Getting to Washington D.C.
There are two major airports that serve the Washington DC
area;
Dulles
International Airport
and
Ronald Reagan
National Airport.
If you are flying in from anywhere in the US, you will want
to fly into Ronald Reagan. This airport is located
much closer to downtown Washington DC than Dulles.
Getting from the airport to your hotel
May I suggest the
Metrorail.
The Metrorail is connected to the Reagan Airport concourse
and takes you just about anywhere in the city. It is
also fast, clean, and cheap, compared to a taxi. There
are of course rental cars but if you plan on just visiting
the sites in Washington DC, the best way to do this is on
foot or to just take a bus to a further location like the
Zoo or National Cathedral.
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The hotel we
stayed at was the
Renaissance
Washington DC Hotel.
The only reason we chose this hotel, was that it is the
closest hotel to the Washington Convention Center. The
metro has a stop at the convention center which is where we
got off from the airport. A two block walk and we were
at the hotel.
After getting to our hotel, we needed to find a drugstore to
replace all of the toiletries that were confiscated by the
airport authorities. I visited my airline's website prior to
packing to make sure my toiletries were the right size,
which I guess had outdated information. |
View from our hotel room looking
west down New York Avenue
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They had
the information regarding how many liquid ounces you could
carry, not the fact that they had to be in a container
marked with that size. So if you bring a tube of
toothpaste that is almost empty and has less than 3 ounces,
it will be confiscated because the tube is labeled with
something more than 3 ounces. Visit the
TSA website
to make sure you have the right information and expect
different airports to make up their own rules. Each
airport we went through took a different item. When I
asked them why a certain airport did not take an item that
they took, you get a vague answer. |
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| It was still daylight when we stepped out of the hotel.
We were tired from traveling but needed to find the
drugstore and find a restaurant for dinner. We exited
the hotel and went to 8th Street and walked south to H
Street and turned left heading east towards Chinatown.
We then headed south on 7th Street. |
A house located to the right of the Greater New Hope
Baptist Church on 8th Street |
The Greater New Hope Baptist Church located on 8th
Street between I Street and H Street |
Calvary Baptist Church located on
the corner of 8th Street and H Street.
See
more information about this church....... |
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Detail of building above the front entrance
of the Greater New Hope Baptist Church |
Gateway to Chinatown, "Friendship
Archway"
Located on the corner of 7th Street and
H Street.
See more
information on Chinatown..... |
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| We continued south on 7th Street until we came to
Pennsylvania Avenue and turned right heading west.
The "Ugliest Building
Award" goes to the J. Edgar Hoover Building which
houses the FBI, located on the corner of
Pennsylvania and 9th Street.
The building also had orange barrels set-up with
crime tape between them making the whole building
look like a gigantic crime scene. I have to
agree, the building is a felony assault on the eyes.
Read
more about this building.....
In
front of the J. Edgar Hoover Building along
Pennsylvania Ave. there is a nice wide tree lined
sidewalk. |
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Sidewalk along Pennsylvania Ave in front of
the J. Edgar Hoover
Building facing west. |
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We found a restaurant
a block down from the J. Edgar Hoover Building.
Ten Penh featured Asian food. Unfortunately, I
discovered this restaurant closed in 2011. |
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I rarely recommend a particular restaurant but the Red
Thai Curry Shrimp they had here was "to die for".
The recipe for this was even on their now absent
website. We went back again our last evening in DC.
The service both times was excellent! It was
located at 1001 Pennsylvania Ave.
An article in the Washington Post
about the closing.... |
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After dining, we headed back to our hotel by walking back
down Pennsylvania Ave. and turned left heading north on 9th
Street. We walked north on 9th Street until we hit F
Street and turned right heading east. |
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Along F
Street between 9th and 7th Street. Very different forms
of architecture all next to each other. |
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Masonic Temple on F Street
Read more about
this building..... |
Verizon Center
Concerts and sporting events are held here.
On the corner of 7th Street and F Street
Verizon Center
website..... |
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The Donald W. Reynolds Center |
The Donald W. Reynolds Center |
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These are two different
entrances to the same center:
The Donald W.
Reynolds Center.
The two museums housed here are the
National
Portrait Gallery and
the
Smithsonian
American Art Museum |
