Wanderlusting Mama’s tips for Washington DC

Lincoln Memorial

 

Here are my tips for a Washington DC trip!

A train-ride away: We didn’t stay in downtown DC, we actually got a hotel in Alexandria. Prices were more reasonable and we had free parking and breakfast! I was told later on that Bethesda is nicer, so you can consider that as well. It is so convenient to take the train to downtown DC.

Old Town Alexandria

 Cheaper or More Convenient depends on your group: If you are more than 3 in your group, you may want to consider driving into DC and getting parking for $25. However, you would have to contend with traffic and the confusing signage. You will be driving along in a lane which suddenly turns into the highway or be forced to take a left/right or go straight, with no option to change lanes. If you want the convenience, taking the Metro is a breeze. Fares are based on time/distance. Ours cost about $8 round trip so it was definitely more expensive for our group of 5. We also had to pay for Metro station parking.

Washington Memorial and the reflecting pool

 Don’t forget your timed-entry tickets: some of the more popular museums such as Air and Space and African American Museum have timed-entry tickets. Be sure to check the main website in advance and book your tickets. These are free.

US Capitol

 

WWI memorial

Which museums to go to? The Smithsonian museums take anywhere from 1-3 full days to explore. We only had about 3 hours for each museum we went to. Museums are generally open from 10am to 5pm. Here are our picks:

• National Air and Space Museum—undergoing a multi-year makeover, but still with lots to see such as the Wright flyer, Apollo Lunar module and various enormous air and spacecraft dangling from the ceiling

National Air and Space Museum

• National Museum of Natural History—check out the 45 carat Hope Diamond and their 14-ft-tall elephant

National Museum of Natural History

• National Museum of African American History and Culture —the newest among the museums. It tells a great, albeit heavy on the heart, story of slavery and the oppression of the African American people

Contemplative Court @National Museum of African American History and Culture

• National Museum of American History—see Abraham Lincoln’s iconic top hat and various war artifacts

from the Vietnam war @National Museum of American History

• While not a technically called a museum, I loved the National Gallery of Art. They had a wonderful collection including some from my favourite Impressionist artists, Van Gogh and Monet. The gallery is home to da Vinci's Ginevra de' Benci, his only painting for public viewing in this side of the world.

National Gallery of Art in DC

 What about food in the museums?

Mitsitam Native Foods café inside the National Museum of the American Indian is good. We got some bison chili and bison burger for a taste of something different. Not bad at all. 

National Museum of the American Indian

Bison burger @National Museum of the American Indian

I do highly recommend Sweet Home café inside National Museum of African American History and Culture—their Southern fried chicken with corn bread is still something we crave long after our visit. There are many food trucks outside the museums, though the museums with timed-entry will not allow you re-entry privileges. For those where you can go outside (if you are willing to go through security again, which is almost like airport security), there are many food trucks. Be sure to walk a little bit farther from the entrance. The same half-smokes or burgers cost $1 less for the trucks farther along the street. The ice cream and cold drinks are pricey so hold off if you can. Grandma was so thirsty, she ended up paying $10 for a glass of lemonade half-filled with ice.

Food trucks @Washington DC

We really enjoyed DC. It did take quite some planning but the whole family enjoyed learning and exploring. 

A different kind of Thai: Paddler Thai Boat Noodles

 

Paddler Thai Boat Noodles

I have fond memories of getting Pad Thai from street carts in Bangkok. It is still my favourite noodles of all time. In Bangkok, I also had the hottest curry in some hole in the wall joint, where every bite required a sip of Pepsi. And while I have visited the floating market, I have not tried boat noodles before. In fact, I have not heard of boat noodles until I was looking for a place to eat in the Parkdale area where we were going to find ourselves during dinner time on a weekday. While I wanted to try some Tibetan cuisine in Little Tibet, I couldn’t resist not trying the boat noodles at Paddler. Kuaytiaw – Rua or boat noodles are  sold by vendors in the floating markets. Vendors would cook noodles on board small boats and sell them to people on shore or on other boats.  How could I not try that?

Hubby started with Crisp Fried Quail Egg Wonton. Nicely deep fried and served with house plum sauce. It was a nice appetizer and tastes exactly as the name of the dish—it was quail egg wrapped in wonton wrapper and crisp fried. There was simply no other way to describe it.

Of course, we got their Signature Boat Noodles. We first chose the type of noodles (small rice, medium rice, flat rice or egg noodles). Then, we chose our protein (beef or pork). I got medium rice noodles with beef (braised, sliced, and beef balls) which arrived in this beautiful broth (made by using pig or cow blood and dark soy sauce, well balanced with some coconut milk and chili oil). Thai herbs, sprouts, cilantro, fried garlic and dried chili peppers bring it all together. It was served with pork rind which provided a nice crunch. The broth was just absolutely delicious. It was tangy, spicy and full of flavour. It definitely hits the spot. DD#1, a soup lover, has declared it to now be her favourite soup. Ramen and Pho have now been dethroned.

Boat Noodles at Paddler

Grandma, who was not in the mood for soup, got the dry boat noodles, which is also very traditional. The noodles also come with protein and is brought together by chili oil and dried chilies, cilantro and also some dried coconut.

Dry Boat noodles at Paddler

Service was good, though there was a bit of a wait (20-30 min). Overall, super worth it. And while we talked of coming back to the area to have a Tibetan meal, I wager we will end up here in Paddler again.