I'm going to Washington

Frater Perdurabo · Post by **Frater Perdurabo** » Fri Jul 07, 2006 7:02 pm

That's right, my flight is leaving tomorrow morning at 7 a.m. taking an entire day to fly over. Anyway, I'm 18, so I was wondering whether I'm going to be treated like a kid over there (damn, I thought that school would be the end of that), i.e. no alcohol and clubs, etc...

I'm going on a Law course for ~2 weeks, so I am going to busy during the day, but free towards the afternoon and evening, so I'm wondering what to do there... People have told me that sightseeing has quite a lot of value there, and even though I'm not too keen on American history/culture, I believe that I should check it out...

Any tips?

VasikkA · Post by **VasikkA** » Fri Jul 07, 2006 8:03 pm

Pull a prank at the airport wearing a fake beard and a turban. Or maybe you could hook up with King of Creation to seek counsel on the cheapest strip clubs while smoking classified documents in a hot, steamy jacuzzi.

Stainless · Post by **Stainless** » Fri Jul 07, 2006 8:09 pm

I was in Washington DC around 3 weeks ago. The sight seeing is great, mainly because it;s all free (usually). Although, everything of that nature tends to close around 6pm.

Food, shopping, etc. Union station is probably the best for the latter, I went to some other shopping mall, but it was pretty shit.

Clubs and bars, Can't comment, I just got drunk at the hostel.

Post by **King of Creation** » Fri Jul 07, 2006 9:22 pm

I lived in DC, but I'm back in Connecticut for the summer. There's also a hilarious karaoke bar called Recessions on I Street. I think it's around 16th and I. Also, if you go over to 18th street, check out Andalu. Andalu is also right by my favorite club - ESL (18th Street Lounge).

Adams Morgan is like the Bourbon Street of DC. Bar after club after bar after club. There are a few really cool ones around there. But for an 18 year old, Adams Morgan is probably the best place to go. It's a little chore to get there, as it's a bit of a walk from the metro station, but it's worth it.

Oh, and remember that the very last metro stops at 3. But it usually stops before that, so leave enough money for a taxi by the end of the night - or be prepared to walk. Or you can spend all but 3 dollars like I did one night while I was in Maryland, and then somehow make it through a complicated inter-state public transportation system at 4 in the morning.

Anyway, DC is a lot of fun even if you don't go to any bars. You can still do public tours of the Capitol. Your best bet is to call your Representatives office and say "hey - i'm going to be in DC in a few weeks or whatever, and I'd like a tour of the capitol building." Those staff-led tours are a lot better than the public tours. Anyways, the Capitol is one thing not to miss.

Check out all the major monuments too. They're all in the same general area around the tidal basin (at the end of the Mall) - Washington Monument, WW2 Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Korean and Vietnam Memorial. And then around the perimeter of the Tidal Basin - the FDR memorial, and the Jefferson Memorial.

I enjoyed all the Smithsonians, but they close sorta early (maybe 6ish?), so you might not be able to check them out if you're doing stuff all day.

For restaurants, I recommend going to around Dupont Circle. Lauriol Plaza is an awesome Mexican restaurant around 18th and S street near Dupont (and it's a very nice area to walk around - lots of embassies.) Most of DC's foreign population (people that work at the various embassies) live in Dupont circle, so there's a huge variety of food. There was this awesome Russian club there that's run by an ex-KGB agent.

Oh...and if you're willing to make the hike, there's a Dave and Busters off the White Flint metro stop. It's in Maryland, though (that's where I was when I missed the last metro and had to find my way back to the Hill at 4 am). It's a blast playing video games all night and getting sloshed. I never saw them card anyone there either. But definitely get there before 10 or they charge a cover.

Ohh yeah...check out the National Archives too. There's probably going to be a huge line in the summer, but it's worth it to see the Constitution, Declaration, etc.

So yeah...DC is a lot of fun. I miss it.

There's a lot more to do, but I don't feel like writing anymore. If you've got any questions, feel free to ask.

Frater Perdurabo · Post by **Frater Perdurabo** » Fri Jul 07, 2006 9:24 pm

VasikkA wrote:Pull a prank at the airport wearing a fake beard and a turban. Or maybe you could hook up with King of Creation to seek counsel on the cheapest strip clubs while smoking classified documents in a hot, steamy jacuzzi.

Sounds great, hehe

Are the strip bars there any good? I've yet to find one that lives up to my Stringfellow's experience. By the way, you allowed in at 18?

Stainless wrote:I was in Washington DC around 3 weeks ago. The sight seeing is great, mainly because it;s all free (usually). Although, everything of that nature tends to close around 6pm.

Food, shopping, etc. Union station is probably the best for the latter, I went to some other shopping mall, but it was pretty shit.

Clubs and bars, Can't comment, I just got drunk at the hostel.

I also heard that it can be really dodgy? I don't want to get mugged by like 3 black guys lol...

edit: Oooh KoC posted, let me read through that a couple of times, and I'll ask you a few questions if I still have any

Thanks a lot for the help.

edit2: By the way, how's the traffic in DC? Is it faster getting around on foot or by taxi (I'm not too keen on public transport).

Post by **King of Creation** » Fri Jul 07, 2006 9:45 pm

The metro (subway) is definitely the way to get around DC. It's fast, cheap, and there are stops everywhere within reasonable walking distance of everywhere except Georgetown. But there's a free bus that takes people from the closest metro station to Georgetown.

But walking isn't bad at all.

Oh, and I forgot to mention the White House. Definitely go see that. You won't be able to get a tour because you have to schedule those months in advance, but it's cool to take a walk around the outside of the fence.

Frater Perdurabo · Post by **Frater Perdurabo** » Fri Jul 07, 2006 9:52 pm

King of Creation wrote:snip

In your first sentence, do you mean under 18 or under 21? Because I'm 18 at the moment... It's too late to organize a tour now (leaving on like 5 hours).

I used to have a fake ID, but it only made me 18, lol. Ordered it for graduation trip...

Anyway, thanks a lot for your advice. If I come up with more questions, is it fine if I PM you? Anyway, probably won't have too much time, my schedule looked pretty tight.

Mad Max RW · Post by **Mad Max RW** » Fri Jul 07, 2006 10:28 pm

I've been to DC for a couple weeks and enjoyed it. Try to get a tour of the FBI building. They did a cool demonstration of automatic weapons. Ignore the Capitol bulding and Whitehouse. Both are boring as fuck. The National Air and Space museum was awesome. All the museums were pretty good.

The only bad thing I can think of is going there during the summer. It gets so ungodly hot and humid you just wanna lay down and die. They built it ontop of a swamp originally.

Frater Perdurabo · Post by **Frater Perdurabo** » Fri Jul 07, 2006 10:28 pm

All right, I appreciate your help, thanks a bunch. Probably won't have too much time to do a lot of things though

Post by **King of Creation** » Sat Jul 08, 2006 2:37 am

Mad Max RW wrote:Try to get a tour of the FBI building.

They don't give public tours anymore. You have to know someone who works there and ask them to give you a tour if you want one.

Ignore the Capitol bulding and Whitehouse. Both are boring as fuck.

Blasphemer! The Capitol is amazing...although the tour can suck if you get a bad guide. That's why I said to try and get on a tour with your Representatives office.

And yes, it is stupidly hot in the summer.

Mad Max RW · Post by **Mad Max RW** » Sat Jul 08, 2006 3:48 am

Ahh cool. I was just in downtown Hartford a couple weeks ago. Took the woman to the Wadsworth museum of art.

atoga · Post by **atoga** » Sat Jul 08, 2006 7:59 am

Word, my mom is taking me to Washington DC for a few days in September for an all-expenses-paid trip while she is going to a medical conference, so I find all of this to be pretty interesting for my consideration of what-to-do. And I greatly appreciate having my expensive dinners paid for by the taxpayers of your brave, free country.

Stainless · Post by **Stainless** » Sat Jul 08, 2006 1:43 pm

King of Creation wrote:Oh, and I forgot to mention the White House. Definitely go see that. You won't be able to get a tour because you have to schedule those months in advance, but it's cool to take a walk around the outside of the fence.

While I was there they let you tour the garden section for free, they just did the whole search of bags, etc. The capital building is a pain in the arse to get a tour, as you need to organise your tickets are 6am to before they're sold out for the day.

The Spy Museum was OK, the people I went with (just some randoms from the hostel) didn't like it too much, I thought it was pretty interesting seeing all the lipstick guns, etc.

Safety wise, I had to catch a bus at midnight from the greyhound station to get down to NC. The bus station is half a Km down some dark ally next to the metro station. It was probably the most unsafe I felt my entire world trip.

Cimmerian Nights · Post by **Cimmerian Nights** » Sat Jul 08, 2006 4:42 pm

Mad Max RW wrote:Ahh cool. I was just in downtown Hartford a couple weeks ago. Took the woman to the Wadsworth museum of art.

Right on, I live in West Hartford.

Anyone been to the new Native American museum yet? I was in DC last summer and they were just finishing it up.

Stainless · Post by **Stainless** » Sat Jul 08, 2006 5:04 pm

I was planning on it, but got sick and spent a day recovering. It did look rather interesting from outside though...

Mad Max RW · Post by **Mad Max RW** » Sat Jul 08, 2006 10:44 pm

I know several people from Wasteland Half Life are in CT. We should find out where they live and kick their asses.

Post by **King of Creation** » Sat Jul 08, 2006 10:49 pm

Jennifer · Post by **Jennifer** » Sun Jul 09, 2006 12:46 am

Cimmerian Nights wrote: Anyone been to the new Native American museum yet? I was in DC last summer and they were just finishing it up.

it's fairly decent... the exhibits on the different native american cultures and histories are all fascinating, especially this one with an awesome animated version of one of the creation myths. the building is pretty amazing architecturally, too. also for you gun nuts there's an exhibit with about 300 years of different guns in a glass case with little descriptions, which is pretty interesting. lots of walk-in exhibits, videos, all the usual stuff you'd expect from the smithsonian. it does turn into a guilt trip at times, but of course that's to be expected. also it spends a fair amount of time looking at present-day indians and what they have to deal with, which i personally found boring, but others might not.

so, yeah. i wouldn't recommend making a special trip to see it, but if you're in the area and have a blank spot on your agenda you could do a lot worse.