Re: where to go in Washington, D.C. and polis/Baltimore

[Guest guest]

Listmates,

I¹m hoping that some of you can help me out on some ideas.

We¹re planning to take a trip to polis soon (with side trips to

Washington, D.C. and Baltimore) and I¹m wondering where we can eat aside

from Mcs, which is getting pretty old (for me but not for the kids!).

My ONE idea so far is to go to ³5 Guys² and take our own buns.

Also, do you have any recommendations for the best kid friendly places to

visit? Our 5 kids range from age 4 to 15. My biggest worry is my 8 year

old son who only wants to sit in his corner and play Legos. We think he

might like the International Spy Museum, though (his Favorite Lego set is a

spy adventure set). He did express interest in a zoo (any suggestions?).

We may hit the aquarium in Baltimore.

My 15 year old wants to go to some sort of Botanical garden. Not sure how

much there would be at this time of year in the regard anyway. Is there a

children¹s garden that might fit the bill?

Any and all suggestions will be greatly appreciated. I¹m trying to get my

nerve up for this trip... I¹m tired just thinking about it!

Caroline G.

[Guest guest]

Caroline

Welcome to my little neck of the woods!

When are you arriving?

polis doesn't have much for kids - the polis mall is nice for shopping.

There are a variety of restaurants there. Downtown polis is quaint/old but

again, not much for kids.

Baltimore has the Inner harbor area with the Aquarium and the Science Center.

There's also the Baltimore Zoo and the B & O RR museum. For older kids, there's a

Baseball museum, Babe Ruth house and the church with Edgar A Poe is buried.

We don't head into DC much -too crowded and scary for me.

But there are lots of free places to visit like the sonian, Air/Space

musuem, American History and the National Zoo (gotta love those Pandas!).

Lanham MD has a theme park - Great Adventures??

less than 2 hrs away is Gettysburg, PA. Civil war stuff...

there's Antieham and other Civil war spots in Western MD.

I've heard that the Intl spy museum is good.

There's also the Crytologic Museum at Fort Meade. A personal

favorite of mine :-)

It's next to the National Security Agency.

In between polis/Baltimore is the Arundel Mills Outlet center.

Movies, game area, lots of things to do.

And don't forget Ocean City and the beach areas.

The season will start gearing up here in the next month or two.

Not much in the way of gardens in the area. There's a Botanical Garden somewhere

in DC.

Are you flying or driving?

Let me know what types of food you're looking for.

Inner Harbor has the ESPN Zone, Hard Rock Cafe, Cheesecake Factory,

PF Changs.

Doris

sville, MD

>

> Listmates,

>

> I¹m hoping that some of you can help me out on some ideas.

>

> We¹re planning to take a trip to polis soon (with side trips to

> Washington, D.C. and Baltimore) and I¹m wondering where we can eat aside

> from Mcs, which is getting pretty old (for me but not for the kids!).

>

> My ONE idea so far is to go to ³5 Guys² and take our own buns.

>

> Also, do you have any recommendations for the best kid friendly places to

> visit? Our 5 kids range from age 4 to 15. My biggest worry is my 8 year

> old son who only wants to sit in his corner and play Legos. We think he

> might like the International Spy Museum, though (his Favorite Lego set is a

> spy adventure set). He did express interest in a zoo (any suggestions?).

>

> We may hit the aquarium in Baltimore.

>

> My 15 year old wants to go to some sort of Botanical garden. Not sure how

> much there would be at this time of year in the regard anyway. Is there a

> children¹s garden that might fit the bill?

>

> Any and all suggestions will be greatly appreciated. I¹m trying to get my

> nerve up for this trip... I¹m tired just thinking about it!

>

> Caroline G.

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Caroline,

This is so exciting, there's so much to see

here. I love the Spy Museum, the kids do

also. They have this amazingly cool crawl space

tunnel above the museum and you can hear/see

everything but no one can see you. We love the

Baltimore Aquarium, it has something for

everyone. You can't take a stroller in but it's

much easier without one. The dolphin show is fun

but not as elaborate as Sea World type places. I

usually bring lunch for my daughter so I can't

help with Baltimore restaurants but I'm sure

someone else can. The National Zoo is great but

it's on a hill so there is lots of walking. DC

has so many choices of museums, something for

everyone. They have a great carousel on the

Mall, it's a highlight for my kids. They also

love paddle boating in the tidal basin. The

water is gross but it's fun to see the monuments

from this angle. If you want to go to the top of

Washington Monument, you can order tickets so you

avoid the huge line. Taking a Duck Tour is pretty

fun, it's a boat that goes on water and land and

shows you all the monuments and sites. You can

get it from Union Station. There is a Pizzeria

Uno restaurant in Union Station that has gluten

free pizza. Near the Capitol there is a big

green house botanical garden that is very pretty

and small so it doesn't take too long to go

through. If you don't mind driving a bit,

ide Gardens in Silver Spring MD is a huge

and amazing park of gorgeous plants and

flowers. They have a butterfly exhibit (I don't

know if it will be there when you are visiting)

that is pretty cool. You go into this huge

greenhouse and there are hundreds of

butterflies. They sometimes land on you. Next

door to ide Gardens is a large park that

has a carousel, a train and a playground. It's

almost time to pick your own strawberries, that

is really fun to do. There are tons of " pick

your own " farms all over land. We go to one

in Germantown/ Poolesville that is great but it

might be too far for you. There are other things

to pick and animals to feed if you don't eat

berries. For food, our fave places are 5 guys,

Red Robin, Ziki (a japenese steak house in

Gaithersburg that cooks food right at your table-

they cook my daughter's food in the back so it's

safe for her but she still sees the show). Our

all time fave place is Golden Bull in

Gaithersburg. They keep safe pasta and safe

desserts for our kids. It's a steak and seafood

place. Cherry Blossom Festival is coming up,

this is fun but try to avoid it if you don't like

crowds. If you venture into my area of land

(Montgomery County) I can tell you where the good

playgrounds are. They have a cute indoor pool

with big water slides in Germantown and it's

right next to Adventure Playground which is a

huge outdoor play area. Write with any

questions, you will have such a good time here!

At 01:32 PM 3/23/2009, you wrote:

>Listmates,

>

>I¹m hoping that some of you can help me out on some ideas.

>

>We¹re planning to take a trip to polis soon (with side trips to

>Washington, D.C. and Baltimore) and I¹m wondering where we can eat aside

>from Mcs, which is getting pretty old (for me but not for the kids!).

>

>My ONE idea so far is to go to ³5 Guys² and take our own buns.

>

>Also, do you have any recommendations for the best kid friendly places to

>visit? Our 5 kids range from age 4 to 15. My biggest worry is my 8 year

>old son who only wants to sit in his corner and play Legos. We think he

>might like the International Spy Museum, though (his Favorite Lego set is a

>spy adventure set). He did express interest in a zoo (any suggestions?).

>

>We may hit the aquarium in Baltimore.

>

>My 15 year old wants to go to some sort of Botanical garden. Not sure how

>much there would be at this time of year in the regard anyway. Is there a

>children¹s garden that might fit the bill?

>

>Any and all suggestions will be greatly appreciated. I¹m trying to get my

>nerve up for this trip... I¹m tired just thinking about it!

>

>Caroline G.

[Guest guest]

and Doris,

Thank you both so much for the insider tips! I ordered ³Fodor's Around

Washington, D.C. with Kids² (which hasn¹t arrived yet), but NOTHING beats

another mom¹s advice (especially moms who understand the issues I¹m dealing

with). I¹m getting excited now. I¹ve been a little stressed! Last week my

husband asked me what I wanted to do on the trip and I told him ³Lock myself

in a closet until it¹s time to go home.² Bad attitude. I know it¹s an

incredible area to visit... I¹ve just been dreading the meltdown potential,

packing for 7 people, the food scenarios and all that. But I¹m feeling

better now. Thank you. The boys actually do pretty well on trips because

they don¹t know what to expect so they can¹t freak out about a schedule

change. The biggest concern in keeping them chipper is not to let them get

overtired.

I may have a few more questions for you, but first I¹ve got to digest the

great info you sent and start working up some sort of a plan. You both

mentioned places to see that I didn¹t know about. I¹ve printed out your

messages to put in my folder to go.

Thank you so much!

Caroline