Destination Washington DC

Every person in the United States should have the privilege of visiting our Nation's Capital. It is one of the most amazing cities in the Nation; the buildings are magnificent and give you the impression of walking back in time when you gaze upon them. It is however, an expensive trip to make and should be planned ahead, you will save money booking your trip in advance and plan your itinerary well ahead of time.

Flight cost through Travelocity, including hotel ranges from $1,050.00 a person to $680.00 per person. The lower end of the scale is for hotels that are by no means comfortable or four star. When you research your upcoming trip be sure to check into the true distance of your hotel from the airport. Our flight booked in at $860.00 per person round trip 9 days in the Churchill Hotel. The internet clearly indicated that this was within walking distance to the Capital Mall. This in fact was not exactly true, as the hotel was situated approximately 4 miles from the Mall. A good walk for some but, if your travel companion has a disability it would be very difficult.

The Churchill is a magnificent hotel that is in the line of all the old buildings. The elevators are slow and make noise when you ride them. The rooms are not excessively large and come with a refrigerator and one cup coffee maker. The fixtures appear to be old and I do not recommend drinking any water from the tap in the room. Bring bottled water to make your coffee in the morning. The room service is not the greatest when it comes to choices and the food not the best in town. It is a little expensive when a cheese and fruit plate runs you $18.00 with a $3.00 room service charge and 5% tip added into the total. Breakfast of a pot of coffee for two and muffins and OJ for three came to $42.50 on room service. The nostalgia of the place is fantastic but be prepared for the cost. In fact most of the food cost in the DC area is in the high range. We spent no less then $70.00 per meal for 3 people the entire trip, and we did not eat at top notch restaurants. We did visit McDonalds for a break from the high cost and found that they not only charge more for the food but charge you $1.00 per meal as a take out charge.

We also flew into IED Dulles Airport which is approximately 30 miles from the hotel. It was necessary to rent an auto for our travels in DC. Now keep in mind that most hotels charge you a parking fee for over night parking of your auto. Our hotel the Churchill charged us $30.00 a day with a $3.60 tax. Then remember if you drive to a destination in the city you need to park in a lot for approximately $17.50 to $25.00 for the day. You could park on the street as we did, returning at 5:00 pm only to find that the parking spaces were to be vacated by 4:30 pm and our car had been towed. Of course the police told us it had been relocated to a safer area, which ultimately meant towed to a lot. No charge for towing if picked up before 8:00 pm., except of course the $100.00 parking ticket. Did we have laughs on that afternoon, you bet we did, laughing instead of crying or panicking was good for our souls.

The Memorials, Capital building, and White House are free to all visitors. All of these have wonderful exhibits and are filled to the brim with history. They are easily accessible if you are handicapped and actually the walk in the Mall is not such a bad thing if you have good weather. Our visit had temps in the upper 70's and lower 80's except one day of rain. We carried water with us every day in a back pack which made it easy for us to maneuver the entire area. It did however, take us two complete days to visit the entire area, including the DAR (Daughters of the Revolution) National Headquarters. What a fantastic place to visit. History alive right before your eyes. The memorials in the Mall are fantastic and if all goes well for you the enjoyment and sharing of respect for those who have gone before us is immense. I personally learned a great deal of history while there and enjoyed being able to share it with my granddaughter.

While in DC we visited 6 of the Smithsonian Institute Museums, including the National Zoo. These took about 3 days to tour as they are filled with exhibits that will hold your interest for hours on end. It is a must to begin your visit with the Smithsonian Castle, be sure to sign up for the membership and gain a years subscription to the Smithsonian Magazine and all the amenities that come with the membership, the cost is $19.95 a year. The Hope Diamond on exhibit, in the Natural History Museum, every woman in the room wishing it were hers to own. The Air and Space Museum was fascinating holding the interest of the old and young at heart. Amazing aircraft that actual air travel looked to be much more comfortable in olden days than in today's hectic travel. Comfortable seating, even an airplane called the Air Boat that afforded it's passengers with a sleeping area while traveling across the seas. Fantastic space craft giving you the up close view of the Apollo crafts and the history of their flights and orbits into space.

Along Constitution and Independence Avenues you will find almost all of the museums within walking distance of each other for your pleasure. Visit the American Indian Museum and learn about these fantastic people and their heritage. See how they struggle to gain back their history and lifestyles from the past. See their wonderful art work and the love of their people while they share with us the stories of their people and the past.

A must visit is he U.S. Botanic Garden, this enclosed garden houses some of the worlds most outstanding orchids. Inside this building you will find plants from starts that were brought to the U.S. by presidents Jefferson and Washington, to name a couple, more than 8,000 species of tropical and subtropical plants are housed here.

You need to visit the Capital building and the White House itself when in D.C. You will have to stand in line for tickets (no charge). They also go very quickly in the early morning hours. In order to tour the White House you may not bring anything with you, no camera, handbag, or back pack. Leave it at your hotel or in your car as there are no lockers or places with which to store these items and you cannot take them into the White House. Security is at its top in these two areas. In fact the security in the Mall area is extremely heavy and helicopters fly over head the entire day and night.

There are many more areas and buildings to visit but our time was short at only 9 days so we chose carefully which we wished to visit. The last of our tour took us to the National Zoo. There are many zoos throughout the world and I have toured one in each of my destinations. This zoo was by far the best I have ever had the pleasure of visiting. The animals are kept in enclosures that are large enough that the animal doesn't appear to be bored out of it's mind. There is no pacing around and even the Asia Elephant found time to be happy and play. He was a teenager and had a wonderful time playing with his ball. Running up and down the enclosure rolling it and chasing it. If the crowd would applaud him he would stand high on his hind legs and hold up his trunk in appreciation. It was amazing to find the animals happy and content in their homes.

All in all I would recommend a visit to our Capital to all who are able to afford the high cost of this vacation destination. Be prepared to spend twice as much on your meals and travel expenses in this state. It is however, well worth the experience and the cost to see this magnificent place.