Kids have spring break the first week of April. We had long planned to drive from Chi to Washington DC/Williamsburg VA. Looks as tho we managed to schedule our trip to pretty much coincide with the imminent start of hostilities against Iraq.
A couple of months agao, we were going crazy, trying to decide, should we stay or should we go. The only firm plans we’ve made so far are hotel rooms in DC and Williamsburg. And we scheduled a Capitol tour with our senator’s office. The White House and FBI have been closed to the public since 9/11, and the Bureau of Engraving closed last month.
Besides any possible inconveniences caused by closed attractions and increased security, there is that nagging possibility that we might be packing up the family to get as close to a potential military/terrorism target as possible.
So what would you do? Would you just say, screw it, and take your chances, or would you figure better safe than sorry, and stay home?
I live only about an hour’s drive north of DC, and I feel perfectly safe here. I would take my son to DC.
However, you will not be able to get anywhere near the White House, the Capitol is probably very restricted, and any number of other places will not be open to the public. Perhaps another time would be better for this vacation, when you can enjoy the whole city.
Talked to my senator’s aide last week. She said or tour of the Capitol was still on. And as long as the museums and monuments, civil war sites, etc. are open, we certainly have plenty to do for the 3-4 days we’ll be there. We’re staying just off the mall, so we can walk most places. It sounds stupid but I’ll say it anyway - if some folk stay away things might be less crowded.
And there are plenty of neat things to see in the area - Williamsburg, Jamestown, Yorktown, Mt Vernon, Monticello, etc.
My eldest kid is a HS freshman, so we have a limited number of these “family” trips left. Our summer is pretty busy with camps and activities. And with the timing of this spring break, we thought we’d like a driving location somewhere south.
They’re going to be blooming late this year because of the cold winter. They’re supposed to peak in late April.
I say you should do the DC trip and also spend some time in VA. I’ve grown up in the area so maybe I’m just used to being a possible target, but it’s not as if you’re taking your family to a known danger. Something might happen while you’re in DC, but the chances aren’t that big.
You can also go to Old Town Alexandria, which has nice shops and is on the river. And if you see a strikingly handsome man in Old Town, that’s me.
If you go to Mt. Vernon, you should pop on over to Woodlawn Plantation andcheck out the Pope-Leighey house which was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and was moved on to the grounds to save it from destruction. It’s not a big house, but it’s one of his first Usonian houses and not many people seem to know it’s around.
The Cherry Blossoms are suppose to be at their best April 8 - 14.
My Mom is not crazy about me being in the District but she is coming up to see me in April.
The Smithsonians are still open and I’m meeting my Hubby at the Zoo friday when he gets out of work, weather permitting.
Yeah, D.C. everybody thinks of D.C. as a prime target. Either bad things happen or they don’t. It’s ridiculous to let possible threats change your life. I didn’t budge during/after 9/11, I’m not letting this change my life.
My tendency is to just say, what the heck, and take my chances. But as the pater familas, I am aware that I should not necessarily be as irresponsible with the rest of my family as I am with my own.
And there is a bunch to see and do in the area, even if central DC does get shut down. Heck, my civil war nut son would be elated if we did nothing but go from battlefield to battlefield. (I limited him to 3. He chose Manassas and Antietem, and added Fredericksburg/Spotsylvania, thinking I would not figure out that the latter is a huge complex of about 5 different sites. Sneaky little snot! Wonder where he gets that from?!)
I firmly belief the chance of any dirty bomb, chemical or biological incident, etc. is extremely small. But every once in a while I have to imagine what a responsible parent might do in such situations.
Thanks for all the input. Now get out there with your hair dryers to get those cherry blossoms moving!
Gettysburg is less than 1.5 hours away from DC, and is the best preserved Civil War battlefield in the country. (And much more interesting than Fredericksburg, IMO). Just take the Beltway to Rt 270, stay north on 270 until it turns into Rt. 15 – 15 takes you right into Gettysburg.
Heck, plenty of responsible parents live in DC and environs, including my own, and it wouldn’t even occur to me to wonder if it was safe to visit them. It seems to me that people who worry about traveling under the current circumstances are really worried about stepping out of their comfort zone, rather than any actual danger. Bad stuff happens everywhere – you can’t predict it and you certainly can’t spend your life hiding inside the house, so you may as well go for it.
Hope you enjoy Manassas, it’s one of my picks for the best historical attractions in the region, and I’m not a Civil War nut.
Thanks for the heads up on Gettysburg, gf. Tho Gettysburg remains an option, my son was doing his best to pick sites most in our driving path. I might try to sneak in Yorktown as a double banger rev/civ war site. Or maybe just drive through Norfolk and have him look out at the water for the ironclads site!
Heck, if he were doing the driving, we’d go to Annapolis (where he hopes to go to school), Norfolk, and in DC, just keep going back to the Air and Space museum day after day.
Fretful - I tend to agree with you. But part of me thinks it doesn’t hurt to consider the odds. Even if the chances are very very low, would they be ever so slightly higher for certain locations at certain times? It does not strike me as unreasonable to imagine that the capital at the outset of war might not be the safest place to be. Of course, I’m not dying to vacation in the middle of Nebraska!
If you are staying at the Best Western/Capital Hill which is insanely close to the mall, you may want to reconsider. It is a horrendously crime ridden area and also one of the closest hotels to the Capital building.
I live in downtown DC. I am not worried about terrorist strikes or anything. At least if nuclear war is declared we will be the first to go and not have to linger on and slowly die of radiation sickness.
The cherry blossoms typically start blooming around the mid April time frame. They are quite gorgeous. If you do all the touristy things: Air and Space, Natural History, National Gallery of Art, Capital Building, National Zoo, Holocaust Museum, Lincoln Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, Roosevelt Memorial (the most restful memorial), you will really have your days filled. I would also suggest playing on the paddle boats around the Jefferson memorial. Whatever you do, do the Holocaust museum last, and get the tickets ahead of time. After going through there you won’t likely want to do anything else for the day.
PS. Gettysburg is great. If I were you, and had a choice of going to Gettysburg or any number of the many other Civil War sites, I would choose Gettysburg and not even have to bat an eye at it. The town revolves around the Civil War much more than the others that you mentioned. So much so that you can get all the prop costumes, antiques, and other junk that is even remotely associated around it at virtually every shop. Williamsburg is quite interesting as well. When you are there eat a ginger cake/cookie for me.
As one of the many Dopers who lives or works (the latter, for me) inside the DC Beltway, I feel just as safe now as I would feel pretty much anytime. The odds of getting caught up in a terrorist attack may be slightly higher than those of getting struck by lightning, rather than slightly lower. I wouldn’t give it a second thought.
Sounds like you know about most of the essential stuff to see in the area. For places to eat while you’re in town, Washingtonian Magazine’s Cheap Eats listings are a great resource.
Have you any interest in getting together with DC-area Dopers while you’re in the neighborhood? I’m sure we could gather a group together for lunch or dinner one day while your’re in town, if you’re so inclined.
I wouldn’t worry about it, and you can probably still get into most things, even at higher alert levels - although security may be a hassle, and there could be long lines.
I’m up on capitol hill all day, and you’d barely notice a difference. The capitol police don’t have much of a sense of humor these days, but in general (from what I’ve observed, anyway), the government is very, very reluctant to shut off this part of the city to citizens (and tourists, but mainly for the sake of citizens). First thing to go would probably be tours of the Capitol, but as somebody mentioned, apparently that’s still going on.
Yesterday there were topless protesters on the fountain at Union Station, there will probably be somebody protesting the war there pretty regularly until this is all over with, but it’s nothing major, and there always seems to be more-than-adequate police protection around if anything major is going on.
Don’t count on the traffic being great though
However, I usually don’t travel to the District, because of the horrible traffic and pain getting around. I live 30 miles away, and unless I have a friend visiting or something, I’m not too likely to go sightseeing.
Oh. You were talking about concern over attack. What the hell, go, I say.
dorkus the Holiday Inn right down the street from the Air and Space Museum. I stayed there last time I was in DC - about 10 years ago related to work.
Rufus - you’re a real sweetheart. I’ll float the idea past the lovely Ms. D. Better yet, maybe a bunch of you guys would like to show the kids around town for a day or two. Not that the missus and I would be interested in getting away from them or anything.
TTO - uh, do you happen to know when the topless protesters will be back on the schedule?
You guys are really putting the hard sell on Gettysburg. You can bet my kid will be wearing his authentic kepi - (confederate - you’ll have to ask the little freak what rank/regiment/whatever). I think he’s been talking about saving up his pennies to buy a replica flintlock or somesuch to add to his growing armory. We’ll be driving in down 70/270. So maybe the first day would be the day to check it out - on the way in.
On the way down to Jamestown, I was thinking about cruising over to Annapolis, across the Chesapeake Bay, and then down through Md/Del. But I fear that could be a lot of driving for relatively little payoff. How slow would those roads like 13, 50, or 1 be? Any thoughts? The alternative, is to just cruise down 95 to 64.
As you can tell, we won’t have enough time to see everything in this brief trip. So is the east bay area worth our while? Not sure if the kids have read Misty….
That Holiday Inn is very nice. You will enjoy it. Directly downstairs (well next door, not the lobby) is a Restaurant called Vie De France which has wonderful French Dips and sandwhiches. The Air and Space musuem outsourced its shitty cafeteria food and now serves genuine fast food: McDonalds, some pizza place, and things like that, maybe taco bell too. There really aren’t a lot of restaurants in that area that are open past 6 or so since it caters mostly to the business crowd. On a plus note, that usually means that the homeless don’t stay around as much either.
Looked to me like a bunch of restaurants were pretty much straight across the mall from our hotel and down a couple of blocks. I don’t have my maps/guidebooks with me, but I’m thinking on 6th or 7th street?
Any recs on cheap/interesting feedbags for a family of 5?
One think I remember from my last visit was the number and visibility of the homeless. Much more - uh - prominent than in Chicago. Never could imagine how Reagan could deny that we had a homeless problem. Guess his limo driver just said they were speedbumps!
Just have to say Dinsdale, I’m trying to make the same decision. The in-laws live up there and we were planning on taking the kids to the Kite Festival on the mall this weekend.
Of course, we are the people who went to the National Zoo when the snipers were still at large. Good parking that day. Which now that I mention it is not an irrelevant tidbit. If you do decide to go you will probably find thing less crowded and some discounts. You should see if you can get you room rate discounted. Bet a lot of cancellations are coming in right now.
I used to live in Williamsburg. It’s a nice place. Be sure to read the little calendar of events newspaper they hand out in the visitors center so you don’t miss interesting demonstrations and re-enactments etc.
