I’m pretty sure every book targeted at kids between the ages of 11 and 13 includes reference to an 8th grade field trip to Washington D.C. Growing up I always found that weird—D.C. is right there, why are people making such a big deal about going there? As part of FCPS, yearly D.C. field trips to a random museum were an obligatory part of the elementary school experience. (Turns out my childhood concept of distance was entirely incorrect—Maryland is not, in fact, another country and not all schools are twenty minutes from the Capitol.)
Schools go to D.C. because it’s historically important, schools go to D.C. because it’s culturally important, schools go to D.C. because it’s the center of our nation’s political force and a pinnacle of free public institutions.
“Getting a Metro card and a bus card is super easy and can take you to literally any part of D.C.,” Knox Rodriguez (’25) said. “It’s really fun to go into the city with your friends on a weekend to just get lunch and go to a museum.”
57.1% of Madison students only go into D.C. “a few times a year.” It’s a 30 minute Metro ride from the Vienna station to the Mall. On weekends parking is free and fare is $2. There are the tourist spots: the Smithsonians, the Library of Congress, Capitol Hill. (And, unlike most tourist spots, these are both worth going to and free). But there are also coffee shops, bookstores, outdoor markets and random Chinese New Years festivals you stumble upon because you hear music down the road. There are unique neighborhoods and concerts and school trips don’t just come here because it’s educational—they come because D.C. is cool.
“I find D.C. a really great place to go see live music because of the different venues,” Rodriguez said. “The Anthem is awesome for bigger artists […] Smaller venues like the Songbyrd Cafe and the 9:30 Club are great for students with a smaller concert budget and want to still be able to watch live music. They’re also great venues to find new artists from, because a lot of the gigs have $15-20 tickets.”
D.C.—and Northern Virginia—is expensive to live in. The Economic Policy Institute’s Family Budget Calculator places the average annual cost for a family of four in the D.C. metro area at $131,757. Unless you decide to spend your 20s in your parent’s basement, there is no other point in your life where you’ll be able to live anywhere for free, let alone around here. Many of us won’t move back here, whether because of cost or job opportunities or whatever else pulls us away. But you’re here now, so take advantage of it. You’re here now, so next time you’ve got an afternoon to kill, think about the fact that you live 30 minutes from one of the world’s most famous cities.
