The Rabbit Holes Are the Point: How P.S. Nest Plans a Different Kind of Washington, DC Trip

Washington, DC is not short on things to see. You can spend days on the National Mall, stand in front of the monuments, visit the Smithsonian museums, walk past the White House, and still have plenty left on the list.

But what if you don't want a list? What if you want a really good day? A day that has just enough planned to make the most of your time, enough breathing room to stop when something catches your attention, and maybe one or two things you never would have found on your own?

That's where P.S. Nest comes in.

I am a professional rabbit-hole taker.

I love planning trips. In fact, I have planned dozens of trips that I may or may not ever actually take. And when I start planning, I tend to go down every possible rabbit hole.

What started as “What should we do in Washington?” quickly becomes:

What museum has the exhibition we really shouldn't miss? When does that museum open? Are there tours? When are they offered? Do we need timed tickets? Is there a café inside—and is it actually worth eating there? What's nearby? What day makes the most sense to visit? Is there a special program? Is admission free on certain days? Can we build the entire day around that?

And then I check the museum's own website to make sure what I think I know is actually true. Because the details matter.

I've lived in the Washington, DC area since 1992, when I finished graduate school at the Winterthur Museum, where I studied decorative arts and early American culture. I've spent more than three decades working in museums, historic houses, galleries, and cultural organizations around Washington. So I know the city well.

But more importantly, I remain curious about it. I'm still looking for the place I haven't noticed yet, the exhibition I haven't seen, the neighborhood I haven't explored, or the slightly odd thing that might turn an ordinary afternoon into a story you'll tell later.

I don't just find things to do. I figure out how they fit together.

One of the trickiest parts of planning a trip to Washington isn't finding interesting places. It's figuring out how much interesting you can reasonably fit into one day.

A museum can be fascinating for three hours. It can also be exhausting for three hours. A day with five scheduled stops may look fantastic on paper and feel completely ridiculous by 3:00 p.m.

I like figuring out the rhythm.

Maybe you spend the morning at one museum, have a leisurely lunch, and then visit a historic house in the afternoon. Maybe we build in a garden or neighborhood walk. Maybe the day's big museum deserves a second day because there is simply too much to see. Maybe we skip three famous places and spend an afternoon somewhere you've never heard of.

And sometimes the best plan is knowing what not to plan. I always want some room for the unexpected.

Sometimes the rabbit hole changes the itinerary.

On a recent trip to Montreal, I wanted to visit the McCord Stewart Museum to see a special exhibition about the 1976 Montreal Olympics and the dress Celine Dion wore to sing at the recent Paris Olympics. As I was planning, I discovered that the first Sunday of the month offered a pay-what-you-want opportunity that wasn't available any other day. And, we would be there for the first Sunday. So I changed the entire rhythm of our visit. Not because Sunday was inherently better. Because once I knew about that opportunity, it made sense to build around it.

That's the kind of detail I look for. The sort of thing that doesn't necessarily appear in a “10 Best Things to Do in Washington” article—but can make a real difference when you're actually there.

And sometimes the rabbit hole leads somewhere you couldn't possibly have planned.

The best travel stories usually aren't on the itinerary.

In Valladolid, Mexico, we visited Casa de los Venados and started wondering where we could find something authentically local to bring home. Not another generic souvenir from the marketplace. So we asked someone who worked at the museum. He sent us to Uyamá, a town twenty minutes away, and told us to ask around for Jose.

“Just ask anyone for directions to his house. They'll know.” They did. We found his home and spent an hour looking at his kiln, seeing his work, talking with him, and choosing something special to bring home: a beautiful tortilla warmer with a little head on top. It now sits on display in our kitchen.

That is the kind of experience I love. You can't always plan it. But you can plan for the possibility of it.

You can leave enough room in the day to ask a question. You can choose the less obvious place. You can notice the person who might know something you don't. And you can build an itinerary that doesn't leave you racing from one reservation to the next.

Sometimes you just have to say hello.

I learned this lesson particularly well on a trip to New Orleans. I accompanied my husband on a business trip, which meant he had meetings and work obligations during the day. I had a different agenda: I wanted to explore. Mostly on my own. We did, however, have one very important thing in common at the end of the day: when his schedule allowed, we shared some fabulous dinners. I mean 5 stars.

During the day, I wandered, with purpose. And, naturally, I went down some rabbit holes. While looking at the website for the New Orleans Museum of Art, I discovered that they were having a book club meeting while I was in town. They were reading The Art Spy, which sounded interesting. So I got the book, read it, and went. I spent an hour at the book club, had an interesting conversation with people I didn't know, and then went to the museum café for lunch.

But the best part of the day actually happened before the book club. On my way to the museum, I took the streetcar. Another woman got off at the same stop. There is a long, beautiful walk down a tree-lined road from the streetcar stop to the museum, and it was pretty clear that we were both headed to the same place.

So I said hello. It turned out that her husband was attending a different conference. She had also decided to strike out on her own for the day. I was planning to visit the sculpture garden first. Because it was hot, I wanted to spend the cooler part of the day outdoors before heading inside. She didn't even know the sculpture garden was there. So I asked if she wanted to spend the morning with me. She said yes.

We had a brilliant morning together. I even got in free to the museum because I was registered for the book club! We wandered through the sculpture garden, talked, looked at art, and explored the museum. Around noon, I left for my book club and she headed back to meet her husband for lunch. We didn't exchange phone numbers. We didn't become lifelong friends. We will probably never see each other again. And that's perfectly okay. For one morning, two people who thought they were going to spend the day on their own happened to find themselves walking down the same road to the same museum.

One of us said hello. And suddenly neither of us was alone. Was that serendipity? Probably.

But I also think it's something I've learned to do: take advantage of opportunities when they appear. That's part of how I travel. And it's part of how I plan. I want an itinerary that is structured enough to make the day work—and loose enough that something unexpected can happen.

Washington has a lot more than the Mall.

Of course, I can plan the classics. If you want presidents, we can build a day—or several—around them. Mount Vernon. Arlington National Cemetery. The Lincoln Memorial. Ford's Theatre. Roosevelt Island. The People’s House. Presidential history can become the thread that connects an entire Washington visit.

But maybe presidents aren't your thing. Maybe cemeteries are. Yes. We can plan a cemetery day.

Maybe you love gardens and want three completely different experiences. We might look at the U.S. National Arboretum, the U.S. Botanic Garden, and Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens.

Maybe you want to hike. There's the Billy Goat Trail and Great Falls.

Maybe you'd rather be on the water. Let's talk about kayaking on the Potomac.

Maybe carousels are your thing. Then why settle for one? We can make our way to the carousel at Glen Echo Park and the historic carousel on the National Mall.

Maybe you've been to the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History before and remember mostly feeling overwhelmed. Let's change that. Instead of trying to “do” the entire museum, we can create an itinerary around the things you actually want to see, decide what deserves your attention, build in a break, and give you permission to leave before you've seen every single case. Because seeing less can sometimes mean seeing more.

This is not a checklist.

A P.S. Nest itinerary isn't designed to help you say you've been to Washington. It's designed to help you experience Washington.

That might mean finding a museum you've never heard of. It might mean going deep into one collection instead of skimming five. It might mean pairing an exhibition with a neighborhood you've never explored. It might mean finding the best café inside a museum—or deciding that the museum café isn't worth your time and finding something better around the corner. It might mean checking the calendar for a tour, lecture, demonstration, special exhibition, or free-admission opportunity and building your day around it. It might mean making a reservation 30 days in advance because that's when a restaurant opens its books—and having a backup plan ready in case someone else gets there first.

And it definitely means knowing when to stop.

Your Washington is not necessarily the Washington in the guidebook.

That's what I love about this city. There is the Washington everyone knows. And then there is the Washington you discover once you start looking a little closer. P.S. Nest is for people who want to do exactly that.

Maybe you're visiting for the first time and want something more personal than the standard tourist itinerary. Maybe you've been here for years and realize there are dozens of places you've somehow never visited. Maybe you're bringing your parents, your adult children, friends, or grandchildren to Washington and want to give them a day they'll actually remember. Maybe you have three days. Maybe you have one. Maybe you have a very specific obsession. Tell me what it is.

I'll probably go down a rabbit hole. That's the point.

Let's plan a Washington, DC trip that's actually yours.

P.S. Nest can create a personalized Washington itinerary around your interests, your pace, and the things you're curious about—from the essential to the unexpected.

You tell me what you're interested in. I'll figure out where to go, when to go, how to put it together, and where we might wander off the plan.

Because sometimes the best part of a trip is the thing you never knew to look for.

Ready to go down the rabbit hole?