Any recommendation on things to do at Gatlinburg,TN and Washington DC....

[bighog77]

We already called our rep to schedule the white house and capital tours.

[Tripod1]

Not been to Tenn but DC is just wonderful.  Go out to Mount Vernon, check out the Holocaust Museum, go inside the Library of Congress, check out Union Station, all the memorials along the national mall.  The National Cathedrial (?) is wonderful.  Union Station is nice and even a night time trolly ride from there is worth the time and dollars.  Notice I did not mention the Smithsonian's.  You can spend days in them and I am just not into all that stuff.  Do not miss out on Arlington Cemetery and the changing of the guard.  The subway system there makes getting around easy.  All those places can be seen using the subway, with the exception of Mount Vernon but the subway takes you right to the bus stop for connecting to Mount Vernon.   Too much to see in the area for one trip.  You will enjoy a bunch.

[dawginar]

Went to Gatlinburg 2 years ago real commercialized reminded us alot of Branson.  Depending on age group(any kids) there is plenty 2 do and see. Recomend the lift to the ski resort there is plenty 2 do on top if you have kids but the trip up is nice.

[hogbud]

skip the smoky mountains and go straight to D.C.   There is never enough time to cover all of D.C.

[hogbud]

Also, get familiar with the METRO transit system before you get there(online info available)

[Natedog39]

Gatlinburg and nearby Pigeon Forge are very much like Branson, MO as dawginar stated.  A few Ripley's Believe it or Not's, Go-Karts, A large Aqaurium, Ski Lift, Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, shopping, and novelty stores.  Basically the same thing you get when you go to Branson, but Tennessee may have more of it since they have two towns.  TN definatley has prettier scenery.

[trough]

Museum of Natural History and the Smithsonian are a must.

[RazrRila99]

I will second the DC over Tennessee.  Holocaust Museum is a cant miss, also "the Mall" is a good area can sit and relax and take your time looking at the memorials.  I didnt get a chance to see the Vietnam Wall, I will do that next time.  I also agree skip the museums unless you are just into that. 

Hope you have/had fun. 

[noprayerfornutt]

Check out the Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies in Gatlinburg.  We went to some dinner theater there and they had some performers who sang 'Rocky Top'.  I wanted to stand up and flip them off.  But I noticed that over half of the audience was really into Sloppy Top.

There is too much to mention in DC.  Just stay away from all of the panhandlers.

[Verge]

gettysburg


It's about an hour drive away, but we had an awesome tour guide.

[MJ2]

D.C. is great.  Make sure you walk around Georgetown- wonderful place.  All the normal monuments are very interesting and the tidal basin walk is well worth the trip.

[bighog77]

Ok here is my update.    We had a good time on our trip.   Gatlinburg was real nice. I think it will be a lot better when we have kids because of Pigeon Forge minutes away.   Pigeon Forge was just good to go to restaurants for us.  I loved the Smokey Mountains.  We went to a Casino at Cherokee,NC about 30 miles from Gatlinburg. That was the longest 30 minutes of my life. Gosh the roads are so curvy.  Didn't know you can go into circles that many times on a highway.  We tried going the other way back and it was just as bad and took longer.  I loved the town Gatlinburg. Nice little mountain town and always busy.  It was always crowded with tourists at night.  Washington DC was nice. We did the metro most of the time.   Went to all of the monuments.  The FDR monument park was nice. Toured the White House. It was nice but you only saw about maybe 4 rooms on the first level.  Did the White House Garden tour and it was real nice.  The people at State Rep Mike Ross office were real nice and did a real good Capitol Tour.  We did go to Georgetown to eat. I was dissapointed in the food there.  Overall it was a good trip will do it again when we have kids in there teens.  DC was only 6 hours from Gatlinburg.