When we were planning our Washington DC trip with friends we tried finding the balance between wanting to see all the things and remembering they’re kids and they probably don’t really care to see all the things. We made a list of our top priorities and our friends made their list and then we made a schedule. We had three full days and most of a fourth day – which isn’t nearly enough time to see every thing but we were exhausted by the end and happy to be heading home.
Between the two families, we had 11 kids ages 8-18. We were quite the sight and we had several ask if we were a school field trip. Felt like it sometimes. 🙂
We rented a VRBO just a mile from the capitol and we got around primarily by bus and metro, with a few Uber rides (which is a challenge in itself with a group this size).
We visited a lot of museums and had a lot of tours – but if you ask the kids the private Capitol tour was the best, the Holocaust museum was impactful but what they loved most was playing football and games on the grass by the Washington monument. We found time every day to go play on the grass so it’s not surprise it ranked high on the list.
One of the evenings we took a night scooter ride through the national mall to see all the monuments at night. The scooters themselves were a fun activity – but the scenery made it next level.
Our last evening there, we found ourselves back at the Washington Monument with a football in hand. We walked the mall as evening drew on with kids tackling each other trying to steal the ball from one another while we walked.
At this point, we had seen most everything we had come to see and there were no more agendas we were trying to keep. It was a beautiful and peaceful night – kind of magical. We sat on the stairs of the Lincoln monument as the sun set and illuminated the Washington monument and created a beautiful reflection in the pool.
We couldn’t have asked for a better sunset on our last night.
