An American Trip Report-Washington DC and Baltimore

Friday-A Stormy Start

I’m writing about the first day as a caution that things can go wrong on travel day beyond your control and to be ready for anything. It should have been a routine flight, but nothing about flying seems routine nowadays. I tried checking in via the WestJet app the night before but got a message to check in at the airport. Luckily, we are people that live the motto that if we’re not 5 minutes early, then we’re 5 minutes late. We got to the airport at 7:30am for an 11:45 flight to be met by a massive line at the check-in desk. It took almost an hour to get to the front, and in that time, we observed angry people who missed their flights because they didn’t arrive on time and missed the check-in deadline (75 minutes prior to departure for international flights) and people complaining about the cost of checking bags. People can be rude despite the fault being their own. Most people were in the line because they needed to check luggage even though there were self-serve kiosks that they chose not to use; one couple had 4 large suitcases, 3 carry-on sized bags plus 3 personal item sized-I’ll assume they were snowbirds leaving for the winter, but still, there were a lot of people with a lot of luggage. I’m all for people packing how they want, but I’m glad we’ve moved to carry-on only whenever possible. Carla is especially adamant about it, she’s 5’ tall with big boobs and can’t easily replace her clothes if they are lost. We got to the front of the line and found out that our problem was that when a few months earlier our return flight had been cancelled and we had been moved to a Delta flight connecting through Minneapolis on the way home, WestJet had refunded us our seat selection payments for all flights as a peace offering, and prebooked our seats on Delta at no charge. But unknowing to us Delta blocked the booking because they still wanted their money. Luckily, I had proof that WestJet had comped all seat costs. Not-so-fun-fact, when the desk agent at the airport called someone else at WestJet about our problem, she was put into the same que as the rest of us, perhaps getting bumped up a bit as she was only on hold for 20 minutes. In total, from arrival at the airport to getting to our gate took 2 hours and 10 minutes.

But that’s not all. Boarding went smoothly and we were ready to pull away on time when the pilot made an announcement that “somebody doesn’t want to get on the airplane, and we have to wait until their luggage is removed.” That took about 20 minutes. But that’s not all, after we landed in DC-on time, there was a lightning storm for the ages all around us and we sat on the tarmac for a bit over 2 hours until it was safe for the ground crews to come out of hiding. We were lucky because the next day I read that the same storm closed the airports in New York and flights were being turned away. The rain and wind were so intense that our plane was rocking as it sat on the tarmac. Day 1 resulted in door-to-door travel of 13 hours for a 4-and-a-half-hour flight.

The rain had let up long enough for us to stay dry for the walk from our cab to the apartment building we’re staying at, and by this time we were starving as we hadn’t eaten since breakfast. Lorrie and Phil had driven down earlier from Philadelphia and after we checked in and got our bags to our room, we headed out to find a restaurant, but when we got to the lobby it was pouring rain again and so we settled for drinks and chips in our room.

Saturday-Baseball, Museums, and Slurpee Cups.

We stayed in an apartment building in the Navy Yards district which is along the Anacostia River near the Nationals Ballpark. https://www.placemakr.com/locations/washington-dc/coda-on-half/ It’s a gentrified neighbourhood occupied by well-educated and well-paid millennials with rents in the $3000+ range for studio and 1-bedroom apartments. We paid about $230/night which was significantly cheaper than the basic hotels in the area such as the Hampton and Residence Inns. It was also significantly cheaper than the hotels in the tourist zone that was a 15-minute walk or 5-minute subway ride north of us. An oddity that I’ve never experienced before is that instead of room keys, we had to download an app and use our phones to unlock our apartment door.

The baseball game was scheduled for 4:00 today and so we got an early start at the Smithsonian’s American History Museum https://www.si.edu/museums/american-history-museum. We made the 30-minute walk and had the place to ourselves for the first hour. We started at the top with the Entertainment Exhibit. It focused on the history of entertainment in the US starting with Wild West Shows and the Barnum and Bailey Circus and moved along to sports, movies and TV. Of amusement to me was a pennant from the real Rockford Peaches of the Professional Women’s Baseball League that ran during and a bit after WW2. You may remember it from the movie A League of Their Own. Also on display were such things as Archie and Edith’s chairs from All in the Family. It was a fun exhibit and completely unexpected to what I thought the museum was going to be about and the stories and artifacts told a good story.

Carla and Lorrie wanted to see the Food exhibit which is highlighted by Julia Child’s kitchen. Apparently, it’s her actual kitchen that she donated; pots, pans, and all to the Smithsonian. The rest of the exhibit was the history of food production and innovation in the US, and then we came to a small exhibit that included some old 7-Eleven Slurpee cups from the 1970’s. I don’t know if anyone reading this is of the right age to have collected these in the early ‘70’s, one season I remember superhero cups, and another was hockey cups and then baseball cups. I was able to entertain Lorrie and Phil and horrify Carla with my tales of dumpster diving as a 10-year-old into the bins at 7-11 in search of cups. One of the reasons I was looking forward to seeing a baseball game in Washington was because I had a fascination with Washington Senators Hall of Fame pitcher Walter Johnson who is one of the original members of the Baseball Hall of Fame and his cup was one that for some reason I was fascinated with. It wasn’t one of the cups at the Smithsonian and I can’t explain the fascination, but for some reason I loved that particular player and cup. https://www.ebay.ca/itm/203934186878 I’m tempted to buy it but have no idea what I’d do with it. Now I’m wondering when I became older than some of the artifacts in a museum??

We whizzed through the transportation exhibit which included everything from water travel, trains to the car industry, but nothing grabbed our attention worth mentioning. I could have stayed all day, but 4 hours was the limit for everyone else and I reluctantly allowed myself to be dragged out of the museum.

We did some aimless wandering for an hour or so and around 2:00 heavy rain was forecasted and so we walked back to the apartment just in time for the heavens to open. Our game was in jeopardy and in fact would be delayed until 8:00. The rest of the afternoon may have been spent cracking open a bottle or two of wine and a 6-pack or two of beer, before heading to a nearby restaurant to wait out the rain delay. Note to self, it was a great idea to have beer before heading to Nationals Park, beer at the park was $16.49/can. Converted to $Canadian, that would have been $22.59.

Sunday-War Memorials, and Snoopy vs. the Red Baron

The National Mall and its war memorials are right up Phil’s alley of interest and that was the focus of the morning. He really wanted us to see the WW2, Korean and Vietnam Memorials to see the differences of the three, and Phil’s narration didn’t disappoint. I was most impressed by the Vietnam Memorial. My interest and knowledge in art is primitive at best, so maybe I’m off-base, but when I saw it, and learned about it, I was seeing not just a memorial to the fallen soldiers, but a brilliant piece of art designed to evoke emotions. It’s a granite monument that lists the name of every soldier in order of when they died. The first section is only about 8” high with a couple of names and as you walk through, you are walking down a slope and the monument at its tallest is about 10' high and filled with the names of the fallen. You eventually walk on an up-slope and once again the monument gets shorter with less names until you’re out. I found it very dramatic and emotional, but apparently, it’s not without its controversy. When I read about it, it’s been criticized for not glorifying the heroics of the soldiers. I’d recommend you do some reading on the subject, one article I read called it the “black gash of shame.” I’m stunned by that.

We did the Korean monument next, and it was impressive as well, but not nearly as emotional. It’s got statues of 19 soldiers representing diversity and each branch of the armed forces, walking together like a platoon on patrol. I’m disappointed we ran out of time on this trip before we could see this monument at night as I’m told it looks brilliant when the statues are lit up.

The final monument was to WW2, and I thought it was very blasé. There are flags of each state lining a fountain in the middle. From the website “the memorial is a monument to the spirit, sacrifice, and commitment of the American people.” It isn’t controversial, but it also failed to raise any kind of emotion in me. Maybe it’s more impressive at night.

Final stop of the day was the Smithsonian’s Udvar-Hazy Museum by Dulles airport. We chose this one as it was getting near time for Lorrie and Phil to head home and this museum would give them a good start to get out of town. Like all Smithsonian Museums it is free but there is a $15 charge for parking. If you love aircraft, this museum is for you with a massive warehouse with aircraft on the ground as well as hanging from the ceilings. It reminded me of my brother who loved building model airplanes as a boy, and he’d hang them from his bedroom ceiling. It was very cool to see a Space Shuttle and a few planes from WW2, but the highlight for me was the Sopwith Camel Biplane from WW1 that was made famous by Snoopy in his battles with the Red Baron. Fun fact to show that flight was still in its infancy in WW1, that more men died in training of how to fly the Camel than enemies that were shot down by it.

We were dropped off at Dulles airport to make our way back into the city and we took the silver line of the Metro. It’s usually only $6, but on Sunday it was only $2. I highly recommend the metro to get around DC. It’s well lit, no graffiti on the trains or stations and plenty of security.

Monday-The Zoo and the Whitehouse-from watching the news, perhaps it’s the same place😉

Lorrie was tracking our steps over the weekend, and we did 13 miles on Saturday, and 9 on Sunday. We have no idea how much we walked the rest of the trip, but it wasn’t as much today. We didn’t know it at the time, but the Smithsonian Zoo is in one of DC’s swankier neighbourhoods. I wish we had known, and we would have wandered a bit more on our way back from the zoo. Our impressions of DC after the weekend was how clean and safe it is compared to outdated stories of it being known as the murder capital of America. At no time did we feel uncomfortable. And no graffiti anywhere. The only unpleasant thing that we experienced was the smell of marijuana was a common presence wherever we went; walking down the sidewalk in our neighbourhood, along the National Mall and even in the subway stations and cars. I checked and while its legal, marijuana is not supposed to be consumed in public spaces, apparently that memo is a well-kept secret.

We loved the zoo, and there is a born and raised Calgarian living there. Chanda, who was born in Calgary as well as 4 other elephants were transferred from the Calgary Zoo to DC a few years ago after the enclosure in Calgary was determined to no longer be fit for elephants.

The zoo is free, but you do need a timed ticket. We booked ours for as soon as it opened at 8am, however, not much is open at that time and some of the indoor exhibits were locked until later in the morning. We did have the place to ourselves though. While you need a timed ticket, I’m not sure how much they care as there are 3 entrances and the only entrance that seemed to be staffed when we walked by was the one we came through. Note to the mobility challenged that the zoo is on a hill that starts on one end and ends at the other, so no matter where you start from, half your day is going to be uphill.

3-4 hours at the zoo was enough to see everything and we hopped back on the subway to get to the Whitehouse. It’s a lot smaller than I expected. I was expecting this grand palatial building that takes up a city block, but it’s fairly compact, with layer upon layer of security including Secret Service agents riding around on bikes mingling with the people, and my gosh were they young. Some of them looked like they should still be in high school. For us, the Whitehouse didn’t end up being something I’d consider a must-see, but it’s something you’re probably going to drop by and get the obligatory photo while you’re there. We did.

Final stop of the day was the National Portrait Gallery and Art Museum. It wasn’t our 1st or 2nd choice, but it was 5:30 and it was the only one open in the evening until 7pm, so it was a rushed look. My favourite was a special exhibition on the top floor of sports themed artwork which included a portrait of one of my all-time favourite hockey players, Bobby Hull, as well some fantastic boxing portraits.

Running out of time, we hurried through the American presidential portrait gallery which for the most part was quite dull and full of stodgy old men in formal poses. It wasn’t until we got to a painting of JFK that we saw something of interest. I’m sure there’s also a formal portrait of him as well, but this one was far from traditional and while I’m not American or around at the time, it seems to capture his personality and my interpretation of the time. Kudos for the artist to go outside the box to paint this presidential portrait.

Tuesday-Alexandria, is this where the spark began?

It’s been hot and humid every day, but on a scale of 1 through 10, today was an 11 as I constantly had to push my glasses back up my nose as the sweat was dripping down, and my beloved Montreal Expos ballcap was soaked. No problem we thought, there’s a bunch of small museums with AC we’ll hit to get out of the heat. Not on Tuesday though. Alexandria appears to be closed on Tuesday. Shops and restaurants were open but museums and such were closed, even the church that George Washington attended. The woman at the TI gave us a map so we could do our own walking tour and afterwards we both agreed that walking tours aren’t for us, and we much prefer a guided tour. But you work with what you’ve got, and we enjoyed it. Most of the sites and signage is geared toward places where Washington slept, ate/drank, and prayed. Alexandria is listed as his hometown and in his younger days he was a surveyor that laid out the city’s street system, but I thought the most interesting fact of the day was the sign outside of the Carlyle House. George slept here, but so did General Edward Braddock of the British Army who made it his headquarters. The last two sentences on the sign in front of the house states that Braddock and his Governors discussed war strategies here on how to deal with the French and the Indians and that it was agreed to “compel” the colonists to pay for it. To me that should have been the headline of the sign with a banner that this is where it may have all begun; the initial spark that started the events leading up to the revolution.

Since nothing was open the historical walk only took us about 45 minutes and so we spent an hour or two just wandering. Alexandria is beautiful with colonial brick houses from the 1700’s and we wandered up and down the shady side of the streets in the nearby neighbourhoods enjoying the homes and the many cobblestone streets that reminded me of Acorn Street in Boston. I think if we were to stay here it would be nice to find a bed and breakfast in the area and not stay in one of the many chain hotels you see on the walk from the Metro station into the historical district-which is also a pretty 20–25-minute walk. We marveled at the beautiful brick sidewalks leading us into the historical area, but not everyone shared our appreciation as I heard one tourist complain that they should tear them up and put in real sidewalks.

We decided to take the water taxi back into DC which cost $19/pp for the 20-minute ride as compared to the 1-hour metro subway/train that cost $3.80/pp. The scenery is nothing special, but it was efficient and got us to the Wharf District which is a newly developed and popular area along the river filled with higher end hotels, apartments and restaurants. We ended up eating at Gordon Ramsey’s Hell’s Kitchen. I’ve never seen the show but apparently the bar and kitchen area look just like the one used on the TV show. This was our 2nd Gordon Ramsey restaurant and both times we ended up having burgers which were the best burgers we’ve had. Imagine, that, a Brit improving on an American classic.

Wednesday-Baltimore, a pleasant surprise.

We took an Uber for $72 to Baltimore instead of multiple subways/trains with transfers. It was money well spent as our driver got us there in 45 minutes as he sped along at 70mph. We stayed at the Hampton by Hilton across the street from Camden Yards Ballpark which is the stadium which started the ballpark renaissance with other cities trying to outdo each other with modern amenities with historical flair.

The only reason we came to Baltimore was to check a game off my list. However, Baltimore surprised us and if I were to describe it to the Europe aficionados on this Forum, I’d say Baltimore is to DC like Glasgow is to Edinburgh and Naples is to Rome. It’s gritty but in a way that I felt more comfortable and at home here than I did in DC neighbourhoods such as Alexandria. We didn’t wander too far away from where we were staying, but we never felt unsafe or felt the need to be cautious, however, more on that when we get to Friday.

Our timing was impeccable and as we were walking into the local TI office, there was a 90-minute driving tour of historic Baltimore neighbourhoods about to leave that had room for us. The tour cost $38 and was interesting and a good way to start our visit as we toured around some of the original neighbourhoods in the district and learned fun facts such as Washington’s wooden dentures are on display at the University of Maryland’s dental museum, Alka Seltzer and Under Armour clothing was created in Baltimore, and some of the original neighbourhoods still have the original streets made of granite bricks brought from England so the ships dropping of their goods such as tobacco in England had a cargo to bring back.

Our last stop on the tour was at Fort McHenry where the lyrics for the Star-Spangled Banner were written in 1814 after a night of fierce British cannonball fire. The Americans held on to the fort and the flag was still there. I have to give the Americans credit for their rabid patriotism and promotion. We were there just long enough to watch a 10-minute film on the events leading up to the anthem. Just as the film ends, the national anthem begins, and the screen rises to show a huge plate glass window showing Fort McHenry and the American Flag in the distance. The Americans in the audience immediately popped out of their seats and stood at rigid attention until the anthem was over. Under the same circumstances at home in a situation like this it would never have occurred to me to stand up at attention when the anthem was played but it appeared to be a goosebump moment for the Americans. It was extremely dramatic and well done.

After the tour we walked back to Fell’s Point which is the original Baltimore neighbourhood and is undergoing gentrification. As mentioned, it’s still got a gritty and charming vibe despite the high-end hotels nearby such as the Pendry with Standard Rooms running at $510/night. The charm comes from the original 18th century buildings with traditional signs hanging down advertising the business such as The Horse You Came in On Saloon where legend has it that Edgar Allen Poe drank himself to death one night.

Next stop was the Little Italy neighbourhood next to Fells Point where we were looked for a restaurant before heading to the Orioles game. We saw an older couple coming out of one and asked them if they enjoyed it and she answered that they thought so since they’d been coming to it for 30 or 40 years. The restaurant was Chiapparelli’s and opened in the 1940’s and the same family still runs it. The food was fantastic with over-the-top portions. Carla and I could have shared one dish and still left with a doggy bag. And it truly is a neighbourhood gem, everyone seemed to know everyone else at the restaurant and there were constant conversations between tables.

Thursday-If only I had 6 million dollars….

We started out at the Aquarium which is along the harbour and about a 20-minute walk from our hotel. Cost was $50/pp which I thought was steep, but I guess it’s on par with the cost of the Aquarium in Monterey, California. I haven’t been to that one since the 90’s so it wouldn’t be fair to make a comparison. We enjoyed our 2.5 hours there, but I can’t think of any particular thing to bring up as a Wow moment. The aquarium does have a dolphin tank, but they are putting it out to pasture and the dolphins will be moved to an outdoor sanctuary in the Caribbean.

Afterwards we did some aimless wandering into Federal Hill which is the 2nd oldest neighbourhood in Baltimore after Fell’s Point. It’s named for the re-shaped hill that was designed as a lookout during the War of 1812, and also used for strategic purposes during the civil war but now is simply an overlook to see the harbour.

The last stop of the day was the Babe Ruth Museum which is a stone’s throw from Camden Yards. The Museum is in the home that the Babe was born in, but didn’t live in. It was his mom’s parent’s home, but until he was 7 Babe lived above a saloon at his parent’s house which was located in what is now centerfield at Camden Yards. If you’re a baseball fan, you’re probably going to go see it, but it’s far from a must-see. One interesting thing on display is a 1914 baseball card from when he played minor league ball for Baltimore. A card like that has sold for $6,000,000 and I have to wonder how many of us have kicked ourselves or blamed our moms for our cards that disappeared as we grew up and moved out. If I had infinite money, it’s probably one of those things that I’d want to buy.

We went to one final baseball game before heading home and I’m happy to report that unlike Washington, beer was only $12. Still more than I’m willing to spend though but I’m extremely happy we made the trek to Baltimore to see the stadium.

Friday-“How do you protect your wife?!”

I’m not an experienced Uber user and aside from my ride to Baltimore on Wednesday, I’ve only used the App one other time in 2017 and I had no idea how reliable it would be considering we needed a ride from Baltimore back to DC and Dulles airport. I’d prebooked earlier in the week to be picked up at 12:30 for a 5:30 flight and was paired up with a driver quickly. However, half an hour before pick-up I got a message on that App that I no longer had a driver and a search had started for a new one. Not having a concrete Plan B to get to the airport had me concerned about what happens in a situation like this. Luckily, 15 minutes later we had a new driver confirmed. I’m going to have to research on what happens in situations like this with Uber when you absolutely need a driver, but they cancel.

With a worried look on his face the first thing our driver asked was what time our flight was. When I told him 5:30 he was relieved and told us it was smart to leave this early because if we’d waited until 1:30 on a Friday our commute time might have doubled. All turned out Ok as drive time was about an hour and 10 minutes. I asked him if it was profitable for him to take a fare from Baltimore to DC and he said he’s from DC and had just taken a fair from there to Baltimore and was especially thrilled because he says he thought he’d have to take a couple of fares within Baltimore. He didn’t want that because in his words “Baltimore scares me.” Our driver was a 50-year-old African American who grew up in DC and says he’s seen the transformation of DC from scary to “much better.” This kicked off an hour-long conversation that touched on all topics including politics, racism, and safety. He talked about his discomfort in DC for him and two of his three adult kids who still live there. He said while it’s safer, there are still problems and he joked that his 3rd child is in the army and is probably safer than all of them. We brought up that it was hard to understand where he's coming from because we don’t feel that way at home. Then I brought up that I’ve never even held a gun before, and he snapped his head around to look at me while driving 65mph down the freeway and asked me “how do you protect your wife?” He asked it with such passion that Carla and I didn’t know what to say at first and could only tell him that we just don’t live in a place that people think it’s necessary. He just shook his head and said he needed to be quiet for a moment to absorb what we just said. Finally, he said he was envious and couldn’t imagine not having to worry about personal safety.

So, while I’ll tell people that our trip was a success and I highly recommend DC and Baltimore, I’m unsure how I should address the issue when people ask me if we felt safe. Because yes, we did think it was safe and never felt uncomfortable, but we did find it bizarre just how many shops, restaurants and museums had “no guns” signs outside their entrances. Is it really that bad that people need to be told? And, after that conversation with our driver I’m hesitant not to add a “but” to my answer even though from what we observed the two cities deserve high marks as worthy travel destinations.

Thoroughly entertaining and entertainingly thorough, great report Allan! Bookmarking for sure.

As a resident of Northern Virginia, thank you for the trip report as it's always interesting to get an outsider's perspective of our fair city. I can only say that Baltimore has been trying to regentrify ever since I came 20 years ago. But it somehow never quite makes it-due to many reasons. That said, it does have some wonderful museums a great Inner Harbor and if you go into the suburbs, some of the best crab cake sandwiches in the country.

As for DC, I'm always amused when people who've never been here talk about us being the murder capital. While we do have gang crime and shootings most are in areas where tourists never venture. The worst crimes happening now are carjackings and car thefts. I've lived in Chicago and my family is from CA Bay Area and I can safely say that DC is probably the cleanest and nicest of the cities. I love Nationals Park-just wish the Nationals team didn't always come in last.

And yes, everyone should see Alexandria historical district. The city has made it easier to get around as all bus rides around town are free.

Great report! Thanks for writing it up!

Thanks Allan, I enjoyed your trip report. I'm a former DC-area resident (Pentagon City, Dupont Circle and Georgetown). There are many things I miss about DC after having moved to the "other” Washington.

Enjoyed your report Allan. I have been to DC three times, so count me in the camp that loves it.
But, you never answered the million dollar question. Are these friends future European travel buddies?

Allan, I'm one of those who loves DC and the surrounding area, and I agree about its cleanliness. I still remember my first visit and how amazed I was that it was so clean. I'm glad it's stayed that way. I loved reading about your perspective; especially about safety and guns, and the National Anthem tribute.

It was a wonderful report - thank you for sharing!

Great trip report — I loved all the detail and reading your impressions of things we in the US don’t necessarily think about (like always standing for the anthem). Travel gives such great insights, and reading about other people’s travels to our own places is a great opportunity to do some self-reflection (both positive and negative).

Growing up, I spent time off and on living in the greater DC area (military family). As a kid, I didn’t appreciate the wealth of opportunity for world-class school field trips and Saturday sightseeing that the area has to offer. I can look back and appreciate it now — thanks for bringing back some great memories.

It must have been tough narrowing down what you wanted to see in your few days. It’s always interesting for me to read what people choose to do in places so rich with sights and activities; we all make very personal choices in our travels.

Allan, I loved all of your trip report. We lived 4 years in Fairfax, a VA suburb, while my husband was at the Pentagon. I always thought it was Disneyland for the brain with all the amazing museums to visit. And fantastic art museums too. I need to get back as a tourist. Thanks for the virtual visit.

Thanks for writing such an interesting trip report. I’m glad you saw so many sites and got your next 2 baseball stadiums checked off of your Life List! We too we’re on the east coast for 3 weeks this September and pouring down rain caused several pivots and skipped meals in our plans too. For our friends traveling with us for part of the NE to NYC trip it caused flight delays and cancellations. Two hurricanes passing by in 2 weeks was definitely a factor on the east coast this fall.

I really enjoyed your latest Trip Report. Nationals Park was my 4th Major League ballpark, preceded by the Astrodome, Candlestick Park, and Pac Bell Park (as it was known at the time).

A high school classmate of mine was killed in Viet Nam - I found his name on the wall among the thousands - he was killed in 1969, so his section of the wall is pretty high. It's hard to comprehend the pain and loss behind each of those 58,220 names.

you never answered the million dollar question. Are these friends
future European travel buddies?

As far as Carla is concerned, the more the merrier. I still need my space and the ability to abandon everybody for some quiet time and that's my only reservation. If it works into everybody's schedule we'll likely give it a shot. They've suggested Portugal next Fall which is on our list but not that high up. And they only want to spend a week before heading home, so we'll likely add an extra week or two to our stay.

Really interesting report and perspective. I always find it fascinating to get the viewpoint of people visiting the US and what they notice about our communities. DC was the first city I ever saw on the East Coast. I had never been to the other side of the country until college, when I did an undergrad government internship at the Pentagon. Having grown up in Seattle, DC felt like a different planet. It was summer, too, so I distinctly remember the humidity. Having to wear a suit every day there was a lot of sweating. I remember liking Alexandria too, as well as Georgetown, Dupont Circle, and Adams Morgan. The apartment building that served as dorm for all the interns was right next to trail access to Rock Creek Park so I remember taking a lot of walks in there. I spent three weeks in Baltimore once for a training session for a job I had but never left the Inner Harbor area!

Allan, I remember your original posting asking for suggestions and how
you said "I don't have much interest in American history." I was the
one who pitched (ha! baseball pun) the National Museum of American
History, and reading your trip report made me so happy.

I'll admit that I had a very narrow view of what American History in the area would consist of, but the American History Museum set me straight on that, what a gem. In a way though, Alexandria confirmed my narrow view wasn't totally wrong as all the history seemed to revolve around statements that George Washington was there. I mentioned in my TR for the day that I thought the most fascinating part was the last couple of sentences about how General Braddock created the spark that set the US on its path. We enjoyed Alexandria, but more for the look than the history.

Thanks, Allan --- I always enjoy your take on things, attention to detail, and sense of humor. DC is where I was born and lived until I was 14, and I've visited many times since then, so perhaps that's why I have such a high tolerance (actually love) of museums. Except for my husband, who likes museums for about two hours, the whole rest of my family has zero interest, so I am well used to planning museum-free and museum-lite trips with them --- I believe that Italy is the easiest place to do it, so give that a try!

Then I brought up that I’ve never even held a gun before, and he snapped his head around to look at me while driving 65mph down the freeway.

Have had similar reactions when I was living in the US, people are dumbfounded when I mention I've never held or shot a gun. Many can't fathom what it's like not having to worry about personal safety all the time or having to think about what kind of gun is best for "home defense".

That was probably one of the more disturbing aspects of living in the US.

It must have been tough narrowing down what you wanted to see in your
few days.

Since we knew next to nothing about DC, it wasn't tough to narrow things down during the pre-planning, but what was tough was after being there a few days and realizing that a week was far too short. Then came the disappointment that there was more of interest than we realized. But I guess you can say that about almost anywhere new. I don't know if we'll ever make it back, but I certainly wouldn't say no if an opportunity came up.

Thank you for your trip report, it kept me entertained during my lunch break today.

Fantastic report. Washington DC is one of my favorite cities in the country and you captured it well!

I'm late to the party, but nice trip report. The Udvar-Hazy Center, part of the National Air and Space Museum, is one of my favorite things in DC. The space shuttle is super cool. It also houses the Enola Gay.

I was walking the streets of Berlin somewhere around 2016 and decided I wanted to shake the hands of two men before they died -- Gail Halvorsen, the "candy bomber" who first dropped candy to the children of Berlin during the Berlin Airlift, and Wolfgang W.E. Samuel, the author of my favorite book (German Boy) which is the author's coming-of-age memoir of being a German refugee from Prussia living in West Germany in the years after WWII.

I discovered that Mr. Samuel was doing a book signing at the Udvar-Hazy Center for a military book he wrote, flew up to DC for the day from my local airport, visited the Udvar-Hazy Center, shook Mr. Samuel's hand, and flew back home.

(As for Colonel Halvorsen, I had the privilege of having a handful of interactions with him beginning somewhere around 2018 -- the kindest man I ever met).

Great comments Dave, we could start a whole new post of how something we've seen our read is important enough for us to travel to try and see/meet someone. And I'm surprised how many people I know have been to the museum and never mentioned it to me. Everyone seems to have a favourite; the Enola Gay was brought up a couple of times, as was the shuttle, it was the Sopwith Camel for me, but most bring up the SR-71 Blackbird.

Finally got around to your terrific trip report, Allan! We did 12 nights in DC this past spring, and I found myself nodding in agreement to some things our trips had in common. Like you, we stayed at a Placemakr apartment, and while pix of yours showed a newer, more updated property, ours was clean and comfortable, and the space, location (West End) and price was a bargain compared to hotel rooms. We had a Circulator stop right across the street and a metro stop not much further.

We also thought DC was amazingly clean for a heavily visited city. Yeah, the pot smoke got to us too but it wasn't quite as bad as NYC. We never felt unsafe anywhere we walked either...which was all over the place! If we had a complaint other than the smell, it was the large, loud, badly chaperoned high-school school groups running all over us. We knew there would be many of those in the city for spring trips but not that they'd be quite so, er, unruly (and I like young folks.)

We didn't make it to Alexandria but from what you describe, it may have been similar to Georgetown, which was an easy walk from our accommodation and had a lot of the historic architecture you'd described. Also didn't make it to Udvar-Hazy 'cause we did the trip without a rental car. No zoo, either.

So, you are right: a week isn't enough time, and obviously even our nearly 2 weeks didn't allow time to cover it all! Based on your report, it looks like we're going to have to give it another stab.

PS: the Vietnam Memorial... Your impression was definitely not off-base, IMHO. We felt the same only you described better than I could have.

Excellent trip report--I visited Washington DC with my parents about 35 years ago and have been thinking it's about time to return.

And... in DC now for a professional conference. I also happen to have a couple of friends who are here for vacation at the same time. I've been meeting up with them to do some fun stuff between professional activities. I'm really enjoying the place. I agree that the city overall is clean and pleasant. There are certainly some homeless but no worse than Toronto, which I visited a couple of weekends ago. The pot smoke was considerably worse tonight (Saturday night) than it has been, but again, nothing compared to what I encountered in Toronto a couple of weekends ago. Tomorrow, I'm meeting up with a "kid" with whom I worked in a church youth group 20 years ago when I was a young adult and he was a teen... going to church with him and his family and then heading to the family's home afterward for lunch.