Washington DC 2009 - Trip Report and Photos

Around 95 travels traveled with us this year on our fourth trip to Washington DC. The weather was wonderful again - warmer than last year and only a little rain here and there.

The best part of the trip was meeting so many great families again this year. In addition to visiting the sites together, we had nightly gatherings in the lobby where the children and parents got to know each other. This resulted in some wonderful relationships being formed between the kids (and the parents!). We all seemed to mesh really well and came away with some fond memories.

As with previous years, everyone seemed to be pleased with our hotel and the free breakfast. We also seemed to have great tour guides at the different sites we visited (each year I get varying feedback about the sites, and most of the time it's the tour guide that makes the difference).

We were able to visit all the sites we planned for except the Pentagon. Hopefully we can add that back in for next year's trip. Most of my travelers enjoyed all of the sites, especially the White House, US Capital, Washington Monument, Ford's Theater, and the various museums.

Most of my itinerary was flexible - folks could stick with the group, or go off on their own if they wanted to see the sites alone. That was one of the benefits of using the Metro. In general, families stuck with the itinerary more closely on the first day, and branched out once they felt more comfortable using DC's wonderful Metro system.

I planned this trip to minimize walking even more than on previous trips, but it didn't work out so well due to different events going on the weekend we were there. There was still a lot of walking, and security didn't seem to let up any, either. Although I warned everyone about the level of security involved in every place we visit, I think the reality of it surprised most of my families. It's really hard to imagine unless you go through it yourself.

The cost of the trip for a "typical" family of 4 (depending on ages) was around $984. This included our hotel stay for four nights; breakfast on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday; lunch on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday; and all site admissions. It also included Metro transportation while we were in DC.

A want to send out a big thank you to the families who traveled with me this year. I truly enjoyed getting to know you and your delightful children. My children and I still talk about our time with all of you in the lobby each evening! It was such a wonderful and memorable experience for us. Thank you! :)

I've already received emails asking about next year's trip, so I'm already planning it for October again.

To get the latest information about all of our trips, please subscribe to the Traveling Homeschoolers mailing list. To discuss plans for our trips, visit the Traveling Homeschoolers forum on our message boards.

Trip Photos

I didn't take pictures of the sites since I've taken plenty on previous trips. Please see previous trip reports for photos.