Smithsonian Kite Festival

The 42^nd Annual Smithsonian Kite Festival

We had a won­der­ful time at last year’s kite fes­ti­val, and hope to attend this year as well. The peo­ple watch­ing was great, the kite watch­ing was even bet­ter, and the weather was just right.

After over-thinking the day’s logis­tics we set­tled on:

• Metro: The logis­tics of get­ting lit­tle kids into DC from the ‘burbs can be daunt­ing, but every time I make the effort to drive to the Metro and buzz into the city I find it was worth the effort, and far eas­ier than find­ing park­ing or nav­i­gat­ing unknown one-way streets.
• Single jog­ger: For either the one or three year old depend­ing on the moment.
• Ergo car­rier: For the lit­tle one.
• Picnic lunch: Worth the trou­ble of carrying.

Beware the challenges:

• There was a long line for the port-o-potties and some left much to be desired in the clean­li­ness depart­ment. It is the type of envi­ron­ment that baby wipes and hand san­i­tizer were made for.
• The Metro was packed after­wards. Forget the ele­va­tors — remem­ber that jog­ging stroller we brought? — and plan to feel a bit like a teenager in a mosh pit. Our party had a 4 adult to 2 kid ratio so it was man­age­able, but if you have kids that detest crowds or some­one just potty-training you might want to plan a work around.
• Don’t for­get to bring your own kite, sun pro­tec­tion, and plenty of water