I’ll be there this weekend with my SO. Hotel is near the Convention Center. A few questions:
[ul]
[li]I’m interested in the new Air & Space Museum location near Dulles airport. Is there any good way to get there using public transport? The shuttle bus is not running on Saturday on account of some parade.[/li][li]I understand the Cherry Blossom Festival will be going on (which is why we chose this weekend). For those of you who are familiar with it, which events would you recommend? I see the parade is on Saturday but the weather looks bad.[/li][li]We’ll just be there 2 days (3 nights) so current plan is to spend half a day at the Air & Space Museum, half a day walking around the Mall area and the rest of the time to the Cherry Blossom Festival stuff. But I’d welcome any suggestions on what else to include.[/li][/ul]
Dulles is about 25 miles away from DC in Virginia and it always seems farther to me. It is possible to get there via bus but I have talked to people that tried to go to/from there via public transportation and it did not work out well.
This is the weekend of the DC Comedy Festival. As a comedy town, we’re not as funny as New York or LA, but I think we really beat out Sacramento and Abilene…
The shuttle bus is the only way I know of to get to the annex for the Air and Space other than driving. You could take a cab, but that would be pretty expensive.
If the weather is nice, the best part of the Cherry blossom festival is just walking along the tidal basin people watching. I’ve often seen public Shinto weddings being held during the festival under the cherry blossoms, very nice.
If you are on the mall you should see the FDR memorial which is tucked away a bit from the others. There are always some great exhibits at the National Galleries of Art, you can check out the Weekend section of the Washington Post , registration required but free. You can also check out what’s happening at the Washington City Paper.
If the weather is nice, it’s a great city to walk around. You are only there a few days, so you could pretty much spend it all on the Mall and not be dissapointed. If fact, you might regret spending a lot of time trying to get out to the Air and Space Annex when there is so much to do right in the city.
Have a great time and in the metro, please remember: stand on the right side of the escalator, walk on the left. Tell 'em Madmonk sent ya.
Sorry for the double post, but I meant to tell you that the cafe in the National Museum of the American Indian is supposed to be really good, although I’ve never eaten there. The great thing about DC is that all the national museum’s are free. You just walk in look around and walk out.
There is also the Spy Museum. Which charges an entrance fee and is not associated with the Smithsonian. A lot of people enjoy it and it is not far from where you’ll be staying.
A DC-area res checking in here, and I have to say, the public transportation situation to the new Air and Space from DC is pretty bleak. The 25 miles from DC to Dulles will take a minimum of 45 minutes to an hour… and that’s optimistic. Saturday traffic around here is hellish. That being said, if you can get there and not mind the round-trip commuting madness it’s well worth it. Check out an Imax movie if you have the time.
Unfortunately they’re calling for pretty crappy weather around here this weekend. Cold, rainy, yuck yuck yuck.
About the A&S Annex : If you can’t take the shuttle I would rent a car and drive* – it is a very congested & harried but directionally easy drive.
A quick look on-line tells me that you can rent a car Saturday from 9AM to 3PM for (~) less than 50. [3 places were already sold out Saturday though]
*If you are spending more than a couple 100 bucks to visit DC, it is a once or twice in a Decade deal and Planes are really your thing – the Dulles Annex is well worth the dough for a rental. A cab will be twice that and I am not sure about grabbing one to go back – getting there would be no problem –they would be GLAD to take the fare.
You have seen the festival website right?
There is a festival related exhibit by Hiroshi Sugimoto at the Hirshorn Museum
Good news: if you walked into a photography class in 2056 educated people would know the name. Doubt there is going to be this big an exhibit in the next 10 years – it is unique
Bad news: If you aren’t into black and white pictures in anyway it will be really, really boring.
Make it a point to go to Ford’s Theater (preferably in the morning). When you’re standing in front of the door about to walk in, turn around. You’ll be staring at a dirty, scungy waffle house that will serve you the best breakfast you will eat in your entire life. Having breakfast there is simply the most important thing you can do on a trip to D.C.
If you want to do something local, you might want to go to a Nationals’ game. You can get tix the day of the game for as little as $7. The stadium is right next to the metro. They are in town this weekend
Thanks for all the advice. I’ll be leaving late this afternoon, assuming the “strong storm” being forecast won’t affect flight schedule.
We talked about renting a car to get to the A&S annex, but neither of us is excited with the idea of driving in DC traffic. It looks like we’ll pass on it this time - it’ll give us an excuse to visit there again. We’ve already been to the original A&S museum (separately) but we may stop by, along with all the museums and in-town locations recommended (or as much of it as possible).
Traffic on the Dulles Toll Road isn’t really that bad, I’ve had to go that way several times recently because our van was being serviced at the Car Max near the airport. Traffic on Sully Road is the real headache.
If you’re going to make a side trip anywhere outside of DC, I suggest heading up to Baltimore and check out the National Aquarium.
Ah, the Waffle Shop. I used to work around there. My hand to god, the best goddam $2.90 steak you’ll ever eat! Also, the restaurant in the basement of Lincoln House two doors down the street is awfully good too. (Lincoln House is not to be confused with the building between in at the Waffle Shop, namely, the House Where Lincoln Died. AFAIK, they don’t serve food.)
I don’t think traffic on the Greenway is too bad. There’re plenty of cars you need to duck around, but I’ve rarely had to drop below 70-75 in either direction.
The NASM Udvar-Hazy annex at Dulles is definitely worth a visit sometime - sorry you won’t be able to get out there this trip. Highlights: an actual SR-71, Concorde, and the space shuttle Enterprise (to say nothing of the Mothership model from Close Encounters of the Third Kind, complete with tiny R2-D2 model glued to its edge!). Nice giftshop, too - a treasure trove for the aeronautically-minded, like me.