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Old 12-05-2010, 03:15 PM
 
389 posts, read 1,224,434 times
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We have family coming in town. I'm looking for fun Christmas things to do on Christmas Eve morning/early afternoon in D.C.and NOVA. Taking the metro would be a plus, but it isn't necessary.
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Old 12-05-2010, 03:33 PM
 
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Seeing the Christmas trees outside at the White House is always a real Washington treat for the holidays. They won't be lit up during the day probably, but you can enjoy all the decorations that they'll have out. If anyone is up for ice skating, you can go to the National Gallery of Art's Sculpture Garden for ice skating. And I also love visiting the Botanical Gardens in front of the Capitol building. They have special displays and a model train just for Christmas. If the family likes trains, Union Station has a large model train display from Norway, plus Union Station usually looks nice this time of year.
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Old 12-05-2010, 04:12 PM
 
Location: Home is where the heart is
15,402 posts, read 28,826,666 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FLgirl367 View Post
We have family coming in town. I'm looking for fun Christmas things to do on Christmas Eve morning/early afternoon in D.C.and NOVA. Taking the metro would be a plus, but it isn't necessary.
What part of Nova are you in?
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Old 12-05-2010, 04:16 PM
 
Location: Home is where the heart is
15,402 posts, read 28,826,666 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mjw703 View Post
Seeing the Christmas trees outside at the White House is always a real Washington treat for the holidays. They won't be lit up during the day probably, but you can enjoy all the decorations that they'll have out. If anyone is up for ice skating, you can go to the National Gallery of Art's Sculpture Garden for ice skating. And I also love visiting the Botanical Gardens in front of the Capitol building. They have special displays and a model train just for Christmas. If the family likes trains, Union Station has a large model train display from Norway, plus Union Station usually looks nice this time of year.
The Botanical Gardens would be where I'd head. (Not sure how kids would feel about it, though.) It's cheerful and Christmassy, and it's also warm! On a cold day, sitting among the tropical plants and smelling the orchids is a treat.

If you need to duck out of the weather, you can walk from the Capitol Building to the Library of Congress. Both of those places are great to take visitors to. The Library of Congress is a gorgeous building with a lot of interesting art. Probably more interesting for adults than kids.

If the kids like to run and you're anywhere near Dulles I would consider the Dulles Air & Space Museum. It's a great museum, and it also has some nice long ramps that kids can run on.
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Old 12-05-2010, 05:19 PM
 
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i'm in stafford. thanks for the suggestions so far. we did the botanical gardens 2 years ago, and it is an option for this year as well. i did not know about the model trains at union station. the kids are a bit young for the library of congress, etc...

the dulles air and space is something we've wanted to do, but the drive to dulles from stafford is so....................blah......it'd be nice if there was an outer expressway that connected 95 and 66

please keep the suggestions coming....we've also thought about mt. vernon, but don't know if the kids would get bored w/ that.........
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Old 12-05-2010, 07:35 PM
 
Location: Novastan
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I would recommend walking/driving around Old Town Alexandria. People go all out decorating their homes. Then drive up GW parkway, park at Gravelly Point, and look at the airplanes taking off.
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Old 12-06-2010, 08:36 AM
 
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Well this is at the National Harbor, MD but I understand its suppossed to be pretty awesome. I'm sure the kids would love it (adults too!). Lots of other stuff to see and do there also.

ICE! Experence | Christmas on the Potomac at Gaylord National

Main website for National Harbor

http://www.nationalharbor.com/consumer/home.htm

Last edited by VAFan; 12-06-2010 at 08:40 AM.. Reason: Adding link
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Old 12-06-2010, 09:59 AM
 
389 posts, read 1,224,434 times
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Originally Posted by VAFan View Post
Well this is at the National Harbor, MD but I understand its suppossed to be pretty awesome. I'm sure the kids would love it (adults too!). Lots of other stuff to see and do there also.

ICE! Experence | Christmas on the Potomac at Gaylord National

Main website for National Harbor

National Harbor
we are actually doing that this week!!!!
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Old 12-06-2010, 10:38 AM
 
Location: Gainesville, VA
1,266 posts, read 5,593,294 times
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We went to ICE a couple of weeks ago. It was OK. The line is AWFUL! Be prepared for it. We thought to ourselves we would never do this again unless we were the first ones there for the day and yes we had tickets in advance! I think my kid had more fun ice skating than he did looking the ice sculptures.
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Old 12-06-2010, 11:51 AM
 
389 posts, read 1,224,434 times
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Originally Posted by HEATHER72 View Post
We went to ICE a couple of weeks ago. It was OK. The line is AWFUL! Be prepared for it. We thought to ourselves we would never do this again unless we were the first ones there for the day and yes we had tickets in advance! I think my kid had more fun ice skating than he did looking the ice sculptures.
did you go on the weekend?
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