JR -- How was your trip to DC/VA?
Oct 16th, 2000 | 07:30 AM
#1
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JR -- How was your trip to DC/VA?
JR, from your recent posts, it seems you may have just returned from visiting DC and parts of Virginia. I will be in DC and VA later this week with elderly parents. I would really love to hear a trip report, and to know what you especially like or disliked. Thanks.
Oct 16th, 2000 | 11:01 AM
#2
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Just returned from DC yesterday with my mom who is 78. Thank you so much to everyone who provided information on parking, hotels, safe areas, transportation, weather, etc., etc., etc. We had a great trip!
We squeezed a 2-week trip into a 1-week trip (which I absolutely hate doing). We went to Williamsburg, Monticello & the southern portion of Shenandoah, then on to DC, and eventually a short stop at Gettysburg and back home to Illinois. Whew! It was something I always wanted to do, because my mother's talked about going to the east coast for years. Anyhow, we had a great time. My first advice would be NOT to try to squeeze this much into a week. You can do it, but always feel rushed.
In DC, we did OK. We stayed near Dupont Circle, which I would definitely do again. It's a very nice area of the city. We stayed at the Clarion Hampshire Hotel, which was nice but older. The room had some irksome problems (no air conditioning, we were on the 9th floor & it got rather warm up there). Overall, a pretty good room though, with a kitchenette, and we got a good rate so can't complain too much. We were right across from one of the Summerfield Suites. Those were supposed to be VERY nice, but don't know the prices. Lots of hotels in the area: Concordia, Carlyle Suites, Doubletree in Foggy Bottom. Again, I don't know the prices.
My husband and I did a "trial run" on the Metro to see if my mother could withstand it. We very quickly decided this was not possible. It would be very easy for someone younger, but the escalators scared my mom, who is not too steady on her feet, and we thought she'd better save her strength for the mall/monuments. We took a cab during the day, then drove to some of the monuments at night. I can honestly say DC is the most confusing city I've ever been in. I've driven in rush hours in San Francisco, Chicago, Nashville, Indy, Houston. I'm not an extensive traveler, but I've never seen anything like driving in DC. City planners deliberately made it confusing to avert enemy attack. We did drive sometimes, but you need a good awareness of what's going on around you, PATIENCE for the congestion, a map & hopefully a navigator. We had some problems with finding our way with all of the one-way streets, but generally found it easier at night. Getting to the Jefferson/FDR was really quite easy at night. The monuments are most beautiful at night, IMHO, and we were glad we went to FDR in the evening (saw Jeffeson & Washington monuments reflected in Tidal Pool...beautiful).
We took the Tourmobile one day. This turned out to be one of the most frustrating portions of our trip. We wasted so much time just waiting for the buses. In general, I would probably do it again, though maybe with the Greyline trolley or Old Town trolley. It was a good because it took us close to where we wanted to go, we didn't need a cab or a car. The Tourmobile was crowded and very, very, noisy (which made hearing difficult). I would think Greyline would do better, but I don't know for sure. It may just be the nature of those on-again/off-again buses.
Thanks again to all who helped with the great information. Feel free to respond if you want more particulars about our trip!
We squeezed a 2-week trip into a 1-week trip (which I absolutely hate doing). We went to Williamsburg, Monticello & the southern portion of Shenandoah, then on to DC, and eventually a short stop at Gettysburg and back home to Illinois. Whew! It was something I always wanted to do, because my mother's talked about going to the east coast for years. Anyhow, we had a great time. My first advice would be NOT to try to squeeze this much into a week. You can do it, but always feel rushed.
In DC, we did OK. We stayed near Dupont Circle, which I would definitely do again. It's a very nice area of the city. We stayed at the Clarion Hampshire Hotel, which was nice but older. The room had some irksome problems (no air conditioning, we were on the 9th floor & it got rather warm up there). Overall, a pretty good room though, with a kitchenette, and we got a good rate so can't complain too much. We were right across from one of the Summerfield Suites. Those were supposed to be VERY nice, but don't know the prices. Lots of hotels in the area: Concordia, Carlyle Suites, Doubletree in Foggy Bottom. Again, I don't know the prices.
My husband and I did a "trial run" on the Metro to see if my mother could withstand it. We very quickly decided this was not possible. It would be very easy for someone younger, but the escalators scared my mom, who is not too steady on her feet, and we thought she'd better save her strength for the mall/monuments. We took a cab during the day, then drove to some of the monuments at night. I can honestly say DC is the most confusing city I've ever been in. I've driven in rush hours in San Francisco, Chicago, Nashville, Indy, Houston. I'm not an extensive traveler, but I've never seen anything like driving in DC. City planners deliberately made it confusing to avert enemy attack. We did drive sometimes, but you need a good awareness of what's going on around you, PATIENCE for the congestion, a map & hopefully a navigator. We had some problems with finding our way with all of the one-way streets, but generally found it easier at night. Getting to the Jefferson/FDR was really quite easy at night. The monuments are most beautiful at night, IMHO, and we were glad we went to FDR in the evening (saw Jeffeson & Washington monuments reflected in Tidal Pool...beautiful).
We took the Tourmobile one day. This turned out to be one of the most frustrating portions of our trip. We wasted so much time just waiting for the buses. In general, I would probably do it again, though maybe with the Greyline trolley or Old Town trolley. It was a good because it took us close to where we wanted to go, we didn't need a cab or a car. The Tourmobile was crowded and very, very, noisy (which made hearing difficult). I would think Greyline would do better, but I don't know for sure. It may just be the nature of those on-again/off-again buses.
Thanks again to all who helped with the great information. Feel free to respond if you want more particulars about our trip!
Oct 16th, 2000 | 11:14 AM
#3
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Posts: n/a
By the way....cabs cost the following:
1 person $4.75 + tip
2 people $6.25 + tip
3 people $7.75 + tip
If it's rush hour, add $1.00 to the total. We figured it cost about $10-12 every time we all got in a cab. It would have been cheaper to drive to a parking lot & park, but we had time constraints and didn't want to waste a minute. The cabs were more expensive, but we figured in the long-run it would have been almost as expensive as taking our car out of the hotel parking lot. It's all a matter of perspective. If that's all you can do, then do it. It won't matter in the greater scheme of things.
1 person $4.75 + tip
2 people $6.25 + tip
3 people $7.75 + tip
If it's rush hour, add $1.00 to the total. We figured it cost about $10-12 every time we all got in a cab. It would have been cheaper to drive to a parking lot & park, but we had time constraints and didn't want to waste a minute. The cabs were more expensive, but we figured in the long-run it would have been almost as expensive as taking our car out of the hotel parking lot. It's all a matter of perspective. If that's all you can do, then do it. It won't matter in the greater scheme of things.
