Just back from a nice long weekend in Alexandria VA and Washington DC. This was my first time to Alexandria and my 5th time to DC. Washington DC is one of my favorite cities to visit, due to the fact that there is always something new to see/do, it’s ease of navigating around both on the metro and by foot and it’s nicely planted and landscaped public areas.
Thursday
I flew US Air shuttle from Boston to Reagan National. These flights leave each hour at 45 min past the hour with no pre-assigned seats. You get your seat assignment when you check in for the flight. The flight itself is a little bit over an hour. This was the first week that they were allowing people to carry liquids on board the plane again in small quantities. If you choose to carry toiletries, simply show your 1 quart zip bag to the person sitting at the desk right before the security checkpoint. When you arrive at the security conveyor belt, just put the zip bag in one of the plastic bins and send it through like all your other carry-on pieces. Once through the security line, you may put the zip bag in your carry-on bag.
We landed at approx 6pm, but due to severe weather and thunder storms, we sat on the runway for 30 min, as they had pulled in all the ground crew. We also learned that our plane was the last to land before they closed the airport temporarily due to the weather.
There was no line for cabs when I finally got outside, but there was a fair amount of traffic on the way to Alexandria. I arrived at the Residence Inn Alexandria Old Town and checked in. My “suite” was a one of their studio suites- basically one large room with bed in one corner, kitchen in another corner and a living area. The room was good sized and clean. The hotel also has a small fitness room and a swimming pool. As can be ascertained by reading other reviews, this hotel is not in the dead center of old town that would be of interest to tourists. It is on Duke Street and at the far end. In order to get to King Street, it is about a 2 block walk. If you want to reach the water end of town, it is a walk of about 10-15min moving briskly.
For dinner tonight I went to Hard Times Cafe on King Street. This restaurant is about a 5 min walk from the hotel and specializes in chili. They have 4 different kinds of chili to choose from and they use it in many of their dishes. (Of course non chili dishes are also available). I had the Chili Frito Pie with the Terlingua Red chili. This consisted of a bowl of Frito’s with chili poured over the top and finished with a scoop of sour cream, tomatoes and cheese. I found it to be very tasty and would definitely order it again. Root beer was my beverage of choice and for dessert I got the chocolate mousse cake, which was a chocolate layer type cake with layers of mousse in between. I really enjoyed my simple meal here and would like to go there again if I’m ever in an area that has a Hard Times.
Friday
Today was my one day in Alexandria. I started out at about 8am and walked down King Street toward the water, also turning off onto side streets to view the architecture of the houses. It really reminded me of Beacon Hill in Boston or the Society Hill area in Philadelphia with the cobblestone streets etc. Unfortunately, one of the sights I had wanted to tour, the Lee-Fendall House, was closed for a private event, but I still got to see many of the other things on my list including Christ Church, Gadsby’s Tavern Museum, Carlyle House, Friendship Firehouse and the Lyceum. For the tours of Carlyle House and Gadsby’s I was the only one on the tour. For lunch and breakfast I went to La Madeleine on King Street. We do not have this chain in Massachusetts, and I always enjoy it when I go somewhere that has them. Breakfast was the potato gallette—shredded potato mixed with green onion and then formed into a thin, round cake and baked. Lunch was the Croque Monsieur- baked ham and cheese served on a multi grain type bread. For dessert I walked down the street to Pop’s Ice Cream and got a small cup of the Fudge Tracks with Reese’s. If you like chocolate and peanut butter, you will like this flavor. There are many restaurant options along King Steet and some of the side streets—cafes as well as more full service restaurant locations. King Street is also where most of the shops are located. For brochures and information Alexandria, surrounding areas of Virginia and of Washington DC, stop by the Ramsey House visitors center also on King Street.
I walked back to the Residence Inn around 3pm to pick up my luggage and then walked to the King Street metro station to travel up to Washington. It was about an 8 min walk from the hotel with my luggage. The metro ride was about 25 min up to the Metro Center stop in DC.
My hotel in DC was the JW Marriott. This was my 4th time staying at this hotel. I love the location- on Pennsylvania Ave @ 14th Street. It is close to many things including the White House, museums on the Mall, Washington Monument and the Metro Center metro stop. I believe the hotel rooms have been fairly recently redone (at least mine appeared to have been since my last stay here in April 2005). I had a room on the 8th floor with a view of the Washington Monument. Draperies were a light in color and in texture and walls were painted a pale yellow. The bed was comfortable, with plenty of pillows and the room contained a flat panel television. Bathroom was typical hotel style- relatively small, but with ample counter space.
For dinner tonight I went to Georgetown. I took the Metro to Dupont Circle and then took the Georgetown Connector shuttle service from there. The shuttle costs $1.50 and it makes various stops in Georgetown along M Street. There is also another route that runs from the Foggy Bottom Metro along Wisconsin Ave. I had planned on eating at Martin’s Tavern that night, but when I arrived there it had a sign on the door saying they would be closed that night (and only that night). I also noticed some signs in the window saying they had temporarily lost their liquor license. I’m not sure if the fact that they were closed was related to that event. Hopefully, all will be back to normal soon, as I really like eating there. Anyway, since I couldn’t eat there, I walked back to M Street and decided to eat at Old Glory Barbeque. It is a very casual place that appears to do a large bar business. Biscuits and corn muffins are served prior to your meal. I ordered the pulled pork platter which comes with a choice of 2 sides—in my case fries and barbeque beans. Both were good. The pork comes with no sauce on it and it is up to you to dress is the way you like using the selection of sauces on the table (I think there were 6 different ones to try). Make sure you try them all, as they all have very different tastes. For dessert I had the bourbon pecan pie—I’ve found when I’ve ordered bourbon pecan pies in the past, you really can’t taste the bourbon. This one you could definitely taste a hint of bourbon, which added a nice taste to the pie. After dinner I walked up and down some of the streets looking the residential areas and then finishing by looking in some of the many shops.
Saturday
When in Washington or any other city that has one, I always start my day off with something from the Corner Bakery. Today was no exception—I had been looking forward to one of their cinnamon rolls but they didn’t have any so instead I got a muffin. The cappuccino muffin was delicious and warm just out of the oven.
Next I headed up to the National Zoo for the morning. Unfortunately, it was raining so many of the animals were inside. It did clear later on though, so by the time I left, more had emerged. Luckily, some of the animals can be views even when they are indoors- including the elephants, giraffe, hippos, orangutan etc. They are constructing a new exhibit area, so there is a lot of construction going on at the zoo.
The panda exhibit draws a large crowd—there is a baby panda as well (I think he is about a year old).
The zoo is easy to navigate and most of the exhibits are off of the main path called the Olmstead Walk. The paths are arranged so that you can travel this main walk and get off at various points to see the animals. You can purchase a map for $1, but there are sign boards put up throughout the zoo with maps indicating where you are.
After the zoo I went over to the Dupont Circle area for lunch at Pottbelly Sandwich Works. I had the ham and cheese with mustard. This was a very tasty sandwich---served hot, the cheese is melted and the ham is thin sliced. For dessert, I bought a brownie from Firehook Bakery, which in past trips I have determined to be my favorite brownie in Washington. Their other baked goods are delicious as well and they have many locations in DC and VA.
I then decided to walk up the Embassy Row section of Massachusetts Ave. It was interesting to see the various embassies—some were more grand than others. There are also embassies on the side streets as well, sprinkled in with the houses. Seeing as my feet were getting tired at this point, I needed to rest to plan my next location to go to; I decided to take the metro over to Union Station and walk around from there. I always enjoy looking at Union Station just for the architecture and interior alone—even if I have no other reason to go there. By the time I got there, my feet had recovered somewhat, so I walked up to the Capitol and around the back to walk past the Supreme Court and Library of Congress ( I love the interior of this building—it wasn’t open when I was there on the weekend, but if you like that sort of thing it is worth seeing—it’s beautiful). This time, walked around to the front of the capitol and to the front steps--- I can’t recall if that area has been under construction or closed the past several times I’ve been, as I have no memory of ever being able to approach the front steps of the Capitol before. In any event, that area serves as a nice place to rest and look either at the front of the Capitol or look down over the Mall.
Tonight I had dinner at Old Ebbitt Grill. This place gets very busy—make a reservation if you decide you want to eat there. At popular times, you will wait even with a reservation. I like the decor and atmosphere of this restaurant, yet I like the fact that I can dress casually to eat there. This restaurant seems to get both a tourist and a local crowd depending on what day/time you are there. I started with a cup of Clyde’s chili and a chocolate martini. Both were good. I especially enjoyed the chili. For the main course I went with the smokehouse burger—gouda cheese, barbeque sauce and bacon (served with fries) and for dessert I had the walnut pie. It is sort of the texture of a tollhouse pie and it had chocolate in it as well. Served with vanilla ice cream.
Since no trip to Washington would be complete for me without looking through the fence at the White House, I decided to do that after my meal while waiting for 7:30pm to roll around, when I had tickets to a performance of the Capitol Steps.
Capitol Steps is a group of former political staffers who do a series of skits, songs, spoofs of recent political figures and events. The perform every Friday and Saturday night in the Ronald Reagan Building on Pennsylvania Ave. The show is about 2 hours long, including an intermission. I found it to be very funny and I am not particularly politically minded. If an event has happened recently, there will be a skit about it; they were very current and up to the moment with their performance.
Sunday
This was my last day in Washington. Once again, I paid a visit to the Corner Bakery and had another one of their hot, delicious muffins. I then started my walk around to all the memorials and around the tidal basin. This is another one of my traditions when I go to DC. Even though I’ve seen them all before, I always enjoy seeing the memorials—they are all worthwhile seeing in their own way. The walk around the tidal basin is always good exercise too and the views are nice. I especially love the view of the Jefferson Memorial from across the water.
After completing my circuit, I walked over to the Old Post Office Pavilion where I went up to the top of the clock tower. I had never been up there before, so decided to try it. There are fewer people who go there than who go to the Washington Monument, so there was no wait. The view is nice and you can see quite far, but I think I still prefer the view from the Washington Monument due to it’s placement in the center of the Mall. However, if you find the wait too long or can’t get up there for whatever reason and still want a view, take advantage of the Old Post Office Pavilion—you will still see quite a bit. Another good thing about the Pavilion is that the views are more “open” – instead of having to look through small windows as in the Washington Monument, you look out large wire covered openings.
My next stop today was the National Portrait Gallery/American Art Museum which opens at 11:30am each day. This was my first visit here, as it had been closed for renovations ever since my first visit to Washington in year 2000. I was really looking forward to the Portrait Gallery and seeing the “America’s Presidents” exhibit which are all the presidential portraits. I am not an art person, but I really loved seeing these portraits. I looked forward to seeing them for 6 years, so it’s a good thing I found it worthwhile! I also walked through the American Art Museum, though in a more cursory manner—this was nice too, with art spanning many different periods and styles. I may make the Portrait Gallery one of my “traditions” for future visits to DC.
Seeing as it was now time for lunch, I walked over to Corner Bakery and got a Ham and Cheese panino, lemonade and raspberry square.
After lunch, I walked up the Mall in the direction of the US Botanical Garden (another tradition for me). My favorite sections of the Botanical garden are the Garden Court, Jungle area and the orchid room. They always have different plants in the Garden Court according to the season and it is so nice to just go in and sit and enjoy. After the Botanical Garden I took my time walking back down the Mall, stopping at a few other gardens, including the Enid Haupt Garden, which is behind (or in front of the Smithsonian Castle depending on which way you are coming from).
Upon arriving back at my hotel, I picked up my luggage and took the Metro back to National Airport. This is about a 15 min ride. There were no lines for flight check in or for security at the time I arrived at the airport. One note to anyone considering US Air shuttle from Washington to Boston—the flight before mine was canceled, so of course everyone from that flight needed to get on the one I was scheduled on, making it very full. The same thing happened the last time I flew from there—my flight was canceled and I had to make the next one. It would seem that these cancellations must occur pretty frequently, since it’s has happened both times I’ve used US Air. I would suggest maybe checking in for your shuttle online if possible—even though I got to the airport early, with plenty of time, the influx of passengers from the canceled previous flight took up all the aisle and window seats before I even got to the airport, leaving nothing but center seats.
As usual, this was a great trip to Washington and Washington remains one of my favorite cities! Please feel free to ask me any questions.
Washington DC and Alexandria VA Trip Report
Seems like you know your way around the DC area. Which is good, you can go places that are a little off the beaten path and not stick to routine stuff.
It%26#39;s hard to explain to someone who has never been here where a lot of these places are. You don%26#39;t want to confuse them nor take away time from the other attractions that are the regular things to do.
I love the Georgetown Connector bus. I used to work up on Wisconsin Avenue and I would catch the one from Foggy Bottom to my office building. I used this because the metro bus was over crowded and never on time. But travelling with children as most of these forum people are, it%26#39;s hard trying to get on and off buses especially if you have a stroller and bags, etc. So usually they don%26#39;t go into Georgetown unless they use a cab.
Washington DC and Alexandria VA Trip Report
Your review is extremely helpful to me with my planning!! Would it be possible for you to give me a ballpark figure on your food expenditures for the weekend? You see, every single restaurant you mentioned is one I have been considering for our trip. It would help with my budgeting if I knew what you spent. I could multiply that cost times the number of people in my family and get a rough idea of what we would spend if we ate the way you did.
Readaloud8
One more thing...did your Residence Inn not offer a complimentary breakfast? If so, why did you not partake of it?
Readaloud: I%26#39;m glad you found my report helpful!
The approx costs of meals at the restaurants I ate ate was as follows for just myself.
Hard Times: $14
Old Glory: $17
Old Ebbitt: $36
The Residence Inn did provide a complimentary breakfast but I didn%26#39;t use it because it didn%26#39;t have anything that I wanted. It appeared to consist of yogurt, cereal, mini muffins, eggs, sausage etc.
Miramar:
What a great, detailed trip report. I loved reading it and think it will be a great resource for future travelers.
Readaloud - I think Hard Times is a great choice for your family if you find one convenient to you. We ate at the one in Clarendon (Arlington, VA) a few nights ago and the portions are huge. My chili mac was enough for dinner and lunch the following day and I even shared some with my toddler! They also have a kids menu.
Fabulous report which wiill be so useful to others; I especially like the fact that you included details re: Alexandria which isn%26#39;t often a topic here -- thanks!
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