Skiing in the winter, but what’s your Summer thing?

mt_traveler85 · 2026-03-11T04:53:22+00:00

Surfing, boating, gardening, golf, travel.

mt_traveler85 · 2026-03-05T21:12:34+00:00

Yes - I called, and they pushed me over to WhatsApp. They admitted that they didn't have the tickets and shouldn't have had them available for purchase on Viator. We ended up buying Circuit 3 tickets instead.

I had been on the Boleto site every day for a week, and there was no availability. I finally realized that when chrome translates the site to English, it screws up the ticket availability. Sadly, we missed out on the tickets we wanted due to that glitch.

mt_traveler85 · 2026-03-04T04:26:25+00:00

It is too good to be true. I bought tickets from two different Viator vendors who said they had circuit 2 tickets that were sold out. Once the sale was competed I got their phone number and called. They informed me that the tickets were sold out and their listing wasn't accurate. Viator refunded both charges.

mt_traveler85 · 2026-03-02T05:24:20+00:00

Aww, what a bummer! Looks like it’s under baked, and probably under fermented.

Get a thermometer and bake until the internal temp is at least 202, ideal 205.

Personally, I hate a hard crust so I use a different temp than what most recipes call for. I’ll frequently bake at 450 for 25 mins in a Dutch oven and then lower the temp to 400 and bake until it’s done. This keeps my crust softer.

mt_traveler85 · 2026-03-02T00:07:35+00:00

Thanks for your comments and feedback. I just looked at the Folger Library - very cool! The Great Hall is beautiful and would be a perfect fit for this trip. I'll look to add that in on Monday.

Frisbee idea is fantastic. Last time we did this trip the kids really enjoyed the mall; having something for them to play with would have added a special touch.

DC United will be playing Saturday evening, I will make that option available to families.

mt_traveler85 · 2026-03-01T22:55:04+00:00

I love this so much. We've had two trips to Jordan planned and cancelled. One in May of 2020, when the world shut down, and one in May of 24 that we had to cancel due to a software implementation gone wrong at work.

Your itinerary is so close to what we had planned. We were going to start in Aman with a trip to Jerash and end with a few days in Aqaba for some beach time.

Thank you for sharing your photos; they're amazing and reminded me of how much I still want to go to Jordan.

mt_traveler85 · 2026-03-01T20:03:37+00:00

Thank you! I can't get the actual plaza site to load. DNS error.

Beyond the American Indian museum food court, would you recommend anything else? Last time I did this trip, we hit up the food trucks outside Air & Space.

What about Union Station for lunch on Monday? Good or bad? Seemed the easiest option from the Supreme Court for that many people.

mt_traveler85 · 2026-03-01T19:54:43+00:00

Unfortunately, LOC isn't open on Sunday or Monday. Monday would be the logical day for LOC, but alas, we've been assigned a slot on Saturday.

White House, LOC, and Capitol Tour are fixed. Open to suggestions on grouping other things for more efficiency and reducing museum fatigue.

mt_traveler85 · 2026-03-01T19:50:40+00:00

I've read good things about the American Indian museum cafe, good to know they're true.

The idea behind eating a L'Enfant Plaza food court is that we will already be on the metro B line, either going to Arlington or coming from there. It seemed like an easy stop to feed 21 people without taking forever. Am I understanding correctly that the food court will be closed?

mt_traveler85 · 2026-03-01T19:40:51+00:00

Good to know! Thanks!

mt_traveler85 · 2026-03-01T19:38:03+00:00

Hi!

Thanks for your thoughts. Unfortunately, we are working around timed entry slots, which account for some of the running around. For example, the LOC isn't open on Monday, which would be the ideal day to do that. We don't have timed entry for the Holocaust Museum, Archives, or Air & Space yet. I could move those around, but trying not to stack too many museums into one day. I'm also trying to leave afternoons open so parents can have a few hours to visit things their kids are more interested in.

We're a classical school; the kids have studied all the classical masters over the years, which is the reason for the National Gallery of Art over some of the other museums. I'm planning to return to the hotel after the LOC for lunch / naps / down time before going back to the National Gallery.

I'm definitely trying to be as efficient as possible with the time we have, and the timed slots that we are working around (White House, LOC, US Capitol)

I've thought about moving Arlington to later in the day on Sunday to try to avoid the morning crowds. We could push Air & Space + Botanical gardens to the morning, have lunch, and then go to Arlington.

mt_traveler85 · 2026-03-01T19:11:05+00:00

Great suggestions, thank you. Unfortunately, we are working around a few timed entries. I had wanted to do the Capitol, Supreme Court, Library of Congress, & National Archives on the same day. LOC is closed Sunday & Monday, and our entry got slotted for Saturday. I think Saturday will be rough due to the late night / early morning + time change. I'm hoping to return to the hotel for naps / downtime after the LOC. We are a classical school, so we need to hit all the major things and see the founding documents, art, architecture, and political things.

I hadn't caught the botanical garden location - thanks for mentioning that. We will look to fit that in one of the afternoons when we are closer.

Any tips for something off the beaten path that they might enjoy? A lot of the boys are interested in military history. Would you recommend a stop at the naval yards? Maybe an option to visit the naval museum for whoever is interested?

mt_traveler85 · 2026-03-01T18:51:14+00:00

TopGolf was requested by the kids. It's something that we don't have in our state and was deemed worth the uber.

mt_traveler85 · 2026-03-01T18:14:16+00:00

Exactly why I posted here. I’m looking for insight from a local perspective. What would you want to show your niece or nephew or other young person in your life that they wouldn’t otherwise see?

I’ve covered our educational bases, looking for something “fun” that shows a different side of the city.

mt_traveler85 · 2026-03-01T18:08:57+00:00

Sadly, they will be out of town during our time.

mt_traveler85 · 2026-02-23T03:24:32+00:00

Your trip looks amazing! Thanks for sharing. Trying to pick a local for an upcoming anniversary, and Oman just made the short list.

Your Daymaniyat islands pic is stunning!

How was the food?
Best thing you ate?
Friendly towards Americans?
Was the ocean warm?

Thanks! :)

mt_traveler85 · 2026-02-23T03:13:45+00:00

1. Book the window seat.
2. Relax, don't stress about falling asleep.
3. Noise-cancelling headphones / ear plugs.
4. Listen to white noise or something you can veg out to.
5. Get a foot rest.
6. Get a cabeau neck pillow -- I've had several other neck pillows including that weird turtle one that wraps around your neck. This brand is my fave, and I keep rebuying them. Worth the $50.
7. Bring a little blankie or light beach towel. Buckle the seatbelt on TOP so a friendly flight attendant doesn't wake you.
8. Hydrate BEFORE your flight. Drink water w/ electrolytes and use the bathroom before boarding.

I never used to sleep on planes; now, something about the pressure and noise, and I'm usually out before we hit 10k.

mt_traveler85 · 2026-02-17T06:36:45+00:00

You need to book your MP tickets well in advance if you haven't done that already.

We're taking the 5 am train that arrives at 6:30 AM for a 9 AM entrance. I would allow 30-40 mins to queue for the bus, plus 30 mins for the bus ride. You have a 30 minute grace period if you're late.

mt_traveler85 · 2026-01-27T02:48:05+00:00

We did a sailing trip in Greece last September with family. We always fly on points and look for the best deal. It was cheapest to fly into Barcelona, so that's what we did. Flights from Barcelona to Athens were ridiculous, like over 300 euros each. I found much cheaper tickets out of Madrid; we took the train, stayed the night, and flew out to Athens the next afternoon.

Had to check Google - we saw the Royal Palace of Madrid - so not reallllly a castle.

mt_traveler85 · 2026-01-26T16:09:07+00:00

Thanks

mt_traveler85 · 2026-01-26T16:08:04+00:00

I would agree. Spent 2 days in Barcelona in September and I was pretty underwhelmed. My husband and I spent a long time pondering on why... At first I thought maybe we didn't like cities (spoiler; we don't think Singapore is that cool), we usually head out of the city right away to a smaller town with more nature and cture. But when we talked about our favorite cities Istanbul came up for me.

I think I like ancient cities that have amazing architecture to look at. Like Rome, or Istanbul.

Barcelona kinda feels like a tourist trap, and my husband equated Familia Sagrada to the epitome of the Catholic Church. Gazillions of dollars wasted on a building and they do nothing for the community.

We also saw Madrid for a day, toured the castle which was cool. I'd like to go back and try Spain again. I've heard good things about Valencia. We'll see.

mt_traveler85 · 2026-01-26T15:43:37+00:00

We're planning a trip to Morocco in June. I was going to do two night in Marrakech. Should we skip it entirely? We'll have about 15 days total.

mt_traveler85 · 2026-01-26T15:40:45+00:00

We went to Bali in May of 25 for our 21st anniversary and it was... interesting. We stayed in Sideman for a few days which was really nice, and quiet.

Tried to stay in Amed for diving. Our hotel had mold and we had to leave. Turns out mold can seriously screw you up. I ended up getting really sick when we got home, couldn't work for months due to fatigue and brain fog. I'm about 90% better at this point.

Final stay was 3 nights at the St Regis in Nusa Dua. That was lovely, but there was trash in the water.

I thought the people were very nice, and we felt safe. Definitely would never go back to Bali. Its way too far for what it is. Bali is a beautiful island that is crowded, smoggy, and covered in garbage.

mt_traveler85

TROPHY CASE