Stupid travel questions

[joesomebody]

So the girlfriend has recently moved to Washington D.C.

I'd like to go see her for Valentine's day. I'd probably stay 3 or 4 nights. My question is, how hard/expensive is it to go to New York from D.C. for a day/night trip and what is the best way to travel?

I've never been to the east coast, and the largest American City I've been to is probably K.C. or St. Louis, so I'm not used to the east coast mega city ways of travelling.

Any and all help would be appreciated.

Plane tickets to Dulles Airport from KC are currently going for 200 round trip on Southwest.

[teedubya]

Originally Posted by joesomebody

So the girlfriend has recently moved to Washington D.C.

Sounds like a future ex girlfriend.

You may want to do this sooner than Valentine's Day. In three months, she may already be pregnant.

[joesomebody]

Originally Posted by teedubya

Sounds like a future ex girlfriend.

You may want to do this sooner than Valentine's Day. In three months, she may already be pregnant.

Lol. Thanks Teed. She's coming to see me this month (edit: December) for my Graduation, and she's been gone almost exactly a month so far.

We'll just have to do our best, and what happens... happens.

I'll look into Reagen, pretty sure she lives IN the city.

I'll have to discuss it with her. 200 bucks just for a train is a lot, not to mention a hotel and taxi once we got there. We may have to stay in D.C. the whole time. I just imagine she's going to be sick of the touristy crap by then, and I'll be a wide eyed fool with all the museums and monuments there.

[WoodDraw]

Originally Posted by joesomebody

Lol. Thanks Teed. She's coming to see me this month (edit: December) for my Graduation, and she's been gone almost exactly a month so far.

We'll just have to do our best, and what happens... happens.

I'll look into Reagen, pretty sure she lives IN the city.

I'll have to discuss it with her. 200 bucks just for a train is a lot, not to mention a hotel and taxi once we got there. We may have to stay in D.C. the whole time. I just imagine she's going to be sick of the touristy crap by then, and I'll be a wide eyed fool with all the museums and monuments there.

Ahh, I love DC. Stay in DC and see some of the different neighborhoods. Take what you would have spent on hotels and train tickets and apply it to a couple nice dinners and a nice hotel room for a night or something. New York isn't worth the hassel if you're going to have to worry about money the whole time. DC is a great city, unless she just desperately wants to get away.

[unlurking]

Don't count on her being sick of it all yet if she's only been here a month. I've been here almost three years and haven't seen everything.

Also, if you've never been to Bawlmer, the Inner Harbor and Fell's Point area are fun places to go bar hopping. Train is like $11 each way from DC, water taxi is $5, but you get a crapload of BOGO drink coupons.

[joesomebody]

Originally Posted by unlurking

Don't count on her being sick of it all yet if she's only been here a month. I've been here almost three years and haven't seen everything.

Also, if you've never been to Bawlmer, the Inner Harbor and Fell's Point area are fun places to go bar hopping. Train is like $11 each way from DC, water taxi is $5, but you get a crapload of BOGO drink coupons.

Thanks. I'll definitely keep that in mind. I think I'll book my plane tickets this week and just forget about NYC. Save that for another trip when I hopefully have something better than a part time job.

[unlurking]

Originally Posted by joesomebody

Thanks. I'll definitely keep that in mind. I think I'll book my plane tickets this week and just forget about NYC. Save that for another trip when I hopefully have something better than a part time job.

Like WoodDraw said, you can have a lot of fun in DC. All the memorials and museums are free, well the good ones anyway. The WWII, Lincoln, and Vietnam are my favorite memorials so far. Unfortunately, the Dulles extension of the Air & Space Museum is so much better (IMO) than the downtown one, but even the smaller downtown museum I could spend an entire day in.

[blaise]

I lived in DC for three years (Idaho Ave NW) and I never got sick of the stuff. There's places people that live in DC never go. The Teddy Roosevelt Island is one. Personally, the one place I got tired of quick was the Air and Space Museum. I think the American History is much better. I would also skip Mt Vernon.
If she does want to get out of the city and you have a car you can drive up to Annapolis for a day. It's not far. It's an old little city and there's a boat tour. It's a nice date place.
Something cool you could do is take the metro to the zoo (which is free) and then go to a bar on Connecticut called the 4 Ps (Ireland's Four Provinces), which is a few blocks away. It's a pretty good DC bar- live Irish music, usually a good crowd. There's also an old movie theater next door called the Uptown which has a baclony and everything.

The one thing I wouldn't want to miss is the changing of the guard at Arlington.

[blaise]

And take this for what it's worth- if you're down on the Mall and realize you need to drop a deuce, go to the American Art Museum. Much less traffic and much cleaner.

[unlurking]

Good idea on Annapolis. For the best crabs in the area, hit up Cantler's. About 2PM the place is PACKED solid as they get all the boats unloading (place is right on the water). Hole in the wall joint that's not easy to find, but AWESOME crabs (crab stuffed Rockfish is heavenly).

http://www.cantlers.com/

[unlurking]

Originally Posted by blaise

And take this for what it's worth- if you're down on the Mall and realize you need to drop a deuce, go to the American Art Museum. Much less traffic and much cleaner.

That sounds like real world experience right there!