gteacher

Thanks to all the Fodorites who helped make this a great trip. I read and researched people's advice here many times. So helpful. So thanks to all who take the time to post. Here goes...
Wed. 6-23
(Flew from Cal. to NC to visit with relatives for a week 17-23.) Drove from NC thru Virginia and stopped at Mt. Vernon.
Drove a "back way" into DC and avoided much of the rush hour traffic. Had a little trouble with the Dupont traffic circle. Much bigger and crazier than the small circles we have in our home town. Arrived at Radisson Barcelo. They had to give us a temporary small room because all of the regular size rooms were taken. The temp. rm ended up being fine for one night. Shabby and a little small. Settled in and then explored neighborhood. Ate at Julia's Empanadas per Bardo's suggestion. Delicious and cheap.

Thurs. 6-24
Returned rental car and took metro to Capital South stop. Walked around neighborhood/Cannon Bld before pre-arranged congressional tour of the Capitol. Checked in congressman's off, but had to wait for some late people. Tour began at 10:25. Long security line and then tour beginning in basement. Fun, informative tour but there were a million people also touring. This made it a little tough to hear our tour guide. Ate lunch (at suggestion of aide) at Tortilla Coast on 1st street, which is close to the Cannon Bld. Super, super busy. $20-25 for lunch (I think). Metro back to hotel to relax for a bit and change rooms. Now we are in a HUGE room. Nice! Metro for Kennedy Center tour. Bought tix to see The Producers. After tour saw Alan Ruck walking behind Kennedy Center along the Potomac. 5:30- walked from Kennedy Center to Lincoln Mem., reflecting pool, Vietnam Mem.(part of it is covered, because they are working on lighting improvement. It is still very powerful to see though.),Constitution Gardens, and the WWII Mem. The WWII is beautiful. I really enjoyed it. This was a great time to see some of the Mems/monuments. It was cooler and not as busy. Walked to Smith. Metro and headed for home. 8:30 Picked up Subway by our hotel and ate in room

Fri. 6-25
B-fast from Bagels, etc. right across from hotel. Cheap, fast eats. Metro for 8:30 Library of Congress tour. Beautiful! Back to hotel. Pizza Paradiso for lunch. Awesome pizza! Left 1:20 to metro for State Dept. tour. Tightest security of all here. Picture ID, regular airport security and armed guards at the beginning and end of your tour grp. Very firmly told not to wander away from your grp. Tour of the reception rooms.After tour, walked to Korean Mem and Dc Mem. Metro at 4:30 (busy,crowded rush hour)back to hotel to get ready for The Producers. Metro to Kennedy Center, ate dinner at the Encore Cafe, checked out the view again around the balcony, and saw The Producers. Metro back to hotel. Arrived 11:00.

SAt. 6-26
10:30 Metro to Federal Triangle. Walked around and headed to Smith. Amer. Hist. for a short time before Holocaust Mus. tour. Got tix thru Ticketmaster before we left. Highly recommend. Even with a specific tour time, the permanent exhibit was packed! The museum is so well done. Very emotional and informative. You could spend hours there. We were there about 2. Ate hot dog and pretzel from vendor outside museum and then headed over to Jefferson Mem. A very long walk. Then to FDR and then up Constitution. Bought an ice cream and viewed some of the quilts from The National AIDS Quilt Proj. on the lawn. Walked around White House. Very crowded. Metro at Farragut N. Pizza Paradiso again for dinner. 7:00 walked around neighborhood to Teasism, had Morrocan Mint Ice tea and a granola, toffee cookie. Fabulous! Walked back to hotel.

Sun. 6-27
9:00 b-fast at Bagels,etc. Metro Arlington Cem. Spent a few hours there. Metro to Woodley Park, walked to the Nat. Cathedral (another very looong walk) but beautiful houses to look at while walking. Spent 45 min. there and walked back. Lunch at Chipotle corner of Connecticut and Calvert. Metro to SMith. Amer. Hist. Left at 5:45 and walked to Old Post Office. Husband went up the tower. I have height issues so I didn't. He said it was a great view.Metro back to hotel. Got in at 7:00.

Mon. 6-28
Metro to Federal Triangle. Went to White House visitor's center. Then walked to Ford's Theatre. Looked at the artifacts in the basement while waiting for NPS speaker. Sit in the theatre while a park ranger talks about Lincoln's assassination. Crossed the street to the Peterson House. No line and walked thru quickly. Quick bite at Hard Rock which is right next door to Ford's Theatre. That made me laugh. 12:15-1:00 Walked to Folger's Shakespeare Library. Headed over to the Supreme Court for our lecture. After lecture, metro to Archives. HUGE line and that was moving very slowly, so we decided not to wait. We were exhausted and hot. Walked across to the Smith. Gardens (?) sat, listened to the fountain,and drank something cold. Walked to Smith. Air and Space Spent time there and then metro back to hotel. Ate JOhnny's Half Shell for dinner.Yummy! 8:45 walked to Teasism and had tea and those fabulous cookies. 9:30 walked back to hotel.

Tues.6-29
Taxi to Union Station to catch Amtrak to NY.

Whew! That was long. Hopefully it is helpful to those of you planning a trip. There are sooo many things that I left out because the report is already sooo long. Please post any questions you have. I'm happy to help with more specific details. I can also give you the perspective of something visiting DC for the first time since this was our first trip. Thanks for reading.

bardo

Thanks for the detailed report - great job. I'll be seeing The Producers at the Kennedy Center in August - how was it???

bennnie

gteacher - thank you for the trip report. You've covered many places that we'll be going in a few weeks. We are also staying at the Radisson. Did you find your second room to be clean? worn? noisy? Was the neighborhood sketchy or upscale (I've heard it described both ways) I'm getting cold feet about this reservation. The price seems too good to be true.

Thank you for making reference to the restaurants that are near the hotel. That will come in handy.

Also did you experience lines at Mt Vernon?

Is the White House visitors center worth while? We were able to arrange a tour of the WH itself, should we stop at the visitors center also?

TIA

MikeT

The Raddison's neighborhood is both sketchy and upscale, if that's possible. <g> Dupont Circle is one of the most appealing neighborhoods in DC with condos going for $500,000 and homes for $1M. It is where the embassies begin, but also fairly "bohemian" and the center of DC's gay neighborhood.

The Radisson is on P Street, which is close to the Metro. People probably consider it sketchy because there are going to be plenty of homeless, but that goes for pretty much all of tourist DC. The Radisson is also within two blocks of 4-5 gay bars and therefore there are lots of people out at night, lots of young people, and obviously lots of men. It is completely safe and similar to many neighborhoods in Lower Manhattan and Midtown NYC.

E

gteacher, thanks for taking the time to post such a detailed report! And I salute you for doing so much in such a short time, including some of my very favorite DC things most tourists don't do, like dinner and a show at the Kennedy Center (I hope you got a chance to enjoy the views from the rooftop). You even had a vendor hotdog--way to go!

E

For the record, and without the slightest desire to begin a debate on this topic, I wouldn't call Dupont in the least bit sketchy. It's a lively area on weekend nights but is by no means "party central", has a neighborhood feeling and only its fair share of urban characters. I'm not arguing with you, MikeT--it's just that visitors are so easily scared off by descriptions like yours, and I wanted to register mine.

Doh

I agree, Dupont is an urban neighborhood, but it's hardly sketchy. Pennsylvania Ave. is more sketchy.

MikeT

E - I agree completely, but I understand why people consider it "sketchy." My bet is you are very used to urban neighborhoods and big cities. If you are not, however, then it probably seems more "skechy," even though--as you point out--it is one of the most desirable areas in DC.

I guess I pause because I was thinking about all the Fodorites staying at the Radisson while I stood nearby watching DC's Gay Pride parade go by a few weeks ago. Undoubtedly, there were probably some tourists who were probably taken by surprised by the goings-on at the parade.

E

Hey, I attended Pride Week events in DC a few years in a row, and even I was taken aback on occasion! I guess I assume folks go to the big city to see something different...btw, do they still do the Drag Race down P Street??

gteacher

Bardo- The Producers was quite funny...although it took me awhile to get into it. I'm sure it was the hype surrounding it. I was expecting hilarity from the very beginning and I didn't laugh for awhile. Bialystock was too shrill sometimes (maybe the way Stadlen played him). I know that is part of his character, but I felt at times it was too much/over the top. Ulla was great! Cracked me up! Overall, I thought it was a great show. I wish I could have seen Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick in it, but seeing it at the Kennedy Center was neat for me as a first time visitor to DC. I saw Wicked a few days later on Broadway. That knocked my socks off! I'm sure you will enjoy it!

gteacher

Bennnie-I would agree with the assessment that the area is somewhat "urban", but don't let that scare you at all. The largest grouping of what others might call "sketchy" people was in the little park in the middle of the traffic circle. We had no trouble at all. This area you can totally avoid if it bothers you. You can walk around it.Another thing to mention, we weren't out very late either. 10:00-11:00 at the tops, so I can't speak for the later crowd. I was with my husband as well. Also, we didn't walk around a huge amount in Dupont either. We spent so much time walking during the day..we were exhausted, so not a huge amount of exploration in the neighborhood of our hotel. We walked down P Street to 22nd (?) and then to Q (Teasism)and back to the hotel the opposite way (Q to Massachusetts (?) to P Street. We also walked a few blocks the other way to Julia's Empanadas which I recommend and then many trips to the metro. No problems with sketchy people in the metro either (the lastest we traveled on it was 11o). I highly recommend it. It is so clean and easy to use. I rode the subway in NY later in our trip and DC is much cleaner and easier to use (in my first time tourist opinion). I felt completely safe at the hotel. I never saw any "sketchy" people in front or hanging around. There always seemed to be a bellman there to open the door for you. I think the Radisson is awesome. We got a fabulous deal in a great location. The second room we had was amazing. We stayed in a huge room on the 8th floor (which I already described in my trip report). The second room was super clean every day and not shabby in the least bit. The noise level...I think I was too exhausted to notice! lol. There was no noise in the hallway. Maybe a little street noise. Way louder in NYC with sirens. Don't worry. Be sure to ask for the things that you want...a renovated room, non-smoking (?)and up on a higher floor. The reception people were pretty flexible. Even the first night room...it certainly wasn't fabulous but it wasn't the worst room and they changed us quickly enough.

As for the White House Visitor's Center...it basically has nice displays with tons of information about the White House and a small gift shop. I didn't feel like reading everything so we didn't spend much time there. It really depends on you. Do you want to know more information about the White House? I would suggest doing your tour first and then deciding. If you have unanswered question AFTER the tour, you may want to blitz thru the Visitor's Center.

Mount Vernon - The day we were there it was sprinkling on and off. Really, that was no big deal if you have an umbrella or a hooded jacket. Even though it was sprinkling, there were still lots of people there. We had to stand in line to tour the mansion. I think we waited 15-20 min. in line to do that. We went on a slave life tour with only a few people. Very informative tour. I think it lasted about 45 min. max. There are so many things to do and see there, so if the line is too long for the mansion, you can do other things and return when it is short. I don't know how your schedule is going to work...it may be worthwhile to get there when it first opens and get immediately into line for the mansion. The mansion tour was the only thing that required waiting. Does that help?

You're going to have a great vacation. Don't worry about the Radisson. Plan the best you can and then go with the flow. You'll have a wondeful time. Let me know if you have further questions. I'm happy to help.

bennie

gteacher - thanks for taking the time to respond. I guess I'll keep my reservation and my fingers crossed. If we aren't happy we can always change hotels.

emd

With the strike looming, hope we get to see those Kennedy Center Broadway productions...

gteacher

Bennie - I'm glad I've been helpful to you. Be sure to post a trip report and let us know what you thought of Dupont Circle and the Radisson. Thanks.

E- we did enjoy the roof views at the Kennedy Center. The day of our tour we took many pictures. My husband went camera crazy. lol. We also took MORE picts. the night we saw The Producers.

nytraveler10

Bennie,

Read my "DC Itinerary Report - Long" from April that I just responded to today and is topping the message board. My family stayed in DuPont Circle at the Radisson Barcelo and got a huge room that we enjoyed. The metro was great and the neighborhood very safe. I followed recommendations from posters here. Have a great trip!

mommybryant

Just wanted to ask you a question about security issues. I will be leaving July 24th for DC. Will I be allowed to take articles such as a purse, camera, backpack, etc into the public buildings (White House, Capitol, BP&E) if they are scanned and okay?? I was wondering if I would have to leave all my personal stuff behind. Thanks for the info on the hotel. With five of us at the Radisson, I hope to get one of the larger rooms.

richbutnot

Can't take ANYTHING into the White House. This includes cell phones, beepers, purses, cameras, etc. The Capital won't lake you take liquids in. The Smithsonians are just like an airport - No knives, etc. and they X-Ray your bag.

bennnie

gteacher and nytraveler - thanks for taking the time to post such informative reports. I read both of your reports with great interest. I sure the hotel will be fine.

Nytraveler I particularly appreciate you listing where you ate and the cost. Info such as that is very helpful when trying to establish a budget.

Can't wait to go. I'll be posting a report when I get back.

SimoneSassett

gteacher - we're considering switching from the Washington Hilton & Towers on Connecticut in Dupont Circle over to the Radisson Barcelo - per yours and nytraveler10's recommendations. Did you request a "special" grade room to get the large room? Or did you have a suite? We found a really cheap $99/night rate for a "room" there, but not sure if that would be for the big room you had..... Any idea on your room's classification? Thanks!

vanrider

gteacher... do you have info about the "trolley tours" or Tourmobile tours? Like how to get tickets and where to pick them up? We arrive 7/19 and thought that might be a good thing to start with. Thanks for your report!