DC with Kids: A Winter Break Adventure (Ages 7 & 9)

December 2021 – When pandemic fatigue meets family wanderlust

Between Christmas and New Year’s 2021, we decided to escape the Hudson Valley winter doldrums and take our boys (ages 9 and 7) on their first real DC adventure. Because nothing says “relaxing holiday break” like navigating the nation’s capital with two energetic kids, right?

The Game Plan

Our strategy was simple: drive down, ditch the car, and explore on foot/transit/rideshare. I’m firmly in the “driving around cities while sightseeing is torture” camp – hunting for parking while kids ask “Are we there yet?” every 30 seconds? No thanks. Plus, you see so much more when you’re not white-knuckling it through traffic.

We chose Adams Morgan for our base camp – close enough to walk to attractions but still residential enough to feel like we weren’t camping on the National Mall. The Line Hotel became our headquarters, and honestly, it was a great choice. Tasteful design, comfortable boutique vibe, and I’d definitely recommend it. Just a heads up: the parking lot is around the corner and about as intuitive to find as a teenager’s clean room, but totally manageable once you figure it out.

Pro tip: Audio books are a parent’s best friend for long car rides when you have a no-screen rule. Trust me on this one.

Day 1 (12/27/21): The “Let’s See Everything” Marathon

Morning/Afternoon Arrival

We hit the ground walking (literally) from Adams Morgan straight through Black Lives Matter Plaza – which no longer exists, so we’re glad we caught it while it was still there. There’s something surreal about walking your kids past the White House without tickets, just casually strolling around like you’re checking out the neighbor’s holiday decorations.

Our route took us past the Treasury, Ford’s Theater, Capital One Arena, and the National Archives to the National Building Museum. Random highlight: there’s actually a working pay phone by the restrooms in the National Building Museum. The kids were fascinated – it was like showing them a rotary phone or explaining how we used to rewind VHS tapes.

We made our way past the Navy Memorial to the National Gallery, then to the Capitol reflecting pond. We didn’t walk all the way to the Capitol itself – it felt a bit far, and honestly, given everything that had happened on January 6th earlier that year, it felt a little odd too.

The walk back toward Adams Morgan took us past FBI Headquarters and City Center, which had this amazing giant projection that stopped us in our tracks. We did cave and take a couple of Ubers (can’t remember exactly where), but we walked most of it because, apparently, we’re gluttons for punishment.

Day 2 (12/28/21): Art, Monuments, and More Walking

Breakfast at Tryst Coffee House (which became our morning ritual)

The Phillips Collection was one of our few pre-booked activities, and honestly, it turned out to be a trip highlight. Unlike the massive Smithsonian museums where you feel like you need a sherpa and three days to see everything, the Phillips is perfectly manageable and not packed with tourists. Great art, reasonable size, actually enjoyable – imagine that!

From there, we Ubered to the National Mall to check out the First Division Monument and work our way to the Washington Monument. Standing next to the Monument is one of those moments where you realize pictures don’t do it justice – it’s massive and positioned right in the heart of everything.

Confession: I honestly can’t remember if we went up it or not, which tells you how memorable that part was (if we did it). If it was easy and no wait, we probably did. If it required advance booking or standing in line with two kids, we definitely didn’t.

Dinner: The Diner in Adams Morgan (spoiler alert: this won’t be our last visit)

Day 3 (12/29/21): Pandas and Immersive Art

Another breakfast at Tryst (we’re creatures of habit)

Zoo day! The National Zoo was fantastic, and seeing the pandas was a huge hit, especially with our panda-obsessed son. There’s something magical about watching your kids get genuinely excited about animals they’ve only seen in books and documentaries.

Afternoon brought us to the Hirshhorn Museum – totally different vibe with very immersive, non-digital installations that had the kids engaged in ways we didn’t expect. Sometimes the best family experiences are the ones you stumble into.

Day 4 (12/30/21): Spies, Scooters, and Life-Threatening Fun

The Spy Museum was our other pre-booked experience, and it was worth it. They give you a case to solve, which was brilliant for keeping the kids engaged. Some of the tech was broken and it wasn’t always clear if you’d solved a section, but the kids didn’t care – they felt like real spies.

Being near the waterfront, we decided to explore that area. Here’s where I demonstrate my navigation skills: I got us completely turned around and we walked in the wrong direction for about 30 minutes while trying to get to the Air and Space Museum. Nothing improves family morale quite like extra walking when everyone’s already tired.

Air and Space Museum Reality Check: Under construction, much of it closed, line around the block, and what we could see wasn’t really worth the brutal wait. The kids liked the spaceships that were available, and there was a flight simulator, but the line was “abandon all hope” level insane.

Enter the Lime Scooters:

After all that extra walking thanks to my directional “skills,” the kids’ constant pestering about renting e-scooters finally wore us down. We downloaded the Lime app and promptly realized we had no helmets. So naturally, we decided to risk our lives rather than listen to more complaining. (Parent logic: sometimes you just have to choose your battles.)

Since the kids were too young to ride alone, Jennifer and I each drove one with a kid standing in front of us – probably violating several safety laws, but hey, desperate times. There was definitely a learning curve: figuring out how to find available scooters, unlock them, and then dealing with the battery life drama when one of our initial scooters was nearly dead.

But here’s the thing: Once we figured it out, the scooters were AMAZING. DC is so spread out that this became our best decision of the trip. We were able to see the Lincoln, Roosevelt, MLK, and Jefferson memorials – places I’d never actually visited before – and they were absolutely worth it.

The scooters do shut down in certain monument areas (we thought we broke something at first), so there was some walking while pushing them, but nothing compared to what we would have had to do on foot. The kids loved it, we saw exponentially more sights, and it turned a potentially exhausting day into an adventure.

For the ride back to the hotel, we decided to scooter all the way instead of getting an Uber. As someone used to biking in NYC streets, it wasn’t too scary for me, but it was definitely a new experience for Jennifer. More dangerous than walking? Absolutely. More efficient and fun? Also absolutely.

Dinner: Back to The Diner, but this time we made it a double dinner situation. Adams Morgan has those giant pizza slice places, and I had to try one for the novelty. Rookie mistake: I let the kids each get their own slice instead of sharing mine. We ended up with enough leftover pizza to feed a small army.

Day 5 (12/31/21): The Great Escape

Check-out day – I think we just grabbed breakfast and headed home. Sometimes the best way to end a trip is knowing when to quit while you’re ahead.

Lessons Learned (The Hard Way)

1. Take photos of EVERYTHING. If I’d done this, I’d have a much clearer picture of what we actually did instead of relying on my swiss-cheese memory.
2. Combine camera rolls. My wife and I still haven’t figured this out (she’s PC, I’m Mac), but someday we’ll solve this technological puzzle.
3. E-scooters are worth the risk (kidding! sort of…) but seriously, for DC sightseeing with kids, they’re a game-changer.
4. The Phillips Collection > Massive museums when you’re traveling with kids. Sometimes smaller and manageable beats comprehensive and overwhelming.
5. Audio books save sanity on long car rides with screen-free kids.

The Real Talk

Would we do it again? Absolutely. Was it exhausting? You bet. Did we see more of DC in four days than many people see in a week? Definitely. Sometimes the best family memories come from the chaos, the wrong turns, the broken museum tech, and yes, even the life-threatening scooter adventures.

Where we stayed: The Line Hotel, Adams Morgan – highly recommended!

Have you done DC with kids? What worked (or didn’t work) for your family? I’d love to hear about your adventures in the comments!