Just a suggestion for a fairly inexpensive and good place to eat in Williamsburg: The Cheese Shop. They have great sandwiches. (My favorite is ham and swiss with house dressing.) Also, beware of “A Good Place to Eat”–it isn’t.
Also, just a thought, but you may want to reconsider your visit to the Battlefield at Manassas. IMHO it’s not very exciting compared to the others…but then again, I’ve lived down the street from it for most of my life. It’s also a bit out of the way and can be a pain to get to during rush hour traffic. There would be a lot of cool things for your civil war nut son to see in Richmond, VA–Monument Avenue and Hollywood Cemetery, for example–and it wouldn’t be too terribly out of the way since you’re going to Williamsburg. You might want to consider it instead.
I’d go. In fact, I’ve been seriously thinking about a weekend road trip down to D.C. myself one of these weekends. When I’ve driven down in the past, I’ve stayed at a hotel just over the Potomac river from D.C. in Annapolis, a chain called the “Comfort Suites”, I think. My usual strategy is to leave the car there, get a day pass for the Metro, and spend Saturday exploring various museums.
Annapolis is quite a distance from DC, and the Metro doesn’t go that far. I’ve never been there and I’ve lived in the DC area all my days.
If you try to visit the Smithsonian during the tourist season, be prepared for LONG, DMV-style lines at the entrances; some chowderhead decided to install metal detectors (at the Air & Space for sure; I think they’re at the other museums too in the wake of Code Orange) and you can’t just idly wander in anymore; entering is now a big production.
To reiterate Lola’s point: You are much, much more likely to be killed or injured on your way to DC than in a terrorist attack once you arrive. The odds of being killed in a terrorist attack are infinitesimally small. People’s sense of relative risks always seems to be out of whack.
If I’m not mistaken, the Capitol building has now stopped all tours and you can’t get any closer than a block or two to the White House.
I live 20 miles away from DC and wish I didn’t. I loved living here until 9/11…and of course just when I get comfortable again, a sniper is among us. I’ve asked my husband to consider re-locating and he’s not against the idea. I did not place much value on my life before I had children. Now, I think twice about many things. Yes, you can not allow potentially fictitious threats rule your life. BUT. My mind screams this word (but) to me as a result of living in a ‘high-profile’ area. But, but, but, but. And if the word ‘but’ isn’t racing through mind, then its first cousins have momentarily taken its place: What if, what if, what if, what if. Frankly, I’m tired. Tired of snipers and terrorists and living in an area that seems to be a magnet for them.
BUT, WHAT IF we just reconcile that there are no guarantees…?
**I live in a beautiful suburb of Northern Virginia and am tired of seeing policemen ‘on watch’ at the local schools. Do policeman sit in their cruisers and ‘watch’ the schools in the suburbs of St. Louis, Springfield, Lubbock or Memphis? Have any other public schools in major cities in this country canceled outside play for their students until the war ends? Or is it just in parts of the DC area?
I grew up in the DC area and now live in the other Target of Choice, NYC - I don’t let either bug me. I’m scheduled for a conference in DC the first weekend in April, in fact.
Remember that there is so much to do in DC other than the Capitol and the White House (and IMHO the White House tour isn’t worth the trouble even when they’re running it). At this writing there are 13 Smithsonian museums open to the public (plus the National Zoo, also part of the Smithsonian), every one of them free of charge. That figure doesn’t include the two buildings of the National Gallery, also with free admission. Among the many excellent private collections that do charge admissions, I especially recommend the Philips Collection and the Textile Museum. The Corcoran is also excellent, but because of its proximity to the White House it’s sometimes closed when DC’s under serious lock-down, as for the WTO/IMF meetings last September.
Near the Capitol, but still open are the Library of Congress (the Jefferson Building is especially beautiful) and the newly-renovated U.S. Botanic Garden.
And just over the river there’s Arlington Cemetery with the Robert E. Lee house, historic Alexandria with the Torpedo Factory art center, and a little further, Mount Vernon.
The Capitol is closed to tours not already scheduled. Fortunately, we already have one scheduled with our senator’s staff.
There sure is so much to see! Given a weeklong trip, we pretty much have to acknowledge we won’t see it all, no matter how hard we try. So we just have to make sure we hit our personal high points, and whatever else fits in - great!
Thanks to all those who so obviously point out the risk inherent in driving. Of course, if I am going to be driving wherever I go on vacation, any unusual risks involved in the ultimate destination may become relevant. Say what you will about terrorists having won, but in my calculations, NYC and DC have been attacked more than - say - the Smoky Mountains. And while I tend to be fairly reckless concerning my own health and safety (while paying my insurance premiums;)) - I try to think twice before making such choices for my entire family.
My sister was visiting a couple of weeks ago with her kids, and we did as much of the touristy things in downtown DC as the weather allowed. The security is higher at the Smithsonian museums than it used to be: bags were inspected, and we had to go through airport-type metal detectors at a couple of places such as Air & Space and the White House Visitor Center (which is a few blocks from the White House itself). No problems at the Zoo. We were allowed to walk up to the gates of the White House so the kids could see it, but access may be more restricted now with the war.
Personally, I have no qualms at the thought of going downtown, except for having to deal with rush hour on the Metro. I go fairly regularly, and will be there again later this week.
I guess I want to clarify also, the residual effects of 9/11 had far less significance in my questioning whether to travel to DC at this time, than our government’s initiation of war against a country not linked to those terrorist attacks.
It is a weird time and country we live in. My nation is involved in a war (are we “at war?”) and I’m taking a vacation in our capital. I doubt many Iraqis are planning pleasure trips to Baghdad right around now…
Just got back from your part of the world. Mighty nice place you have there. Must say, the local constablary seem a mite uptight, no?
You folk forgot to mention that horizontal snow! You bunch of kidders!
Had a couple of fine meals in DC, at the Austin Grill and America in Union Station.
It was wierd how every museum/building had a different search procedure. My fave was probably the conservatory - if for no reason other than that it has NO security. So I blew up a cactus. Seriously, one of the nicest small conservatories I have ever seen. Wonderful rehab job.
Cherry blossoms were pretty thru the blizzard.
Enjoyed Mt Vernon, Antietem, Yorktown, Jamestown, Williamsburg, and Monticello.
There sure is a whole lot of nothing in western Va and W.Va. Quite a change from the interstates in the midwest.
That Washington Post is a mighty fine paper. Better news AND comics than the Chicago Trib.
Annapolis is quite a distance from DC, and the Metro doesn’t go that far. I’ve never been there and I’ve lived in the DC area all my days.