Washington DC 2006 - Trip Report and Photos
Fifty-seven parents, grandparents, and children traveled to
Washington DC by Amtrak train, arriving on the 25th and departing on
the morning of the 28th. We had a volunteer train host who boarded
with us and described the sites along the way. He showed the
children tricks, talked to them, and answered questions until he had
to depart in Rocky Mount, NC.
The Amtrak conductors and assistant conductors were friendly and
accommodating. They allowed us to have the entire car to ourselves
both ways, even though we didn't have the minimum number of
travelers required for a reserved car. Because of this, our children
were able to move around relatively freely and play/talk with each
other during the trip.
Though the ride was long, it allowed the children (and parents and
grandparents) to get to know one another and bond before arrival.
From the comments I've received so far, most of our travelers
enjoyed the train trip and would like to travel this way on our
future trip to New York City.
Amtrak provided food items such as soup, salad, pizza, sandwiches,
snacks, and beverages, but we found them to be expensive. Those who
brought coolers and "snack bags" with their own food ate better, and
spent a lot less. This is definitely the way I'll go next time!
The most difficult part of our trip was transferring from Amtrak to
the subway system when we arrived at Union Station in DC. Even
though we needed to only walk downstairs at the station to catch our
subway train, we were tired (our train arrived two hours late), we
had all our luggage with us, it was crowded, and we had a lot of
children with us. To top it off, subway travel was a new experience
for many in the group, so nerves were on edge.
Before we could board the subway, we had to purchase farecards.
Although we had pre-purchased unlimited Metro passes for Saturday,
we still had to pay for the subway to our hotel, for a few trips on
Friday, and for our return to Union Station on Sunday. After
purchasing the cards, we made our way through the gates and boarded
the subway toward our hotel. We had to transfer to a different line
midway, then finally made it to our hotel around around 9:00 pm -
much later than we expected due to the Amtrak delays. I think almost
everyone was ready to kill me (or at least seriously hurt me) by
then.
After a good night's sleep, everyone was smiling again and seemed to
be willing to let me live another day. I promised them that
navigating the subway would be a lot easier for the rest of the trip
since we wouldn't have luggage to contend with, and we knew more
about what to expect. And, for once, I was right! Everyone did
eventually learn to navigate the Metro, and a lot of us even enjoyed
it. It really is an efficient system - once you get the hang
of it.
We learned that since we had to rely on public transportation, we
needed to pack light (smaller bags, and fewer bags). Those who did
had a much easier time transferring from our train to the subway.
I'll be sure to emphasize packing light on future trips where we'll
rely on public transportation.
I heard no complaints at all about our hotel. The rooms were clean
and very comfortable, with two double beds, a refrigerator, and
microwave. We also had a decent breakfast every morning, consisting
of a wide variety of food for even picky eaters. Some folks in our
group who admitted to being choosy about hotels said they were very
pleased with it. That's good enough for me.
Some of the sites we visited together were the Lincoln Memorial,
Vietnam Veterans Memorial, World War II Memorial, Washington
Monument, White House, National Zoo, Old Post Office Pavilion and
Tower, Ford's Theater, Arlington Cemetery, and Washington National
Cathedral. We split off to visit the Smithsonian (and other) museums
of our choice, such as: National Air and Space Museum, National
Museum of Natural History, National Museum of American History,
Holocaust Museum, and more.
Unfortunately, we weren't able to take our reserved US Capitol tour.
There was an alleged shooting there the morning of our tour date, so
they were on "lockdown" all day. It turned out to be noise from
construction (instead of the gunshots they thought they heard), but
they didn't find out until it was too late to take our tour. We'll
just have to go back again for that.
Seeing the monuments, cathedral, and museums up close was an amazing
experience. (Be sure to check out our pictures of the trip.) The
only thing I'll drop from the itinerary on the next trip will be the
zoo. It was fine, but not really worth the walk for my family (and
quite a few of the other travelers agreed with me). Riverbanks Zoo
(in SC) is actually better.
Most of my itinerary was flexible - folks could stick with the
group, or go off on their own if they wanted to see the sites alone.
That was one of the benefits of using the Metro and we'll definitely
use the same strategy for our next trip.
We walked a lot during the trip, and had a few people with recent
foot surgeries or foot/leg problems who had trouble keeping up with
the pace. The flexible itinerary benefited them, since they could go
at their own pace. However, I wouldn't recommend the trip for those
with problems or limited mobility - a guided bus tour with limited
walking would be better.
For anyone interested in going on this trip in the future, I
recommend that you start a walking program a month or two before the
trip if you don't get much physical activity so you'll be prepared
for the amount of walking required. Also, be sure to walk in the
shoes (tennis shoes, walking shoes) you'll be using for the trip -
don't buy new shoes without breaking them in thoroughly. Trust me on
this.
The area around our hotel hosted a lot of restaurants (most of which
we didn't discover until we ate at Chili's for the second or third
time). We'll have a little more variety on the next trip since we
know where to find them now. There were also many other stores
(pharmacies, etc) in case we needed something unexpectedly, or
forgot to bring something.
Because I had been told that the Charlotte Amtrak station wasn't in
a good neighborhood, I had planned to find shuttle service to the
station so we wouldn't need to leave our cars there. I wasn't able
to find decently-priced service, so many of us took our chances and
left our cars at the station. It ended up being fine - none of us had any
problems with break-ins or vandalism.
Most of us enjoyed the trip and several families have told me that
they'd like to go back to see the sites we missed this time. Others
weren't able to go on this trip since they already had plans to go
to the NC homeschool convention, so they've asked me to plan another
trip.
So, due to popular request, I'll start making plans for a trip back
to DC in the fall of 2007. I hope to avoid the NC (and other summer)
homeschool conventions by going in the fall, plus I may be able to
negotiate less expensive room rates. I'll also probably be able to
add a day to our itinerary. There's so much to see, an extra day
won't hurt.
The cost of the trip for a "typical" family of 4 (depending on ages)
was around $800. This included our hotel stay for three nights;
breakfast on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday; lunch on Friday; and all
site admissions. It also included transportation to and from DC, and
Metro transportation for Saturday while we toured.
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Trip Photos
Getting to know each other on the train
Braving the subway
Visiting the monuments and memorials
Views from the top of the Washington Monument
The White House, Old Post Office Pavilion,
Ford's Theater, and Arlington Cemetery
The National Zoo and the National Cathedral
Playing in the Insect Zoo at the Natural
History Museum & touring Union Station
