If you have been to DC you know that, even though a lot of the tourist spots are in one area, there is a lot of walking involved. I mean a LOT of walking. Especially if you plan on seeing the White House and all the monuments and memorials in one day, as we decided to do. So when friends told us about Capital Bikeshare, we jumped on it. The idea is that you can pick up a bike at any given station, use it for how ever long you need it, and then drop it off at your station of choice. Renting a bike for one day is $7, but we decided to go with option of renting the bikes for free, as long as you check them in every half an hour. Not sure if I would do that again, since it is quite a headache keeping track of the time, and figuring out which station is the closest and has enough open slots (we had four bikes). My husband downloaded the Spotcycle App, which helps you find docking stations and shows how many bikes there are.He did an amazing job navigating. Here he is checking out the bikes near the Metro Center station.

 

 

From here we rode our bikes to the White House. This was the scariest part as we were driving on the streets. Once we got to the White House we mostly rode on bike paths in the parks under shaded trees.

Next is the Washington Monument.

From there we rode to the World War II monument. Built more recently in 2004 I didn’t even know it existed. I really liked lingering there by the fountain. You have a great view of both the Washington and Lincoln memorials.

But my favorite was the Lincoln Memorial. The statue is just so impressive. And you have a great view from the top.

 

 

Next we went to the Vietnam Memorial, the most sobering of all the ones I have seen. It was a wall full with inscribed names of soldiers who lost their lives. You walk alongside the wall and read the names. I didn’t take pictures here, because it felt disrespectful.
From there we went to the Roosevelt Memorial. A totally different experience. You walk along this path with quotes and water falls, all very secluded and quiet.

Lastly we went to the Jefferson Memorial. A lot like the Lincoln.

By then we had biking and touring for over three hours in 80 F plus humidity, and we had checked our bikes in and out 9 times. I was done!
I was glad we had our 13 year old and her friend with us (who did great), and no younger children.

All in all it was a great way experience. Like I mentioned earlier the only thing I would do different is paying the $7 for the whole day and not worry about the half hour limit.
Sofija