Washington DC

Spa treatments, shopping, giggling over articles in silly women’s magazines – there are lots of options for mother-daughter getaways. But what about traveling with a teenage son?

My son towering over me at the
Washington Monument.

At this point, if you are the proud owner of such a species, you may be asking yourself, why on earth would I want to do that? Often the teenage years are something you merely endure and time away from your son is most precious.

But sometimes the stars align correctly, and it can be a good idea. So if your stars seem to be heading in that direction, read on to find out how you can enjoy such a trip and keep your son’s eyes from rolling back in his head at the mere sound of your voice.

As for me, I’ve been fairly lucky in that my kids have continued to at least fake that they like me and enjoy my company throughout the teenage years. So my son and I were able to take a memorable-for-all-the-right-reasons trip this summer to Washington DC. We both pronounced the trip a wonderful experience.

Here are a few suggestions should you be considering such an undertaking of your own.

Location, location, location.

That’s what everyone in real estate says are the three most important things, right? Well, that can be true in selecting a destination to travel with a teenager. In our case, our decision was made for us. My daughter was doing an internship with a congresswoman in Washington over the summer, my son was going to be taking American history his senior year in high school and he’d never been to our nation’s capital. And I know that the fact that we’d be joining my daughter for most activities was a huge selling point for Christopher in wanting to go. So you may want to consider adding another family member to the mix – if they get along.

DC has an awesome Metro system that we could ride just about everywhere, drastically reducing my stress level of navigating one-way streets, searching for non-existent parking spots and risking daily humiliation over my dreadful parallel parking skills.

Add there are so many fascinating things to do in DC that just about anyone would enjoy.

Select accommodations carefully.

I had two criteria: separate sleeping areas for mom and son so son could stay up late and both could have privacy and a location close to a Metro stop.

The massive Omni Shoreham Hotel has hosted every presidential Inaugural Ball since 1930.

We considered a few all-suites hotels: Capitol Hill Suites (www.capitolhillsuites.com) was a top choice. This all-suite boutique hotel, since totally renovated, was built in the 1950s. But we opted for a suite at the historic Omni Shoreham Hotel (omnihotels.com/FindAHotel/WashingtonDCShoreham.aspx). The hotel was beautiful, if a bit intimidating by its sheer size. Opened in 1930, the Shoreham has hosted every Inaugural Ball since then as well as many special events. Many senators and their families made the Shoreham their home throughout the years and celebrities have entertained and stayed here as well. And the location was perfect – one block from the Metro station and close to restaurants and retail.

Be lenient on hours.

Whenever you travel with another person, there will be compromises. Traveling with a teenager often involves compromising on the definition of when a day actually starts.

Rarely up before noon unless he had to be at one of his jobs, Christopher was not relishing a strict regimen or being at museums the minute they opened. So the night before, we discussed the next day’s activities and compromised on when he would get up and when we would leave for the day. We generally made it within half an hour of our goal.
Choose activities together or get grudging approval on those you’ve selected.

The only downside of DC is that there is so much to do it’s overwhelming. So I did the research and pretty much selected what we’d do. If my ideas were not met with overwhelming enthusiasm at the outset, they were agreed to and acknowledged as good ones after the fact.

Our humorous DC by Foot tour guide. He gave us a funny, irreverent and free tour of DC.

We started with a free walking tour, one I highly recommend. Not your boring, run-of-the-mill tour, this one was led by a recent college grad who is one member of a two-man business called DC by Foot (www.dcbyfoot.com). Funny, engaging and informative, the tour lasts an hour and 15 minutes, during which we heard irreverent stories and saw most of the monuments. The best was our guide doing a hilarious limerick covering the entire American Revolution. He also told us the story of a cat that supposedly fell off the scaffolding of the Washington Monument during construction, survived, but then ran into the street and got eaten by a dog.

We were amused by our visit to the International Spy Museum, (www.spymuseum.org) where we signed up for an activity where we were spies on a mission to stop a bomb, which included working with a group to look for spies on security cameras, calibrate listening devices, questioning suspects and searching a room for clues. A fun adventure, it is recommended for kids over 10. And a bonus of signing up for this adventure is that you don’t have to wait in line for the museum when it is over.

We strolled through a few exhibits in the Smithsonian museums, spending the most time in the National Air and Space Museum. One of our highlights was looking at the presidential portraits in the National Portrait Gallery, the only complete collection outside the White House. Housed in the same building as the American Art Museum, we visited those galleries as well and took a break in the beautiful sun-dappled courtyard with block-long skylights.

By far our favorite stop was the Newseum, (www.newseum.org) one of the most fascinating places I’ve ever visited in my life. Opened in April, the 250,000-square-foot Newseum explores history and how the media covered it, with tons of interactive exhibits. We spent six hours here, and could have spent more. But it was about to close and our stomachs were growling, so we reluctantly left. I vowed to return and bring my husband, a total news junkie, who would adore it. (See more about the Newseum in TG Alley in the October/November issue of travelgirl.)

We met my daughter at her Capitol Hill office one day, and she led us through the underground maze of hallways to the Capitol and gave us a tour – one of her responsibilities as an intern. It was special thrill for all three of us. And through some lucky circumstances, we were able to get a tour of the White House as well. It’s a beautiful home and we felt privileged to be able to see it.

The only place we wanted to see that we couldn’t was the National Archives. The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were on display. I’d read about long lines, but one afternoon around 5:00 I suggested we head there to see if maybe we could slip in at the end of the day. No such luck. There was still a long, long line. But that actually cheered me in a way. Corny as it may sound, it made me feel good to live in a country where people line up to see the documents on which our freedom in based.

Speaking of freedom - give them some.

They aren’t kids anymore and really appreciate it when you recognize that. Yes, we were in a big city, but my son was almost 18 and appreciated a bit of a chance to separate from mom, even if only for a brief time.

One of his favorite activities was racing ahead when we got off at a Metro stop. He ran up the miles-long escalators and waited up top. A few times he left the hotel on his own to head over to McDonald’s to get a biscuit. And once I sent him on a mission that actually saved me money. When we popped out on The Mall our first afternoon there, it was pouring rain. We ran up the escalator and found a small awning to stand under. We had seen people selling umbrellas, 2 for $15, in the station so I gave Christopher $20 and sent him back down to get us two. He returned with two umbrellas and $10. “I just said, ‘how about two for $10’ and they said okay.’ Guess I need to use his negotiating skills more often.

It was a wonderful trip for us and we enjoyed every minute. And I believe my son was fairly excited to have visited our capital and see firsthand many of the places he’ll be reading about this year.

More in DC

Catherine and Christopher at Screen on the Green

Screen on the Green
In the summer months you can go to Screen on the Green, a free movie on the mall shown on a large projector. We took a picnic from Trader Joe’s and had a wonderful evening.

Strolling through Neighborhoods
We enjoyed window-shopping and people watching in Georgetown and one evening strolled from our hotel over the Duke Ellington Bridge past charming brownstones into the funky, fun Adams-Morgan neighborhood. Travelgirl tip: You can’t really take The Metro to Georgetown, but a bus called the Circulator runs there. Tickets are $1.

There are plenty of restaurants in DC to choose from. I had to let my son select the lunch place one day and I did enjoy the mounds of fries at Five Guys Burgers. He also enjoys ethnic foods, so we had Thai food at Sala Thai, Indian food at Jyoti Indian Cuisine and Italian food at Sette Osteria.