Washington DC 2004

The weather has been better than we could have hoped. Unseasonably warm and dry, beginning the day we arrived and ending as we left. Several times we’ve been told that we picked the right week to be here.

Since I was going to be gone so long, I took my car in to have long-needed body work done during my absence. Progressive, surprisingly, agreed to reimburse me for car rental in another city, so we picked up a Hundai at BWI and drove it to the Baltimore hotel and the first day in DC. Quickly we learned that parking it in Dupont was not worth the hassle, since we’d be walking and taking Metrorail everywhere anyway, and returned it. There’s something about car ownership being more trouble than it’s worth that makes me love a city.

A neighbor who visits DC regularly (he’s an attorney and son of a former Senator) had offered to lend his apartment for our trip, so I didn’t make hotel reservations. Unfortunately, it turned out his co-owner had plans there for the week, so I found myself scrambling to find a room anywhere near central DC, with most hotels and B&Bs at capacity for the March for Women’s Lives. Although it ended up being much more costly than I had expected, I lucked out in finding the Carlyle Suites thanks to VirtualTourist.com (but don’t believe the rates listed there!) The hotel is nestled in residential Dupont Circle, a buzzing, vibrant neighborhood that reminds me of Chicago’s Lakeview. Staying in such a large, comfortable room here feels more like moving into an apartment than staying in a hotel, with short walks to pick up groceries for the fridge, etc. It feels quite natural to refer to “home” rather than “the hotel.”

Staying for 10 days (after one in Baltimore) has made me feel more like a local than a tourist: rolling eyes at people who don’t flow with the crowd at subway stations, learning the local sidewalk etiquette, and helping tourists find where they’re going when we don’t bother carrying maps anymore.

On a down note, I learned that the shorts program I wanted to see at Filmfest DC was rescheduled from Monday to Saturday. Which would be fine, if I’d known about it prior to Monday. ::pout::

{snip-tree:Journal/Travel/Washington DC 2004}