I'll be heading out there for work next week. I used to live about an hour away so I have seen quite a few of the monuments and did some of the museums but it has been
15 years. My wife will also be along and she has never been. Due to work schedule I am only going to be able to be a tourist after 3pm Wednesday and Thursday and
All morning until early afternoon on Friday. Going to try to knock out the obvious stuff like Arlington National, rent a bike and see monuments but due to the sheer
volume of other things to see and do I was looking for suggestions for sites to see as well as maybe places to eat in D.C. or Alexandria where we are staying. I kinda
wanted to go to the National Archives and see some of the documents on display but have read mixed reviews online. What are the museums to definitely hit?
I remember Air and Space to be good. National Museum of American History? I think the art museums are out due to time constraints. We are also invited to a
boat tour on the Potomac one evening. Thanks in advance for your input.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Bring your golf clubs, and go to Congressional in Bethesda, MD.

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Good people drink good beer - Hunter S. Thompson

<º)))><

Waiting for the time when I can finally say
That this has all been wonderful, but now I'm on my way

the new air and space out at Dulles is awesome. tons of historic planes and i hear they even have a space shuttle out there now. i went a couple years back and had a great time. national archives was a disappointment, we had a long line to get in and i remember thinking it wasn't worth it. fords theater and the museum across the street in the house where lincoln died was quite interesting.

I enjoyed my Cubs games at Nationals Park. That area has seen significant redevelopment.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

There is a restaurant in duPont circle called Vidalia that is pretty unique. Higher-end southern food. Years ago there was a restaurant in Wicker Park called Soul Kitchen that was the closest thing I can think of around here. Right in downtown Alexandria there is Christ Church, where George Washington's booth is still intact. Pretty cool and under the radar. There is a little graveyard adjacent to it that had some recognizable names.

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Soccer 1,2,3
Spanish Honor Society 1,2,3,4
Forensics 1,2,3,4

"Smiles with Nostrils"

"...no Hmong, go find some blacks"

Our company is holding a cocktail party at the museum out at Dulles but we won't be attending. Thanks for the info on the Archives, we will likely skip that now. Also
thanks for the tip on Ford's Theater, I never hit that one and always wanted to.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Lots of battlefield stuff is close by. Antietam is about 1 hour. There are old forts and such.

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When I am stuck and need to figure something out I always remember the Immortal words of Socrates when he said:"I just drank what?"

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Power is always in the hands of the masses of men. What oppresses the masses is their own ignorance, their own short-sighted selfishness.
- Henry George

The Air and Space near Dulles is the best museum that I have ever been to in the area. You may want to reconsider. Space Shuttle, The Enola Gay and the Concorde just to name a few planes found there.

Arlington National is awesome, and humbling. Make sure you take in a changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns. I believe that they do it every 30 minutes this time of year.

If you are going to go for a boat ride on the Potomac, try and do it in the evening. The city is beautiful at night and you avoid some heat and humidity. It was really humid early last week.

Georgetown is a beautiful neighborhood NW of DC. Some boat rides may stop there as well.

Four Sisters in Falls Church is the only place I have eaten at out there that I would really recommend.

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This definitely stuck with me more than anything else I saw on my trip to D.C. in 8th grade.

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Good people drink good beer - Hunter S. Thompson

<º)))><

Waiting for the time when I can finally say
That this has all been wonderful, but now I'm on my way

Don't hesitate to ride the subway. It's easy and pleasant and much cheaper than cabs. It's even an easy trip in from Reagan National.

Georgetown bars are fun.

And ditto on Arlington. In addition to changing of the guard the Kennedy grave site and the Lee house are must-sees.

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"I honestly don't see a good bet on the board here."

I am sure the Dulles museum is cool but they are bussing everyone out there on over 100 coach busses. It is a logistical nightmare. This is after being on my feet
for 10 hours straight so not really interested. Arlington National is the first stop. The boat ride will be in the evening so it should be 2 hours of relaxation and takes off from
Georgetown so we will get it all knocked out.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

We will be taking the Metro around. There is a stop less than a mile from the hotel.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

couldn't agree more about the Metro. they have stops everywhere and are clean and efficient. there is a stop right at Arlington as well. I loved visiting Arlington National Cemetery, quite a place. One other monument they have there that is worth visiting is the WWII memorial between the Washington and Lincoln Memorials. I found that to be beautiful and worth visiting.

We will definitely stop at the WWII memorial. There is a place to rent bicycles outside of the Metro stop and I think we will do that to see the monuments.
The WWII memorial wasn't built the last time I was there.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

bicycles sounds like a great idea. the last time we were there we WALKED from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial with our two kids on a warm summer day and it was a big mistake. those monuments down there are not as close together as they seem and our kids were pretty run-down and grouchy by the time we walked around and then walked back to wherever we had parked down there.

Sounds like you will have a great time.

And the Metro thing works best. DC traffic makes me long for Chicago rush hours.

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the DC Beltway and other major arteries in the DC area are among the biggest roads i have ever seen - 5,6 even 7 lanes across in each direction in spots. you definitely don't want to have to do a last-minute power-merge to your exit on one of those roads.

Yep...same here. Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the Vietnam memorial were incredibly sobering. These are things EVERYONE should see.

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I-75 in Atlanta is eight lanes in each direction.

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Good people drink good beer - Hunter S. Thompson

<º)))><

Waiting for the time when I can finally say
That this has all been wonderful, but now I'm on my way

Made final plans for the trip. Wednesday night boat trip, Thursday evening Arlington National, Friday will be monuments early
in the morning and then Air and Space and American History museum before I have to get back to work in the evening.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Lived in DC (Woodley Park & Columbia Heights) for five years. If I never set foot in the place again, that's fine by me. A stroll down the Mall isn't too painful. Roosevelt monument thing was decent.

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

Is there anything you do enjoy Hatchet?

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

I like a good hot dog. Which you cannot find in DC.

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Had a pretty nice trip overall. One day we got Arlington, Lincoln, Korean, WWI and Vietnam Memorials knocked out. A hell of a lot of walking there.
Next day we did Washington Monument, peeked at the White House, American History museum as well as Air and Space. It was all pretty neat I
guess. It had been a while. Don't think I need to go back again.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami