Free is good: making the most of Washington, DC

By Eileen Ogintz

Published April 11, 2013

FoxNews.com

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    Free things to do in Washington DC

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    LEGOLAND Hotel opens

There’s nothing worse than forking over a lot of money to take kids to a museum or city attraction only to have them want to leave after 10 minutes.

That’s one reason visiting Washington, D.C. is such a good bet. Thirty of the city’s 50 museums are free.  So are the monuments and memorials and the National Zoo. (Check out those Pandas!)  It also doesn’t cost anything to walk, run or turn cartwheels on the National Mall. 

Don’t forget your umbrella. When we interviewed kids for my just-released Kid’s Guide to Washington, D.C., one suggested going to the National Mall when it is raining “because no one is there,” explained 11-year-old Sean, who is from suburban, Va.  Eleven-year-old Greta, meanwhile, who is from Idaho, told us that seeing the monuments lit up at night was her favorite Washington, D.C. memory.  That’s free too.

Here are five  other  suggestions of free things to do that you might not have thought of:

1. Explore the African American Heritage Trail to learn about both popular and lesser-known sites of significance to DC’s Black history.

2. Catch a free performance at 6 pm at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts at the Millennium Stage.

3. Run, walk, bike or join a ranger program  in Rock Creek Park—1,754 acres that shows off the best of D.C.’s green side.

4. Bring your future litigators to the Supreme Court of the United States.

5. Let your animal lovers talk to keepers at the National Zoo who care for Zebras, birds, and Great Apes among others.

Eileen Ogintz is a syndicated columnist and writes about family travel on her Taking the Kids blog, and is the author of the new series of Kid’s Guide to NYC, Orlando and the just released Washington, DC  from Globe Pequot Press. 

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CUP: Earnhardt Jr. Making Changes

Before the rumors start that Dale Earnhardt Jr. is juicing — let’s not get lost in translation.

Think of it more as a dietary cleanse.

At 38, Junior is just attempting to regain — and maintain — his boyish figure. Last October he was tipping the scales at 190 pounds. Now, the driver of the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy SS is weighing in around 175.

“A buddy of mine was talking about this detox diet, it’s like a 15-day deal and for the first eight days you drink prune juice and then the last half of it you drink carrot juice so they were just picking on me,” Earnhardt said of a few of his JR Motorsports employees. “Just misinformed, I’m not drinking it all the time, but just during that little detox thing.”

Over the last few years, Earnhardt has worked on his culinary talents. He’s also paid more attention to his nutritional intake. Still, Earnhardt acknowledges that balancing the cleanse with a healthy diet was a challenge.

“It was pretty tough, too,” Earnhardt said. “I was surprised I was able to make it. It was like just fish, chicken and raw, steamed vegetables — and then there was like two days where you just ate vegetables and fruit. That was pretty tough for me to not have any meat. I think the older you get the more you have to do to kind of maintain a healthy weight.”

Earnhardt admits there was a method to his madness — stopping the middle-age spread.

“That’s really what it’s about for me is just trying to maintain my weight so I don’t have to keep getting my driver suits altered throughout the season,” Earnhardt said. “Last year I was like, ‘Man, they’re shrinking, something is wrong with the washer.’ This offseason I lost a lot of weight, lost about 15 or 20 pounds and just trying to do a better job of managing my calories and stuff like that. I never really worried about it before. Just eat all kinds of stuff like pizza and wings and stuff every day and not really watching portion controls and stuff like that."

NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver won’t be giving up all junk food anytime soon. Nor will he discontinue his relationship with Hellman’s or KLN Family Brands which produces potato chips under the brand Dale Jr. Foods.

“Just getting out of control so reining all that back in, not getting too crazy about it though,” Earnhardt said. “I’m no health freak by no means.

“Well, you have to mix it in there every once in a while. It’s part of the recipes. Like I said, I’m not really a health freak or anything, but I am counting calories, I will say that.”

View the original article here