Disclaimer—I’m a Type A Planner. I plan most of my trips a year or more in advance. So when I have to throw together a trip in just 2 months, it seems very last-minute to me!
Last month, I explained why returning to Russia for a visit is complicated. My family made plans to update my boys’ Russian passports sometime this year so that we could jump on cheap flights to Russia when the opportunity arises.
I started working with a Russian passport agency to help translate our passport applications and get the ball rolling on visiting a Russian consulate in the U.S. In the process, the agency told me it would be much easier to renew my oldest son’s passport before he turns 14. He turns 14 this May, which doesn’t give us much time.
I had planned on traveling to Houston with my boys this summer to get it done, but based on this new information, I decided to move up the process. I did not want to pull my boys out of school to do this because they will already miss three days of school for our upcoming Hawaii trip.
My kids have one Monday off school in April for a teacher work day, so that would have to be the day. Except I couldn’t get an appointment at the Russian Consulate in Houston. The agency asked me if we could make it to the Russian Embassy in Washington, D.C. that day instead.
Why yes, we CAN go to Washington, D.C.! I have some airline miles and hotel points to help us out. Apparently, only one parent is required to go to the Embassy appointment, so I will travel with my boys and leave my husband home with our daughter to save on trip expenses (i.e. airport parking, pet sitting, points for extra people, etc.)
Flights to Washington, D.C.
Luckily, flights to Washington, D.C. for our desired weekend in April were not too expensive. Both American Airlines and Southwest had flights for around $220 round-trip.
Because my husband kept his Chase Sapphire Reserve and I have a Chase Ink Business card, we had some Ultimate Rewards points I could use to book our flights. I debated between booking AA flights in the CSR travel portal vs. transferring points to Southwest. I loved the idea of having reserved seats in AA since my boys are too old for family boarding on Southwest.
In the end, I decided to transfer points to Southwest in case the fare went down. The fare has already gone down once, so I was able to get some points back. Each round-trip ticket costs around 12,000 Southwest Rapid Reward points.
Hotels in Washington, D.C.
My first thought was to use my husband’s stash of Hilton points for the weekend. Hilton has a lot of properties right in the thick of everything. The cheapest price I found was 60,000 points, which was a little steep.
Next, I turned to my favorite brand, Hyatt. Leana mentioned a new Hyatt House property she was considering in her recent post for 8000 points per night. Unfortunately, that location has since raised its points price to 12,000 points per night and only King bed rooms that fit 2 people are available on points.
Hyatt has a few other choices in the downtown area. I remembered that one of our readers stayed at Hyatt Place Washington DC/National Mall. Free breakfast, great location, great reviews. Done! I was going to use a Points + Cash rate of 6000 points + $75 per night, but I found a low cash price to use instead so that I can conserve my Hyatt points for an anniversary trip next year.
Weekend Itinerary
I always thought we’d take our kids to DC someday, but not someday soon. I remember going when I was about 7 or 8 years old and I was bored to tears. But, my boys are 10 and 13, and I think they will actually enjoy the trip.
We land around noon on Saturday. We will take Uber or the Metro to our hotel to drop off our stuff before we begin exploring the city.
The great thing about Washington, D.C. is that so many things are free! I started looking at all of our options, and it’s overwhelming.
For sure, we will go to the National Air and Space Museum. It’s just a short walk from our hotel. I’d also like to see all of the outdoor monuments and possibly Smithsonian’s National Zoo. My younger son loves pandas, and that is one of only four zoos in the U.S. that has pandas.
We will have half a day Saturday and all day Sunday to sight-see. Our appointment at the Russian Embassy is on Monday morning, so we will have Monday afternoon free before our evening flight back to Dallas. The trip will be a whirlwind, I’m sure. We will likely be too late to catch the peak cherry blossom season, but you never know.
I haven’t broken the news to my daughter that the boys and I will be taking a trip without her. I thought about bringing her, but honestly, traveling with just 2 kids is so much easier than traveling with all 3. Plus, I do think she would be bored at least part of the time. I will take her to Washington, D.C. by herself in a few years so that she doesn’t miss out on the same experience. I am a real stickler about treating my kids fairly.
Tell me your favorite D.C. restaurants and attractions or any tips you have for my trip!
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Author: Nancy
Nancy lives near Dallas, Texas, with her husband and three kids. Her favorite vacations include the beach, cruising and everything Disney.
Remember that you don’t have to stay in the city to be close. DCA is right across the river from the mall and the HGI at DCA is only 31,000 points per night in mid-April. You could easily take the shuttle to the hotel, then the Metro into the city, which only takes a few minutes.
@Chris Good point. My family usually stays outside the main area to save points (like we stayed in Queens instead of Manhattan on our trip to NYC). That HGI is 46,000 points on the weekend we are there and with our short time in D.C. I’d rather just stay in the thick of things this time.
Nancy – you’ll have so much fun going with the boys. They’re the perfect age. My kids were a bit disappointed with the Air/Space Museum (maybe they expected more because they had seen it in a movie), but they really loved the Natural History Museum. We also visited the International Spy Museum (not a must see and there’s an admission but they offer a AAA discount), the Portrait Gallery (my absolute favorite out of all the museums), the Memorials at National Mall, Library of Congress, US Capitol, White House (yes, we got a tour), Arlington Cemetery, and the National Archives (an absolute MUST – declaration of independence, the constitution & bill of rights).
I wanted to try Burger tap & shake but we never got there. The kids were so darn tired from all the walking that we grabbed the fastest thing or I just ordered something and had it delivered to the hotel. We did make it to Carmine’s Italian Restaurant one night – family style.
Take an uber from the airport to the hotel. The Metro Station is a 10 minute walk to the hotel and not worth it with luggage.
@Stephanie I’m interested in the Portrait Gallery but I’m not sure my boys would find it as interesting. So many good choices in D.C.! We may have to return again to go to the things we don’t have time for on this trip. Thanks for the suggestion about taking Uber!
@Natasha It sounds like you had a wonderful time! So much to do there! I’d love to squeeze in a visit to the Museum of Natural Sciences. Thank you for the restaurant recommendation.
Smithsonian Museum of Natural History-not Natural sciences d’oh.
Nancy, we were in Washington Dc this past weekend. We stayed at the Fairmont Georgetown and I was able to use my suite upgrade certificate that i got by having the Chase Fairmont card (RIP). We toured the Smithsonian African American Museum of Culture and History and the Museum of Natural Sciences. We toured the Air and Space last year. We did the zoo a few years back. I think your boys may like the Museum of Natural Sciences as well as the air and space. So much to see and learn.
We also were scheduled for a free walking tour of the National Mall but the rainy weather forced us to cancel. You can google “free walking tour” to sign up if interested. Anyway, we really enjoyed a restaurant called “Founding Farmers”. Great food and the location is on Pennsylvania Ave nearish to the White House.
Let me know if you want more info. Have fun!