My wife and I are taking our 11-year-old nephew on his first trip to the east coast and are looking for suggestions for kid-friendly things to do. We’ve both been often (and my wife used to live in Manhattan), but this is our first time visiting with a kid.
In NY, we’re planning on hitting the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, a couple museums (Met and Guggenheim), Central Park, Hayden Planetarium, and Blue Man Group.
In DC, a couple Smithsonian museums (Air & Space and American History), White House, Congress, Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, and Spy Museum are on the agenda.
March 27-31st in NY and 31st-April 3 in DC, in case anyone knows of any events/exhibitions during those dates.
Be sure to catch the Air/Space Museum (annex?) out near Dulles Airport. How about checking with your Senators’ or Congressman’s office about a visit?
Years ago I took my 11 year old son to Ellis Island. I was surprised he enjoyed it. He did so, I believe, because his class had been learning about immigration at the turn of the century.
In NYC also consider Times Square. There you can hit the M&M store, the ESPN Zone (the top floor is a big arcade) and a huge Toys R Us. Even if you don’t go into any shops, seeing it lit up at night will be cool to an 11 year old.
Another cool museum in Manhattan is the lower east side tenemant museum http://www.tenement.org/ . I would recommend it after you get back from Ellis Island, as the museum is actually an early 20th century apartment building that hasn’t been touched in over 90 years. Pretty cool learnings about immigrants into the US.
I like Petite Abeille, 44 W. 17th St – its a Belgian restaurant, they have killer burgers & fries as well as traditional Belgian dishes. It’s decorated with Tintin comics, and they have a shelf of Tintin books in English and French for patrons to read. For the grown-ups, a crazy giant beer list (Belgian beers 1/2 price mondays). Basically, kid-friendly bistro environment.
Personally I would skip the Guggenheim unless he’s into art. Go to the American Museum of Natural History instead. At the Met, don’t miss Arms & Armor.
You’ll be in DC during the Cherry Blossom Festival at the Tidal Basin. I would recommend swinging by for a little while if you can. The blossoms are stunning, it’s good for people watching, and you can see some of the monuments in the distance from there.
I’m not sure if you are aware of it, and so I will mention it here. You need to arrange (at least 30 days) in advance to get tickets for the Whitehouse tour with your congresscritter.
the national art gallery wouldn’t be particularly interesting for an 11 year old boy imo. even the pieces that are of interest like Rodan’s Thinker aren’t especially impressive in person.
-air/space is a must, especially the annex which is NOT in dc but in Virginia by dulles airport.
-natural history is wicked cool. dinosaurs, kodiak bears, and bugs are all in an 11 year old’s wheelhouse.
-american history is worth your while also, even if it is under renovation. don’t feel obligated to see everything though. otherwise, you’ll be stuck in there all day.
-washington monument tickets sell out by 8-9 am and the view up there is not particularly spectacular.
-the zoo has never disappointed me. even without the panda, it’s worth a visit.
my suggestion is to stop by baltimore during the day between NYC and DC. Baltimore is an extremely underrated tourist destination. Between the Aquarium, Ft. McHenry, and the Inner Harbor, it is the PERFECT day trip locale. Get up in the morning, check out, drive 3-4 hrs into baltimore and hit up the aquarium/ft mchenry. have a spectacular seafood dinner at the inner harbor, and drive an hour more into DC to pass out.
For DC: A lot of the monuments are way cooler at night – atmospheric lighting, fewer crowds… Consider walking around the Lincoln Memorial and the Korean War Veteran’s memorial (haunting) not far away, and perhaps others, after dark.
For NY: Has anyone mentioned the Circle Line yet? Bundle up, if you go in winter, but most 11-year-old boys will love seeing all the bridges close up, etc. Way better than the Statue of Liberty, IMHO.
Wow, I used to eat there all the time. There was (is?) one down on Hudson St. too, that was closer to my office. They made the BEST spicy tuna sandwich. The fries were amazing.
You have two of the best Natural History Museums in the country, and you don’t mention seeing either of them! (Except for the Hayden Planetarium, which is only part of the AMNH)
Heresy!
I can’t fault your other suggestions. The Spy Museum is a hoot! Kids especially love the ductwork you can crawl through and “spy” on the other museumgoers.
I’m not a baseball guy, and I haven’t checked any schedules, but Opening Day is sometime in early April. If the Yankees, Mets, or Nationals are in town, the kid may like to see a big league game…
Opening day is April 5th so no baseball. Yankees tickets are hard to get, anyway.
I just wanted to note that some of the sites listed for both cities will be time consuming. The line for the Empire State Building may take several hours, for example.
The circle line is a great suggestion, as is the DC trolley tours.
Near the Statue of Liberty is Liberty Science Center.
My son was 11 when his aunt took him for a weekend to DC. The things he talked about most afterwards were the Newseum and Spy Museum. (He said the food at the Newseum cafe was awful, though).
Yep, do the Staten Island ferry in lieu of the Statue of Liberty. The latter takes up the whole day and just isn’t that much fun (to get to the top you have to walk the entire way up, and they hustle you out of there pretty quick). From the ferry you get a very nice view of the statue, which is sufficient.
In DC I would add the Vietnam War Memorial and the new WWII Memorial, Arlington National Cemetery (including the Kennedys’ gravesite) and the Holocaust Museum. The Newseum might be of interest but have never been there.
But go when it was warm. My daughter and I went on February before we had dinner down the street by the Marriott, and there were almost no animals out. Good during the summer, though.
In New York, might I also suggest South Street Seaport if the kid is at all interested in ships.
