Kids won't want to leave district
LEARN | Bevy of fun awaits youngsters in museums, zoo
Whether or not your kids are interested in the political process, they'll remember a trip to Washington, D.C., for the inauguration. They'll witness history, of course. And they'll have fun.
"Kid-friendly?" asked Andrew Mason, associate executive director of the local YMCA. "This being our nation's capital, you bet. We have more monuments and tours and opportunities than you would imagine."
(AP)
The inaugural committee -- perhaps with First Daughters Malia and Sasha in mind -- has announced there will be a free "concert for America's children" Jan. 19 at the Verizon Center. Tickets will be required, but specifics weren't available at press time.
Kids also will enjoy the inaugural parade scheduled for 2:30 p.m., Jan. 20. There's no lining up before 7 a.m. that day, but stands and bleachers will stretch from Third to 17th streets. No tickets are required.
If you have any down time, you might also want to hit these spots:
International Spy Museum, 800 F St., N.W.
10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Maybe your kid loves technology. Or shows a special talent for lying. Anyone who's wondered "whodunit?" will raise an eyebrow at the spy museum. You'll find the requisite James Bond car. But the exhibits are less about spies in pop culture and more about the real thing. There are more than 200 gadgets to examine, from invisible ink and buttonhole cameras to the disguise techniques that Hollywood developed for the CIA.
Tickets: $18 for adults; $15 for children 5-11; children under 5 are free; (202) 393-7798
6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Prepare for the visit by checking out the giant panda cam at the Web site (nationalzoo.si.edu), and then stop to see 3-year-old Tai Shan in person. When Tai was born, he weighed less than 2 pounds. In November, he weighed in at 160. If you're feeling patriotic, you might want to check out the zoo's bald eagle refuge. Sam, the female, was shot in Alaska in 1986 and can't fly. But in a conservation success story, eagles' endangered species status was upgraded to "threatened" in 1995.
Free admission; (202) 633-4800
9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m.
Tickets for timed visits are available starting at 8 a.m., but they run out early.
There are 897 steps in the stairwell, and the record to get to the top stands at 6.7 minutes. But you might want to just take the elevator to the top -- seeing the city from 555 feet is a thrill for any age. Point out that construction on the obelisk was halted between 1854 and 1879 due to lack of funds; by the time they started building again, they couldn't find the same colored stones, so the bottom third is a lighter shade than the rest. Note: The Monument is closed Jan. 18 and 20 for inauguration activities.
Admission is free but requires a ticket; (202) 426-6841
10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Your kids might well grow up writing e-mails, not letters, so now is a good time to give them a sense of history. Talk about change; at the museum, there's a sled on display that used to deliver the mail to rural areas. There's also a full-size railway mail car in the atrium with authentic interior fixtures. You might inspire a young stamp collector with the world-class collections on display. And there's plenty of interaction at the museum's mail-order exhibit. Kids answer a few questions about themselves and then get a card that holds their coded answers and accesses other parts of the gallery.
Admission is free; (202) 633-5555
10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
The world's largest collection of air and spacecraft is here, including a lunar base camp where you can feel what it would be like to live on the moon, and a full-size test version of the Hubble space telescope. In addition to the planetarium, the Imax theater shows three different movies, 10 times a day. "Fighter Pilot: Operation Red Flag" follows an F-15 Eagle pilot as he tackles the international training program for air forces of allied countries.
Free admission; (202) 633-1000