Raincitygirl needs Washington, DC help!
 

This is the first thread I have ever started so bear with me please.
A friend and I are going to Washington, DC in July ( we know it will be hot). We will have five nights there and are hoping to have two nights at the shore, somewhere not too far from DC, either on Chesapeake Bay or the Maryland shore. I am hoping somebody can recommend a lovely Band B or small charming inn there.

Then we will take Amtrak to Philadelphia and have two nights there. Total of nine nights for the whole trip.

We will stay at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington and if anyone has a hotel they love in Philadelphia I am all ears. Hoping Thin or Amy might give me some local tips for good places to eat.

We fly into BWI and home from Philadelphia. Does anyone have a recommendation for a shuttle or other transportation from BWI into Washington?

I am hoping for recommendations for restaurants, bars, places with live music, shopping,
and"don't miss" sites. We want to walk the length of the Mall, see some of the Smithsonian, interested in art and history.

Am hoping Janet or someone else who knows Virginia can recommend a pretty town in Virginia to do a day trip to.

So open to suggestions from anybody but especially locals...St.Cirq? Dukey?

We take the train from BWI to DC/Union Station There is a shuttle at the airport that takes you to the train station close by the airport. How will you get to the Beach? Annapolis is lovely and you probably could manage to get there by public transportation. To get to Rehoboth Beach which is the closest Ocean front Beach you would need to rent a car and traffic is a nightmare in July headed that way.

raincitygirl - Here you go: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev..._Maryland.html

Less than 90 minutes from DC but a world away. Spend the day visiting historic St. Mary's City and/or taking a boat cruise.

http://stmaryscity.org/visit/

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractio..._Maryland.html

If you don't want to eat at the Inn (expensive but exquisite), nearby there are plenty of great ultra-casual seafood places right on the water -

http://www.spinnakerswaterfrontdining.com/

http://www.scheibles.com/

You want to take the MARC train from BWI to DC's Union Station. Not Amtrak. Take the metro five stops to Dupont Circle and when you emerge onto the street you will be within seconds of your hotel.

Good hotel choice in DC. Well located for many restaurants and bars and nightlife. What kind of food do you like? What kind of music or theater? There is shopping all over DC. Georgetown, Penn Quarter, Downtown, Dupont Circle.

Not trying to short circuit your questions but have you looked at any recent threads here discussing what to see and do in DC?

Alexandria & Mount Vernon are an excellent way to spend a day immediately outside of DC.

Sounds like a fun trip!

I was actually planning to recommend Dupont Hotel area eats but got sidetracked by the DC area B&B request...

Here are Dupont's best (IMHO):

http://www.tabardinn.com/ Menu changes daily, but there are always different options (meat, seafood, vegetarian, etc.) Equally great for dinner, lunch, or weekend brunch. I've probably been a hundred times and <i>never</i> tire of it...

http://www.littleserow.com/ @ 1511 17th St. NW Set menu changes daily - dinner only. No reservations, no food requests, no "ordering" (and no sign on the door). Doors open at 5:30pm More info: http://www.yelp.com/biz/little-serow-washington

http://starnoldsmusselbar.com/ (Jefferson St. location)

http://www.bistrotducoin.com/

http://hanksoysterbar.com/

Thank you all for such quick responses.
flpab, I had wondered about Annapolis; we would probably prefer to go somewhere we could get to with public transport, but would rent a car if we had to. But I had not thought about summer traffic, that is a good point.

bardo1, thanks so much for all those great links, I will look at them closely tomorrow. St. Mary's city looks really lovely.
Those sound like some great restaurants, I have recently given up eating red meat so the tabard inn appeals with the vegetarian options.

obxgirl, great instructions for the airport transport, thanks. Good to know the hotel is good and near the metro. As for food, I am hoping to try some of your good east coast seafood and we prefer fresh food over fast food, whether it be fine dining or just a really good home cooking style cafe. Love Italian and French and if there are any regional specialties we'd be interested in that.

As for music, I love all kinds, but for a live in a bar type of setting: Blues, Folk, Bluegrass, rock and roll as long as it isn't the headbanger/heavy metal type.

Shopping, well, I'm sure I'll sniff something out. I won't be doing a lot of shopping but if there was a particular women's boutique near my hotel that was good, or an interesting home decor shop I'd love to hear about it.

Yes, I have looked at some other threads and will do so again, but thought I'd start my own as well. (partly because I've never started a thread and was curious on how to do it!)

Someone told me we have to have the carrot cake at Founding Farmers, have any of you had it?

I second the Tabard as a place to stay near Dupont Circle.

For restaurants, we would need to know something of your tastes.

If the guidebook with which you are working doesn't answer some of the questions you are asking, then I would strongly urge you to get another as it seems sorely inadequate.

http://www.wmata.com/fares/smartrip/ check this out for Metro in DC. We also took taxis because they were not that expensive and we stayed at the Monuments after dark. Took a cab back to Dupont Circle.
http://www.jameshobansdc.com/ great pub and inexpensive food for DC. We met the most interesting man here at the bar. He was a Professor at American University and shared many things with us. my favorite thing in DC National Museum of American History - Smithsonian Institution

Annapolis would be my choice over Rehoboth Beach or St Michaels without a car.

For Smithsonians, my 3 favorites are Air & Space (but the one at Dulles - Udvar Hazy), American History and the Portrait Gallery (very quiet and a gorgeous building). Its attached to an Art Museum as well but I always stay on the Portrait Gallery side. This is also in a great area of DC for restaurants / bars.

I really enjoy the National Zoo but go early in the morning. Its a nice walk and animals will be active.

Check out the Newseum. Its an awesome museum and takes almost all day to see.

Arlington Cemetery would be a must-see for history.

The hotel I stayed in for Philly last year is now Radisson Blu Warwick. Completely renovated and a different style than most hotels so it doesn't feel outdated. I really liked the rooms and its in a great location. Our 2nd night was at the Hotel Sonesta which works as well. Both are located near Rittenhouse Square.

Alexandria & Mount Vernon are an excellent way to spend a day immediately outside of DC.
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Alexandria was the first place that came to mind. Nice restaurants and shops.

And if you have time, I agree that Arlington Cemetery is a must see!

A great resource for things to do in DC is the Washington Post's Going Out Guide: http://www.washingtonpost.com/goingoutguide

A few suggestions for small music venues:

Birchmere (in Alexandria) - bluegrass, country and folk music

Filmore (Silver Spring) = rock, Jazz, Latin

Sixth and I Historic Synagogue) (yes, synagogue!) - indie rock, folk, pop and more

9:30 Club - rock, indie rock, punk, hip hop (best night club venue for "biggest names")

Blues Alley - Jass supper club

Black Cat - indie rock (younger crowd)

U Street Music Hall - dance club (def younger crowd)

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Also check the calendars for the larger venues:

Verizon Center
Patriot Center
Wolf Trap
DAR Constitution Hall
Warner Theater
Jiffy Lube Live
Carter Barron Amphitheater

We went to a great little bar in Old Town Alexandria that had music. I wish I could think of the name of it. It was near the Hotel Monaco.

Two Nineteen's Basin Street Lounge?

Ha. I worked there as a second job after college, supplementing my near non existent salary from a downtown non-profit.

oh wow, everybody thank you so much! I will investigate those suggestions.
Arlington cemetery is a must see for us and the Smithsonian. ( or parts of it, sounds massive) And sounds like Alexandria could be the perfect day trip.
Going now to check out the hotel in Philly, and all the links and other suggestions.

obxgirl, great recommendations...there's enough there to keep us bar-hopping for all 5 nights!

Don't forget Georgetown.

My husband and I just got back from a long weekend in DC and stayed at the Dupont Circle Hotel :) It is a very good hotel and the location is terrific. I love that neighborhood with all the small restaurants and bars, interesting shops, wonderful architecture, etc.

I wrote a trip report - posted it on Trip Advisor. Here is the link:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic....html#55475529

I made a list of what we saw, where we ate, etc. with some notes about each place. Both my husband and I had been to DC before multiple times, so we didn't go to some of the highlights that we had visited on other trips.

Bardo1, my family lived in St Marys in the late 1600-1700. You had me researching for a couple of hours this morning. I knew one of them were from there. They were not on the Ark or the Dove though.
Raincitygirl, ask St Cirq on the lounge, she might not come over here.

Here's a suggestion for a fun day trip in Virginia using public transportation: Take the VRE train (weekdays only) to Fredericksburg.

The VRE station is only about 3 blocks from the Fredericksburg Visitor's Center where you get can get a lot of information on what to see and do there. You can also buy a day pass which gives you admission to lots of historical sites in town. I was there a few months ago and toured the Mary Washington House (which George bought for his mother) and Kenmore Plantation, the historic home of George's sister, Betty. Most of the historic sites, including these two, are located within walking distance of the Visitor's Center. Fredericksburg is also the site of a major Civil War battle/siege and you can tour that area as well. The downtown area, where the historic sites are located, has a lot of interesting shops and good restaurants.

If you want a small boutique hotel in Philadelphia, the Morris House Hotel would be a good choice.

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If you're going to the Chesapeake you'll have to have hard-shell blue crabs somewhere (and you'll need a car). Oxford Inn on Eastern Shore is a nice little (historic) inn. Cantler's near Annapolis is a good place for crabs.

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