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Jeanne
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| Posted: June 14 2005 at 5:14pm | IP Logged
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We will be traveling to D.C. in September with our family of 8 and another homeschooling family of 7.
I'm having a hard time coming up with a place to stay.
I really don't want to rent 2 hotel rooms for my family because of the cost. In the past we have stayed in places like a comfort suite which has 2 queen beds and a pull out couch. My kids are small enough that that works fine for us.
I have also checked out renting a house that both families can stay in together, but haven't had much luck.
Has anyone been there recently or live in the area with some advice for lodging? I'm also up for suggestions for touring with such a crowd. I'm hoping that since we are going in Sept. it won't be as crowded as in the summer.
We also would like to spend a few nights at the end of our trip at a close beach to unwind. I'm looking for suggestions for a nice beach not to far from D.C.
Thanks for taking the time to respond.
Blessings for a peaceful summer.
__________________
Jeanne
mom to 9 (21,19,17,15,12,10,6,4,8 months
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
P hi li ppians 4:13
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JennGM
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| Posted: June 14 2005 at 5:33pm | IP Logged
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Jeanne,
Have you looked in Manassas? That's not right outside of DC, but these are right off 66 and make a decent trip into DC. You could also take 66 and use Metro in Vienna.
Comfort Suites
Country Inns and Suites
I have not used either, but these are the ones I'm aware of in Manassas. These are right near the Manassas Battlefield, another nice stop if you haven't done it before!
Let us know if you're willing to go out further (!) to stay.
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Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to  & ds1  '03 & ds2  '07
Family in Feast and Feria
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teachingmyown
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| Posted: June 14 2005 at 7:45pm | IP Logged
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Jeanne,
How are you traveling and how long are you planning to stay? I am not sure if I can be much help, but that information might help me come up with something for you.
I don't think you will find any sort of rental. Everything close in will be expensive. But there is the metrorail (above ground subway) and a commuter train. That way you could stay a little further out.
Give me more details about your plans and I will think about what is around there. I grew up 15 minutes outside DC, I now live 40 miles south of there.
I would offer to host a big slumber party at my house, but we are moving in September.
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In Christ,
Molly
wife to Court & mom to ds '91, dd '96, ds '97, dds '99, '01, '03, '06, and dss '07 and 01/20/11
Remembering Today
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theNetSmith
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| Posted: June 14 2005 at 11:19pm | IP Logged
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Recalling our experience there last fall, I thought the MetroRail was expensive. You pay by how long your trip is (how many stations from point A to point B) rather than a flat rate for getting on and off like they had in NYC.
I believe that our younger two (aged 2 and 3) rode free, but depending on the ages of the kids in your two families and how far out you are staying, riding the MetroRail could easily become cost-prohibitive.
In spite of the construction areas around the mall when we were there, we were still able to find non-metered, parallel parking every time we drove in. Not saying we didn't drive around in circles a lot trying to find it, but it's there if you are patient (or lucky).
Sorry my post doesn't really address your main issue of lodging. 
-Tim
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Kelly
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| Posted: June 15 2005 at 12:26am | IP Logged
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You might try www.dcaccomodations.com. If this is the same group I used to know in DC (my college roomate worked there!) they are very nice and can help you find a "fit". They don't charge you, their fee comes from the hotel. One of the gals that ran it was named Marilyn. They really know the town.
Kelly in FL
PS If it IS the same gang, tell them that Stephanie's old roomate, Kelly, says hello!
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ALmom
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| Posted: June 15 2005 at 1:39am | IP Logged
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Jeanne,
My dh parents live in DC and we were visiting every year for a while. We had constraints like having to be close to his parents who actually live in DC instead of suburbs. Between fire codes and expensive hotels, it was costly and even parking at the hotel was a pain. We are used to rural south and much slower pace so that may be some of it. If you drive a club wagon, be sure to ask about the parking as many parking garages do not accomodate our van and you pay for that too! I was a little shocked to realize how much per day you pay for parking at the hotel! My dh, being from the area originally, knew more what to expect.
However, one thing that we discovered was that the more expensive hotels with suites came out cheaper for us than your standard family hotels (many came with breakfast which was a great money and time saver so factor that in)and they were much more child-friendly. (However, I don't know if we could have stayed there except that dh parents always end up giving us a check to cover the cost of the hotel). We stayed at Embassy Suites most often and at Hyatt Regency once, both at big discounts (DC residents can get better rates sometimes and some of it depends on whether or not you are weekend or weekday. Some of the business hotels give large discounts over the weekend but are outrageous during the week). I found that I got more bargains calling (woman) than my dh could get. Also you have a better chance of being able to stay in one room even exceeding the fire code if you talk to the local number rather than the 800 number. DC tends to be more of a stickler but we were still able to exceed the max number in a room by one or two people if some of them were little.
I do wonder if same type hotels would be cheaper in suburbs and it sure would be a lot easier with meals. That was the hardest for us - as we got sick of driving to find something to eat and few places were affordable or suitable for children who'd spent most of their time in the car. We were driving 1 hour everyday to meet dh parents for lunch in suburbs and then had to try and find a dinner meal and just could not drive back out to the suburbs again for dinner. In the suites, we had a refrigerator and stocked up on sandwhich meats which helped. It was also somewhat of a shock to us that there were time limits on parking (even at McDonalds) and we tend to take our time at meals. In the south, everyone moves at a much slower pace and the check-out person normally carries on a conversation with everyone that passes through her line. People linger at meals and it is not uncommon for us to take 2 hours at dinner here - so we usually felt rushed in DC.
Our dc loved riding the metro - it was a novelty for them and the one thing we absolutely have to do every time we visit. They never wanted to get off but kept wanting to ride to the end of the line oohing and aahing- sort of like at the snow in Chicago. We were obvious tourists  .
One child felt that the main thing she was missing with ps was the school bus so whalla - DC had bus transfers and metro - besides her dad had worked as a coop designing one of the early metro lines.
It is one thing I dread a little with toddlers in toe as safety is a concern when you are dealing with
no railings, large crowds and rapidly moving trains and curious little folks that want to look down at the tracks and watch the flashing lights and are full of a thousand questions, but we all survived without annoyance to the regular commuters. The children still view that as the highlight (not the marvelous art museum or the various Smithsonian museums and all the other DC spots we saw on different trips). But then we are a little odd! Of course if you are visiting from NYC or somewhere, the metro may not be so novel!
I would not recommend the National archives if you have young children - you cannot lift them up to see inside the bullet proof glass and even older folks only get a whopping 2 seconds to view the documents. Our young folks waited in line for a while just to see a box taller than they were. The art museum was fabulous - even the toddlers loved it and the people were very welcoming (we almost didn't go after our experience at the archives) and met us at the door with strollers.
We also enjoyed the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, and the Franciscan monestary nearby. We were tickled to see Mother Theresa's nuns walking the streets and waved happily. I think that was the year we stayed at a hotel along with the National Institute of Health Genome project people and everyone glared at us because we had 3 children and one on the way. I spent a lot of time worrying about what our children might be doing to annoy them as we had coached them on elevator ettiquette, and they were really exemplary in behaviour -- until I found out about the convention just as we were leaving and finally realized they were mad at us for having so many children.
My sister and her large family actually went camping. They were brave souls and even camped outside of NYC but I don't know if they felt the campsite was all that safe. You might get more info from a local. We couldn't camp as dh parents would worry. We had to visit the Shrine and Franciscan monestary surreptiously as they were concerned about safety.
Do they still allow locals to get tickets to tour white house and congress or has that changed since 9/11? We had a great time with that and only wish our dc were old enough to remember it more.
We did all the standard tourist things and enjoyed most of it. We also found some local parks - some are gigantic and dizzying and some were neighborhood parks. We found it funny to see all the nanny's - and most were talkative and friendly assuming I was someone's nanny and sharing business/contact info was their idea until they found out I was the mom!
We also had a great time looking for diplomatic tags - dh advice was not to drive near them - and driving by the various embassies and looking at the flags, etc.
Hope you have a great time!
Janet
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Kelly
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Hey again,
Reading Janet's post reminded me that we stayed at the WDC Embassy Suites at 1250 22nd St. NW and we did indeed get a very good rate for our group of 8. Plus, you could walk to many places and the metro isn't far at all. My children kept calling the place "Opryland"...they really liked it.
A fun place to eat with children is the Ethiopian restaurant, The Red Sea. There used to be one in Alexandria, and another in Adams Morgan. Need to check about safety on the latter location, but it may be fine. The food is delicious, but best of all is NO UTENSILS! You use your hands to roll the food up/dab it up in a doughy wrap doohickey. The prices in the Adams Morgan restaurant used to be really low, too, but again, you'd need to check.
A new place to visit that everyone is raving about is the Spy Museum. Very interactive. The kids all seem to love it. The Pope John Paul II Institute is supposed to be very interesting, too. And I, personally, love the National Cathedral. THough it is Episcopalian, you can close your eyes and believe you're in one of the great Catholic Gothic cathedrals of Europe. Be sure and go down underground to see the chapels below and the wonderful bookstore, the moonrock embedded in one of the stain glass windows, and all the gargoyles on the exterior of the building.
If you are downtown, the National Geographic office used to be interesting (and free!) but bears checking. I seem to remember they were remodeling or had closed everything or something. Great store, though. Also, just around the corner is the not-to-be-missed St. Matthew's. It IS easy to miss--- on the outside--- but inside it's huge and has gorgeous mosaics, flickering candles, beautiful chapels. A holy place. This is a good place to go for daily Mass (and walking distance from Embassy Suites!).
Last but not least, for big families, the white DC trollies (they're not really trollies, but you'll see them putting all over the place with tourists) used to be a great value because you can hop on and off them all day and they hit all the "hot spots", narrating as they go along. Since we couldn't get all our gang in one taxi, we found this was the best bet for touring, though slow, to be sure. The children liked the ride in the open air, too.
Kelly in FL (but a DC resident for a decade!)
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Jeanne
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| Posted: June 15 2005 at 2:57pm | IP Logged
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Molly,
We are traveling by car, we have 2 weeks to play with.
We are coming from Kentucky, so we are going to break the drive up into 2 days.
I hope we can take a few days at the end to go to the beach if we can find one not to far away, any suggestions?
Jenn,
How far is Manassas from D.C.? With so many kids we were hoping to stay as close as possible.
Thanks to everyone for all the great ideas and advice so far. I'm writing it all down.
Peace!
__________________
Jeanne
mom to 9 (21,19,17,15,12,10,6,4,8 months
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
P hi li ppians 4:13
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JennGM
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| Posted: June 15 2005 at 3:21pm | IP Logged
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Jeanne wrote:
| I hope we can take a few days at the end to go to the beach if we can find one not to far away, any suggestions? |
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The closest is the Maryland shore, such as Ocean City, Maryland, more than an hour away. Along VA is Virginia Beach or Colonial Beach, both more than 3-4 hours, I believe. I have not taken the trek to Ocean City, so someone else will need chime in.
Jeanne wrote:
| How far is Manassas from D.C.? With so many kids we were hoping to stay as close as possible. |
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It's 30 miles from DC. It's doable (I live in Manassas). Many people stay in Manassas to do sight-seeing in DC, as it is the closest, further place out from DC.  If you understand that explanation,  big Kudos!
Besides the above mentioned Metro Rail as a possible means of transportation, my husband takes the Virginia Railway Express into DC every day. He takes the Manassas line, and then to get around DC is Metro and walking. If you decide to use VRE and Metro your stay can be as far as Fredericksburg or Stafford or Manassas...more inexpensive. The trip into DC riding the train is 1 hour.
VRE and Metro are not inexpensive...but I think worth it. Even though others have done the parking, it is VERY hard to find spots and to drive around DC. The design of the streets are not logical and it is VERY easy to get lost. And since you are talking about September, the parking spaces will be harder to find. For me, I would budget the rail rides...as I hate loss of time and stress with parking and driving...but that's my personality! 
What places were you planning on seeing? Is this merely to see DC and the Smithsonian museums and other such official places, or a history trip, like Civil War battlefields?
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Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to & ds1 '03 & ds2 '07
Family in Feast and Feria
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teachingmom
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| Posted: June 15 2005 at 3:32pm | IP Logged
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Here are a few ideas for camping and cabins in the Washington, DC suburbs. Unfortunately, they are all located many miles from DC, so you would be commuting to see the sites like those of us who live here. (But none of them would be any farther than Manassas, I think.)
Prince William Forest Park has cabins and tent camping
Algonkian Regional Park has really nice vacation cottages on the Potomac River
Pohick Bay Regional Park has rustic cabins and tent camping
Bull Run Regional Park has tent camping
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~Irene (Mom to 6 girls, ages 7-19)
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Jeanne
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| Posted: June 15 2005 at 9:53pm | IP Logged
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Jen,
Right now our focus is on seeing DC. We are just beginning to plan our stops.
Has anyone taken their children to the Holocost Museum. We read a lot about WWII this spring and we would like to go. I wanted to know why the museum recommends ages 11 and up.
Thanks Irene for the camping and cabin info. I hadn't thought about that.
__________________
Jeanne
mom to 9 (21,19,17,15,12,10,6,4,8 months
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
P hi li ppians 4:13
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Mary Chris
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| Posted: June 16 2005 at 8:06am | IP Logged
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Jeanne,
We stayed in one of the cabins at Algonkian Park last October. They are very nice!  Having a kitchen helps cut down on the cost of vacations.
I am not sure about your route but the Outer Banks of North Carolina are really nice. I think it is about a five hour drive from DC. But only an hour or so south of Virginia Beach.
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Blessings, Mary Chris Beardsley
mom to MacKenzie3/95, Carter 12/97 Ronan 3/00 and wife to Jim since 1/92
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JennGM
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marychris wrote:
| I am not sure about your route but the Outer Banks of North Carolina are really nice. I think it is about a five hour drive from DC. But only an hour or so south of Virginia Beach. |
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Yes, if you are going to drive far enough to enjoy the beach, drive to NC instead of VA Beach. It's worth it. Very lovely.
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Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to & ds1 '03 & ds2 '07
Family in Feast and Feria
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Topic: trip to washington dc question
