Washington DC, August 18-22, 2008
Traveling to and around DC.
Flew Southwest from Hobby to BWI direct.
BWI has tram to the Amtrak and MARC station.
MARC is $6 to Union Station in DC. Easiest to buy ticket for return trip at the beginning, though prices may be different for weekends. Check with ticket clerk.
MARC takes about 35 minutes to Union Station.
(words do not describe the BWI train station)
Once in Union Station, purchase your Metro pass. Passes are available for the train, bus, or both. Metro website has a great trip planning tool to tell you what connections to make and includes time tables. $39 for weekly train pass. The train around DC is great, only rode the bus once. If you transfer from train to bus, besure to grab your transfer ticket before you board the train.
Also, wear good walking shoes!
Activities in DC
Air and Space Museum
There are two of these. We went to the one on the mall. Well worth the time. We saw the backup lunar module, the Spirit of St Louis, SpaceShipOne, Mercury 7, and tons of cool stuff. Plan on being there all day. We were there for 3 hours and I almost got half way through.
White House
Though usually requires 6 months advance notice, Senator Hutchinson's office was able to get us in on short notice. You get to see several rooms in the East Wing. Not quite as exciting as I was hoping, perhaps it would be better if they included stops in the President's room or something.
Capitol Tour
To tour the Capitol, the best way is to contact your congressman or senator. I contacted Senator Hutchinson's office the week before we went and they had no problem scheduling us. If you go through the "public tours," you get the same information and tour, but it is in a large group by a tour guide through a headset you wear. Very impersonal. With the senator, we had an aide escort us around. Normally the interns do it, but they were off for the August recess. I asked the staff member if we could see the republican protest and she took us to the House. We got to sit on the floor of the House, in the legislatures chairs, and listen to republicans talk about energy. We even got to meet Representative Ted Poe of Southeast Texas afterwards. Very sweet. No pictures allowed in the House though.
Holocaust Museum
Wow. Words can not describe it. Plan on being there a long time. I was there 3 hours and only saw 1 of the 3 floors in the permanent exhibit. They say average time for all three floors is 2-3 hours, so maybe I am slow. One of the floors has a ton of artifacts from the Warsaw Ghetto and concentration camps.
Library of Congress
The Jefferson building is supposedly the prettiest one, so we went there. They have guided tours, but we just wandered through. They had a Gutenberg Bible on display there. They also had a rough draft of Jefferson's Declaration of Independence with notes by Ben Franklin and other delegates. Also had a neat exhibit on the founding of the nation, from the French and Indian wars through the Constitution with tons of original documents.
War Memorials
We usually went at night to see these. They are very fitting memorials. They do a great job honoring those who served and those who gave all.
Traveling late at night is tricky as the nearest Metro Station is Smithsonian, a good 10 minute walk east.
(smithsonian station late at night)
Washington Monument
It is recommended that you reserve tickets online. That costs ~$1.50. However, if you are not picky with the time, you can walk up to the kiosk in the morning and get your tickets. We got our tickets about 10AM and they still had tickets for all of the afternoon tours. The last tour is around 9PM. You ride the elevator up to the top and get to spend as long as you want. When you are ready to go, you return to the elevator. Along the trip down, they stop twice and show you the commemorative stones on the inside of the monument.
Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Free tickets are required April - August. You get a 35 minute tour and see dollars being printed.
Arlington National Cemetery
What an experience. From walking the graves to Iwo Jima Memorial, to JFK's grave and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, it is a huge reminder of how many people have how many have served our country and those who have paid the ultimate price. Robert E Lee's mansion is also there and the park service provides tours.
National Archives
A must for all Americans. See the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the Magna Carta (who let the Brits in?). Another one they say takes hours to get into, but we walked right in at 10:30AM.
Eating in DC
Ate at several good restaurants.
Elephant and Castle
British pub fare
$8-15 / plate
Fish and chips was good and others in the party had bangers and mash and said it was good.
They have lots of beer.
Five Guys
famous hamburger joint. Several locations around town. Ate at the one on H St. Good burgers.
Tortilla Coast
Decent Mexican food close to the capitol. We found by the combination of walking down the street, being hungry, and seeing it.
additional pictures of the trip at my picture website
added Library of Congress [/edit]
[This message has been edited by Pro Sandy (edited 8/26/2008 9:09a).]
Traveling to and around DC.
Flew Southwest from Hobby to BWI direct.
BWI has tram to the Amtrak and MARC station.
MARC is $6 to Union Station in DC. Easiest to buy ticket for return trip at the beginning, though prices may be different for weekends. Check with ticket clerk.
MARC takes about 35 minutes to Union Station.
(words do not describe the BWI train station)
Once in Union Station, purchase your Metro pass. Passes are available for the train, bus, or both. Metro website has a great trip planning tool to tell you what connections to make and includes time tables. $39 for weekly train pass. The train around DC is great, only rode the bus once. If you transfer from train to bus, besure to grab your transfer ticket before you board the train.
Also, wear good walking shoes!
Activities in DC
Air and Space Museum
There are two of these. We went to the one on the mall. Well worth the time. We saw the backup lunar module, the Spirit of St Louis, SpaceShipOne, Mercury 7, and tons of cool stuff. Plan on being there all day. We were there for 3 hours and I almost got half way through.
White House
Though usually requires 6 months advance notice, Senator Hutchinson's office was able to get us in on short notice. You get to see several rooms in the East Wing. Not quite as exciting as I was hoping, perhaps it would be better if they included stops in the President's room or something.
Capitol Tour
To tour the Capitol, the best way is to contact your congressman or senator. I contacted Senator Hutchinson's office the week before we went and they had no problem scheduling us. If you go through the "public tours," you get the same information and tour, but it is in a large group by a tour guide through a headset you wear. Very impersonal. With the senator, we had an aide escort us around. Normally the interns do it, but they were off for the August recess. I asked the staff member if we could see the republican protest and she took us to the House. We got to sit on the floor of the House, in the legislatures chairs, and listen to republicans talk about energy. We even got to meet Representative Ted Poe of Southeast Texas afterwards. Very sweet. No pictures allowed in the House though.
Holocaust Museum
Wow. Words can not describe it. Plan on being there a long time. I was there 3 hours and only saw 1 of the 3 floors in the permanent exhibit. They say average time for all three floors is 2-3 hours, so maybe I am slow. One of the floors has a ton of artifacts from the Warsaw Ghetto and concentration camps.
Library of Congress
The Jefferson building is supposedly the prettiest one, so we went there. They have guided tours, but we just wandered through. They had a Gutenberg Bible on display there. They also had a rough draft of Jefferson's Declaration of Independence with notes by Ben Franklin and other delegates. Also had a neat exhibit on the founding of the nation, from the French and Indian wars through the Constitution with tons of original documents.
War Memorials
We usually went at night to see these. They are very fitting memorials. They do a great job honoring those who served and those who gave all.
Traveling late at night is tricky as the nearest Metro Station is Smithsonian, a good 10 minute walk east.
(smithsonian station late at night)
Washington Monument
It is recommended that you reserve tickets online. That costs ~$1.50. However, if you are not picky with the time, you can walk up to the kiosk in the morning and get your tickets. We got our tickets about 10AM and they still had tickets for all of the afternoon tours. The last tour is around 9PM. You ride the elevator up to the top and get to spend as long as you want. When you are ready to go, you return to the elevator. Along the trip down, they stop twice and show you the commemorative stones on the inside of the monument.
Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Free tickets are required April - August. You get a 35 minute tour and see dollars being printed.
Arlington National Cemetery
What an experience. From walking the graves to Iwo Jima Memorial, to JFK's grave and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, it is a huge reminder of how many people have how many have served our country and those who have paid the ultimate price. Robert E Lee's mansion is also there and the park service provides tours.
National Archives
A must for all Americans. See the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the Magna Carta (who let the Brits in?). Another one they say takes hours to get into, but we walked right in at 10:30AM.
Eating in DC
Ate at several good restaurants.
Elephant and Castle
British pub fare
$8-15 / plate
Fish and chips was good and others in the party had bangers and mash and said it was good.
They have lots of beer.
Five Guys
famous hamburger joint. Several locations around town. Ate at the one on H St. Good burgers.
Tortilla Coast
Decent Mexican food close to the capitol. We found by the combination of walking down the street, being hungry, and seeing it.
additional pictures of the trip at my picture website
added Library of Congress [/edit]
[This message has been edited by Pro Sandy (edited 8/26/2008 9:09a).]