Huh. I didn’t realize it was that big a difference. I stand corrected.
Oh, and this is going to sound trivial but it is of the utmost importance: when riding the escalators, STAND to the right, WALK to the left. And when you get to the end of the escalator, please don’t stop and look around; move away from the escalator before you stop to get your bearings. Follow these simple rules, and you will avoid much scorn from the locals.
Thanks for the helpful info. I HATE it when people stop at the top of an escalator at the mall and talk to their companion about where to go next.
We will get SmartTrip cards. We’re very excited about visiting our nation’s capital.
One thing I always tell visitors: when you come out of the Smithsonian Metro there are often guys selling maps of the Mall. Those maps are free and can be obtained from the info kiosk 20 yards from the stop.
+1.
Back before they charged extra for paper farecards, the paper ones were a better deal. Nowadays, though, you want to go ahead and get a SmarTrip card. They should be available at all stations - at one time, they were NOT available everywhere.
Don’t put more on the card than you think you’ll need though, as there are no refunds - you can always add more a few dollars at a time. The value doesn’t expire of course, so if you have money left on it, you can keep the card and come back later. The cards also work on the local bus systems, and I think they also work on the Baltimore transit system.
Location for hotels: As Type Knig said, you do not want to wind up in Oxon Hill. He worked there for many years and there’s nothing to draw you there at all. Not convenient to the metro, very run down. Springfield is actually NOT that bad of a choice if you check out the hotels to make sure they have a shuttle. You can walk to the Metro but it involves crossing a major road or two. The areas between most of the hotels and the Metro are fine in daylight; at night I’d be more worried about visibility than of getting mugged. There are several very new hotels within a mile of the station.
Don’t rule out Crystal City if you can get a good rate. It’s completely unexciting - but many of the hotels there connect to the Crystal City Underground, a stretch of 10 or so blocks where you don’t have to go outdoors at all, with restaurants and shops (that mostly cater to the lunchtime office-worker crowd). So for sheer convenience, it’s truly not a bad choice.
Alexandria: With the exception of right by the King Street metro station, and near the Braddock Road metro, nothing is really walkable to the Metro. I don’t know what hotels are near the stations. However, most of the hotels will have a shuttle to one or the other station. Old Town Alexandria is enjoyable in and of itself - lots of shops/restaurants within a few blocks, and there’s a free shuttle that goes the mile or so there from King Street. Also a water taxi that will take you from there to Georgetown (and also to National Harbor which is beautiful and insanely overpriced - don’t bother).
Don’t forget to take a picture of Stephen Colbert’s portrait!
Free places to visit:
http://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/article/20-free-and-cheap-things-to-do-in-washington-dc/ss-BBidQII
Incidentally, if you want us to do a Dopefest for you, please let us know, and we’ll set up a get-together of local dopers in some restaurant one evening.
I do hope you realize that you can’t possibly visit all the places mentioned in this thread. It takes two weeks just to see everything on display in the Smithsonian. Pace yourself.
It never entered my mind to do it any other way, but there are people like my idiot sister in law… even after making her buy a card for each member of her family when they visited us a few years ago. Right? So she had four cards in hand. (She’s a nazi who controls everything for her family, even reads their email, EVEN my brothers!) As we were leaving the Metro, hubby and I came out first, and stopped to wait for them, then realized they were held up for some reason. As we waited, she called over to the station manager for help getting through the gates, then ranted about what a stupid system it was when they were finally out.
Me thinking this at her: Yes, dummy you DO need to swipe each card for each person. I didn’t make you buy four cards so you could swipe one card for four people!
Now can someone recommend a nice steakhouse perhaps? For a Saturday night dinner.
Here’s the Posts reviews: http://www.washingtonpost.com/gog/best-bets/steak-restaurants,64339.html
I like Ray’s the Classics in Silver Spring before a movie at the AFI, but it’s casual for date night.
Thanks! I will also welcome Sunday brunch suggestions!
Drum God, I don’t know if you’ve booked your hotel yet but I found a sweet deal. In my searches, I found a feature on Travelocity that lets you pick the area and number of stars, and they’ll show you some deals. The catch is you don’t know what hotel you’re getting if you go for the deal. I found a deal last night that was 4 star hotel, Capitol Hill area, $93/night. Boyfriend and I decided to go for it and it turned out to be gorgeous, the Liaison Hotel. I had searched with this feature at different times and best prices were at night. Admittedly most good deals were still between $100-130 a night but this is a steal.
I hope this helps!!
WE’RE BACK!!
Y’all gave such helpful advice for our trip. I wanted to post a summary/review of our trip so that future Dopers searching for info on visiting Washington, DC would have first-hand info.
The hotel: We stayed at a place in Rockville, MD, called EVEN Hotel on Rockville Pike. It was comfortable, though a bit odd. When we registered, we met the “Chief Wellness Officer”. He told us that he would be having a run at 6:30AM. We politely told him we would consider it. When we got to the elevator, I asked my wife, “Did he just say he was setting the building on fire at 6:30 in the morning?” My wife said, “No, I thought he said he would release a bear in our room!” Not much else would get us running, much less at 6:30AM. Of course, we understand some people are really into that. Y’all rock. There was a very nice gym in the hotel, plus exercise equipment in the room. If you’re into that, go for it. The hotel itself was in a rather ordinary suburban neighborhood. It was a very short walk to the Twinbrook Metro station.
Getting Around: I can’t stress this enough: METRO ROCKS! I don’t know why anyone owns a car. The system is very easy to figure out and we had no problems getting anywhere we wanted to go. We never got on the wrong train though we did occasionally make a wrong turn in the station. Purchasing fare cards was a bit tricky, but after a few tries, we got it figured out. Metro owes me twenty bucks, though. A machine ate my money. The station manager was very helpful in straightening it out.
Walking around The Mall: After checking into our hotel, our first order of business was to hop on a train and ride down to Metro Center. From there, we had a great walk around downtown, the White House, Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial, and other sites. By then, the sun had set and it was a very nice atmosphere.
The National Museum of Crime and Punishment: Don’t let the name fool you. This is a privately-owned museum focusing on crime and punishment. (Duh.) My wife is a true-crime aficionado. She really enjoyed it. I thought it was okay and the displays were quite professionally done.
Madame Tussaud’s: A complete waste of time. Don’t bother. The ticket came with the Crime and Punishment ticket. Selling those tickets is a crime. Going to the thing is the punishment.
Big Bus Tours: We enjoyed this tour. It was nice to ride around and get an overview of everything. We then went back to the things that really interested us. You can also get on and off at any stop. We found it interesting and convenient.
Arlington National Cemetery: It’s a really, really big cemetery. We did the trolley tour, though we really didn’t need to. The changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns was interesting and very patriotic.
The US Capitol: Having grown up in Austin, I am very familiar with the Texas Capitol. It is very large, open, and airy. The US Capitol is…not. The artwork was impressive, but the whole thing is very dark. Security is very tight. No one is allowed to walk around unescorted. We passed by the Speaker’s office. It looked like Big Orange was going to be on the move (lots of cops showing up), but we missed him. Take the tour. It’s the patriotic thing to do.
The Library of Congress: The Jefferson Building is simply stunning.
The National Air and Space Museum: This was the biggest disappointment of the trip. Some of the exhibits didn’t even work. Everything seemed very worn. It was also the only place we went that didn’t have a coat-check or lockers. The restaurant is a McDonald’s. Really?!
The National Museum of American History: The west wing was closed, so we only saw half of the museum. However, that half was nice. We enjoyed it. My wife got to see Edith and Archie Bunker’s chairs! No Fonzie’s jacket, though.
The National Museum of Natural History: We didn’t get to spend much time here because time was running short. It was a rush. What I did see was very nice, though.
There is still so much to see that we simply didn’t get to. I have no idea when our next trip to this part of the world will be, but I have stuff still to see.
Are you kidding? You have another month’s worth of things to see. As I said in a post above, you have to pace yourself. There’s far too much to see on just the average vacation.
When you do return, take Metro to Pentagon City and stop by the DEA building there; they have a crime museum as well. It’s about two blocks up from the station and Pentagon City mall, which would be a good place for lunch.
Next trip come out to Udvar Hazy Air and Space museum behind Dulles Airport. I promise you it’s worth the trip and then some.
I too, love the Metro. I don’t go into D.C. very often but when I do I always take the Metro. I can’t wait until the silver line comes all the way out to Dulles and beyond. All of the people bitching about the cost can bite me. 
Yeah, Air & Space had not aged well. I remember going there when it opened in 1976 and everything was new. I visited fairly often until I stopped living in DC in 88-89. Visiting relatives always wanted to see it. But never went back after moving away until just a few years ago. It was like visiting the National Museum of the 70’s. I fully expected to told to Whip Inflation Now or to Keep On Truckin’ Good Buddy.
My advice: Visit DC often. There’s so much to see even just walking around.
Glad you had a good time.
One of the best things about visiting here is the city proper is quite small and a good 90% of everything you’d want to see is conveniently concentrated together in the same location.
Next time see the zoo (if the weather is good). Glad you had a good trip!
Call Bethesda Court Hotel
800 874 0050
I haven’t stayed there in years, but it was nice at the time and relatively inexpensive. I was in DC over Christmas and noticed it was still there (it have been there a LONG time) and looked in good shape. Since I haven’t stayed there recently I have no idea what the rates are, but I would try there if is needed a place in DC. It is reasonably near the metro stop.
Oops. I didn’t see that the need for this post has come and gone. I need to pay attention to dates!
Still, it may be a good lead for others.
How could I forget the Newseum?!
Newseum: Aside from special buildings like the Capitol and the LoC, this was the most architecturally interesting building. It has some spectacular views of the Capitol, the Mall, the Canadian Embassy, and other sights. The museum itself was interesting. The exhibits/media presentations were about the reporting of the event, not the event itself. This was a different sort of perspective. My wife didn’t see the point of looking through a bunch of old newspapers, but she also isn’t the sort to look at today’s paper, either. I thought it was cool. The slant or bias of the presentation was a bit tough to swallow, though. Every - single - thing toed the “reporters are heroes” line. There was absolutely nothing critical about reporters or news. In one big presentation called “The Stories of Our Lives”, there was an attractive video presentation of big stories of the past forty years or so. They were the sort where you remember where you were when you heard the news. One of the ones presented was Colin Powell’s testimony at the UN justifying the invasion of Iraq. In my opinion, this was one of the biggest failings of modern media. If reporters had done their job, we would have learned that Powell was utterly lying (or repeating lies that he had been told). There was no mention that reporters could have done better.