Prepared for the 5th Maintenance Batallion 2009 DC Reunion

  General Area Description

The DC area is the home of many tourist attractions.  Area map….

There are three airports that serve the greater DC area:  Dulles, Reagan National, and BWI.  Dulles is around 45 minutes from DC, BWI is an hour away, and National is right across the river from DC.  Check plane ticket rates for each of the airports.  National, by the way, is not served by as many cities as Dulles or BWI.  In addition to the DC / Baltimore areas, Annapolis is just off the map on Route 50 to the right side of the map and Gettysburg is just off the top of the map approximately over the “D” in Maryland .  

DC is laid out in four quadrants, NW, NE, SW, and SE.  North Capitol Street and South Capitol Street radiate in north and south directions from the Capitol.  East Capitol Street divides north and south east of the Capitol and the National Mall divides north and south to the west.  Streets running north and south are numbered in sequence going east and west from the Capitol.  20th Street is farther away from the Capitol than 10th Street .  Streets running east and west are lettered starting from “A” street in sequence going north and south from the Capitol.  “K” Street is farther from the Capitol than “D” Street.  After the individual letters in the alphabet are used up, streets are named in a series of one syllable names progressing farther from the Capitol.  Then come the two and three syllable names.  There are a lot of diagonal streets hither and yon that are named after states.  When a north and south street intersect with a diagonal street, there may be a traffic circle, sometimes known as a roundabout.  This feature was built in by one Pierre L'Enfant, a French guy, who designed the city about the time Andrew Jackson was a Corporal.  These traffic circles were built to confuse British soldiers in the event of a land attack.  We didn't make that up.

How to get around town

A.     Automobile.  Unless you’re from Los Angeles , traffic in DC is like nothing you’ve ever seen.  As bad as traffic is, parking is that much worse.

Various charitable and political groups feel it is their inalienable right to demonstrate / walk / run / march on DC streets during every weekend of the year.  This causes the police to completely close off blocks and blocks of streets to vehicular traffic.  That having been said, a car is maybe the best way to get from here to there after the evening rush hour is over.

B.      Subway.  DC has a subway system.  They have stops near the National Mall, over at Arlington Cemetery , and close to some of the hotels in the Arlington / Crystal City area.  Several of the DC stops can get you near most of the major attractions in town.   Here is a map of the entire subway system.

Here is a smaller map showing some of the attractions near the Smithsonian stop.

C.  Tour buses.  The Tourmobile bus system is $25 a day.  Factoring in all the time you would spend trying to find a parking place and walking block after block to get to where you want to be, this is great deal.   The three major bus tour companies in Washington DC allow you to hop on and off at stops. Tourmobile serves the National Mall area including Capitol Hill White House and Arlington Cemetery .  Open Top Sightseeing and Old Town Trolleys serve the National Mall and attractions in other areas of Washington , DC .   Comparison of bus stops and prices are displayed below.

  Top Attractions:

Virginia –

1. Arlington Cemetery – accessible by tour bus or subway.
2. Smithsonian's Udvar-Hazy Air & Space Museum on the grounds of Dulles Airport – This is an absolutely superlative museum.  Accessible by tour bus that leaves from the front door of the downtown air and space museum or private vehicle.  Count on spending 45 minutes to an hour to get out there from downtown if you are driving.  As with most area attractions, count on getting your bags searched.  Here is a link to some pictures taken at the museum.

Maryland / Pennsylvania

A.     If you’re a civil war buff, you may consider the two hour drive to the Gettysburg battlefields just over the border into Pennsylvania .  Antietam battlefields are in Maryland on the way to Pennsylvania if you're interested.  Figure on killing four hours in the car travel time round trip.

B.     Annapolis is 45 minutes to an hour east of DC.  The Naval Academy has an interesting but small museum.  Downtown Annapolis is full of eating, drinking, and shopping opportunities.  They have harbor tours.  If you fish, you may be able to arrange to take a day on a charter boat.  The blues and rocks (rockfish / stripers / striped bass) make a run up the bay in the spring.  If you sail, there are a number of places that will charter boats for a day.  For some real local and unique flavor, eat at Chick and Ruth's Deli at 165 Main Street .  It's crowded, they have diner type food, and it's reasonably priced.  The walls are lined with signed photos of Naval Academy types and Maryland politicos.  Sandwiches are named after different Maryland politicians.  Contrary to popular belief, the sandwich named after Maryland 's current governor is not two slices of bread heaped with baloney.  And we said that as nicely as we could.

C.     As they say, Baltimore is a drinking town with a baseball problem.  Watch the schedules to see if Dem O’s are playing your favorite team.  With Baltimore ’s team owner having an aversion to spending money on pitchers, you’ll have a good chance of seeing your guys win.   Baltimore is also home to a section of town called Little Italy where one can find, you guessed it, good Italian food.  Just as in DC, one has to be very careful about where you go – lots of street crime.  The Nationals will have their new stadium open by the then.  They have a subway stop a couple blocks away.  Don't count on driving there.  They don't have any parking for anybody besides the team people and the members of the DC City Council.

DC

A.                In more ways than one, DC is best seen as a series of clusters.  Here’s another map of the National Mall area.  Note that it is three miles from the US Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial.

B.                The first cluster of interest will be at the west end of the mall at the Lincoln Memorial.  Close by are the Vietnam Wall and the Korean War Memorial.  At the other end of the reflecting pool, that long blue object, is the World War II Memorial.  It’s about half a mile from the Lincoln Memorial to the WWII memorial.  Here is a link to some photos of the war memorials.

C.               The next cluster of interest is the museum area.  The Natural History, American history, and Air & Space are particularly fascinating.  Those three alone could take a whole day to see.  The museums have food operations if you don’t want to grab a hot dog from one of the street vendors.

D.               The Supreme Court is located at the east end of the Mall along with the biggest cluster in town, the Capitol.  The Capitol has a visitor center.  They have a gallery in the Capitol where you can watch them talk about throwing away our money if they are actually in session.  You can get into the Supreme Court to watch some of the goings on if they are in session.

E.                And let’s not forget the White House.  They have tours available.  They issue tickets starting around 8 or 9 in the morning.  Lines for the tickets start forming around 6AM.  That's zero six hundred hours.  Outside the White House there are some great photo opportunities.  There is usually some sort of group singin' songs and a'carrying signs on the north side of the White House grounds.  Again, bring your camera.  Speaking of cameras, no bags of any sort, cameras, or recording devices are allowed inside the tour.  You are forced to bring along someone to hold all the items while the rest of the party takes the tour.

F.                 The tour bus section seen earlier here is a good guide to the major attractions in town.

Weather / What to pack

Spring weather in DC can be anything from howling wind and cold rain to balmy and sunny.  You may want to pack an umbrella.  The most important thing to wear is comfortable shoes.  You’ll be on your feet walking all day long.  Take your Tylenol or Advil before you leave your room in the morning.

You’re going to want to take lots of pictures.  Bring extra batteries and plenty of memory for the camera.

Where to stay?

Life is a series of compromises.  Nothing in the city of DC is reasonably priced.  With the possible exception of a Holiday Inn at 1501 Rhode Island Ave - now $176 a night.  Don't know how much we could talk them down.  Montgomery County , Maryland locations somewhat near subway stops will be just as expensive as Arlington , VA locations near subway stops.  Locations in Greenbelt / College Park Maryland will be a little less, still, but the cost savings does not compare favorably with the need for a car and the time it takes to get from the hotel to the subway stop.  Of the choices available, Arlington / Crystal City looks like the best balance of location and price.  There are several hotels in the area and one or more of them may be interested in making a special deal for the group.  We'll do some more research on this.

When do we eat?        (In no particular order:)

Maryland is noted for crabs and seafood.  The best crabs and seafood are found in the Annapolis area.  If you're looking for the total cultural crab experience, find one of the local crab houses.  They seat people in long rows on picnic tables covered in many layers of newspaper.  Quantities of crabs are brought to your table.  The crabs are steamed in big pots with the regional favorite Old Bay seasoning dumped all over them when they are being steamed.  You will be equipped with a wooden mallet for breaking the crabs apart and some sort of picking device to get the meat out of them.  If you've never had steamed crabs before, you'll need instructions.  The whole affair is rather primitive, what with the mallet smashing going on and the bits of shell winging all over the place.  All things considered, go for crabcakes.  One final note on Maryland seafood - there is a restaurant chain in Maryland called Phillip's Seafood.  They got in trouble for selling Chinese crabs and labeling them as being from the Chesapeake Bay .  This was generally considered beyond the pale of simple deceptive labeling and a lot of people still refuse to eat in their restaurants any more.

DC has a Chinatown.  The street signs are even Chinese.  Needless to say, go there for some Chinese food.

The Hawk n Dove is a tavern type of operation on Capitol Hill.  They are known for being a sort of hangout for Congressional staffers and some of the members.  If you see any of the Kennedys in there, make sure you leave before they do.  Some of them don't drive too well - you'll need a head start.

You may or may not see someone you know from the news at the Old Ebbit Grill.  Not governors from one of the 13 original states, but you may recognize somebody in there.  This place has a reputation for serving people who actually do something in DC.  

If you're looking to take in a meal at someplace historic, consider the 600 Restaurant at the Watergate.  Who cares about the food when you get to eat in a place that... oh, you know.  If you don't stop for a meal, they also have a bar.  You can plainly see the Watergate from the Lincoln Memorial.  It's a bit of a walk so you might consider a taxi if you're not driving.

A note on safety

Expect to have your belongings searched when entering any federal building.  Whatever you do, no matter how many carry permits you have, don't even think about walking around with firearms or ammunition in DC.  

Your personal safety is also a consideration.  If you think you heard gunshots at night, you probably did.  Straying more than a couple blocks from the National Mall, it's safest to stick with Massachusetts Ave, Connecticut Ave, and 16th St in the Northwest section of the city.  Southeast and Northeast, you're taking a chance.  There's not much in Southwest so just stay in the Federal building areas.  When you get in the car, lock the doors.

There are homeless people all over town.  For the most part they're pretty harmless, just stay away from the ones that talk to or argue with themselves.  Some of them like to bed down in some of the dark areas on the grounds of the Washington Monument .  There are some pretty large expanses of space in not too well lit areas where it's easy to trip over one of them sleeping on the ground if you're not watching where you're going.

As a final note on safety, the safest place in DC, day or night, is the Vietnam Memorial.  For all the impact the Wall has in the daytime, it is just as stunning at night.  Use the map at the top of this page and park somewhere in the circle labeled "1".  If possible, plan a trip there in the daytime and the night time.  Do a little people watching while you're there, too.  You'll see a true aura of reverence there unlike anything you'll see elsewhere in town.  The #2 area on the map is the World War II Memorial, the #3 area is the Vietnam Memorial, and the #4 area is the Korean War Memorial.

Absolute must see attractions

1.  The Vietnam Memorial

2.  The changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns

3.  The north side of the White House

4.  The Udvar Hazy Air & Space Museum at Dulles Airport

This document can be found at   here.