Washington, D.C.: a mini trip report
About This Page:

B.M. · 04-07-2008, 10:43 PM

A few days in D.C. :: a mini trip report
Day One:: (continued)
When we finished up at the museums we were both exausted and starving. (I couldn't help but think if we were this tired after a half days walking, how would we ever survive 8 days at disney) Now this is where it comes back to bite me that I didn't figure out how to use the metro train/bus earlier. Just to reiterate, I am BAD with directions! We head out and I have no idea how we will get to the hotel. I thought it would be easy to spot a taxi, but we did not see any. We walked over and sat a little while on the benches to rest and look around at the scenery and also kept an eye out for a taxi. I could see a major road in the distance and thought if we walked there we would have better luck getting a taxi. So we walked towards the Washington Monument getting some great pictures along the way. But the only taxi we spotted was literally broke down. When we finally got to the main road, there were lots of taxi's driving by. We tried waving them down but it did not work. Most of them appeared to already have passengers and I guess the others didn't see us. We attempted this for some time before giving up. Finally, I spotted a bus station. So I decided to attempt to use it to get to the hotel. (I have literally never used public transportation in my life) I asked another woman that was waiting if this bus would take me to my hotel. She said no , but said I could ride it to the Pentagon to transfer. So we boarded. I sat with another woman who said she was going to take that transfer also and offered for us to just follow her lead, so we did. Finally we made it to the corner of Glebe Rd (the road the hotel was off of) The very nice lady said I should get off here and I could either cross the street to the next bus stop and wait for a bus going that way or we could walk as it was only a few blocks. When we got off another lady aproached me (having overheard our conversation) and asked was I seriously walking? I told her the info I had and she said it was more than a few block and suggested we wait for the bus. We happen to get off right in front of a papa johns pizza and Big W was really starving at this point and asked if we could get pizza. I really did not want to as I do not care for pizza and had really hoped to have a nice dinner. But I was starting to think if we actually made it back to the hotel anytime soon, maybe we should not venture out for dinner or anything else. So, I reluctently agreed to get the pizza. I placed the order and they said it would be 10-15 minutes. So we sat. after about 7 minutes it hit me that we could've just place a delivery order, but oh well it was almost done now. We got the pizza and walked to the bus stop. There was a man waiting there also. I told him where we were trying to go and he said the bus does not go that way. I got flustered. Finally, I called the hotel and they confirmed stating that I was at the nearest bus stop to the hotel. I asked them if they could send the shuttle as we were so close to the hotel. They kindly said no. Then I asked them if they would call a taxi to come get us and they said they couldn't call one with out an address. (I thought this was a little ridiculous) Once again we tried to wave down one of the passing taxi's to no avail. I managed to get a phone # off of a passing taxi. I tried to call the # to get a taxi, but I only got a recording. At that point, I decided to start walking. But just as we were getting ready to walk, we spotted a security officer at the bank. I asked her our best bet to get where we were going and she said she had no clue if the buses ran thru that way. Just as we started to walk, she very kindly offered us a ride. This was probably not a good idea for safety reasons and certainly not a good way to demonstrate to my child to never go with strangers even if it is a security guard. But we accepted. And as we drove towards the hotel, I was so glad we did. It was close to two miles down that road, that would have been a LOT of walking and we were already exausted. She dropped us off safely and I couldn't say thank you enough. When it was said and done it took close to two hours to make what could have been a 10 minute drive max. I was just glad to be back at the hotel!
Up Next:: Washington Monument, Mt.Vernon, and more...............

**chezp** · 04-08-2008, 01:52 AM

I bet you were glad to be back at the hotel - what a nightmare time you had getting back there!

**Colexis Mom** · 04-08-2008, 08:53 AM

Sorry you had trouble getting back to the hotel

RobDVC · 04-08-2008, 09:52 AM

I like the pictures you took. Sorry to hear that it was such an ordeal to get back to the hotel.

lauren-roxy · 04-08-2008, 10:39 AM

What a bad experience getting back to the hotel.

B.M. · 04-08-2008, 01:41 PM

A few days in D.C. :: a mini trip report
Day Two::
Day one came to an end with us getting safely back to the hotel and eating our pizza. We got our showers and got in the bed. I called to check in on the other kids, and they were doing fine. I was really starting to miss Baby W and wondered how I was going to manage leaving him when we go to disney for an even longer trip. I finally got to sleep and the beds were comfy. I had set the alarm on the cell for 6 am. We got up and got dressed quickly. We ate the complimentary breakfast and it was edible but nothing great. We took the hotel shuttle to the pentagon city metro as there were no taxi's outside the hotel this morning. It was time to conquer the metro! When we got off the shuttle , we simply followed the heard downstairs. There, we found an information desk and I asked how to get to the WhiteHouse. He explained to me how to use the machines to buy tickets and what transfers to make and what stop to ultimately get off at. I was concerned but we got the tickets and hoped on the underground train. Yesterday we rode buses, I did not realize there was an underground train. On the train were maps and I finally started to understand how this whole thing works. Too bad I didn't get it figured out the night before. We made a transfer and ultimately got off at the federal triangle wich I was told was in walking distance of the White House. When we got off the White House was not in sight and we did not know where to go. After stopping a few passerbyes we were pointed in the right direction. A few blocks later we spotted the visitor center. I expected this to be packed and thats why we went there first. It was not what I expected, not only were we one of only a few people there, but there was not much to see. I did enjoy some of the pictures and information they had on the back wall. We only spent about 30 minutes or so in here and headed to the White House. (also until we arrived at the visitor center, I had thought the visitor center was actually in the White House, obviously it was not) We finally arrived at the White House and we spotted a line a mile long. (it was difficult to get over there as they were doing road work/it didn't effect us too much since we were walking) When I inquired if the line was to "see" the White House they said no, it was for the actual tour. This was a relief. I wish I had been able to get a real tour but you had to request it 6 mos prior and our trip was last minute. We walked around and enjoyed looking at the White House as this was one of our must sees for the trip. A few pictures later, we were off to the Washington Monument. I had tried to get tickets for this before leaving home but they were sold out till May. I was told to arrive early in the morning to attempt to get tickets but was warned that they sell out quickly. (technically, they are free tickets, but they only pass out so many per day) We were running a little late. I had planned to be at the monument when they first started passing out tickets at 8:30 am, it was 8:40 when we got in the VERY long line. I was concerned. We were at the front of the line by 9am and had tickets to tour for 10am. The wait in line went by quickly as there was a gentleman in front of me from England who was very talkative and shared lots of good information. So now we had an hour to kill. (I was hoping to go in at 9 and had not anticipated this) We walked over to the "castle" since most things do not open that early and looked inside the visitor center wich is called and looks like a castle. We met some more nice people and I was actully able to give directions and info to more than one person about the museums we visited yesterday. We visited for about 30 minutes and headed back to the monument. It was sooo cold and windy. The wind could just about knock you down and to think I came very close to not wearing my coat today. Luckily, I ran back to the room after breakfast to grab it. I would've been miserable in just short sleeves. We got in line and took some pictures while waiting. The tour started promptly at ten. We first went thru security and let me say this is the highest form of security we had seen the entire trip , even more so than the airport. We had to completely empty pockets and take off watches. They were thurough! There were some people in our group who did not understand english very well so it took a little bit for them to understand what to do. We finally got thru security and onto an elevator with a great tour guide. He gave lots of interesting information. We made it to the top and the view was spectacular. This was one of the highlights of our trip! I was so glad we were able to get tickets. We spent quite a while looking out all the different windows before making our way downstairs. We were instructed to walk down one flight of stairs and then take another nararated tour down the elevator. This time the elevator goes slower and all but stops at certain floors and the elevator windows turn see thru and you can see all these really cool carvings and such in the walls of the monument. I really enjoyed this. Once we left the monument we were headed to the national archives building, the original plan had been to be there when it opened at 10:15. We were running far too late for that but hoped the line would not be to bad. So off we went.................
Up Next:: Trying to find the archives bldg, Mt.Vernon, and more................

B.M. · 04-08-2008, 01:49 PM

Pictures from day two...........(outside the White House)

B.M. · 04-08-2008, 01:51 PM

Pictures from outside the Washington Monument........Day 2

B.M. · 04-08-2008, 01:52 PM

Pictures of the view from within the monument........Day2

**chezp** · 04-08-2008, 02:58 PM

This is bringing back some great memories for me - the Washington Monument is one of our favourite attractions in DC.

B.M. · 04-08-2008, 11:05 PM

A few days in D.C. :: a mini trip report
Day Two (continued)::
We left the Washington Monument and headed for the national archives building. We briefly stopped at a road side stand so Big W could get pizza and a coke. I thought we would have no trouble finding it since we had accidentally came across it yesterday. I was wrong. I remembered yesterday we walked thru the garden next to the Nat. History Museum and there it was. So, we spotted the road with the Nat. History Museum and figured we would walk one more block back and that would be the National archives road. Somehow we ended up exactly where we started, at the pentagon city metro stop! I knew we were right on top of it, but we were short on time so we hoped back on the metro. I went to the information desk and asked how to get to Mt. Vernon. He told me to take the metro to Huntington and ask the attendent there for further directions. This required a couple of transfers but by now we were becoming pro's. Along the route to Huntington we came across another family also headed to Mt. Vernon. They had info on what to do from Huntington so I jotted that down and once we got to Huntington we took fairfax bus #101 to Mt. Vernon. Before we knew it , we were there. I was very excited as this is one of the things I was really looking forward to! Once we got there, we decided to eat first. They had a real restaraunt but Big W didn't think he would like it. I really wanted to go in, but this was his trip so we went for the food court. He got fries and nachos and cheese. I got a grilled chicken sandwich. He enjoyed the fries but said the nachos were too spicy. The chicken tasted good but was too chewy. Overall, not that great a place to eat. I got Big W another order of fries and we headed to the gift shop. I picked up a few more souveniers and we headed up to Mt. Vernon. We paid our admission and went into the visitor center. They gave Big W a kids pamplet that he was supposed to fill out along the way and get stamped at the end. He seemed to be excited about it. I loved, loved, loved looking at the mansion replica with all the furniture and stuff. I would love to have it as a doll house for my daughter. (and for myself) They were showing a movie and we went in. I really enjoyed this film that went into detail about George Washington's life, I am so glad we took the time to watch it. Finally, we were off to the mansion. When we got there, there was a long line. I did not expect this to happen. Luckily, the line moved pretty quickly. And there was some scenery along the way. Big W and I took turns leaving the line to poke in the garden close by. And there were some other buildings of interest to look at while waiting in line also. We finally came to the mansion. They did not allow pictures inside. They said that we were walking on the exact same floors George Washington had walked on (they've been upkept but not replaced). They gave lots of really interesting information. I wish I could have recorded the tour. We got to see his actual bed that he died in and much more. My favorite part was the back yard. I would love to have that back yard. Lots of acres, trees, and the river! And a long rocking chair porch. I also thought it was interesting that the kitchen was seperate from the rest of the house. There was a covered walkway connecting the two. We also got to see some of the reconstructed slave houses and garden sheds and such. Oh, and we also seen George's outhouse and read a sign how they used drawers to catch the waste so that it could be reused for fertilizer. There were also a lot of things we missed due to time constraints. If I ever get to go back to D.C., I will designate an entire day to Mt. Vernon. It was my favorite thing of the whole trip! On the way out we stopped for ice cream at the food court and took the bus back into town.
Up Next:: Monuments by Moonlight Tour