Anyone familiar with Washington DC?

[skategoat]

I'm thinking of spending a few days there with the family and have pretty much settled on Embassy Suites for our hotel. Only thing is, there are two of them.

Location one is near Dupont Circle. Location two is near the Convention Centre. Which location is preferable for a bunch of dumb tourists? Priorities are location and ease of transport to the museums and landmarks and low probability of getting robbed.

[Seraph]

Dupont is a nicer area, Convention center may be closer to the rail system. Either one is relatively close to the museums and landmarks. As long as your inside the beltway you will be fine.

[skategoat]

Does either area have any kind of street life? Cafes, shops, restaurants, etc. or, are we talking sterile, high rise environments.

[Neil Gendzwill]

I've been in DC a bunch of times as one of our main customers is there. I like to stay in Dupont Circle, in fact I've stayed at the Dupont Embassy Suites. It's not sterile at all, lots of typical DC looking row housing as well as the various hotels. Embassy Row is there. It's about a 10 minute walk to the mall, 10 minute walk to Georgetown, less than 5 minute walk to the Metro. Dupont Circle itself has lots of restaurants, not too much for clubs although there are a couple. It's also a bit of a centre for the gay community. The next neighbourhood over is Adams Morgan, tons of nightlife there and of course lots to do for shopping/clubs etc in Georgetown. No concern whatsoever about walking around during the day or evening. The Metro can take you pretty much anywhere you want to go as well, and it is efficient and clean.

[Seraph]

I've been in DC a bunch of times as one of our main customers is there. I like to stay in Dupont Circle, in fact I've stayed at the Dupont Embassy Suites. It's not sterile at all, lots of typical DC looking row housing as well as the various hotels. Embassy Row is there. It's about a 10 minute walk to the mall, 10 minute walk to Georgetown, less than 5 minute walk to the Metro. Dupont Circle itself has lots of restaurants, not too much for clubs although there are a couple. It's also a bit of a centre for the gay community. The next neighbourhood over is Adams Morgan, tons of nightlife there and of course lots to do for shopping/clubs etc in Georgetown. No concern whatsoever about walking around during the day or evening. The Metro can take you pretty much anywhere you want to go as well, and it is efficient and clean.

Pretty much got it right there. Lots of great restaurants in Georgetown. If I might make a recommendation, Filomenas, 1063 Wisconsin Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20007 (202) 338-8800 www.filomena.com. If you like Italian, I will put a large sum of money down that you will leave there saying that it is the best italian food you ever had.

[Neil Gendzwill]

I also have a recommendation. As a guy who spends time there working and not so much touristing, I like to catch a movie, and the closest place is the Georgetown theatre on K. About a block away is Chadwick's, which is a nice cozy pub that serves great pub food and good beer.

[skategoat]

Pretty much got it right there. Lots of great restaurants in Georgetown. If I might make a recommendation, Filomenas, 1063 Wisconsin Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20007 (202) 338-8800 www.filomena.com. If you like Italian, I will put a large sum of money down that you will leave there saying that it is the best italian food you ever had.

Well that's a challenge because the Italian food in Italy was pretty good. Will check it out since Italian is a family favourite.

[Seraph]

Well that's a challenge because the Italian food in Italy was pretty good. Will check it out since Italian is a family favourite.

I've taken a few of my wife's work associates who are from Italy there and they were blown away. Everything is hand made from scratch, including the pasta, and the desserts are amazing. Bottles of Sambuca and Amaretto are provided complimentary with the dessert .

[bigdyno]

I am headed down for the long weekend, this will help me also. We are planning on going to the air and space (hopefully both locations) and the Spy museum for sure. Have you found any cool places you plan on visiting?

In the T. I can't tell you how much I enjoy Grappa on college. awesome food, the owner is always there making sure everything is perfect and the prices are not what you should expect for such good food.

Anyway, enjoy your trip!

[FTA2R]

Welcome to DC!

I live outside of DC and was working downtown (Chinatown) for the past year

"Location one is near Dupont Circle. Location two is near the Convention Centre. Which location is preferable for a bunch of dumb tourists? Priorities are location and ease of transport to the museums and landmarks and low probability of getting robbed."

I worked right across the street from the convention centre- it's walking distance (adjacent) to Chinatown, which can be a bit of freak show, LOL (it'll be rocking Sat. night when my Capitals have their home opener at the Verizon Center!). Plenty of bars and nightlife in Chinatown. Both Dupont and Chinatown have their own metros (locals know the metro sucks for rush hour reliability but you should be fine). If you take the Metro during rush hour, stay on the right if you're on the elevator - we don't mess around, LOL. People will mow you down (yes, they literally run) to make their train. And the metro doors do not have sensors, so DO NOT squeeze in as the doors are closing. I've saved several peoples arms from being crushed by doors. Chinatown metro at night- you may see people acting like idiots (it was one of the most "troublesome" stations last year). Dupont = red line (most mechanically troublesome line); Chinatown / Gallery place = multiple lines (so there's another reason to stay in Chinatown).

Dupont is much more "happening" and interesting (IMO) and yes, it's HQ for the DC gay community (though there's plenty of non-gays hanging out there, too). i'd say Convention Center is better for tourists - all the stuff you want to see is basically at the National Mall area (the area b/w Constitution Ave and Independence Ave). You are much more likely to see the secret service transporting "someone special" around the area b/w the White House and Capitol - for locals, i think it's more of an annoyance (more traffic) than anything else, but for tourists, I think it's probably pretty cool.

There are double decker tour buses and actually now the big thing is the segway tour through the city, which I want to check out.

The NEWSEUM is very cool (about $20 to enter) and you'll get a GREAT view of the Capital (Rotunda building). Air and Space is a staple museum. Tons of art museums, too. I haven't even been to 1/2 of them and I've been living here for a long time. Spy museum is cool - right across from Gordon Beirsch, too, and the Verizon center.

As for safety, it's DC - it's not Irvine, CA but it's not Cambden, either. You'll see hood rats and mentally ill people walking around Chinatown (one guy threatened to kill me a few months ago after I "exposed" his scam, lol), and come 2AM, Adams Morgan is a straight up freak show on a Sat. night - but it's fun! Check out "Madam's Organ" for live blues - it's a DC institution.

The one place I would avoid at all costs is "Anacostia" (yes, you may get killed); As a tourist, you should be fine staying in just Northwest (NW) DC, unless you venture to the US Capitol, which I believe is the geographic center of the city. DC is clearly becoming safer as they are developing more and more of it, but you will definitely know if you took a wrong turn. You should be fine.

There are NO direct metros to Georgetown, FYI! Hanging on the waterfront can be fun - it's definitely a different (WASPier) crowd than Adams Morgan and Chinatown. M St. is the main drag through "G-towne" and it's definitely worth a walk, especially on a nice fall day. You can easily walk across the key bridge into Rossyln, VA if you want (but there's no real reason to).

You may want to consider taking a "see the monuments by night" boat cruise, too. DC is on the Potomac River. The JEFFERSON memorial is really beautiful, especially at night. By night, it's a very pretty city, with all the monuments lit up. Consider just walking along the National Mall (but be up for walking up to a few miles)

Hit me up via email if you have any specific questions, I'll try to answer best I can.

If anyone else is in the area for work or play, hit me up if you want to get a drink. I have a new client and work in both MD and VA, so some days it's easier for me to get downtown (traffic is 2nd worst in the country ugh). Neil, I'm sort of curious what brings you out here.

[skategoat]

I am headed down for the long weekend, this will help me also. We are planning on going to the air and space (hopefully both locations) and the Spy museum for sure. Have you found any cool places you plan on visiting?

In the T. I can't tell you how much I enjoy Grappa on college. awesome food, the owner is always there making sure everything is perfect and the prices are not what you should expect for such good food.

Anyway, enjoy your trip!

We have the Smithsonian in mind. We could do all three days there if we wanted. Spy Museum sounds interesting. Plus lunch with the Obamas.

[Neil Gendzwill]

Neil, I'm sort of curious what brings you out here.

XM Satellite Radio. My company built most of their uplink. Their offices are at Eckington Place, pretty much corner of NY and Florida. That neighbourhood was pretty dangerous when XM started up in '99. IIRC if you plotted out all the DC murders that year, XM was about a half-block away from the epicentre. It's a little better now as there's been a lot of development in the area and they've added a metro station. Cabs still won't come there at night though.

We have the Smithsonian in mind. We could do all three days there if we wanted.

"There" is actually about 4 different buildings, I think. My favourite place on the Mall is the national art gallery.

Also bear in mind that if you do Air & Space that the one on the Mall is actually the little one - there's a bigger one out near Dulles Airport.

[shawndoggy]

Also bear in mind that if you do Air & Space that the one on the Mall is actually the little one - there's a bigger one out near Dulles Airport.

And it is by far worth your while to get out of the city to see, if you are into the air and space museum stuff. Enola Gay, SR71, a space shuttle, concord... and about a zillion other cool things under one roof. Udvar Hazy (the name of the off-mall air and space museum) is absolutely positively incredible. Still the highlight of my family's week long trip from a few years ago.

[skategoat]

And it is by far worth your while to get out of the city to see, if you are into the air and space museum stuff. Enola Gay, SR71, a space shuttle, concord... and about a zillion other cool things under one roof. Udvar Hazy (the name of the off-mall air and space museum) is absolutely positively incredible. Still the highlight of my family's week long trip from a few years ago.

Now you got me humming "Enola Gay" in my head. Not sure if we want to head out that far with only three days in town. Still, would be cool to see all that. Wonder if they have a U2.

[shawndoggy]

Full list of displayed objects (at all museums) here: http://www.nasm.si.edu/collections/objectsondisplay.cfm

Looks like the U-2 is actually on the Mall.

The (very impressive) list of what's on display at Udvar Hazy is here: http://www.nasm.si.edu/collections/objectsondisplay.cfm?view=alpha&type=all&loc=uhc

If you are there while the bureau of engraving and printing is open my kids loved that too. And I guess the American History museum is back open (was closed in 07 when we were there).

The national gallery is so rad, and the funny thing was it had the same effect on my son as it did on me when I was 8... like it was where fun went to die. Within seconds of stepping inside he was ready to go (we only went in because he had to pee). I'm not an art afficianado, but even a high speed 10 minute tour left a lasting impression.

Capital tour was an underwhelming waste of time. The kids were not impressed at all, nor was I with the USC grad intern who got tasked to walk us around... I knew more than she did after a quick read of the AAA guide book.

Archives were cool, but the copies of the declaration of independence and constitution are wholly unreadable now. But the kids had just seen National Treasure, so they wanted to go.

We did a bike tour of the memorials, which was also quite memorable... my 8 y/o doing the whole 5 or so miles.

[Neil Gendzwill]

You have to do the war memorials of course. The Vietnam wall is surprisingly small, but very affecting especially as you see the sheer volume of names and that people are still leaving small tributes for their loved ones there.

Can't miss the big dick (washington monument), the Lincoln memorial and the White House. I don't think you can tour the White House anymore (even when you could you needed reservations months in advance) but you can walk by there, it's not that far from the Mall.

[scrapster]

Another thumbs up for the Vietnam memorial. Two places I haven't visited but plan too in the future are the FDR memorial and the Newseum--I've heard REALLY good things about the Newseum being a fun and surprisingly moving place--so don't let the name/topic scare you off.

Dupont Circle is a nice area. (Wife used to work for the National Trust for Historic Preservation down there.) They have a cool tea house in the neighborhood. As others have said, Adams Morgan and the National Zoo are not far away either. In Adams M, go out for Ethiopian food one night if you haven't tried it. Really good stuff and a fun experience for the kids (sit on the floor, no utensils, etc.) Georgetown is probably the prettiest, historic neighborhood to walk around--but hard to get to.

Have fun!

[scrapster]

Ps-- Just noticed you're coming down from Toronto. If US political/military history isn't your thing, the art museums on the mall are well worth it--as is the American Indian Museum, Air & Space, etc. And, of course, the Lincoln Memorial is moving wherever you're from.

[FTA2R]

udvar-hazy is about 20 min from me....it's close to Dulles. it's big for sure, and has an IMAX. just keep in mind that traffic may occur at any time, including weekends. no traffic, it'll take ~ 30 (+/- a few) to get to Chantilly (location of Udvar-Hazy). it will be much much less crowded, but check hours.

Georgetown is not that hard to get too...can take a cab (but not metro, unless you want to walk from Foggy Bottom-GWU (20 min walk, depending on how fast you walk)

Yeah, the war memorials are a must....and I personally like Jefferson, esp. at night

Neil, yup, I applied to XM a few years ago - it's fairly well known they're not in a good part of NE (sounds like it's better). a co-worker used to work there, i think she said they had escorts to the lot if you worked late.

check out "washington post going out guide" to see if anything special is going on in town when you come.

[Seraph]

Neil, yup, I applied to XM a few years ago - it's fairly well known they're not in a good part of NE (sounds like it's better). a co-worker used to work there, i think she said they had escorts to the lot if you worked late.

Bad neighborhood? You are right across the street from McPharmacy.

[bigdyno]

We have the Smithsonian in mind. We could do all three days there if we wanted. Spy Museum sounds interesting. Plus lunch with the Obamas.

We plan on doing some of our time at the museums, and we want to hit the bureau of printing and engraving but it will only be open monday.

pm me if you would like to get in touch down there.

[FTA2R]

"Bad neighborhood? You are right across the street from McPharmacy."

??? is that a reference to drug dealers, i guess? if so, i don't know the neighboorhood personally, per se, but there plenty of bad areas in NE.

[Seraph]

"Bad neighborhood? You are right across the street from McPharmacy."

??? is that a reference to drug dealers, i guess? if so, i don't know the neighboorhood personally, per se, but there plenty of bad areas in NE.

The McDonalds across the street from XM is right next to the methadone clinic. It's basically an open air prescription drug market and the McDonalds is a well known destination for out of towners to meet with their supplier. Washington Post has written a few articles about it.

[Neil Gendzwill]

Yeah, the local fast food places are a little sketchy. But with the new metro stop and the ATF building and all, things do seem to be looking up. The neighbourhood is getting gentrified, or at least I assume so by the quality of the cars parked on the street compared to a few years ago.

I skip McDs and hit 5 Guys anyways - burgery goodness.

[Seraph]

Yeah, the local fast food places are a little sketchy. But with the new metro stop and the ATF building and all, things do seem to be looking up. The neighbourhood is getting gentrified, or at least I assume so by the quality of the cars parked on the street compared to a few years ago.

I skip McDs and hit 5 Guys anyways - burgery goodness.

Aaah yes, another great suggestion for the visiting Canucks looking for a burger and fries...can't go wrong with 5 Guys.