Weekend in Virginia
 

We're going to be in the DC area the weekend of May 31. I'm 53 and husband is 62. We are going to be staying at either the Residence Inn Tysons Corner Mall or the Courtyard Dunn Loring Fairfax. Both of them are close to a metro station (can walk, or park free on weekends). Any comments on these two hotels would be appreciated. Also, not sure which metro station would be best, Vienna/Fairfax or Dunn Loring.

The reason for the trip is that we will be going to a Riverdance performance at Wolf Trapp on Sunday evening. We were in DC about 10 years ago for 4 full days, stayed in Georgetown, walked and saw lots and lots. It was a great trip!

For this trip I thought we'd go to Mt Vernon at 8 on Saturday, get tickets for the estate/gardens, distillery and the 9:30 or 11:30 National Treasure Tour. Will we need a whole day or just a part of a day? Should we have lunch at the Mt. Vernon Inn or does someone have some suggestions? I was wondering if we'd have time to drive to Alexandria and go to the Lyceum History Museum and walk around Old Town Alexandria. Would we be better off eating dinner here?

For Sunday, we'll be at the metro station first thing in the morning. We thought we might go to the Spy Museum and the Corcoran Museum of Art. Approximately, how long will it take from the metro to one of the stops for either of these attractions? Then we'll just wander around the Mall area.

Thanks in advance for any comments or suggestions!

1. Mount Vernon--This could easily turn into an all-day visit if you want it to be. There are lots of extra tours in addition to the house tour. (For example, on my last visit, we did a tour of the gardens and a tour of the slave quarters.) There is also a fairly new visitor's center/museum which gets excellent reviews. We ate at the food court there and it was better than I expected. If you want a quick, light meal this might be an option for you. I think it would be an excellent idea to drive to Alexandria after you finish up at Mt. Vernon to walk around town and eat dinner. (If you are a AAA member, get the tour book for Virginia and there's a good map and walking tour for Old Town Alexandria in it.) Plan to stop by the Torpedo Factory to check out the artist studios. There are lots of nice shops and restaurants in Old Town Alexandria and it makes for pleasant strolling in the evening.

2. Check the "Trip Planner" feature on the Metro website (www.wmata.com) for commuting times on Metro.

3. If you want to go to the International Spy Museum on a holiday weekend, you will need to book your tickets in advance. They have a limited number of admissions per hour per day and it is likely that even the early morning times will be sold out on a holiday weekend.

Thanks for the information! Still looking for anyone with information regarding the hotels mentioned. Any particularly good restaurants in Alexandria?

Here is a review posted May 8, 2008 on TripAdvisor about the Courtyard at Dunn Loring: "Right on the Metro line. Free hotel parking (in a garage)....need I say more? OK, I will. The property is outstanding. Staff went above/beyond. Free newspapers (USA Today, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post)....not just one....but three. Room was in like-new condition." Most of the other reviews are similar. I have driven past this hotel many times since I live in the DC area, and it looks very new and immaculate. The Dunn Loring metro is one stop closer into town than the Vienna metro.

As for your museum plans, it sounds like you are trying to do a lot on Sunday. To really enjoy each museum properly requires 2-3 hours per museum. An alternative is to do the Corcoran (where I used to be a docent and which is an excellent museum) and then walk down the street to the Renwick Gallery (American arts and crafts) or go to one of the Smithsonian Museums on the nearby mall.

Old Town Alexandria sounds like it is well worth a stop for you since you liked Georgetown so much and the two places have that similar, colonial feel. There are some good restaurants in Old Town, but I have not eaten in Alexandria for several years. Hopefully somebody who has will make recommendations. You can also search at the Washington Post site and the Washingtonian magazine site for recent restaurant reviews.

Have a great weekend!

In 2006 we put some people up at the residence Inn and everybody seemed happy and they gave us a nice rate. I didn't stay there myself (we flew out for the honeymoon) but I'm told it was nice.
I made a map of all the restaurants with Yelp reviews in Alexandria, VA for you.

http://www.HotelMapSearch.com/?llz=3...;m=m&l=a,y

The map also shows the price of every hotel in the area so you can get a feel for whether the residence inn is competitively priced.

Hi Janice,

I don't know what kind of restaurants you are looking for, but some that I like are:

Vermillion
The Majestic
Bilbo Baggins
Las Tapas
Hard Times (for good, cheap chili, casual)
Southside 815 (also casual, and a bit of the main area)
Taverna Cretekou (if you like Greek)
Thailand (on Royal St)

Karen

Thanks to everyone! We won't be doing too much on Sunday, just thinking about the Spy Museum (iffy) and the Corcoran Museum (definitely). Then just wandering, stopping for lunch and seeing the sights. I'm leaning towards the Courtyard at Dunn Loring since I think we could walk to the Metro Station, and if we need to go anywhere in the general vicinity of the hotel we have a car. Rate is $76 per night (Senior rate), I don't think I can get much better than that! I'll start checking out the restaurant list and reviews!

Topping - Great info!

The Dunn Loring Courtyard is a fantastic property - stayed there a couple of weekends ago. Right across the street from the Dunn Loring metro station, too.