Headed up to Washington, DC for a little getaway and have finally gotten around to writing a trip report. Here’s a quick recap of my three days along with a link to the full report and pictures. (http://www.worldisround.com/articles/233388/index.html)

A return trip to one of my favorite cities was prompted when searching the web for cheap airfares from CHS (which basically is an oxymoron). After broadening my search to departures from MYR, I found a $98 RT fare from MYR to DCA on Spirit Airlines. This deal was well worth the 1½ drive from CHS to MYR so off I went! First, I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised by Spirit…my experience with these discount airlines has been less than fabulous but would most definitely fly Spirit again.

I arrived in DC around 4PM and immediately hopped on Metro to my hotel (gotta love it when you don’t have to deal with shuttles or taxis) in Bethesda. I stayed at the Bethesda Residence Inn (used to work for Marriott and a friend was able to hook me up with them employee rate…again, worth the little extra commute into DC). While the location to metro was great (only 1 block away) and the breakfast buffet was pretty tasty, the hotel was nothing spectacular and I would probably not stay there again (unless I got my same good deal).

Dinner that night was at this fabulous tapas restaurant on Woodmont called Jaleo. Many thanks to LadyOLeisure and rv224 for the great recommendation!! Not only was the food DELICIOUS, the service was EXCELLENT. I had the duck confit w/ pear sauce, wild chanterelle mushrooms w/ organic frisee and ajillo sauce, and a butternut squash soup with paprika cream and toasted almonds…yum yum! Their ever so yummy Sangria was the perfect compliment to the meal. I highly recommend this restaurant to anyone visiting Bethesda.

Day 1
-Walked around the Hill and along the Mall
-Popped into the National Art Gallery
-Walked through the National Sculpture Garden
-Tour of the Capitol with my Senator’s office
-Supreme Court – even though the Court wasn’t in session, it was still humbling to stand in the highest court in the US.
-Library of Congress

By now, I’m ready to chew my arm off so I headed over to Lafayette Square for afternoon tea. I read about an Asian tea house called Teaism and it sounded great and their afternoon tea looked interesting. While the food and tea was quite nice, I was a little disappointed by the atmosphere…felt like I was in a Starbuck’s that only served tea. Perhaps the locations at Dupont Circle or Penn Quarter have a different feel. But again, the food was good and most definitely plentiful…I actually was so full from tea at 3PM that I didn’t even eat dinner that night.

-Headed over to the Lafayette Park
-1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

By this point, I was beat and actually headed back to my hotel to rest up for my marathon touring day on Saturday.

Day 2
-Washington Monument
-World War II Memorial
-Lincoln Memorial

A quick lunch of hot dog and chips from the refreshment stand fueled me for the afternoon and my next stop…

-Korean War Memorial.
-Walked across the Memorial Bridge to Arlington National Cemetery
-Great view the Jefferson Memorial
-Arlington National Cemetery – took Tourmobile tour
-Side trip to Pentagon City Mall to pick up a disposable camera (battery in my digital died)
-Dinner at America in Union Station
- Monuments by Moonlight Tour with Old Town Trolley Company
visited the Lincoln Memorial/Korean War Memorial/Vietnam War Memorial, FDR Memorial, and Iwo Jima Memorial but did slow drive bys of many of the other memorials

Day 3
-Walking tour of Georgetown with Washington Walks
-Brunch at The Guards
-Washington National Cathedral
-Cathedral of St. Matthew

While this was a short trip to our nation’s capital, it was most definitely an action packed one! I look forward to my next visit and exploring all the city has to offer.

Happy Travels!

Nice trip report travelgirl. My 12 year old daughter and I ran across Jaleo last March. She is a VERY picky eater, but she enjoyed the calamari and other dishes. Great place. Thanks again for the report.

MY

Travel Girl! What a whirlwind trip. You saw more in your short trip than a lot of us who live here do in years! It's such a pleasure to hear of other people enjoying their capitol city. I hope you return -- I noticed you didn't get to the lovely and inspiring Roosevelt memorial down by the Tidal Basin, just up the bend from Thomas Jefferson.

I'm thinking about taking my 10 year old grandson soon. Thanks for the great report.Hope we can find an airline deal from Nashville.

Great report -- I feel your excitement as I read it!

I've gone on a few of the walking tours presented by the group "Washington Walks" (www.washingtonwalks.org - I think ) and they've been pretty good. I think the fee has been $10 or $12 - I should recommend them more often myself.

Haney20 - If you fly to Baltimore (BWI) on Southwest, it's not too hard nor expensive to get to DC. Not as easy as flying into DCA, but not bad. Search old threads or start a new one if you want to know more.

Thanks folks!

Yes Van Ness I definitely saw a lot...I think I once read that it would take 40 years to see everything that there is to see in DC today and given that new monuments and museums come on line yearly, that number goes up each year. It is such an amazing city and so affordable to visit so many of the sites!

RB, you are correct, it was just $10 for the tour...and well worth the price!

Michelle and Hayne, your kids are the perfect age to start to appreciate all DC has to offer from the historical perspective...my first visit was my 8th grade class trip and I was hooked on the city!

Enjoyed your report, travelgirl. DH and I live nearby and actually went to DC for our honeymoon for a week. I'd say you really saw much of the best stuff in less time!

Glad you had such a good time. It is a fun city, isn't it?

DC is most definitely a fun town LadyOLeisure! I hope to move back there one day...just need to find a job there and I'm on my way!!