For Thanksgiving this year we took
a trip to Washington D.C.
Even though I've been to DC on
business several times,I've never
done more than wander around the
Mall a bit during some free time.
And we've known many people who
have told us great things about the
Smithsonian, so it was time for us to
see for ourselves.
The weather didn't really co-
operate as it was raining or
overcast for the first two days. And
Heidi and I both suffered through
mild colds while we were there.
But....it is an impressive city, and it I
felt like we just we just scratched
the surface during our three days.
We started out with a full day at the
Smithsonian's Air and Space
Museum. There is lots to do and
see. My advice - skip the the
Einstein planetarium's run of the
mill, "isn't the universe amazing"
type show. It's not worth it. But the
"Fighter Pilot" show at the IMAX
theatre is very engaging. As are
the flight simulators.
Colin really enjoyed the interactive
"How things fly" exhibit, and there
are too many different kinds of
planes and spacecraft to name.
They are all interesting.
Next day we took a walk down
Pennsylvania Avenue, and stopped
for a wet photo op outside the
Then we headed to the
Smithsonian's Natural History
Museum, mostly because Colin was
interested in the Insect Zoo (which
was good). But the rest of the
"stones and bones" exhibits were
quite similar to Toronto's own Royal
Ontario Museum, so we left to tour
the monuments and memorials on
the Mall...in the rain.
We were surprised by how recent
most of the war memorials were.
Of course the Vietnam veteran's
memorial was completed in the
1980's. But the Korean memorial
was completed in the 1990's and
the WW II memorial, not until 2004.
On our third day, the weather
changed completely. Where it was
wet, cold and dour before, it
became hot, clear and bright. So
we took a bus tour of the city. It's
drive-by tourism, but we wanted to
get a look at the parts of the city
that weren't nearby to the hotel.
And so we saw the Capitol Building,
and the US national cathedral (I
didn't even know there was such a
thing). The tour bus dropped us in
Georgetown, which was absolutely
crammed with Columbus Day
shoppers.
From Georgetown it was just a
short walk back to our hotel, and we
started our trip back to Oakville.
Logistics
We got a good deal at the Embassy
Suites hotel on 22nd St. We had a
nice big suite, witha separate
bedroom, a couple of TVs, small
fridge, sink and microwave. A full
cooked breakfast is included in the
price, as is an afternoon reception
(if you want to join a long line-up for
beer...we didn't). Its about a 15
minute walk to the White House, but
there is a Metro (subway) stop a
couple blocks from the hotel, so you
don't need to walk if you don't want
to.
We ate at the hotel restaurant
(functional, but not memorable).
On Saturday night we went to the
Front Page restaurant which was
good. Lots of variety. It was very
busy and service was a bit on the
slow side. On Sunday we ate, in
Georgetown, at the Au Pied Bistro.
This is a new restaurant at the edge
of the Georgetown shopping
district. I don't think it will last long.
It aims for a Paris bistro
atmosphere, and all the elements
are there, but it doesn't pull it off.
Food was only OK, and the service
was dicey. There are lots of very
busy restaurants in Georgetown,
but this one will likely always be an
overflow from the more popular
locations.
10 October 2006
