So, I’m taking of for some R and R and figured I’d come visit our nation’s capital. I was thinking about 19 October through 23 October.
But, DC Dopers, is it worth it? I’ve heard that traffic is pretty messed up right now (although I’m not planning on driving). Are other things closed (besides Reagan National and at least part of the Pentagon)? Am I going to be subjected to painful rectal probes administered by suspicious security personnel?
If these other things aren’t a problem, where should I stay? I’ve been looking at the Loews L’Enfant Plaza Hotel, the Watergate, the Wyndam City Center and a few others. I’d like to be near all the touristy stuff, as I’ve never been to DC before.
I also have to throw together a birthday dinner for the SO. I guess I can check out Bon Appetit’s recommendations, but I’d like to know where to go for a nice romantic dinner from those who live and breathe the city.
When we visited there a few years ago we stayed at the Morrison-Clark Inn Hotel. It’s a small Victorian-era place with beautiful rooms and common areas. The restaurant was very nice, too. It was just a short cab ride from the major attractions.
Mr. Athena and I were there for a romantic weekend back in April. We stayed at the Willard, which is probably one of the nicest hotels I’ve ever stayed at (and I’ve stayed at some nice ones). It’s about a block away from the White House, and well within walking distance to all the other tourist-y stuff.
Our best meal was at a place called Vidalia. Probably one of the best meals of my life. Not touristy, incredible food, great service. Not cheap, but that doesn’t seem like what you’re looking for.
One suggestion - if you want tours of the Capitol building, White House, and all that, call your local Congressman. They can get you VIP tickets to all those things. We skipped a 2 hour wait at the Capitol building because we had planned ahead.
The Old Ebbitt Grill is about a block from the White House & is a wonderful restaurant. Great food and atmosphere. DCA (Reagon Airport) is opening soon. I think it would be nice to tour DC without all the crowds. I’d go.
There is a Holiday Inn (Holiday Inn Capitol) just a block from the Air & Space museum. It’s reasonably-priced for DC. There’s also a McDonald’s closeby, so that is great for breakfast on the fly. It’s also right close to the L’enfant Metro stop. My family stayed there on our last DC visit.
The Wyndham is nice, and downtown (about eleven or so blocks from the White House, IIRC), the Loews’ is sorta tacky but very convenient to the Mall. Watergate is mucho dinero, but pretty.
As far as the traffic situation, it’s not that much more screwed up than it usually is. One word of advice about using a car to get around downtown DC, though-DON’T. Metro and buses can get you most everywhere you want to go, and cabs are on a zone system, so a long-ass ride will only usually run you $12-15, and I’m talking like a half-hour ride here.
The only stuff that’s closed/suspended due to aftereffects from 9/11 AFAIK is: Pentagon tours, White House private residence tours(set up with your Congressperson)and the FBI tour. Capitol tours are going on with increased security, but that’s a good thing-the first time I took one, I had pepper spray and a pocketknife with a 4" blade in my backpack and the guards said that it’d be all right as long as I told them I had it and didn’t take it out while I was inside.
Museums and monuments are open (except for the Washington Monument, which is closed for a year or so for renovation).
I can second Athena’s recommendation for Vidalia, and can also recommend 1789 (in Georgetown in a Federal-period house)or Galileo for some of the best Northern Italian you’ll ever put in your mouth.
Check the Washington Post site-they have a good visitor’s guide and a decent restaurant section,which has a bit on romantic dinner spots.
The Hotel Harrington. It’s a little run down (but clean and comfortable) but it beats everything for rates and location (probably the best in town if you want to see the major tourist sites).
A family of five can stay for $99 a night; rates for a double room are currently $79.
It’s located at 11th and E Street, four blocks from the White House and two blocks from the National Mall (Here’s their location map.. I stayed there a couple of years ago, and would gladly go back again.
The hotel restaurant is nothing much, but there’s an incredible Italian place, Luigino a few blocks north at 11th and New York. It’s expensive, but I’ve had two of the most memorable meals of my life there.
The Harrington is quite convenient and not expensive. The Willard and J.M. Mariott are nicer. All of these places are close to the Metro Center stop and within walking distance of the Mall. (That’s where most of the Smithsonian museums are.) As False_God noted, cabs are cheap; they are also plentiful. D.C. is the best cab city in the country. Also, when you’re on the Metro, if you’re confused, ask somebody. My experience is that we communters rarely volunteer information unless it’s obvious that the tourists are seriously lost, but we’re happy to help if approached.
As for restaurants, the Old Ebbit (across from the Willard) is good but somewaht inconsistent. Better is the Occidental Grill (in the Willard plaza), where I had my rehearsal dinner. There are a million nice restaurants in that neighborhood because it’s also the business district where all the law firms take clients out to pricey lunches. Vidalia is also wonderful (not much for kids though). It’s off the Mall a ways, so you’ll want to take a cab.
Why not stay outside of DC a little bit? I know there’s a Red Roof Inn that runs around 60 a night off exit 11 on I-270. It’s kinda close to the metro, around 5 miles, plus there is a park and ride next to it that you can catch busses to the Metro. Granted it is a bit of a ride on the metro, 30-40 minutes but it would be cheaper. There’s also the MARC train right around the corner that would cost you 5-7 bucks for a round trip ticket to Union Station and takes about 30 minutes from there.
There’s also a couple of hotels in Silver Spring MD right on the DC line that might be kinda cheap but I don’t know for sure and the Metro is only a few minute walk and it’s shorter.
** Necros and tramp ** I’ll be in DC at that time too. From 15-about the 21!!! Actually, I’m going to Walter Reed for surgery, but I’ve down there many times now. I would recommend staying a little farther out too. The hotels near the Mall are just too damn expensive. On the other hand, any of you guys ever eaten at Schula’s? Best friggin’ meal of my life. That place is amazing!!!
My girlfriend dowsn’t think it’s a good idea if I stay with a tramp. Sorry.
Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. We checked out the Willard. :eek: I can imagine that it’s a nice hotel.
But in the end, I couldn’t resist. We booked at the Watergate, just so I can say I stayed there.
Still looking for restaurants and other inputs, though. Thanks to everyone who replied. We’ve looked at Vidalia, which is a possibility. Gourmet recommends Obelisk, which sounds pretty cool, too.
We will be taking the Metro most places, so it’s good to know I can ask for help. And cheap cabs are definitely a plus.
My second choice for hotel was the Watergate, for the same reason as you, Necros. Let us know how it is!
One note about Vidalia - it’s a “Chef’s Restaurant”, ie, it’s not super well known, doesn’t make the top of the lists in the travel books or anything like that, but ask anyone in the cooking industry and they know of it. Jeff Bubin, the chef there, is very well known in the cooking industry. I found out about it because the instructor in one of my cooking classes used to work for him, and the stories he told about that kitchen are amazing. I also see his name pop up in a lot of the cooking related reading I do. Stuff like “… but Jeffrey Bubin does it this way…”
Just wanted to warn you - you’re not going to see Vidalia show up as a top rated restaurant if you start looking through magazines or books. The meal I had there was head and shoulders above the meals I’ve had at some of the top rated restaurants around the country. You really oughta check it out.
I live in DC—the Washington Post actually ran an article a day or so ago on how tourists pretty much have the place to themselves right now. I would say that now is actually an ideal time to be here—fall weather, not terribly crowded, and there aren’t a whole lot of event cancellations. I believe tours of the White House have started back up again–not sure about FBI. You’ll probably experience a little increased security but not much. Also, you’ll probably get better customer service than usual, given that there aren’t a lot of folks around. Go for it!
In terms of heightened security, the aforementioned White House, Pentagon, and FBI tours are indefinitely suspended. In addition, you currently cannot get closer than 20 feet to the Washington Monumemnt, the Lincoln Memorial is fenced in, and there’s various other security measures/inconveniences around (no more cab stand in front of Union Station, etc…). If you want to check out the Smithsonian, you’ll have the whole place to yourself as attendance is WAY down.
I second the motion to not get a car and do DC by metro. Most everything touristy is easily accessable and you’ll save yourself muuch hassle. However, if you insist on a car, you may wish to check out the Pentagon since they’ve closed the PGon metro to unauthorized personnel. From DC, take 395 South to the 14th street bridge and take the Washington Blvd/Ridge Road exit. It is immediately on your right.
As for restaurants, Vidalia’s better than Obelisk which is slightly better than Galileo. If the restaurant in the Watergate is run by Jean-Louis Palladin, AVOID IT LIKE THE PLAGUE.
Best DC area restaurants (IMHO) in DC or near Metro:
Mexican
[li]Chevy’s, Ballston Commons Mall (2 blocks from Ballston Metro) or Pentagon Centre Mall (at Pentagon City Metro). Ballston has better decor.[/li]
Barbecue
[li]Red Hot & Blue, 3014 Wilson Blvd. (1 block from Clarendon Metro). Their location at 1701 Clarendon Blvd. is nicer, but not easily accessible from Metro.[/li][li]Memphis BBQ, Ballston Commons Mall. Try the BBQ Pizza![/li][li]King Street Blues, Crystal City Shops North (at Crystal City Metro)[/li]
Steak
[li]Ruth’s Chris, 1801 Connecticut Ave. NW. Expensive, too expensive for me in fact. Never been to any of ‘em.[/li][li]Tom Sarris’ Orleans House, 1213 Wilson Blvd. (1 block from Rosslyn Metro). Inexpensive & great food.[/li]
Pizza
[li]Armand’s, Union Station[/li][li]Bertucci’s, 2000 Pennsylvania Ave. NW or 1218 Connecticut Ave. NW.[/li]
Italian
[li]Romano’s Macaroni Grill, Ballston Common Mall[/li]
Seafood
[li]Philips Flagship, 900 Water Street SW. $20 all-you-can-eat buffet of great food. Need I say more?[/li]
Something for Everyone
[li]Silver Diner, 3200 Wilson Blvd. (1 block from Clarendon Metro)[/li][li]Summers, 1520 N Court House Road (1 block from Courthouse Metro)[/li][li]Metro 29 Diner, 4711 Lee Highway. Not near Metro but the variety is worth the trip. Can be reached via bus ($1.10 per person) from Ballston Metro, #23 line toward Tyson’s Corner.[/li]The food court at The Old Post Office (at Federal Trinagle Metro). The clock tower here is the second-tallest freestanding tower in DC, after the Washington Monument. Tours are probably still operating and the entrance is in the food court.
Just checked switchboard.com and found a better reason to go to the Old Post Office–they have a Ben & Jerry’s scoop shop! More area Ben & Jerry’s are at 3135 M Street NW, 1350 Connecticut Ave. NW, and in the Old Town section of Alexandria at 103 S. Union.
Necros, you may want to come a week earlier. The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority has approved free subway and bus rides for 10/13 & 10/14!
Necros, you may want to come a week earlier. The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority has approved free subway and bus rides for 10/13 & 10/14!
