Family tours, family travel is always a great time and when you pack it into one of the most historic weekends in the United States, well you have yourself a super-sized fun vacation.
We were fortunate enough to have a 3 day weekend, so we packed up the kids and traveled to Washington, D.C. We have driven through the area more times than I can count but we have never stopped until this trip. Here are my quick pick’s for traveling to Washington, D.C. and getting a quick mix of history, and fun that both kids and parents alike will delight in.This is my version of quick travel to Washington DC and tourism as we Lavishly lived travel out loud and made the most of a few hours with our family.
This is my version of quick travel to Washington DC and tourism as we Lavishly lived travel out loud and enjoy travel to Washington, D.C., and tourism.
Getting there and parking in Washington, D.C. Memorials
You can see the sites and have a great day while educating the kids and yourselves, are you ready for Travel to Washington DC and Tourism? I can’t believe it is a year ago, that we visited Washington, D.C., but I know it was a family tour we will never forget. Not only was it educational, but it was fun and so interesting.
Just being with the life size art, statutes creates a mystifying ambiance with so many questions to be answered. Of course, this is the perfect way to sneak in the educational side of things because questions fly and then you can start getting down and dirty with the history!
We started out at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, and we parked right on West Basin Street. Here’s a little tip: If you park right here there are public restrooms that are well-kept right in this building. When it’s cold outside, the bathrooms are warm:)
You get a great view of The Thomas Jefferson Memorial when you are visiting the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial area, so make sure to grab your camera and snag one. Look at the beautiful view.
We traveled across the street and headed to the Lincoln Memorial which was pretty much a 5-minute walk. We took pictures of every angle of the Memorial and then made sure to take those great pictures of the Washington Monument that was off in the distance and only a 10-minute walk across the plaza.
Interesting Point: With all the rain coming down, we were very careful coming down the Lincoln Memorial Steps as they were marble so it was one step at a time.
Once we took some photos and a lot of history, we turned around and marveled at the reflections of the Washington Monument as the sun had just begun coming out. We began our journey alongside the Reflecting Pool where my kids were entranced by the look and non-depth of it. They watched the drains working, the flow of the water and some of the ice that crested the top of the water.
We reached the other end of the Reflecting Pool we reached the National World War II Memorial my husband I each picked the state that we were born in to photo underneath.
The water on the inside was obviously off as it was January, but it was awe-inspiring to walk around in and around the area, just reflecting on history has gone by!
We journeyed on another few minutes and followed the path to the Washington Monument. My son was thrilled to see the two-tone marble which they learned about in history class, so putting classroom learning into real-life translation = confirmation!
In the distance, we could see the White House and we took a few photos with it in the background.
On the way back, we found a few shortcuts back to our car. The nicest part about our tour is it was all lavishly FREE. We paid nothing for parking to monument visits and we spent great family time together. The education and history we all took away were incredible, it was as though we stepped out of a Social Studies class into a real-time book.
My kids were amazed at the Lincoln Memorial and all the detail there and the trip over to the Washington Monument was even more noteworthy as the discussion that surrounded the Reflecting Pool was so in-depth and inquisitive it had us Googling and recalling all we knew and had studied (my husband and myself). Lavishly living travel out loud was really made easy with this trip of walking through history in Washington, D.C.
Dana Vento is a travel writer who loves globetrots both with her family and solo. The world is her destination!