Heading to DC....

[Firefly]

I'm heading to DC next week for the Reason Rally and to do some site-seeing. Never been there before.

Anyone got some good pointers and 'must see' things??

[daveinva]

I'm heading to DC next week for the Reason Rally and to do some site-seeing. Never been there before.

Anyone got some good pointers and 'must see' things??

I'm assuming you're riding in... ?

Places to see:
-- You can't go wrong with anything Smithsonian. American History, Natural History, the National Archives (say hello to Nicholas Cage for me :joke:), the art museums, the National Portrait Gallery, and the obvious favorite for everybody, the Air & Space Museum (the one downtown *and* the one out by Dulles Airport, the Udvar-Hazy Center).

-- The cherry blossoms are in bloom so the Tidal Basin is great to see. All the monuments are outstanding as well, although do note that the Reflecting Pool by the Lincoln/Vietnam/Korean/WWII war memorials is under renovation so it's a bit of a mess to the view, and the Washington Monument's still closed from the earthquake we had last year.

-- White House and Capitol are kind of iffy... both tours can be a pain to get thanks to security, I typically warn people away from them unless they're seriously dedicated. You can enjoy most of what's neat about them from the outside. Ditto the Pentagon-- the tour's not all that great even if you can get one, but you can visit the Pentagon 9/11 memorial easily (note that you can't park there-- best bet is to take the Metro or park across the road the Pentagon City Mall and walk over).

-- Other great areas to visit include Georgetown or Old Town Alexandria for food and shopping.

-- Another caveat: because the cherry blossoms are in bloom AND D.C. is always a mess of construction, traffic downtown can be a nightmare. I've gotten stuck on the Spyder trying to navigage Constitution Ave. during rush hour and it's no fun. If you do want to ride around and see the sights, I suggest you do so early on a weekend, late on a weeknight (6:30 pm+), or at worst, mid-day weekday. Otherwise, just be prepared to sit in traffic, and be flexible in turning around. (Also note that it's looking to be *warm* next week-- mid-80s in March (!!), so bring your mesh).

Places to ride:

Close in:

-- George Washington Parkway: goes from Great Falls VA (also a great place to visit) down to Mount Vernon (ditto-- nice tours of the home). It's a commuter artery so it's busy during rush hour but the rest of the day or weekends it's a pleasant ride.

-- Clara Barton Parkway/Canal Road: Parallels the GW Parkway but on the Maryland side. If you take it from the Beltway (I-495) into D.C. you spend about a third of the trip on the Parkway and two-thirds on Canal Road. Once you hit the end of the Parkway you have two choices-- go down Canal Road (nice trip, but you CAN'T go east on Canal Road during evening rush hour, it goes one way OUT of DC only) or go down MacArthur Road. The latter is just a regular road, ends up going with a VERY low (25 mph) speed limit with speedtrap cameras, but the perk is that the beginning of the road features some of my favorite twisties inside the Beltway. Either road dumps you off into the west end of Georgetown just below the University, and if you take the Whitehurst Freeway exit you get the absolute best "FLOOR IT!" stretch inside town, I usually break a few laws going flat-out on the Whitehurst :doorag:

-- Rock Creek Park: The road into the park becomes the road *through* the park (Beach Drive). Very fun ride, lots of twisties, just can't take them too fast (many are sharp blind turns, and bicyclists use the park all the time). Still very scenic.

Futher out:

-- Middleburg, VA: West of D.C. in Virginia, Middleburg is an old tourist village that's a nice place to travel to, very popular with the HD bikers around D.C. The best thing is that pretty much ALL the roads out west once you get past Manassas are outstanding, featuring fantastic mountain views and smile-inducing twisties throughout Loudon and Faquier counties. Only suggestion is to slab it out west via I-66 versus taking Route 50-- you'll avoid the lights and shopping traffic (50's great west past Aldie but it's a pain to the east).

My personal favorite road out there is Rectortown Road. I head out west on I-66 to Marshall, VA, then take 710 north, turning off either Delaplane Rd to Upperville or Rokeby Road up to 50. BEAUTIFUL sights, fun twisties, NO traffic to speak of.

-- The Point of Rocks Loop: I discovered this last year and love riding it.

From the Beltway west of DC, take the exit for River Road west to Potomac, MD. Stay on River Road through town (careful there's a speedtrap camera just before you get into town), past all the zillion-dollar mansions, through a park area. You'll eventually interesect with Edwards Ferry Road-- if you turn left you reach the ferry spot owned by the National Park Service, a beautiful spot along the Potomac River-- if you turn right, you'll keep on the tour. You'll interesect Whites Ferry Road-- left takes you to the actual ferry, the last operating on the Potomac, for a few bucks you can take your bike over to Virginia, or grab a quick snack at the ferry operator's store. Otherwise, don't take the left, stay on Edwards Ferry Road where it becomes Wasche Road, then make the right onto Martinsburg Road, then make the left onto MD 28. Take that all the way to Point of Rocks to cross back into Virginia onto VA 15, which you can take all the way back to anywhere you need to go.

It's a great circuit, takes about two hours, watch out for deer and turkey vultures in the road!

Furthest out:

-- In DC with no traffic you're about 90 minutes from Skyline Drive out past Front Royal. Skyline is worth a ride if you've never done it-- it's not a fast road (and they WILL ticket you for speeding-- no points though!)-- but absolutely beautiful. If you're just doing a short trip, go out west on I-66 to Skyline and take Skyline down to VA 211 near Luray, and just get on 211 going east to exit Skyline Drive... and then go back up 211 towards Luray... then go back again... and again, and again, and again (211 is VERY short, and it's unfortunately squid city on nice days-- so it can also be a cop magnet-- but it's easily one of the most Dragon-esque roads in Virginia).

-- Another option that I've enjoyed is taking I-66 out to I-81, then cutting over west at Woodstock to take Wolf Gap and Trout Run Roads through the George Washington National Forest up to Wardensville, then take WV 55 back east. Fun road.

Really, a short version of a long story: ANY roads through the Shenandoah Valley / West Virginia is a safe bet for being absolutely awesome. I could give you another dozen roads out that way, but seriously, it's just more fun getting lost.

Have a great trip!

[ARtraveler]

Very good information. :2thumbs:

[Firefly]

Thanks for the info! Probably staying in Bethesda and taking the Metro in to DC. Too short of a trip to fit much in.... heading down Thursday, have Friday for site seeing, then on the Mall on Saturday most the day - can see some sites then too --- then back home on Sunday..... I appreciate your info......most of this will be seeing things in DC via foot and public transit... but I'll keep the rest of the info and routes you mention for a return trip when I have more time.

So if you only had 1 day to spend in DC and have never been there.... what would you see?

[Bob Denman]

I'd want to see the Lincoln Memorial.
He saw our Country through its darkest hours...

[daveinva]

The one day trip: just walk the Mall. See the Lincoln Memorial and the war memorials, walk past the Washington Monument and White House, see the Air & Space Museum, walk in front of the Capitol.

If you have time to add anything else, in this order: the Archives, American History, Holocaust Museum, Natural History, Arlington Cemetery (Metro accessible), re-prioritize as desired.

[kentompkins]

The Viet Nam Veterans Memorial! The rest are wonderful (Native American Museum is one of the best places on the Mall) but this one really gets to me everytime I visit no matter what time of the day or night. I can't recommend it highly enough.

ken tompkins

[Firefly]

Thanks for the input. Lincoln and war memorials are must sees. Someguy is going with me so I'm sure we'll find some trouble too!

[Bob Denman]

:shocked: :2thumbs:
If you need bail money, just yell for help!

[arntufun]

Firefly, that memorial stuff is boring.......... if you want some real fun, walk down Pennsylvania Ave waving a black toy gun.
Now that is fun !!! :thumbup:

Isn't that rally your going to about addiction ??? I googled it, they have alot of entertainment there and it looks like it will be a good time. :2thumbs:

[mowin]

Firefly, that memorial stuff is boring.......... if you want some real fun, walk down Pennsylvania Ave waving a black toy gun.
Now that is fun !!! :thumbup:

Isn't that rally your going to about addiction ??? I googled it, they have alot of entertainment there and it looks like it will be a good time. :2thumbs:

Make sure you take the little orange thingy off the end of the barrel first..:roflblack:

[Firefly]

Lol. Not about addiction. More like the lack of. Lol

[SpyderSteve]

You and Mike loose in DC? Maybe i should buy some stocks in a local brewery :doorag:

[arntufun]

Lol. Not about addiction. More like the lack of. Lol


OPPS !!!, I goggled this,


Reason Rally (http://www.reasonrally.org/)


The Reason Rally is an event sponsored by many of the country’s largest and most influential secular organizations. It will be free to attend and will take place in ...



Then I googled secular organizations. , because I didn't know what that was,
Search results



Secularity - Wikipedia

Secular Organizations for Sobriety, a secular alternative to the Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) organization which is a loosely religious one although nondenominational.



Then I thought you were in recovery. :roflblack::roflblack: Wow !!! What a misunderstanding. :roflblack:
Now that I know, thats one event I could get into !!! Have fun. :thumbup:

[murphybrown]

I'm heading to DC next week for the Reason Rally and to do some site-seeing. Never been there before.

Anyone got some good pointers and 'must see' things??
I have been to DC 4 times and totally love it I a history buff and so anything to do with the American history.Smithsonian all of the different museums are incredible get out to Gettysburg. I mean it's unlimited I don't know how long you're going to be there but I have found that 10 days is not enough especially if you love history and how our country and our forefathers did things you're going to just love are you riding on the Spyder?

[Leslee]

Ok, this is coming from a women but I think the most beautiful DC building is the Library of Congress. I know, I know...who goes there?

[Radthorne]

Ok, this is coming from a women but I think the most beautiful DC building is the Library of Congress. I know, I know...who goes there?

I would, but then I am a writer... :D

[Firefly]

OPPS !!!, I goggled this,


Reason Rally (http://www.reasonrally.org/)


The Reason Rally is an event sponsored by many of the country’s largest and most influential secular organizations. It will be free to attend and will take place in ...



Then I googled secular organizations. , because I didn't know what that was,
Search results



Secularity - Wikipedia

Secular Organizations for Sobriety, a secular alternative to the Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) organization which is a loosely religious one although nondenominational.



Then I thought you were in recovery. :roflblack::roflblack: Wow !!! What a misunderstanding. :roflblack:
Now that I know, thats one event I could get into !!! Have fun. :thumbup:


Ya goofball --- quite the misunderstanding indeed!
It's simply a gathering of secular minded Americans (non-theists, atheists, secularists, etc.) to share our common bond of reasoning, rational thought, and to show we are just regular Americans who just happen to be non-believers. Trying to educate others and remove the stigmas that many have about us. :-).

The crazy Westboro church people are going to protest. One of Fred Phelps' sons is actually one of the speakers---he broke away from them years ago and is now an atheist who supports gay rights---certainly the black sheep of that loony family....should be interesting.

Should be fun and educational along with seeing some great history of our great country.

Looks like we might not be able to ride down so may have to cage it....... :-(

One thing I'd like to see is them printing money----maybe I can get some tips to take back to work.....lol

Thanks for all the input about what to see! I can't wait an already know I'll want to go back!