WASHINGTON DC

March 24, 2008

By Paula Kuivanen

My family and I "tried" to start our trip on Monday, March 24th on the 6:00am Midwest Express flight. We boarded the plane, got to the runway and unfortunately were told that there was a mechanical problem and had to deplane. I had checked the flights on Friday before I left work and knew that we would be lucky to get to DCA in the next day or so since all the flights were sold out due to Easter and spring break. Luckily we were first in line to rebook our flights and as expected got the flight out the next moring at 6am (hopefully) which none of us were too thrilled about since it meant getting up again the next day at 3:45am (did I mention I was travelling with a 12 and 13 year old)!?! At this point we picked up our luggage and went home to figure out our next plan of action which was of course to call MTS to see how the flights looked. After talking to Denise we figured that the best option would be to fly to MKE yet on Monday and then catch the flight out on Tuesday morning to DCA. At that point my friendly travel agent booked me a room at the Wyndham MKE Arpt and we were on our way.

The Wyndham MKE arpt hotel is very close to the airport and is nice because it has an onsite restaurant as well as a Perkins, Rocky Rococo, Duncan Donoughts, McDonalds etc all within walking distance. The rooms need some major updating but the 24 hour transportation was excellent and they were very organized even at 6:00am.

Tuesday, March 25th - YEA, our flight left on time and we landed in Washington DC to sunny weather and NO snow. We rented a car with Budget which took way longer than it should have to get the car but all was forgiven when they drove up in a black Mustang Convertible. Of course me being the sensible one was thinking that there was NO way we would be driving around in DCA with the top down in March but Keith and the girls had other ideas regarding that. I was just happy that it was in the upper 50's and not the 30's if I was going to be driving with the top down!!

From the airport we decided to head out right away to Arlington Cemetary and Mount Vernon so after programing our navigation system were on our way.

Arlington Cemetary is a must see if you ever get to DCA. While there we vistited JFK's grave, Tomb of the Unknow Soldier and watched the changing of the guard. The ceremony is very touching as is the entire visit at the cemetary.

Mount Vernon is also very worth the drive. Unfortunately when we got there we began to realize that our entire week in Washington was going to be waiting in lines since there were numerous school groups in town that week. The line to get into George and Marth Washingtons house was just over and hour so in line we got and tried to keep the girls occupied until we got into the house.

Next stop was to Jury's Hotel in DuPont Circle which was to be our "home" for the next three nights. The staff at this hotel was wonderful and went above and beyond in making sure that we felt comfortable. The girls especially loved the bellman opening the door for them and now expect that at every hotel! We learned getting to the hotel that the traffic in DC which I guess is bad during a normal week was even worse with all the spring breakers so decided to keep the car until the next day and then take it back to the airport and just use the metro. The parking at the Jury's for Valet was $25.00 with in/out privileges so all and all didn't think that was too bad.

Wednesday, March 26 -Since we had the car we decided to do a little driving and see some of the sights outside of the city. We had seen a Fort on the other side of the Potomac while on our way to Mount Vernon so set out to see if we could find it but never actually made it that far. After lunch in Fairfax, VA we all decided that since it was so beautiful and 75 degrees that we would head over to the zoo and then on to the National Cathederal. Other than having a Major hard time finding a place to park at the Zoo I would say that our whole family agreed it was worth the stop. It is a free zoo with Zebras, Pandas, Sloths, Elephants etc and was very nice. Our next stop (with the top down on the convertible) was the National Cathederal and that too was wonderful. After visiting many churches while in Europe last year both Keith and I agreed that this one was ranked right up there with the best in Europe.

Thursday March 27 - Sunday March 30 - The remainder of our trip is kind of a blur since we were SO busy but I will list below all the things we did and places we visited.The last two nights of our stay we moved over to the Grand Hyatt which was also a wonderful hotel. Very Grand with a 16 story atrium and a canal that ran through the entire lower lobby. The staff at this hotel was also very accommodating and the hotel is in a great location with wonderful rooms so I would definitely recommend it to any clients looking for a hotel in that price range. They had an onsite restaurant which we never ate at but did check out the breakfast buffet which looked ok but was $19.99 per person which was was out of our price range for breakfast! They also had two bars, a Starbucks on site, a very helpful Concierge service and a swimming pool at the on site health club. Another bonus was that the Metro station was right out the door of the hotel so it was very easy to get anywhere and never really even have to walk outside.

Below is a list of the sights that we saw while in Washington DC:

*Smithsonian-Natural History Museum

*Lincoln Memorial

*Washington Monument

*Jefferson Memorial

*The Capital (we did a tour and it was well worth waiting in line for this).

*Holocoust Museum - Again this was well worth the wait. We were there a little over 4 hours which got to be a little to long for the girls but you could spend and entire day here and not see everything. While standing in line we spoke to some people who told us that you could get advance tickets for this through the Concierge at most hotels so just some good info if you ever decide to visit this musuem. Basically the line you stand in is for a certain time slot and then you come back to visit the museum during that time.

*Fords Theater - was closed but we did visit the house that Lincoln died which was right across the street. Not sure if I would go out of my way to see it but since we were there we went in.

*Georgetown University Campus

*Cherry Blossum Festival - which started Satuday, March 29th. The trees were beautiful and we were lucky enough to see them at their peak. For the start of the festival they had some food vendors set up at the Tidal Basin around Jefferson Memorial as well as Kite Flying, a 10K run and bands near the Capital. It really was a perfect way to end our vacation in Washington DC.

Please note that most of the above attractions are free to get into so other than transportation and meals you can see Washington DC pretty inexpensivly. A one day pass for the metro is approx $8.00 for the day and you can get on and off as much as you want. A one way pass from almost any destination is about $2.00 each way so again a pretty inexpensive way to get around the city without much hassle or waiting.

If you have questions or want further details on any of the above please let me know.

Paula Kuivanen