Washington in April, gardens + SmarTrip Card

I'm sorry that I can't help with the archived-value situation. I didn't even know that could happen.

Dumbarton Oaks may well be your best option (I haven't been there), but these are other places to see growing things:

• Hillwood. The website indicates that it's a 1-mile walk from the nearest Metro or a 1/2-mile walk from the nearest bus stop.
• National Arboretum (probably requires rental car or taxi)
• U.S. Botanic Garden (just west of the Capitol Building). Both greenhouses and outdoor plantings.
• Bartholdi Park, across Independence Avenue from the Botanic Garden. This small park often has nice blooms.

There are small garden areas around some of the Smithsonian buildings on Independence avenue. I think the largest is on the south side of the castle building (between 9th and 11th Streets SW, across from where L'Enfant Promenade cuts off to the south. There's a smaller one on the east side of the Arts and Industries Building.

Have you tried registering your metro card online? I am wondering if that might restore the value. I had no idea that the value got "archived".

I've heard that the Hillwood Estate has lovely gardens but have never been there.

I'm not sure I follow the comments about the Smart Trip card. I've had tons of issues with mine. I'm supposed to have a loaded amount much greater than shows up when I press against the reader. However, since you mentioned the B30 bus, keep in mind that the bus will take you to the Greenbelt metro station which has the same machines as National Airport (and any other metro station). If you go online and register your card, you should be able to see the loaded value on there as well. But all around I find the system to be totally screwy. The readers don't actually read properly, and there's some kind of dissonance with the reader and what's on the chip. For what it's worth, if you truly have $60 on it, that amount isn't supposed to get drawn down for lack of use (at least there's no documentation I've seen that states that this will happen if the card is "idle").

As far as gardens, Dumbarton Oaks, the Hillwood, and Botanical Garden (by the Capitol) are your best bets. The Botanical Garden is the most accessible via metro, although you get can to the other two by bus.

Thanks for the garden ideas, I assume I'm too late for the cherry trees.

The SmarTrip card is registered and the value shown there is zero, the archiving happens after 12 months or so. I found this out by calling the help line years ago. I guess I can call again. I'll be trying to get to Friendship Heights so there's the Marc train, the Shady Grove bus, and B30-- I'll just take the next one that comes and only 1 takes the SmarTrip card.

archiving

FWIW, my Smartrip card does not lose its value and I do not use it every 12 months. I do think that they're quirky cards though - I've had a ton of trouble with mine over the years. Their customer service phone line might be able to help you - assuming they can find your balance somewhere - they can reload it or transfer it. I've had that done a few times. I've spent A LOT of time on the phone with them over the years. Through a few boneheaded moves of mine over the course of my daughter's undergrad career, I have a card with about $100 loaded on it - and I live in Washington state:)

I've given up on Metro and their unhelpful employees. They've never been able to explain exactly how something works (and IRS rules have them tracking transit and parking funds separately too, just to make it more complicated....then there are a number of passes that you can load in addition to (or instead of) a predetermined monthly amount. Each "basket" of funds is drawn down via some predetermined hierarchy). I say make sure your card is registered and keep tabs on the electronic trail of transactions/history so that no "old" loaded money vanishes from the card.

I should have said that the metro turnstiles themselves will restore funds to a SmarTrip card, it's just that it holds up the line for a few seconds and I would prefer to do it at a vending kiosk out of the way.

I see that the bus fare pads have the ability to add funds on the buses, so maybe they are sophisticated enough to restore funds on the bus also? I didn't expect them to be that fancy.

If you mean do the bus pay pads "reactivate" an old card that hasn't been used in a long time, my experience is yes. I've flown into BWI after a long break from using my card and taken the B30 into the city - my card was accepted no problem.

I've always enjoyed the sculpture garden at the National Gallery of Art. You may be able to see the end of the cherry blossoms depending on how the spring goes. I was in D.C. late in April one year about the same time you will be there and they were still blooming beautifully! They used to open the White House gardens to tours on the Saturday and Sunday of Earth Day weekend, which this year is April 22. I don't know if these tours will take place this year, but if they do it is definitely worth checking out.

Any chance you will make it to Virginia on this trip? Historic Garden Week in Virginia is April 22 - 29; different parts of the state are featured on different days.
Hillwood is beautiful and opens at 10 am. The National Cathedral also has lovely gardens and grounds.

One place I have wanted to visit but not gotten to yet is the Franciscan Monastery garden in Northeast DC.

So there are many options. Enjoy your visit!

Valerie: Nice to hear, that's exactly what I want to do.

Thanks for all the other possibilities. Hillwood is a little steep at $18 (anything just for the grounds without house tour?) Do both the Hirshhorn and the National Gallery have separate sculpture gardens?

The 22nd is full and then flying straight out so must pass on Virginia this time, which is also home to right wing brother who would not approve of my marching anyway.

Yes, both the Hirshhorn and the National Gallery of Art have sculpture gardens. I remember the Hirshhorn's as pretty much just sculptures (several Rodins included); not much in the way of greenery except some small trees. I'll check the next time I walk past; it's just up the street from me, right outside the museum itself. Nearest Metro is L'Enfant Plaza's Maryland Ave & D Street exit (signage present inside station but not so easy to see).

The National Gallery's sculpture garden isn't co-located with the museum. The garden--which does have some large trees, at least, is located just south of Constitution Avenue between 7th St. and 9th St. It's straight across the mall (green space, not shopping) from the Hirshhorn, so the two can be visited together. Nearest Metro is Archives, I think. Both the sculpture gardens are very worthwhile from the sculpture standpoint, but you might be disappointed from the garden point of view.

The two sculpture gardens ideas are quite close to the Smithsonian castle and Arts and Industries Building, which I mentioned earlier. (Metro: L'Enfant Plaza or Smithsonian)

If you happen to be in that area on April 21 (Friday) and looking for quick food during the lunch period, there will be a fleet of food trucks along Maryland Avenue just east of 7th Street and south of Independence Avenue. Assignments shift every month, but there will be a variety every day.

If you have time and want a restaurant experience, there are some good places on and near 7th Street NW in the first few blocks north of Pennsylvania Avenue. This is particularly close to the National Gallery's sculpture garden.

I see you are from Minnesota, so I will mention our weather. April can be glorious, but in some years we have a 4- or 5-day period of unseasonably hot temperatures at some point that month. Keep tabs on the weather forecast before you head east so you'll know whether there are 90F days in your immediate future. I suggest cotton clothing, a sun hat, and a water bottle! And if the heat does kick in and by some miracle the cherry blossoms are still blooming down around the Jefferson Memorial, try to find time for the FDR Memorial as well. It's my favorite monument on killer-heat days because it has what I call "water features".

As your trip approaches you can probably find current info on the state of the blossoms by searching the Washington Post's website. You cannot judge by the date of the festival, because that is set ahead of time, based on a typically-inaccurate guess.