Graziella5b

We are going for five nights including a week end to DC in early November , we enjoy visiting the museums in the mall, and having lunch in good restaurants, not dinner . IS the area of the Capitol Hill hotel ok for walking and taking the Metro . Hotel is located at 200 C st SE.

yestravel

You are about a block from the Capitol Hill South Metro stop. You are about a 20-30 minute walk down to the Mall. Of course the Mall is large so depending upon where you want to go it's more walking.
You are maybe ,5 mile from Eastern market which is a nice place to check out. There are some nice restaurants near Eastern Market. I would imagine you would be eating lunch where u r sightseeing rather than near your hotel, no?
enjoy DC

PS -- u had asked when I will start my TR on Puglia, it has started
ww.fodors.com/community/europe/venturing-into-southern-italy-a-short-tr.cfm

Graziella5b

Hello yes travel I have to thank you twice because I have taken careful notice of all of your great recommendations regarding Puglia , etc planning to travel there next March. Although we have been nearby
In Southern Italy we have never been in Puglia. . Also great advice regarding renting car from AU Italian
Site. TKS.
We are going to Dc mainly to visit the National Art Gallery once more , we are going to see War Horse in the Kennedy Center and take a few days out from home which is in Miami. My main concern with the Capitol Hill Hotel is that , weather permitting, I like to feel safe walking near the hotel if I have to.
If you have the time since we seem to like same things ,like eating well in Italy, could you recommend one of the restaurants you enjoy in DC.? thank you.
You are right most likely we shall have lunch near where we might be , except the arriving day a week
day because flight is arriving at 11 am.

yestravel

Hi -- I think that is an okay, safe area for walking around. I'm not sure I would want to walk alot in that area at night, but for the day, you'd be fine. Being so close to the Metro makes for easy trips home at night & that should be fine. You can certainly walk to NGA with no problem. Walking to/from Kennedy Center would be a stretch. While I know parts of the HIll pretty well I am not an expert on it so hopefully others will respond.

You are about half mile to Eastern market and also to 8th ST where there are lots of restaurants. My favorite restaurant on the Hill is Montmarte (http://www.montmartredc.com) - its a small, french cafe and I think has very good food. In terms of other restaurants I like, if you give me a price point and if you have a preference for type of food I can make some suggestions. Off the top, one of my favorite restaurants in DC is Oyamel (http://www.oyamel.com) - one of Jose Andres restaurants and I consistently have good meals there.

Funny you're from Miami - we're going there for a couple days in Nov. Been years since I have been there.

As you can probably tell from my TR, I really did enjoy Puglia -- so nice to travel where it was not crowded and prices were affordable. It's not as destination rich as other parts of Italy, but there is plenty to c & do. I bet its nice in March.

Graziella5b

Thank you so much. If you need anything from Miami please let me know. We are in the Surfside area which is a tiny town next door to Ball Harbor , Collins Ave and the 90 s streets.
I think Montmartre Dc will be exciting and Oyamel too. In a previous trip to DC we tried Jaleo and liked it very much. I think he has opened a very hyped restaurant here... most likely .tooooo hyped for me and probably to expensive for us too.
For me South Beach has had it golden days, but I guess it is always fun. I agree so much with your appreciation of Puglia,
and Puglia will be our next destination most likely thanks to you. I kind of had it in the back of my mind but needed some encouragement and concrete facts and you helped me tremendously. I wished I could help you more regarding Miami, we travel a lot to Argentina-Uruguay to visit our grand children and two daughters there and at least once a year to Europe and reserve the eating out for those trips. A question of priorities and economics too. However
Argentina is in a terrible stage of affairs, everything is going down rapidly except a bigger government and restaurants are no exemption. The pleasure of traveling where prices were affordable is long gone in Argentina.
Thank you again.

yestravel

glad to be of help. At Oyamel if u decide to go, u might want to make a res for dinner. It gets very crowded. They r on Open Table.

I have read and heard ARG is going thru bad times. Too bad, I love that country.

Here's a couple Miami questions for you. Any musuems u recommend in Miami? We r only going to be there two days and right now planning to stay in the 600 block Collins Ave. We will have a rental car and would like to find public parking rather than have to pay the hotel rates. any ideas od what might be near there? Thanks!

Graziella5b

Your best bet to park the car would be the parking garage at Collins at 7 th street or the one at Collins and 13 st. Both I believe have flat daily fees or charge by the hour. Ideally it is best not no use
Valets at restaurants unless your really need to drive, they are expensive and always slow.
Regarding museums the main Museum used to be the Center for the Fine Arts in Downtown Miami but
because it does not have a really good permanent collection , now Without the capacity to bring good visiting collections it is not good as it used to be . Under the circumstances better do not go.
New name is Miami Art Museum It is located in Downtown Miami.
The Museum of Contemporary Art in 770 NE 125st has modern art, www.mocsnoni.org
In South Beach close to your hotel there are two small museums the Bass Museum between 21 and 22 st, sometimes has something good, please check their web site www.bassmuseum.org and also the Wolfsonian in Washington and 10 st is like a museum that uses objects to explain what is modern..
In Miami Beach we have Art Basel Miami beach , it will take place in early December
this is a prestigious exhibit. it takes place in the Miami Beach Convection Center .A new hub for galleries in Miami is they Wood Art District NW20 &NW 36 st, West Of North Miami Avenue.
I find Vizcaya Museum and Gardens www.vizcayamuseum.org,and the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, www.fairchildgarden.org a better choice if you are visiting Miami for a few days
.......both are great.
hope this helps.o

yestravel

Thanks so much for all your great information. Just what I needed.

yestravel

Just saw a deal with free parking for a hotel at this location in Miamia
1100 BISCAYNE BOULEVARD MIAMI, FL 33132
What do you think of this location vs being on COllins ave in 600 blk

Graziella5b

The beauty of South Beach is not only swimming in the beach or walking along the beach promenade ,but you can walk to restaurants cafes and shops. You can park the car and leave it parked for most of the day. Walking along Lincoln Rd or Ocean Drive is part of the must do.A car comes handy should you go to Vizcaya or to a mall, or to the airport. Of course there are taxis to go to the airport (flat fee)

Personally I do not like the location of the hotel in Byscaine, in the evenings walking in that area it is not
wise.
I am not sure but I think there is some kind of small bus to go around South Beach.( should be double checked)
The other day I read of a great offer of a new hotel SLS on Collins, I am not familiar with this hotel but it seemed very nice.

Graziella5b

I wish to add that the flat rate for a taxi between the MIA and SB is $32.

The South Beach Local Bus goes from one end to the other in South Beach and is very convenient.
costs only .25.

We love to walk ,personally we would seriously consider not renting a car & replacing it with taking a
Taxi from and for airport, walking and local bus + some taxi rides when necessary.
May be renting for one day to visit for instance Viscaya, adding lunch in local popular inexpensive Cuban Versailles Restaurant
With mojito, frijoles, maduros, cafecito etc or may be having lunch or dinner in one of the good Coral Gables Restaurants.

yestravel

Thanks again for your very helpful info. We rented a car because we are flying into FLL which had much lower airfare than flying into Miami.

DC is having gorgeous weather these days -- hope that's what u find when you get here.

Graziella5b

We are also flying Jet Blue to DC, it is a nice airliner. I know what you mean , taxi to South Beach must be over $70 , it is $45 to our home. I honestly believe you will have a nicer stay in the South Beavh area, Have you checked with Magallean Travel ? They have good choices , good prices and everything is done on the phone with caring travel agents.
Some hotels in Miami According with what my friends have told me me have the bad custom to overcharge in the final bill
so my advice would be to check carefully.
I agree that the hotel parking charges are over the top and then the Valets at restaurants are annoying
and on top the drivers move the seats, blast the audio and so forth.
Ps right now here weather is horrible there is a nearby hurricane ,lots of rain and heavy winds.

bardo1

Saw this late but wanted to chime in: The area all around 200 C St. SE is perfectly safe to walk around including late at night. Period.

DO consider walking over to 8th St. SE (or taking Metro one stop to Eastern Market) between Penn. Ave. and I St. Also consider checking out Easter Market (7th just north of Penn. Ave.) on a Saturday or Sunday morning. Again, a 10-15 minute walk or one Metro stop away.

yestravel

ok, will certainly be careful with restaurant bills. We're potentially getting heavy rain here starting Sunday for a few days. Hopefully it will be all gone by the time u get to DC - sometime in NOv?

Graziella5b

Hello I was double checking the possibility of staying in the hotel in 1110 Biscayne, you know Personally I would prefer to be in a place that I could simply step out and walk either to the beach or a cafe, but I realized the promotion they have in this hotel (they sent it to me too) is excellent. it might work if you are prepared to drive every day to SB and look for parking there.It is only 15 minutes.....but of course are you prepared to go back and come back ? I do not know....once in order to be together with a couple of friends we stayed in the Sheraton in Rome.I hate it, in spite of the pool and it was Summer, it was hard to get the full feeling of being in Rome.This would be a similar situation, and the Sheraton has a pretty good shuttle to take guests back and forth to downtown Rome.
Weather wise it has been very windy ,we face the ocean and last night it was horrible, I realize the system might be going your way, hope not. We have tickets for Thursday morning....?right now
Who knows ,we are in God'hands.

yestravel

This trip is really a mileage run for me to keep status with UA, so will only be one full day down there. I prefer stepping outside and being able to walk everywhere also. Don't really like having to get in the car to go someplace. I know exactly what u mean about staying someplace and being able to walk everywhere and getting the "full feeling" of that place, but given all my trips to MIami over the years, I don't think that is something that I'm particularly concerned about for on this little jaunt. Since we haven't been, looking forward to seeing Vizcaya Museum and Gardens and the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. I think we will also check out what you described as, "A new hub for galleries in Miami is they Wood Art District NW20 &NW 36 st."

Weather here is calling for Sandy to effect us beginning Sunday late day/evening, Monday & Tuesday and maybe Wednesday am. U should be fine to fly here by Thursday. Hopefully there will not be extensive power outages which have plagued this area with big storms. Even if that occurs I think the tourist sites are ok. Can't think when I heard about them closing except during snowmegadon a few years back. I'm heading to CA on Wednesday and hope I can get out.

Have a great trip and thanks again for all your recommendations.

ziobix

There's a new place in DC called District Hideaway that you could actually stay. It's not your average hotel though. It's like a fully equipped, inexpensive refuge for travelers, artists and writers in the heart of DC. It's still in the works but I think you could try dropping by the place and check it out.

You can check their site out:

https://districthideaway.wordpress.c...-coming-along/

It's still in the works but it seems to be a great place to stay.

Graziella5b

Thank you ziobix for imput on District Hideaway very interesting , were are Ok with the hotel....but it is fascinating to know about this.
Now of course the big concern is what is going on in DC with huge nasty Sandy . we are used in Miami with the threat of hurricanes, storms etc and really feel sorry and concern with this monster storm.
I do not know if our trip will materialize etc,

What do you guys think will it make any sense to get there on Thursday if Jetblue get us there at all?
Thank you.

yestravel

I'm in Calif so cant give u a firsthand report. My friends and husband so far are all ok and have power. I think u might need to wait until Tuesday, maybe even Wednesday to c what the final damage is. Of course, u can check with your hotel and they can at least give u there perspective. washington Post is giving good info and updates so far.