On a trip like DC there is always going to be a hierarchy of experiences – ones you’d replay over and over again and others you wouldn’t need to do again. I have two on my list I know are traditionally really popular, they just weren’t on the top of our kids’ list and that is the Air and Space Museum and the White House tour.
In full disclosure the Air and Space has been undergoing multi-year renovations and the main exhibit was not open. We visited this museum after our capitol tour and the kids may have been tired but they just didn’t engage super well. They had moments of interest but we found ourselves standing around talking. The younger kids found the planes cool and the space section was interesting…but the whole experience wasn’t at the level I was expecting. I’m wondering if it will be any different when the main exhibits are open. And perhaps if this museum fell at a different time in our rotation it may have changed the experience.
The White House is iconic – and yet it was underwhelming. This was our first appointment when we got to DC and there was so much build up. When we applied for tickets weeks before our trip, we had to input all of our information for a background check. When we arrived, we had to go through multiple security checkpoints where we had to check-in and everyone had to give their birthday. For good reason, the security was heavy – but this made the process to get in lengthy. And because it was our first stop, the kids were anxious. We finally got in and we were just a small number in a constant stream of people walking through the White House. We walked through several prominent rooms – green room, red room, blue room, dining room…it felt a little like cats being herded in a processional line.
Before long, we were in the entry way – we took our family picture and then were ushered out the front door.
What’s crazy to think is someone actually lives there. We were the last tour of the day at 12:30 and then they were going to roll the carpets back and it would go back to being a house and not a tour. Both Hallie and I agreed it was “historically” decorated but it didn’t feel like a home. (Would it take an act of congress to update the red room because it could use some work!) It made me wonder if the personal living quarters – where we didn’t tour, such as bedrooms – have a more personal touch.
After our tour was done and we were standing on the front steps, one of the kids said it best, “That was it?!”
Yep.
Probably not the best idea to start with this one because it was underwhelming…but whenever they see a picture of the White House, they’ll remember being inside. And let’s be real – half of visiting DC as a kid is being able to recognize something and say, “I’ve been there!”
