Heading to Washington DC this week

[barnburner]

Gonna ride some metro trains as well as an Acela(real short ride tho)

 

Visit both National and Dulles airports for plane spotting, both air and space museums, see some important documents our founding fathers made and look for fire trucks.

 

Staying at a hotel near Dulles, I picked up a waterproof fitted bed sheet protector, Last time I stayed in a hotel a few years ago, I drank too much pop on the first day and ended up tinkling myself in my sleep...

[Joey_AB_DL]

Smithsonian Museums are great and Udvar-Hazy is the best!    Metro is interesting as well if you are a people watcher.  Be careful, DC has become dangerous, certain areas are really bad and watch yourself.

Have fun.

Joey

[willnotwill]

I used to live in Northern Virginia.    I don't know how youare getting around but the best place at DCA for planespotting is to venture just north of the feild on the parkway (you can walk up the Mount Vernon trail.     It's just about a mile.   You can lie down on the grass and watch the planes pass very low overhead.

 

[spoonchicken]

Air & Space Museum is awesome. LOTS of interesting stuff on display

Including the original 11 foot photography model of the Starship Enterprise from the Original Series.

When I visited in 1976 it was hanging from the ceiling.

These days it's been fully restored and is now on a tabletop-level display.

They light it up 2-3 times a day, and the times are posted.

And that's just one of many really cool things there

[Crinklz Kat]

Yes on Udvar Hazy - they used to have Enterprise (shuttle), but it was swapped for Discovery back in 2012.

Yes on Air & Space -- USS Enterprise was in the gift shop last time I was there.  And that's now in the "basement".

 

I don't miss going downtown for work ... but there were a few perks now and then.   Got to see the Discovery flyby before it was delivered to Udvar Hazy and also the once-in-a-lifetime WWII memorial fly-over in 2015. 

 

[barnburner]

12 hours ago, Joey_AB_DL said:

Smithsonian Museums are great and Udvar-Hazy is the best!    Metro is interesting as well if you are a people watcher.  Be careful, DC has become dangerous, certain areas are really bad and watch yourself.

Have fun.

Joey

How is Foggy Bottom area? there is something there that is relevant to my interests.

 

5 hours ago, willnotwill said:

I used to live in Northern Virginia.    I don't know how youare getting around but the best place at DCA for planespotting is to venture just north of the feild on the parkway (you can walk up the Mount Vernon trail.     It's just about a mile.   You can lie down on the grass and watch the planes pass very low overhead.

 

We will be taking metro for some of the stuff, driving for other stuff., My friend is well familiar with places to spot and the place you mentioned at DCA is one of them.

3 hours ago, spoonchicken said:

Air & Space Museum is awesome. LOTS of interesting stuff on display

Including the original 11 foot photography model of the Starship Enterprise from the Original Series.

When I visited in 1976 it was hanging from the ceiling.

These days it's been fully restored and is now on a tabletop-level display.

They light it up 2-3 times a day, and the times are posted.

And that's just one of many really cool things there

 

2 hours ago, Crinklz Kat said:

Yes on Udvar Hazy - they used to have Enterprise (shuttle), but it was swapped for Discovery back in 2012.

Yes on Air & Space -- USS Enterprise was in the gift shop last time I was there.  And that's now in the "basement".

 

I don't miss going downtown for work ... but there were a few perks now and then.   Got to see the Discovery flyby before it was delivered to Udvar Hazy and also the once-in-a-lifetime WWII memorial fly-over in 2015. 

 

 

 

 

 

747 nose section at the Mall and the Concorde and Space shuttle are my main things I want to see.

 

I have recently been informed that there is currently no A380 service into Dulles, Emirates switched to a smoller plane last month. so thats a let down.

[Crinklz Kat]

2 hours ago, barnburner said:

How is Foggy Bottom area? there is something there that is relevant to my interests.

Foggy Bottom should be OK.    Going to check out the Watergate?

 

Of course, on this site, we can't pass up the opportunity for some jokes.    Had a bit too much beans for dinner, so now I have a foggy bottom.  😜

 

[Joey_AB_DL]

@barnburner we stayed overnight in the foggy bottom area (Residence Inn) just across the intersection from the Watergate the last time we were there.   It is a decent area, parking can be limited and we used hotel secure parking.   We walked past The university going to the National Mall area and with the exception of the homeless, it wasn’t too bad.   This was all in daylight.   
 

[barnburner]

Trip was amazing!

 

Day one we get to the Dulles area, we went straight for an area just off the end of runway 1R for some plane spotting, saw some aircraft types I thought I would never get to see, 787, 764, A350, 747-8, While I have seen a 777 in the past, it wasnt a good look due to obstructions, but I saw several 777's as well.

 

Went to Udvar Hazy the next day on Thursday, So happy to see a Space Shuttle and the Concorde!!!! Then ended the day with spotting again at the end of runway 1R.

 

 

Friday we would take the Metro train from Ashburn into DC and see a few museums, went to the AIr and Space Museum, National Archives and then finished with the Holocaust Museum. Took the Metro back to Ashburn and went to look for dinner somewhere.

 

Saturday, my friend volunteered for annual wreath laying at Arlington National Cemetery We drove to and parked in Roslyn then walked to his volunteer gate, I went over to the main gate to enter as a visitor, place was packed! So I decided to go take a train into Arlington City to the Court House area to look for objects of interest, Emergency vehicles, found a few, headed back to Arlington Cemetery where the crowd to enter the place died down, I was close to the front of my line and a K9 police cruiser started sounding a K9 heat alarm, luckily the officer and his 4 legged partner were not in the car at the time.

 

My friend and I then split up for the rest of the day, I would venture into downtown DC on train, but had my friend drop me off at National Airport. Got into DC and beelined for a certain fire station, found what I wanted to see then walked to the Mall, found some more emergency vehicles, Then headed to the DC PD Headquarters, got some shots there, hopped on a bus to go to the White House but saw some more police cars ofm interest along the way so I had to jump off and photograph them, then got back on a bus to continue to the White House, It was now getting late so I headed north to find a Metro Station to go and meet my friend near National Airport. When then drove to Gravely Point near National Airport and watched some planes take off in our direction.

 

Sunday we drove to Delaware, a state I have never been to, we went to Dover Air Force Base to visit their museum.

 

Monday my friend and I would again take the train all the way into DC to look for more emergency vehicles, made our way to the White House, was heading to another fire station with a vehicle of interest, but it was starting to get late and we had to make our way to Union Station to grab an Amtrak Acela Ride to Baltimore Airport, We are trying to find a right bus stop but ended up flagging down a taxi, I have never feared for my life like I did inside that taxi, very aggressive driving, driver didnt even care about doing it in front of police cars and the police cars didnt care either lol.

 

We arrive at Union Station, but before we can go in, we both get txt message saying that our train was cancelled(windy weather I guess) We then rebooked for early the next morning.

 

Tuesday we would drive to Union Station and park there, we got on our train, it hit 121mph in the 20 minute ride. We got to BWI station then grabbed a ticket for the next MARC Commuter train back to DC.

 

While at BWI Station, we hit up the restrooms, I accidentally went into the womens restroom, only figure out my mistake after not seeing any urinals, I booked it out of there, my friend was laughing and I ask him why he didnt try and stop me lol. Im not in a position to pass as female nor am I able to at this point so there could have been some trouble there, but going in there felt right ❤️

 

My friend and I would again split up for the day, I went to go to that other fire station that has a vehicle of interest, I am waiting across the street for like an hour waiting for the random chance of that truck being called to an emergency, The firefighters in there called the police on me! 2 police cars roll up, 2 officers question me telling me the firefighter said I was looking suspicious, I told them of my hobby and what I wanted to see, I explained that I wanted to see that certain truck out in the open for better lighting as photographing it inside the station was too tight quarters bad lighting. They liked the answers I gave them, they didnt try and run me away, they gave me the 9/11 speech and told me to go talk to a fire fighter to see if I could get a shot I needed, I already knew I wouldnt be able to have them pull the truck out, their driveway was like 10 feet long on a busy street and the truck would require at least 3 people to get it out of the garage bay so I didnt bother asking for that, Firefighter also gave me the 9/11 speech, he let me get a shot of the truck inside the garage but like I knew, it wasnt a good shot. I then left to go find a restroom and my fingers were frozen by now lol. At one point of the questioning by DC PD, 2 K9 cruisers roll by slowly and I was like, I must be in serious trouble..., but the cruisers just kept going.

I took a train to Arlingtons Court House, Found some more police cars I didnt see when I was there a few days before and just my luck, there was a fire alarm near where I was so I got to see 2 fire trucks responding. I would later find out that about 30 minutes after I left that fire station in DC that the truck I wanted to see was called out...

 

Wednesday morning came and we left the Hotel, went to grab snacks, I directed my friend to a certain gas station as I wanted to see a certain airliner take off, we got there, I get into position to photograph it, but the plane did something different than the first few planes taking off before it and flew right over me so I couldnt get the shot.

 

We headed north of Leesburg, made our way to Harpers Ferry, then to Frostburg looking for a Polar Express train, We couldnt figure out where it would depart from so we headed out to head for home, we accidentally took a back road to the Penn Turnpike, We got home around 7pm.

 

 

[Crinklz Kat]

You were just a block away from where I used to work up to 2007.   The building I was in is now called the Constitution Center (the one with the metro entrance going into the court yard).  Eng 13/Truck 10 used to be located on the corner of 6th and E (what is now Citizen M).  The entire stretch between School St. and E St between 4th and 6th is all new since I left there, and of course, that fire station.  

[Moochie]

As far as I am concerned most everyone in Congress needs to be in diapers. We might get more bipartisan cooperation.

[spark]

On 12/26/2023 at 4:22 AM, Moochie said:

As far as I am concerned most everyone in Congress needs to be in diapers. We might get more bipartisan cooperation.

Based on the ages of a lot of the members, I'd be surprised if there aren't already members who need diapers.