Warming to Washington D.C.

I am officially removed a few weeks from my business & vacation trip to our nations capitol! I always start a trip wondering how well the flight will be.  Turbulence, flight time, seating arrangements...etc  I will preface this by saying I really prefer flying Southwest as I appreciate the no bag fees and just good feel.
Unfortunately, there were no direct flights to Ronald Reagan Airport (DCA) via Southwest and I really preferred not being on a flight for 6+ hours.  I booked a US Airways flight that was direct and arrived in just under 4 hours with no issues.  It really was a great flight.

I started my D.C. time at National Harbor, which is kind of a resort/small village styled area.  It was a nice start to my trip.  While most of the time was spent at the conference, it was nice walking around the area.  The area was pretty slow due to off-season time, but I bet it gets pretty busy during a warmer part of the year.  One of the highlights was seeing an old co-worker and friend that moved back to the East Coast.  He was doing really well and we were able to catch up from the last time we saw each other.  It was a great time and really got late by the time we realized it!

As the conference was ending, D.C. took a weather change.  It was warmer there than back home in the Phoenix, AZ area.  Really got a chuckle about that as I brought clothes expecting some cold weather.  Once the conference was over, I moved on to my vacation/site-seeing part of the trip.  As you may know from prior posts, I always try to go low-cost on my lodging as I'm usually spending most of my time away from there and really only use it as a base of operations.  I was looking for a spot that was pretty centralized and close to the METRO rail service so I didn't have to rent a car.  Found the perfect place in the Pentagon City (Metro Stop) area.  I was only a 5 minute walk to the rail station and within 10-15 minute travel time to the National Mall area that has a good majority of the National Monuments.  Gotta say that the townhouse I was in was awesome; I basically sublet a room out and I ended up with the whole house to myself.  The owners had to travel and no one else was staying, so I quite literally had a house to my self for $60 a night.

When traveling, I really prefer staying away from planned tours as I like doing my own thing.  I did, however,  schedule some time for some specific tours that you usually have to make reservations.  My first was The White House which was pretty cool.  From the outside, it looks a lot smaller than what you may see on TV, but its still a good sized place.  The tour consists of just a portion of the house and specific rooms that were all just awesome.  The artwork they have is just awesome and some special areas were the rooms themed on colors.

I then traveled by foot to the Capitol Building.  This was probably my favorite tour that I had planned.  Mainly, due to being able to take pictures where most of the others don't.  I then went and had lunch that a local spot that has been there for 50 years or longer.  Was really good and a good energy boost and break I needed for the rest of the day.  I then went to the Supreme Court and check it out.  Was pretty awesome!

The next day was visiting the Pentagon which is a pretty large area.  It was a good experience, no pictures were allowed, so went pretty quick. Lots of walking though.  Arlington Cemetery was one of the better spots that day.  I have an amazement with cemeteries.  Just so much history in them and the buildings, tombstones are just so interesting.  Phone was dead due to a long night before that I didn't charge it long enough.  Little upset about that, but I have my memories.

I checked out the rest of the Monument areas during day and night which was a MUST see for anyone visiting.  Check out the Museums and spend some extra time in those.  I really could have used another day of checking things out.  Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, and Jefferson Memorial were nice walks that I did at night also and got some good pictures.  It was really nice at night that I really only needed my overcoat for one of the nights I was out.

Overall, the trip was great as I've always wanted to check out our nations capitol and can now scratch that one off of my list!  Please enjoy the photos I took!