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Trip Report - New York & Washington DC – May 30 – June 4, 2014

Trip Report - New York & Washington DC – May 30 – June 4, 2014

Old Sep 15th, 2014, 02:59 PM
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Trip Report - New York & Washington DC – May 30 – June 4, 2014

I’d like to thank those who made relevant responses to my questions. They were most helpful.

** Major Transportation
Flight to New York (Delta). Arrived at LGA early afternoon and took a cab to midtown (Hilton on Ave of the Americas - we like the location).

Train between New York and DC. Left on time. Arrived on time (11:30PM). Took cabs to and from both stations. In DC we walked briskly from the train to the taxi line. There were about 5-6 people in front of us. The line quickly grew. We stayed at the Hampton Inn – White House. Excellent location, good hotel, breakfast included.

Flight from DC. Took the metro from Farragut West to DCA. Very smooth and simple, no-change metro ride. The walk to the terminal was quite long. The flight back (Jetblue) was on-time and smooth. Got on the plane and saw that my neighbor was the captain.

** Local transportation.
While both the New York subway and DC Metro were very smooth rides, the payment approach of both is very different.

The price per ride in NYC always appears to be the same so a subway card is only swipe on entry.

In DC the price per ride varies by distance and time of day. Therefore, the card must be swiped on entry and exit. Each person must have their own card.

In New York I purchased a subway card on my first entry. I shared it with my wife. I noticed that on our last day we were somehow short 5 cents for the last two rides we needed. We walked into a manned (actually womanned) subway station and I asked the clerk if it was possible to add 5 cents to a card. She said she could do it. Done. Never a problem on the subway.

In Washington we ended with a balance on each card (I made one more trip than my wife so she had more left). After we returned I mailed both cards back to DC Metro Customer Service for a refund of the balance.

** New York.
The last time we visited NYC was about 6 years ago. As we did then, we started our visit with a walk in Central Park. Since we were only a few blocks from The Park, I made photography walks around the park each morning and one evening. This park does that to you.

On our first full day we walked all the way up the East Side of Central Park to the Jewish Museum and then all the way back down the to the Public Library. This is some building!!! After spending some time there we walked outside and sat around Bryant Park. It must have rained for a few minutes while we were inside since everything was a bit wet and drying. The only rain of our NYC visit.

Eventually we started walking back up north and stopped for dinner.

On our last day we took the subway to the Lower East Side. From Katz’s we took a free LES tour for about an hour and broke off to go to the Tenement Museum. We signed up for one of the tours that was starting in about 15 minutes. Excellent look at how the people lived and progressed back then.

From there we took the subway over to the start of the Highline and walked its length. Other than an interesting novelty, I’m still trying to place it with a comparison to Central Park. Is it for locals who live in the area? Is it for tourists as an alternative to Central Park. There were a lot of people there, so it must have its place.

From the north end we started our walk back towards the hotel to get our luggage and head off to the train station. On the way we stopped in Bryant Park for a half hour. We met an Italian family who were spending a year in New York. The father is a school teacher. The kids couldn’t speak any English when they arrived but now speak perfect English with almost no accent. The older son had just won a trophy in a chess tournament. Interesting conversation.

Another fun couple of days in New York.
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Old Sep 15th, 2014, 03:06 PM
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**Washington, DC
I spent a week in DC over 30 years ago. My wife had never been. I remembered some of what I saw and correctly suspected that the sites on the Mall are quite far apart.

I had arranged a tour of the Capital thru my representative’s office. Since that was in the middle of our first day, I planned the east side of the Mall for the first day and the west side for the second day.

On the first day we started with the Library of Congress tour. This is one of the most spectacular building anywhere. From there we walked over to the Supreme Court and took their tour. I had remembered taking this tour over 35 year before and noticed that a few things had changed. The Justices’ chairs looked different. Actually they were all the same as opposed to what I remembered seeing. The guide confirmed this.

After stopping for a snack we continued on to our representative’s office for the Capital tour. Our representative wasn’t there so my wife sat down at her desk and we took some pictures. The tour was interesting although I would have preferred walking from the office to the Capital outdoors instead of thru the underground tunnels.

After the Capital tour we walked along the Mall and veered north to the National Portrait Gallery. I was a little disappointed with the collection. Maybe we were just getting tired.

We walked across the street and ate at Clydes. Not many people since there were no events taking place.

The next morning my wife decided to sleep in for a couple of hours and I took the metro over to Arlington Cemetery. I walked over (quite a walk) to the Marine Corps War Memorial then made my way to President Kennedy’s gravesite. From there I went over to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier where I took in the Changing of the Guard and a couple of wreath laying ceremonies.

The only other thing I wanted to do was visit Grace Hopper’s gravesite but it was too hot and I had to start making my way over the bridge to the Lincoln Memorial and arrange to meet my wife.

I heard Grace Hopper speak at a conference about 30 years ago. She started with a bunch of small pieces of wire and called them nanoseconds. I think she’s considered to be the first computer programmer. I believe her final rank was Rear Admiral.

I spent some time at the Lincoln Memorial and walked over to the Vietnam Memorial. My wife started to walk down to the Mall and I met her there. We spent a few hours between the Lincoln, Vietnam and Korean War Memorials.

We then made our way towards The Holocaust Museum and stopped for views of the Jefferson Memorial on the other side of the Tidal Basin.

Before the trip I attempted to buy tickets for the Holocaust Museum. They were sold out several months in advance. That seemed odd so I called to make sure. They were all gone. It was suggested that since I had arranged a Capital Tour through my representative's office, I call to see if they could arrange tickets. Sure enough that worked and we had VIP tickets (not just good for a specific time but any time in the day) waiting for us.

A very somber few hours were spent at the Holocaust Museum. It felt appropriate that it clouded over and rained while we were in this Museum. The only rain during our visit to DC.

Knowing when we were planning to go to the Holocaust Museum, I purchased tickets for the Washington Monument for 4PM. The monument had been closed for earth quake repairs for a couple of years and had just reopened. Good timing.

What great views of the Mall and surrounding areas from the top of the Washington Monument!

From there we went back to our hotel to change, and rest a bit. We took the Metro to Alexandria and walked around this cute town for a while. We ate outdoors on King Street.

On our last day we decided to go back to the Mall and visit a few places of interest that we had missed.

We walked along the south-eastern part of the Mall and stopped at the Castle and Sculpture Garden. Then we visited the Air and Space Museum. Things have changed since I was last there 30 years earlier.

We wandered across the Mall and had an unexpectedly good visit at the National Gallery of Art. We stopped at the National Sculpture Garden for a while, had a snack and my wife sat around there while I went over to the National Archives to see the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

My wife went to the Museum Shop at the Holocaust Memorial while I walked around the Tidal Basin to the Jefferson Memorial.

By now it was time to head back to our hotel, pick up our luggage and leave for the airport.

An excellent visit to DC.

Photos of the trip can be seen at:
www.travelwalks.com
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Old Sep 17th, 2014, 09:49 AM
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Great trip report, Myer, thank you for sharing! DC is one of my favorite destinations............I never seem to grow tired of seeing it, no matter how many times I've been.
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Old Sep 17th, 2014, 09:58 AM
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Thanks for posting! Excellent report that will be useful to many others, I'm sure.
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Old Sep 17th, 2014, 11:01 AM
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It's even fun to read for those of us who have been to both places many times!
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Old Sep 17th, 2014, 12:48 PM
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Thanks for reading and the comments.
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Old Sep 18th, 2014, 03:39 AM
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Myer - Your photography is beautiful. I enjoyed reading your trip report. Sounds like a great trip!
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Old Sep 18th, 2014, 04:27 AM
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Yes, it was a great trip. A little short but we got to see a lot in a short period of time.
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Old Sep 18th, 2014, 04:52 AM
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Great pictures! Thanks for the TR, an interesting change from your other trips this year. DC is really a gem. Can you even compare the trips, and do you find that they tend to make the enjoyment of the other greater for having both types?
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Old Sep 18th, 2014, 08:02 AM
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Thanks for the trip report and really stunning photos. What kind of camera did you use? You really did cover a lot of ground. The National Portrait Gallery is one of my favorite museums in DC so perhaps as you noted you were too tired to fully appreciate it. I particularly enjoyed a recent docent tour based on The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris by David McCullough as many of the artists and works mentioned in the book are at the museum.
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Old Sep 18th, 2014, 08:23 AM
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Finally looked at your photos Myer, and wow, you have a great eye for composition!

I also love that you took pictures of things like taxis and the subway--well composed, but also mundane in a way that will look very interesting years down the road.

Personally, really enjoyed the pics of the Library of Congress and the Supreme Court, because we toured them both on the same day last year and your photos brought back happy memories (with just my iPhone, I didn't even try to take many pictures, and what I took was mediocre at best).

That nautilus-like view of the staircase at the Supreme Court is super cool!

Thanks so much for posting!
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Old Sep 18th, 2014, 09:44 AM
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Thanks for the kind comments.

emalloy,
I mix the different types of trips.

We hadn't been to NY in six years. Prior we went to NY and trained to Philadelphia. A year or so later we went to NY and trained to Boston.

Once a year (missed this year as my wife was tripped out - and she doesn't go on half of them) we've gone to Europe. Last year Umbria, the year before Provence and Paris and the year before that Tuscany. We're thinking of going to Languedoc (Toulouse, Montpellier) and ending in Paris.

This year I took my daughter and granddaughter (all photographers - even the 7 year old) to Yellowstone and Grand Tetons. Then immediately upon returning I took my daughter to Banff and Jasper.

I find that the different types of trips are totally unrelated. My wife is not at all interested in hiking and wildlife but very much likes Europe and various domestic trips.

I can't say that I enjoy any one more or less than the other.

Also, I can't think of one trip making another trip more or less enjoyable. I just don't compare them. I'm trying to think of one trip that we/I didn't enjoy and considered a waste of time and money. I just can't think of any.

When I've travelled with a friend or my daughter, photography is a strong interest. Nature, scenery, wildlife, etc. When I travel with my wife the interests change to wandering around a city, town or village. Obviously I have my camera and get up early before my wife but photography is a bit lower.

I enjoy travel.

LouiseH,
The classic response would be that the camera has little to do with the pictures.

My camera gets updated about every 4 years. I have a Canon 70D DSLR camera. I have two lenses but only one goes on the trips to Europe or places like NY & DC. I don't have the standard lenses that come with the cameras.

My standard travel lens is a Canon 15-85 lens. It's about 20% wider the standard lens most people have. I like that for scenery and travel. It's a good lens.

I also have a Canon 70-300L lens. That's a longer lens that I use for wildlife. It's probably not as long as I'd like (I'd prefer 400mm) but since I hike and take it with me, I've got to be able to carry it.

- - - - -
If there are any other questions I'd be glad to try answering them.

Again, thanks for the comments.
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