DC Tourist Advice

Might be going to DC this summer with the queen. How easy is it to get around? Not planning on renting a car, and I don't want to take cabs all the time.

 

Air and Space Museum downtown is great. The one out by Dulles Airport is great too - - but getting there without a rental car will be a challenge.

If you go to the Spy Museum, the National Portrait Gallery is directly across the street. There is an exhibit of the US Presidents there that is VERY interesting and very well done. In addition to portraits and busts, there are brief descriptions of the times when each man was President. You can do the Presidential exhibit in 90 minutes.

The weather in DC in late Feb tends to be cold and rainy/snowy. It is not the weather that made folks decide to put the Nation's capital where it is.

A lot of the museum mainstays in Washington have their devotees and their detractors. Personally, I find the new Native American Museum to be hokey and boring; the majority of the people I know who have gone there think it is GREAT. I absolutly love the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History; plenty of other folks think they have had enough of that in 30 minutes.

When you are done with your tour of the Capital, maybe check out the Supreme Court building which is a short walk from there...

 

Stand on the right, walk on the left. EVERYWHERE, not just on Metro escalators.

Enjoy yourself.

 

The 5A from Dulles to Rosslyn and L'Enfant for $6 is a deal. And the 5A is way more consistent and convenient than the B30 to BWI.

 

You can get Caps tickets on StubHub for around $25 upper level. I've been to four games this season that way. Obviously with prime games, your mileage may vary.

 

On a board for journalists, that's a mean joke.

 

Sorry for the quadruple post, but as a resident, I'll check in with my DC centric take:

Want the real DC experience? Don't spend money on museums. Seriously. All the shit you need to see here in the city is free. FREE. I'd love to see the Newseum, but on principle, I refuse to spend money to see it. Same with the Spy Museum and the Crime and Punishment Museum. All the museums you need to see are on the Mall. The art museums in Gallery Place and the Corcoran and the Phillips museum are all you need (although the last two are in Dupont and not the Mall). You can make time to see the Capitol and if you really want the Monument. I wouldn't be so hung up on the White House. I haven't been there, but I think it's a huge pain in the ass that's not worth it as a civilian. I'll wait for an event I can convince my boss to let me attend as a member of the press.

Second take as a resident: Go to Georgetown once, then never return. Georgetown isn't real DC. Hell, if your staying in the city and really want to be a big baller, go spend your money in Friendship Heights. Saks, Tiffany's, Barneys, Neiman Marcus, and all your big balling stores. And as a bonus, it's not in Tysons.

Georgetown's cute, but get in and get out. Go against the grain and go from Barracks Row (8th/Penn SE) up to the Capitol. Tons of great joints on that stretch. If you wanna crawl it, just as well. And boutique store shit if you're into that kind of thing. Probably the most underrated stretch of DC when it comes to tourists. You don't see many there.

Oh and save your money for the $5 drafts. And would you mind supporting the DC statehood effort? That'd be great, too. Taxation without representation, and all.

 

I'd recommend going to the Library of Congress. I just love libraries and this is one of the world's best. Just a beautiful place. They have tours.

If you have time - get yourself a library card from the Library of Congress. It is the sort of memento that's both cool and practical (it is a picture Federal ID which saved my ass on a couple of occasions when I needed two forms of picture ID and just had my license).

Have fun and drink too much.

 

Good call on Barracks Row bars. The Ugly Mug and Molly Malone's are both good spots. I think Hawk & Dove is a little overrated, but apparently it's where all the movers and shakers go after work.

 

Yeah but if you're in your early 20s or you're looking for chicks in their early 20s, it's a good Hill bet.

 

God bless the Metro, as bad as it is. I love not owning a car.