doreenie

I flew on Independence Air from Orlando to DC for $145 rdtrip. Took the Washington Flyer bus from Wash/Dulles to West Falls Church metro for $14 rdtrip. Ride is 20 to 30 minutes. We purchased a short trip weekly metro pass for $22 each. (travel for 7 days- great deal)..ask the metro employees for directions because they are very helpful. Metro is clean and safe. We stayed at the Beacon Hotel near Dupont Cirle. I booked the reservation on Orbitz.com--rooms are cheaper on the weekends. It averaged abt $119 a nite. very nice hotel and convenient to metro. Cafe Luna on P street is good and Annie's Paramount Steak House at 1609 - 17th st NW near Dupont Circle was very good. Great steak for $19.99 and stuffed mushroom appetizer for $8.99--drinks are $4.75. Best deal is at Johnny's on the half shell on Friday's from 5pm to 7pm--near Dupont Cirle--the appetizers and drinks are "half price" which was $7-$8 net and $3 net for drinks. The dinner meals are around $25.00. You have to sit at the bar for the half price deal. If you go to the Museum of Natural History hit the gem stones exhibit first. The area gets crowded fast. The Museum of Natural History and Air and Space gets very noisy with the kids. The documents at the National Archives have become very faded - which is very sad. On a bright note - we took the Old Town Trolley for $28 each. You can get a discount ticket on the internet. Go to a Wash dc website for info. The trolley ride was very good. It is nice to ride for a change. You can ride both top and bottom routes on the same day. You can get off and on as many times as you want. You can circle around more than once in one day. We took the metro to Arlington Cemetery exit. It is a short walk to the visitor center. The tourmobile ride was $6 for Arlington and for Arlington and Mt Vernon the cost is $20.00. We now wish we had gone to Mt Vernon. There are food courts at the Union Station (metro) and Pentagon City. If you go to Chinatown, pls go during the daytime. One last thing - we noticed that not all of the metro stops are on the map. There is one at Capitol South. Just ask the metro guide for the nearest metro stop to the place you are riding to. There are metro stops closer to each museum than just exiting at the Smithsonian metro stop all the time. The old town trolley guide said not to go the DC during the cherry blossom festival (last 2 weeks of March & first 2 weeks of April) because the city is packed with tourists. The streets get jammed. The trolleys don't run on the 4th of July because the streets are so congested. Our trip was great and yours will be, too.

bardo1

Doreenie,

Thanks for posting.

One question:
<<If you go to Chinatown, pls go during the daytime>>

Why not at night???

doreenie

During the day we encountered people asking for money. This was the only time we came upon this problem. dlm

MikeT

The people asking you for money are the safest people in Washington, so I am not sure why day or night matters.

Homelessness/panhandling is an ongoing issue in DC, just as it is in most big cities. While it may be uncomfortable to be asked for money, they aren't going to attack you or hassle you if you don't give some change and it really isn't a reason to avoid Chinatown.

doreenie

This is your opinion, but I would not take the chance. dlm

uhoh_busted

Actually I've never had a problem in China Town with panhandlers -- they are more likely to show up around the mall. (I've only lived here for 30+ years so I may be slightly jaded.)

uhoh_busted

Should have included this compliment: NICE REPORT DOREENIE! Glad you had such a lovely trip.

MLT

I understand the OP's concerns about Chinatown. I've lived in the DC area nearly my entire life, and have been to Chinatown quite a bit through the years. Usually it's been with a fairly large group, and I felt relatively "safe". My husband (from the Detroit area) and I are use to seeing homelessness and panhandling, and generally feel sympathy for those in need. And when someone seems sincerely down on their luck, I prefer to give food over money.

However, several years back we were in Chinatown during the evening to eat at our favorite Chinese restaurant in the area -- Full Kee. We were approached by a group of men, who were asking for some spare change, and they were quite aggressive about it. When my husband said truthfully that he didn't have any, they kept harassing us. This happened on more than one occassion, so we finally decided not to go to Chinatown anymore.

Fortunately for us, Full Kee opened up another branch in N. Virginia which is just about as good as the one in Chinatown. Most of the best Chinese restaurants in the area are not in Chinatown, but in N. VA or MD. So there's no compelling reason for us to go there. But I have heard that the area is experiencing a revitalization with the development around the MCI Center. I sincerely hope that the area is safe for tourists and locals to visit, and would love any insight on the current status. But it seems that at least one recent visitor had a negative experience.

doreenie

A young woman walking by recommended Full Kee to us. doreenie/dlm

repete

No part of the city has changed as dramatically as Chinatown during the past 2-3 years. Quite stunning. If I work late, I have no problem walking there for a quick bite. It's got an amazing array of new restaurants and it shows no signs of stopping.

MikeT

I agree, repete. I was at a movie in Chinatown recently and was shocked at how lively and active that part of the city was at night. There was a time where nothing happened in Chinatown after 6pm.