missjanna

Okay gang, it took me a while to get this up here, but with Turkey Day and pre Xmas stuff going on, it's been busy! But here goes!

Thurs. Nov. 21st. Took Peter Pan buslines from NYC to DC. ($40 RT) The bus had comfortable seats and showed a movie, The Italian Job. Left on time (6:30) and we arrived 15 minutes early at 10:15pm. Took a cab to the hotel, the Omni Shoreham.

Arrived at the Omni Shoreham. It's in a great area over a bridge by CT. Ave. Was greeted by everyone upon entering. Check in was a breeze as I had joined the Select Guest program, & they honored my 50% discount for a weekend stay certificate. I was informed that I had been upgraded to a suite which surprised me considering how little I was paying. The hotel lobby is in one word, opulent. I almost felt not worthy. Glass chandeliers, plush sofas, & 2 wings.

As I got to my room, which was done in white, cream & green, I was surprised. It was about as big as my studio apartment! There were 2 queen beds (requested 1 king, but who cares?) done in white & red florals, mahogany wood furniture, with a working area, an oversized tub in the bathroom, my bed was turned down with 3 chocolate mints, & I had a large balcony overlooking Rock Creek Park. Only downside? There was a huge moth in my room that I couldn't quite reach to kill. After calling the front desk, they sent housekeeping and they were there in less than 10 minutes. Housekeeping killed the moth, and asked if I wanted to change rooms, but I said this wasn't necessary. The long trip avoided me dinner, I changed & proceeded downstairs to find something. The concierge directed me to the Irish Bar / Restaurant diagonally across the street, called Murphy's. Very nice place. Chatted with the bartender, who also was originally from my hometown, Brooklyn. Ordered some quick bar food and went to hit Adams Morgan for a few drinks.

Went to Madams Organ. This place's motto is "where the beautiful people come to get ugly!". There was a really good blues / jazz band performing and the bartender even got me a buy back on my 3rd order. It's pretty much a dive bar, but it was a good time with mainly people in their 20's and 30's. After the 3rd drink, went back to the hotel and slept.

Friday, Nov. 21st. Seeing as how the National Zoo was blocks from my hotel, I decided to head up there first.
It was a very long 5 blocks or so, and stopped in to Starbucks right by the entrance for a quick bite. The Zoo was amazing, as I haven't been to one since elementary school. The panda was even out and swinging in the tree, but the tigers were all sleeping. I killed off 3 hours easily here. After this, I decided it was time to head downtown.

Took the metro which was one block from the hotel into downtown. The metro is fast, easy and a lot cleaner than most subways! Actually I found all of DC to be very clean. I went to the Holocaust Museum first, having had an expanse knowledge of WWII. The current exhibits were dedicated to children of the holocaust, and had Anne Frank and Daniel's Story. I was in tears by the time I left. There aren't enough words to express the importance of this museum.

Moved on past the Washington Monument to the Smithsonian. Visited the Air and Space Museum. As it was nearing closing, I had limited time. Since my father was in the Air Force, I had somewhat an aviation curiosity. It was interesting to get into the Flight Simulator and attempt to fly. How these pilots do it, I'll never know.

Was now time for dinner, but it was a beautiful night, so I walked some. Walked past the White House, but couldn't get anywhere near it. I did see black copters flying about, however. Stopped into the adorable little restaurant on Jefferson Pl. called Dominic's Trattu. I was greeted by Dominic himself upon entering. It was an intimate restaurant with great Italian food. The service was impeccable. Would definitely come here again. It's between 18th and 19th near L & M Streets.

Saw some homeless people downtown, and a few people asking for money, but nothing out of the ordinary for this NYer! No one got agreessive at all. Took the metro back to the hotel, watched some TV and changed to go out. Ran into some other women on my travelling, one also from NYC and her daughter from Philly. We were all looking for a nice place to go. Kept running into college crowd places. They decided to head back to their hotel, but I wasn't giving up. Ran into some small kareoke bar on U Street near the clubs. Stood there for about 20 minutes and chatted up the locals. Not sure who said on here a while back that DC people were rude, but I never encountered a single rude person on my trip! Everyone was very friendly no matter where I went.

Decided may as well go to Brickskeller, known for it's selection of 1500 beers. Sat upstairs at the bar, and indecision hit upon perousing the selection. Asked for something fruity, and the bartender obliged me with a cherry flavored red colored beer from Belgium. Was surprisingly good. Second choice was a Banana flavored one, also from Belgium. My memory fails me on the third choice. Was late, and I was tired, so called it a night here.

Saturday, Nov. 22nd. Took the metro out to Arlington Cemetary. Wondered why it was so crowded, and then remembered: It was the 40th Anniversary of Kennedy's assasination. The cemetary was large, and even with sneakers, is a hike to even get halfway through. Saw the eternal flame at Kennedy's gravesite along with flowers placed on all graves, including his only days old son. Moved on to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. I was not prepared for the size of this. It was done up with pillars, and a dome, and sort of like an ampitheater. Since it was beginning to get dark early (I had a late start on this day). I decided to head back into DC. Wanted to see the Iwo Jima memorial, but vowed to see it on my next visit.

A lot of places were closed downtown on a Saturday, so I headed for Dupont Circle. Stopped by the ice cream shop on CT by Dupont Circle (Larry's? Jerry's? the name escapes me) for homemade ice cream. Was very good, but not the best I've ever had. Wound up for dinner at a place called Pines of Florence, a small place inside a building on CT Ave a few blocks north of Dupont. Was standard italian fare, nothing to write home about, but the service was very good.

Decided to kick things up a notch. Went to Bar Nun for my nighters option and realized I was the only single female there. Was wondering why when the bartender pointed out it was swingers night. Whooaaaa. Was not prepared for this. But I am open minded, so I decided to stick it out for an hour or so and see what happens. While like DC, even the people and things that happened here were still conservative, I had a good time. No clothes were taken off anywhere, it seemed more like if you want to leave with someone, you do. But some crazy things did happen in the club, but on that, I will say what happens in DC stays in DC. ;-)

Sunday, Nov. 23rd. Couldn't remember where I wanted for brunch, and was so hungry I didn't want to go searching. Took the Metro one stop north to Cleveland Park. Here there were a myriad of places to eat. Decided on Brick's Tavern, a bar/restaurant. They had 8 TV's showing all the games, and brick oven pizza which was actually pretty good considering I'm used to NY pizza. After goofing with the bartender, I stopped at Foster's Brother's Coffee, a Starbucks sort of place for a frozen mocha concoction and headed back downtown for the last of my sightseeing before my late checkout.

Visited the Lincoln Memorial. Was disappointed to see the reflecting pool had been drained already. Near this was the Korean War memorial, a long wall with all the names of those who died in chronological order. Walked west some more, and came across the WWII memorial, which is under construction, but appeared to be almost finished. It's due to be unveiled officially in April. Walked even further west and down the Tidal Basin to the Jefferson Memorial. Was a beautiful view from here. But it was getting late, and had to hurry back, unfortunately. Made it back in time for my late checkout, 5:00pm.

Took the Metro to Union Station for my bus back home. There was a long 3 block walk to the bus station from the train station and some kids were acting up nearby and throwing bottles. I ignored this.
Got to the bus terminal which was a zoo. No one seemed to know what was going on as they said they were not keeping a normal schedule, so I jumped on the first bus that was there, which was a Greyhound. Not as comfortable as the Peter Pan bus I took down, but the bathroom seemed cleaner. Next time I'm flying!!

All in all it was a great trip, will definitely be returning to see the things I missed this time around! I was lucky enough to have great weather, and the $6 daily unlimited Metro pass was perfect. It was hard to adjust having to scan it going in and out of the subway, but I quickly learned. DC is an easily accessible city by walking or train, so if anyone has any questions, feel free to ask!

Kal

OK mj, Just when we finally started to narrow down our 2004 "TO DO" travel list, you go and screw it up for us!
Great TR!

We may now do a bike ride down the C&O Canal around the 4th of July again.
THX!!!!
Kal

ps..what night was swingers night again? :-"

rb_travelerxATyahoo

What a great report! I'll print it off for some reminders of things to check out on my next trip. Glad to hear that the bus experience was OK -- so many people disparage bus transportation that I've steered clear. BTW, easier to get to Iwo Jima walking from Rosslyn Station then thru Arlington. I enjoyed the walk up to Arlington House, one-time home of Robert E. Lee.

I purchased some "Metrocard Holders" at a small transportation museum in Grand Central, that are great for keeping a NYC or a DC farecard safe from damage and easy to locate (what pocket did I put it in?) If I lived in NYC, I wouldn't pass up $40RT! Too much Scottish blood in my veins!

missjanna

Kal, Saturday was swingers night. It was tame by NY standards, mainly men in suits, and women with see through shirts and mini skirts without any underwear. They also have a cage you can get inside and dance in upstairs. It was on U St. by 13th, close to the U St. Metro stop.

rb, yes I couldn't pass up the RT price, although I would have paid $140 to fly. Maybe next time since I didn't get to see the rest or Arlington and the rest of the Smithsonian! And I'm not even a museum person! But I have a greater sense of the history of this nation and am proud to say I've been there.

Only downside: some of the teenagers in the Holocaust museum were laughing at things and cracking jokes. I kind of found this to be somewhat disrespectful, but my guess was either they didn't know or just didn't understand what they were looking at.

Kal

Yeah. Sat is my major swinging night. I usually stay up all the way to 10:00 that night!
The only thing swinging on me of late are my chins.

As for the Holocaust Museum, sometimes the kids make jokes BECAUSE it's so serious.
2 memorials where Mrs Kal and I separate before viewing are the Holocaust Museum and Viet Nam Memorial.
VERY emotional. Or it's my allergies...yeah..that's it.

donnabee

Hmmmm interesting about the swingers club! I have lived here for 25 years and never knew about it!