Washington DC and visiting USA questions

[mr friendly guy]

In 2002 while after doing my elective in Canada, me and a few friends passed through the US including a brief visit to the Smithsonian institute at Washington DC. Didn't have time to see it all and I sort of feel that its sort of unfinished business that I didn't have time to see it all.

I am considering going back to the US this year, and thinking about stopping over at the Smithsonian. Now for the questions

1. How many days does it take to go through the museums. Particularly interested in the museums of natural science.
2. Are there any tours, or do people advise us to just wander by yourself
3. What else besides the White House is there to see in Washington DC.
4. Any particularly good restaurants I should try out.

Oh, and if anyone thinks I should see some other part of the US, feel free to suggest it. For the record I have visited

a. New York
b. Los Angeles (and Disneyland and Universal studios)
c. Boston (one day only)
d. Washington DC (one day only)
e. Orlando (mainly Disneyworld and I am considering going back there again if I do visit the US again).

[Borgholio]

Well I can only speak for Los Angeles, but it can take you days to go through even just the local museums, let alone the ones in the rest of Southern CA.

We have (off the top of my head):

Museum of Natural History
Getty Center art gallery
Griffith Observatory and Planetarium
La Brea Tar Pits
Peterson Automotive History museum
Gene Autry Western Heritage museum
Los Angeles Arboretum and Botanical Gardens
Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific
Battleship Iowa museum and tour (if you've never set foot on a battleship before then trust me...you will be impressed).

So yeah plenty to do and even if you rush through each of these attractions, you can still only hit two of them a day.

[TronPaul]

As a Chicagoan, I have to suggest Chicago. We have some good museams in the Field Museam, Museam of Science and Industry, Shedd Aquarium, Art Institute, and Brookfield Zoo (it's in the suburbs, accessable by train, and better than the Lincoln Park Zoo inside the city). If you like architecture, there's a lot of great architecture in Chicago and many architecture tours. There's also a ton of great restaraunts and bars. I find myself eating out way too much. Within walking distance of my apartment I can get awesome barbecue, insane ramen, great tacos, good pizza, and tasty burgers. The Sears Tower, John Hancock building, and Navy Pier are also places to visit, though Navy Pier is more of a tourist trap than interesting for me.

[General Zod]

I was able to hit up all of the big museums in the 3 days I was there, though 5 days would give you enough time to hit all of the big touristy spots. (Basically everything along the Mall was fun to catch.) If you want to hit up California, I'd say catch San Francisco and avoid Los Angeles. LA's good for Hollywood and . . . not much else. San Francisco's got plenty of natural attractions worth checking out and lots of good food. Golden Gate Park is huge and walking across the bridge are musts. (Pack sunscreen though.)

[Borgholio]

Yes, if you to to SF then the California Academy of the Sciences is huge and has many interesting exhibits...including a green (planted) roof.

[Elheru Aran]

If you're in DC, yeah, focus on the Mall and a few of the monuments. You can't see much of the Capitol or White House in general, not without a serious security scan, but the museums are a little easier (metal detector and x-rays generally).

Museum of the American Indian, Air and Space, Natural History, etc... really the Smithsonian Museums are all pretty decent and worth checking out. There's also the annex to the Air and Space Museum outside DC, forget where but it's got a lot of planes and rockets and all that. Lincoln Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, etc. I'd say Arlington but it's mostly interesting for the changing of the guard at the Unknown Soldiers; apart from that, well, it's a bunch of graves. Some of the memorials there are interesting though like the one for the sailors of the Maine.

[Block]

Museum of the American Indian, Air and Space, Natural History, etc... really the Smithsonian Museums are all pretty decent and worth checking out. There's also the annex to the Air and Space Museum outside DC, forget where but it's got a lot of planes and rockets and all that.

It's near Dulles Airport, and it's massive. I'd recommend trying to take the FBI building tour, but you have to get there really early in the morning if I remember correctly. Everything around the national mall is interesting, Baltimore is close by and has a great science center and Aquarium, plus a sub and an old wooden ship that you can tour. Nationals Park is rather spectacular if you're a fan of baseball at all, and there's a couple of theaters in the area that often have interesting shows. New York is also about 5-6 hours up I-95.

[PKRudeBoy]

The International Spy Museum in DC is excellent, as are the Newseum, the Navy Museum, and the Crime and Punishment Museum.

[Ziggy Stardust]

1. How many days does it take to go through the museums. Particularly interested in the museums of natural science.

I lived in DC for 3 years, incidentally.

Honestly, all the DC museums are brilliant, and many of them you can spend an entire day in if you want to. The Museum of Natural History, the Museum of the American Indian, the Museum of American History, the National Portrait Gallery, the Museum of Art, the National Archives, the Smithsonian Zoo, the National Air & Space Museum (and their annex by Dulles airport, officially called the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center), the Hirshhorn Museum, and the Museum of African Art are all great and worth a visit. The bigger ones (Natural History, American India, Air & Space) you can spend a LOT of time in. Most of them you can see the highlights in just a couple of hours, though it depends on your degree of interest in the subject material. The American Indian museum is really worth a visit, and does not make efforts to whitewash the history to make white people look less terrible, which is especially refreshing. And those are just the Smithsonian museums, there are also a number of great private museums. The Newseum (basically a history of journalism) is great, including a section of the Berlin Wall and a piece of the radio tower from the World Trade Center. The Spy Museum and Crime & Punishment Museums are great, as well. Other good ones include the Corcoran, Dumbarton Oaks, the Shakespeare Library, the Frederick Douglass home, the Laogai Museum, the Library of Congress, the Marian Koshland Science Museum, the National Arboretum, the National Building Museum, the National Geographic Museum, the Phillips Collection, the Navy Museum, and others.

In short: it is hard to give you advice without an idea of what you are interested in seeing, because there are essentially limitless options. It is also worth looking up events for the time you want to be here. For example, if you come in the early spring you can see the Cherry Blossom Festival, during the summer there is a being Latin American Heritage Festival, there is a great St. Patrick's festival, etc.

2. Are there any tours, or do people advise us to just wander by yourself

There are lots of tours. There are private tour groups that will take you to various museums, and most museums have their own staff tours. However, unless you are traveling with people who don't speak/read good English, it's probably not worth the money. Wandering by yourself is more fun and less stressful, and looking by yourself you can find lots of good spots that avoid tourists. Like the Sculpture Garden, the MLK Memorial, the FDR Memorial, etc.

3. What else besides the White House is there to see in Washington DC.

In addition to the museums there are a lot of monuments and such. Depends on your interest in US history. The Washington monument you have to be an idiot to miss, especially if you go to the White House. The Lincoln and Jefferson monuments are both great (I prefer the latter, actually). The World War 2 monument is beautiful. So is the Reflecting Pool, the Vietnam monument, the Korean War monument, the MLK Jr. monument, and the FDR monument. All of these are in a relatively small area referred to as the Mall. Easy to find, and there are plenty of posted signs.

Further away from the Mall, there's Georgetown (which includes Dumbarton Oaks, which I mentioned above), which is a beautiful old part of the city (great place to get dinner or drinks, but it is expensive and doesn't have a Metro stop). There's Arlington Cemetery, which is pretty and neat, but again mostly interesting from a historical perspective. Embassy Row is a fun place to walk around (and if you go the right time of year you can go to one of the various Embassy open houses they have, where they invite you into the buildings. When I was last there I had wine and cheese in the Argentine embassy, and the Japanese embassy had a display set up of traditional Japanese artwork). There's Great Falls, Rock Creek Park, the Baltimore and Ohio Canal, and the Manassas Civil War battlefield all close by, as well. The National Arboretum is also worth visiting.

A day trip to Baltimore is also worthwhile.

4. Any particularly good restaurants I should try out.

What are you going for? I am assuming you don't want to go the fast food route (if you do, that is readily available everywhere). Georgetown is the best place to go for nicer restaurants. My recommendations there are 1789, Filomena, a place called Farmers, Fishers, Bakers, and Sea Catch (though to be honest I rarely went out in Georgetown, I was poor while living there). Old Town Alexandria is also a great place to go for dinner/drinks, though it is a bit far from the city proper (but easily accessible via the King Street metro stop). That was always my favorite part of the city to go out to dinner at. My recommendations there are The Wharf, the Fish Market, the Chart House, King Street Blues, Bilbo Baggins, Gadsby's Tavern, and Virtue Feed and Grain (there is also a great Thai restaurant whose name I can't recall). The other good areas are Dupont Circle (which also has probably the widest range of options food-wise, both in terms of style of food and price. There are nice restaurants there all the way down to hole-in-the-wall burger joints and such) and Woodley Park/Adam's Morgan (which is the cheapest). The latter two areas are both relatively close to the embassies, as well as being the best areas to go out drinking in after dinner. There's also Chinatown (though those are mostly chains, except for a couple decent bars), Ballston, H Street (hard to reach, though, due to the lack of a metro stop), and Eastern Market. There's a scattering of stuff downtown, too. The best thing is to either look something up in advance or just walk around one of those neighborhoods I listed. DC is a pretty small city, geographically, and everything tends to cluster close to Metro stop entrances.

Oh, and if anyone thinks I should see some other part of the US, feel free to suggest it.

All the places you listed are worth multiple visits, potentially. Other places worth seeing (depending on your interests) are Baltimore, Philadelphia, Chicago, Miami, San Francisco, San Diego, Seattle, New Orleans, and Austin. Those are all major cities with lots of opportunities. Some smaller cities that aren't worth gunning out of your way for but are worth visiting if your trip happens to take you to the area include Charleston, Providence, Asheville, Nashville, and Portsmouth. And those are just cities, there are also natural attractions like the Everglades, the Grand Canyon, Zion National Park, Death Valley, Yellowstone, Yosemite, the Smoky Mountains, the Great Lakes, the Outer Banks, Glacier National Park, etc.

EDIT: Seriously, the US is fucking HUGE.

EDIT2: If your trip includes having a car (as opposed to getting around my train/bus/plane), you can also use this website to find lots of weird, strange roadside attractions all around the country. Want to see T. Rex statues eating dummies dressed like Civil War soldiers? Well, that's the website for you.

[mr friendly guy]

Museum of natural history is the main one I want to see. I think I will focus my efforts there, as I also plan to revisit Disneyworld in Orlando, Florida. Time limits and all that stuff.

I have seen some of the monuments I saw the first time round, so I will forego them for now unless I manage to convince other people to come with me (but so far no luck).

In terms of restaurants, I was thinking of what people would consider American cuisine, and not fast food. Last time I was with friends in the US I was a poor student and was fully aware I was using my parents money, so I ate fast food and nothing too lavish. Now its different and frankly you only live once, so may as well enjoy it.

[Borgholio]

I was thinking of what people would consider American cuisine

Well a small mom and pop cafe / diner is a good choice. Many of us stop at that one special hole in the wall in the middle of buttfuck nowhere while we we're on vacation.

We also enjoy a good steakhouse. Also look into BBQ joints - every region of the US has their own way of preparing BBQ and they're all uniquely tasty.

[Esquire]

On a barbecue-related note, the quality of the food is inversely proportional to the fancyness of the restaurant. Go for the falling-down shack over the shiny new chain every time.

[Elheru Aran]

On a barbecue-related note, the quality of the food is inversely proportional to the fancyness of the restaurant. Go for the falling-down shack over the shiny new chain every time.

Before doing this though ask around with locals, say at gas stations when you fill up. The shacks can be extremely awesome BBQ-- or they can be a cynical restauranteur who's trying to take advantage of tourists trying to be smart. I've been in a few holes-in-the-wall which were entirely too greasy, sauce bland, bugs on the walls, etc... There are honestly a few chains which are pretty decent, Shane's BBQ down here in Georgia is one.

I will recommend one chain restaurant which you *may* run into-- they're a dying breed-- "Red Hot and Blue". BBQ/Southern restaurant. They actually do very good BBQ with a great variety of sauces, and everything they sell is pretty tasty. There aren't many of them but give them a spin if you find one on your way.

[Esquire]

Ah, those are good! There's one just up the street from the Rosslyn metro station in Arlington, or at least there used to be.

[Ziggy Stardust]

In terms of restaurants, I was thinking of what people would consider American cuisine, and not fast food.

Well, there are endless options in that regard.

The Main Avenue Fish Market has fresh seafood. DCity Smokehouse is a good small, local BBQ joint. Boundary Stone is a good pub/restaurant. Tabard Inn Restaurant is a great breakfast place. Founding Farmers is a good place for "southern" cuisine in the US (fried green tomatoes, hush puppies, etc.). Amy's is a good pizza place (but not like Domino's take out, its a restaurant). Busboys and Poets is a quirky little place with good "American" food.

There are also places that are basically bar food, but are run by hipster types who insist on getting everything local/organic/etc. Also have good beer selections, including a couple of microbrews. In fact, a popular trend now in the DC area (and other big cities) are "gastropubs," which are basically microbrews that also have good food. Right Proper Brewing Company, Big Bear Cafe, Capitol City Brewing Company, Old Dominion Brewhouse, City Tap House, and others. DC actually has a very active "organic" scene (or whatever the hell you call it), with lots of farmer's markets and such.

On a different note, DC is famous for its Ethiopian and Salvadorean cuisine. There are a lot of little hole in the wall Ethiopian and Salvadorean places all throughout the city that are excellent. Primarily in the U Street/Columbia Heights neighborhoods, but also in Adam's Morgan and elsewhere.

EDIT: If you just want to walk around and find something, the best places are Chinatown (though most of the restaurants there are chains), Dupont Circle, and Eastern Market.

[Thanas]

If you really want to get american cuisine, the following places are necessary:

Boston - for the seafood, especially clam chowder, oysters and lobster
Baltimore - crabcakes and seafood
Kansas City - barbecue
Texas - barbecue and mexican influences
Lousiana - the best food there is in the entire US. Creole and cajun cuisine is awesome, from the simple dishes (crawlfish) to the great blends of spanish, french and indigenous cuisine in New Orleans
New York and Chicago - pizza. You can skip it though, not that great. Definitely not as good as Italian pizza.
New York and Pittsburgh - sandwiches, especially those influenced by Eastern European Jewish cuisine
San Francisco - Chinese blending with American food. Some of the most innovative cooking there is.

If you are in Florida, you should contact me for the address of the best Korean/american food I ever had. A really unique blend of Korean food and peanuts with spices etc. It was awesome.

[General Zod]

Regarding pizza, New York pies are all over the map as far as quality goes. I've managed to sample a pretty sizable selection and I've been to dollar joints that had better slices than places that were charging $5 a pop. On the other hand, the Asian food is absolutely wonderful; especially soup dumplings from Joe's Shanghai or any of the dozens of Japanese ramen shops in the East Village.

[Darksider]

If you are in Florida, you should contact me for the address of the best Korean/american food I ever had. A really unique blend of Korean food and peanuts with spices etc. It was awesome.

What part of Florida would that be in? I'm headed down near Ft. Myers at the end of May.

[Thanas]

Jacksonville to be specific.

[Darksider]

Oh. That's way outta our way then. Maybe if we were driving down we could've stopped, but we're flying in.

[Dalton]

If you're looking for good burgers around NYC try Jackson Hole or Bill's Bar & Burgers. I've heard good things about Shake Shack but have never tried them.

Also we have the best bagels in the world - and the best pizza comes from indie joints rather than garbage like Sbarro, Pizza Hut or Papa John's.

Katz's Deli for huge sandwiches.

And you can pretty much throw a rock and hit a good Italian restaurant.

If you're into Halal food there's a street vendor at 53rd and 6th that's the best I've ever had.

[General Zod]

Be careful about your shake-shack location choice; the lines can be absolutely obscene. I tried to go to the one in Midtown a few weeks back and the line stretched on for a good block.

[mr friendly guy]

Well I will be passing through Washington and revisitng Disney. I got about 2 days in Washington since its about 1 day per museum. I plan to see the museum of natural history and see whatever else I can before going to Disney.

[FSTargetDrone]

Eh, New York...

Try Philadelphia!

There, you can see:

The Mütter Museum of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia has a collection of medical oddities and various nightmarish human specimens.

The Philadelphia Museum of Art which is one of the largest art museums in the country. The nearby Fairmount Water Works and Fairmount Park itself (one of the largest urban parks in the world) are both worth a visit.

The Philadelphia Zoo, the first zoo in the USA.

The Independence Seaport Museum featuring the Protected Cruiser Olympia (oldest steel warship afloat in the world, only ship of its class and only remaining US ship to have fought in the Spanish-American War), Submarine Becuna and other artifact and exhibits on display inside, including a working boat shop. On the other side of the Delaware River from Philadelphia (a short trip) you can visit the Battleship New Jersey (longest US battleship ever built and most decorated battleship in US history).

The Franklin Institute which has various exhibitions and displays, including the Wright Brothers' Model B Flyer and one of the largest steam locomotives of its kind, the Baldwin 60000.

The University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology with various mummies and other relics of all kinds.

The Barnes Foundation had the largest collection of paintings by Renoir, among others.

I also recommend Laurel Hill Cemetery...

There are lots of restaurants with any kind of food you might like.

See the Visit Philadelphia site for much, much more.

[Thanas]

And you can pretty much throw a rock and hit a good Italian restaurant.

In my experience, if anybody has ever tasted real Italian cuisine and real Italian pizza then he will not consider American Italian pizza that good. It is a whole different experience.