vendors aren’t allowed on it. However, you should be able to find a hot dog cart within two or three blocks at most. The one exception is if you go to the FDR Memorial – it’s pretty far from pedestrian traffic so I’m not sure if there are any vendors nearby or not.
–Cliffy
Echoing above: carts and snack shops are available, but I think you’d have a nicer time with a picnic basket. Considering the importance of keeping the li’l ankle biters well-fed, packing some sandwiches for lunch and then splurging on some Ice Cream of the Future, if you see that cart going by, seems like the better way to go.
Thanks guys! The Straight Dope Message Board–like having eyes in a thousand places!
When are you going? I’ve got a field trip (probably five hours on a bus each way) on Thursday out there. It’s a good thing, too, as this now knocks off one of the things on my list to do someday, which was “get to DC when the cherry trees are blooming.” Now I just have to take care of the “get to Japan when the cherry trees are blooming” taken care of.
Hoping to be getting off the bus at approximately 11 am. I’ll be the mom with two little boys running in 2 directions buying tubed meats from a cart.
except I just checked the weather and it’s supposed to be raining Thursday. Drat. I might go tomorrow morning