Student Washington D.C. Trip/ Spring 2024
Do you have the desire to see our Nation’s Capitol? Having our oldest in eighth grade this year, meant her school participated in an annual class trip to Washington DC. I will preface this post with this tip; if you do go during spring time, you will likely see hundreds of eighth grade students. The cost of her school trip was somewhere between $3.5-4k and if my husband or I wanted to attend as a chaperone it was even more expensive than the cost of the student. With the cost in mind and knowing as a family, we could hit a few more baseball stadiums, we decided that all five of us could attend the trip for just a bit more than the cost of our daughter going alone. Most importantly, we could make it a family spring break trip to remember. I used GOOGLE FLIGHTS https://www.google.com/travel/flights about 3-4 months prior to the trip and started watching for deals for flights for the five of us. If you are planning on visiting Washington D.C., 3-4 months in advance is where you should start reaching out to your local congressman to get some behind the scene tours on your schedule. I went to https://www.whitehouse.gov/visit/ and https://www.congress.gov/members to contact my local congressman and arrange a tour of the capitol and a tour of the white house. I didn’t have this tip (start reaching out 4 months ahead of time), so we were unable to visit the White House this visit, but we definitely want to next time.
Back to the flights, I ended up getting one way tickets to Newark for about $60/person {on spirit…which I have never had an issue with, but do remind people to check your luggage rates as they can add up and it may be less expensive to go with a carrier that includes bags like southwest}. I was also about to find return flights {one way} for about $70 per person. I always leave the dates open on google flights and select a city rather than a specific airport so it shows you various options. Also always start with a one way rate.
My Grandparents live in Pennsylvania so that is where we started for this trip. We rented a mini van (remember, even if you have enough seats for your family, you need to account for your luggage) and headed to Muncy Valley, PA for a few days. Here we could ride ATVs, hang out with cows, horses, dogs, see family and relax after the red eye from Los Angeles. It was the perfect way to start the trip. After a few days with family, we headed to Gettysburg, PA. This was a little over two hours and we drove up after dinner. We stayed the night at the Comfort Suites https://www.choicehotels.com/pennsylvania/gettysburg/comfort-suites-hotels/pa553 {we always stay at Marriott, but this time this hotel worked out and it was inexpensive, large enough for our family, right in the center of town…and came with breakfast}. After a good night’s sleep and a warm continental breakfast, We started at the Visitors Center https://www.nps.gov/gett/planyourvisit/visitorcenters.htm, walked through the museum and cyclorama https://www.nps.gov/gett/planyourvisit/museum-film-cyclorama.htm and decided to do the free driving tour using an app on our phone. The driving tour on the app allows you to see each of the highlights as you listen to the history of the location and get out to explore, as you please. I recommend playing the next informational session as you drive to the location, or you will spend a lot of time sitting and listening. When you get hungry, The Four Scores Beer Co https://www.facebook.com/FourscoreBeerCo/ looked like a great place for lunch. We also visited the National Riding Stables https://nationalridingstables.org/home-1, but didn’t ride this time because it was beginning to rain. As a side note, for any of you that like to camp, have an RV or wish to experience this area while camping, the campground where the National Riding Stables were located looked amazing, with vendors, activities for families, fishing on site and much more. As we completed the driving tour, we fueled up on gasoline and road trip snacks and headed to Baltimore, Maryland.
Baltimore was about 1.5 hour away and once we arrived, we checked in to the Baltimore Marriott. https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/bwiih-baltimore-marriott-inner-harbor-at-camden-yards/overview/
This hotel was right next to Camden Yards https://www.mlb.com/orioles/ballpark, where we would be catching a baseball game the next day. That evening we rented an electric boat (just walk along the harbor and there are multiple rental stands with boats available) next to the aquarium https://aqua.org/ and walked around inner harbor. Baltimore has a lot of restaurants and food options, but we ultimately ate at a restaurant in our hotel, The Yard https://www.theyardbarandgrillbaltimore.com/ and it was really good! We visited chick fil a first, for the kids and ours was comparable in price as well. My husband had chicken tenders and it came with more than he could finish and I had a turkey wrap. There was also a pizza place that smelled amazing BricknFire Pizza Co. https://www.bricknfirepizzacompany.com/ , however the line was pretty long and we were hungry. The next day we walked over to Starbucks to get our Baltimore mug and Dunkin’ Donuts was also right next to the hotel. This afternoon we would be going to Camden Yards for our 15th {the halfway mark} MLB stadium as a family. Before the game we followed the Babe Ruth baseballs on the sidewalk to his birthplace https://baberuthmuseum.org/babe-ruth-birthplace-museum/ and watched the fans pre-game at the bars and restaurants surrounding the stadium. The game started at 1:35, so we made sure to be in line around noon to get in and went straight to Boogs BBQ in the stadium. It is best to go first thing because the line gets pretty long. You can easily share a sandwich with 2, even 3 people. We watched the Angels warm up and were able to get some autographs from the players. It was a Sunday game, so the kids were allowed to run the bases after the game. It was such a fun experience. The parents even get to walk out onto the field. After the game, we drove by the Francis Scott Key bridge to see first hand the devastation caused by the large cargo ship hitting the pillars of the bridge. It was all still there and many others joined us in walking up to the edge of the shore, close to the site of the crash. That night we headed to the Residence Inn Marriott https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/wasxr-residence-inn-washington-capitol-hill-navy-yard/overview/ right next to the Washington Nationals Field https://www.mlb.com/nationals/ballpark. It was opening day and our hotel was in the perfect location for the game. The restaurants surrounding the area were filled with fans and the weather even held out with the sun shining for a few minutes at the game. The Washington Nationals was an amazing 16th stadium to visit. After the game, we went to Pink Taco http://www.pinktaco.com Their chips and salsa was amazing and they even had my favorite wine, Meiomi. I had the chicken tortilla soup and loved it! It was the perfect way to warm up after the game. After dinner we checked into our next hotel where we would stay for the week in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington DC. It was the Residence Inn and was a two bedroom suite with a kitchen and fit our family of 5 perfectly ( https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/wasfg-residence-inn-washington-dc-foggy-bottom/overview/ ). We also had breakfast there each morning and would take up granola, yogurt and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches from breakfast to snack on in our room after we returned for the night. The hotel was next to the Watergate Hotel {my husband and I of course had to have drinks there one night, just to say we had been there} and the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, which had an incredible exhibit about the Kennedy family. It was a 10 minute walk to M Street in Georgetown, a 5 minute walk to George Washington University and the metro, which was our preferred method of transportation. Once we arrived to this hotel, we returned our rental car to the Ronald Reagan Airport and easily rode the metro right back to our hotel. The metro is $2/person, so unless an Uber was cheaper than $10, we took the train and were able to teach the kids how to figure out the rail system. That was all my husband; I just followed his lead and always ended up where we intended to. Once we were checked in, we went down to try and meet up with our daughter’s class and view the monuments at night. The Korean War monument was my favorite, seeing the soldiers in moonlight with their weapons truly made you appreciate all they went through. The Vietnam and WW2 memorials were close by as well. It was sad to hear how poorly our Vietnam Veterans were treated upon their return from a war many of them had no choice in being a part of, as the draft was displayed on television and you had a certain time to report or you would be arrested. The youngest boy on the WW2 memorial enlisted when he was just 14 years old and was killed at 15. My daughter turned 14 on this trip, so I understood how young that truly was. My grandpa also enlisted when he was under 18 so it made me appreciate his sacrifice at such a young age as well. It is amazing how quickly these soldiers had to grow up. There were also 8 women’s names on the wall who died for their country.
The next morning was dreary and foggy. We had Family pictures at the Lincoln Memorial and I was worried they wouldn’t turn out well but the photographer {Taytum Wolfe Photography…who I highly recommend, https://www.taytumwolfephotography.com/ } assured me it was actually better to take photos with cloudy skies than in is in the sun. The pictures turned out amazing, she was absolutely correct. A tip that I have started doing is taking our family photos on vacation rather than in a rushed photo shoot in our home town around the holidays. I go on various Facebook pages to find photographers and message a handful of them and find the one that is available and within our price range. It is my favorite way to capture our family and retain the memories from our vacation.
After the photos we went to the Smithsonian Zoo https://nationalzoo.si.edu/visit and the National Air and Space Museum https://www.etix.com/ticket/e/1029945/timed-entry-washington-the-smithsonian-national-air-and-space-museum-general-public. You are required to have tickets, both were free, however you do need to get tickets ahead of time online, using the links I have provided. Both of these were incredible and I highly recommend.
The next day we were able to participate in a capitol tour by emailing our congressman, Mike Garcia. Emma; one of his staffers was amazing and even came out to find us in the rain when we didn’t know where to go. If you contact them 90 days in advance, they can also assist in getting you into the White House for a tour, both links are provided above when I mention planning your trip 3-4 months out. This trip we had to get pictures from the gates of the White House. When you’re in this area you can also visit the Library of Congress (you also need times tickets for this https://www.etix.com/ticket/e/1038417/timedentry-ticket-reservations-washington-thomas-jefferson-building)…we got them for the latest time on Thursday because they have a happy hour in the library that starts at 5pm and in our case, they had an Elton John dance party as well. We also walked over to the Supreme Court, and visited Fords Theatre https://fords.org/calendar/ where Lincoln was shot and the Peterson House across the street where he ultimately passed away the following morning. Later in the day we walked around the tidal basin to view what was left of the cherry blossoms and walked up into the Jefferson Memorial. The Roosevelt and the MLK Jr. memorial are also close by here as well.
The next morning we were able to land Washington Monument tour tickets. We went on recreation.gov right at 10am the day prior; had an account set up and secured the tickets to go up in the elevator and take in the views. If you are not able to get tickets to the Washington Monument, another option is the Old post office tower https://www.nps.gov/nama/planyourvisit/opot.htm, which is in the Waldorf Astoria. It also has a great view of DC for pictures. It is cold and windy; so bring a jacket. The headquarters of the FBI is also near here. You can sign up for the FBI experience https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/fbi-headquarters/the-fbi-experience 5 months in advance and no more than 4 weeks prior, but if you’re lucky like us, just walking by some of the FBI dogs may be out taking their bathroom break and you can say hi. That afternoon we also visited the Holocaust Museum https://www.ushmm.org/information/visit-the-museum/admission-tickets. There was an exhibit specifically for kids, called Daniel’s story which was powerful and showed how this awful part of history affected the kids and families of so many! This was my son’s, (who is in fourth grade) favorite exhibit.
The next day was our daughter’s 14th birthday. We took her to M Street in Georgetown to get a cupcake at the famous Georgetown cupcakes https://www.georgetowncupcake.com/ and to sushi at Bluefin Sushi https://bluefingeorgetown.com/ which is a perfect lunch spot, as you order at the counter and then find a seat, making it quick and efficient. It was so good, we went back down to place a second order. Our daughters enjoyed shopping at Sephora, Brandy Melville, Lululemon and other boutiques unique to the area. We also had Call Your Mother Bagels https://www.callyourmotherdeli.com/order#DC for breakfast on our way to Arlington National Cemetery and the Pentagon 9/11 Memorial. Georgetown was walking distance to our hotel, so it’s the perfect place to find some good restaurants and shops. We found the best Mexican restaurant, Guapos of Georgetown https://www.guaposrestaurant.com/location/georgetown-dc/ along the Potomac for our daughter’s birthday and walked back to the hotel after we ate. We had the fried ice cream and churros for dessert and I had the chicken tortilla soup which tasted amazing, especially because it was so cold out!
The next morning was our last day. Our flight didn’t leave until 6:30pm. We took the metro and the MARC straight to the Baltimore/Washington Airport; so we went to the Natural History Museum, which didn’t require tickets or reservations and walked around the National Mall and through a sculpture Garden.
During this trip, we visited Washington DC, Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania and New Jersey {where we initially flew into}.
The places we missed and plan to do next time include Mt Vernon (3200 my Vernon memorial hwy.Alexandria Virginia), a tour of the White House, the FBI experience, The National Archives (Book 1 month prior), Lafayette square, the National Aquarium , MLK Jr. Memorial, the Army Museum, the Washington Mint, the US Botanical Gardens, the Marine Corps Memorial, and the American History Museum.
It’s a good thing we plan to visit two more times with our 8th graders. #spiritairlines #8thgradewashingtonDCtrip #classtrip #familyvacation #washingtondcfamilytrip #todoinDC #tipsforwashingtonDC #springbreakinDC #traveltips
Trip Trek Go 