 |
|
Welcome to the Cheap Hotels DC; the absolute best choice for economy hotels in Washington DC. Our goal is to find you the very best for the very least.. If you are in the market for moderate to expensive hotels, we might suggest you visit 1st Choice Hotels . Having said that, we have spent the better part of this decade forming partnerships with local hotels to provide you with the lowest possible rates. We do this without sacraficing quality.
All of our hotels have been approved by AAA and the Mobile Travel Guide, the authorities in hotel inspection.So whether you are here on business or family vacation, our DC hotel guide will help you find the perfect accommodation at an affordable rate.
|
| |
 |
| |
 |
|
The nation's capital. Those three words neatly sum up Washington's global importance as governmental entity and its enormous appeal as a tourist mecca. John F. Kennedy once said "Washington is a city of Southern efficiency and Northern charm," and although his tongue
was likely firmly in cheek, there's no denying the city's role in efficiently governing the nation while charming millions of visitors each year.
D.C.'s embarrassment of must-see riches-museums, monuments, memorials, galleries-makes putting together a sightseeing itinerary one truly daunting task. The U.S. Capitol and the White House define the jurisdictional entity known as the District of Columbia. The Mall, that green swath stretching from the foot of Capitol Hill west to the awe-inspiring statue of Abraham Lincoln, is where it's at for visitors, <<more
|
|
|
House and Senate Passes
Passes for both the House and Senate galleries must be obtained from your senator or representative. Although these passes may be available on a walk-in basis, it is suggested that visitors contact their senator or representative several months in advance, because the number of passes is limited. Senator and representative names often can be found in the front matter of your telephone directory.
Requests for tours of the White House also must be made through your senator or representative and are accepted up to 6 months in advance; tours are scheduled approximately 1 month before the requested date.
In addition to gallery passes, your legislators can provide tickets for special tours of the F.B.I. Building, Capitol, Supreme Court, Bureau of Engraving and Printing, State Department, Kennedy Center, Treasury Department and National Archives. Tickets should be reserved as early as possible, but some facilities permit tickets to be reserved only 1, 2 or 3 months in advance because of the possibility of ceremonies or other unscheduled closings. Generally, a maximum of five tickets per facility may be issued under one name. Your legislator's office can tell you more.
To contact your legislator, phone the congressional main switchboard at (202) 224-3121, give your legislator's name and ask to be connected to his or her office. The switchboard operator may be able to answer general questions but cannot issue passes or tickets.
The National Mall
The National Mall is the focus of many of Washington's events and celebrations, an arrival and departure point for visiting dignitaries and the location of many of the city's most famous landmarks. The Mall's swath of green between the Capitol and the Washington Monument also is a gathering place for cyclists, skaters, strollers and those just wanting to stretch out on the grass. It has become a sort of national common that visitors and locals alike can rightfully regard as their own.
The grounds of the Washington Monument divide the National Mall into two distinct sections. To the east lie the Capitol, the U.S. Botanic Garden and 10 Smithsonian museums. To the west lie the Korean War Veterans Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, the National World War II Memorial, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Constitution Gardens and the Reflecting Pool, which is almost four-tenths of a mile long. The total distance from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to the Capitol grounds is about 2 miles. A secondary axis intersects the Mall-also at the Washington Monument grounds-extending from the White House (about a half-mile north of the monument) to the Thomas Jefferson Memorial (about a half-mile south). Nearly half the attractions listed under Points of Interest are either on or along this cross of parkland or-like the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial-a short walk from it.
If such distances seem daunting, Tourmobile shuttles and Old Town Trolley Tours link most of the major sights. Parking in the area is at a premium, but several Metro stations are within a block or two of the National Mall, and the entrance to the Blue/Orange Line's Smithsonian Station is right on the Mall.
Smithsonian Institution
Congress puzzled for more than a decade over what to do with James Smithson's strange and unprecedented bequest. A wealthy British scientist, Smithson willed his entire fortune of a half-million dollars to a country he had never visited, "to found at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution an Establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge...." Some congressmen argued against accepting the gift at all; others proposed a university, an observatory, a school for teachers or a library. What they finally settled on in 1846 was a natural history museum and research center of sorts, an institutional seedling that was to grow in size and scope at a remarkable rate.
The first-time visitor is often surprised to learn that nearly all of the buildings on the National Mall are Smithsonian museums: the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery; the Arts and Industries Building (closed in preparation for major renovation); the Freer Gallery of Art; the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden; the National Air and Space Museum; the National Museum of African Art; the National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center (closed for renovations until summer 2008); the National Museum of the American Indian; the National Museum of Natural History; and the Smithsonian Institution Building (the Castle), the original building, completed in 1855.
Other facilities include the Anacostia Community Museum; the National Portrait Gallery; the National Postal Museum; the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum; the Smithsonian American Art Museum; and the National Zoological Park. The National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center is located near Washington Dulles International Airport in nearby Chantilly, Va.
The Smithsonian's vast collection chronicles nearly every facet of human endeavor, from the masterful to the mundane. The Institution also encompasses research installations, observatories, libraries and facilities for preserving and restoring artifacts, and offers publications, lectures, classes and other educational programs.
Before exploring the museums, visitors are encouraged to first stop by the Smithsonian Information Center in the Castle to plan their visit. While there, be sure to give thanks to James Smithson; his tomb-rescued late 1903 by Alexander Graham Bell from an endangered cemetery in Genoa, Italy-lies in a crypt off the north entrance. It is a resting place he would surely approve of, as he would the multifarious institution he helped found for "the increase and diffusion of knowledge."
Note: The East and West Buildings of the National Gallery of Art and The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts are not administered by the Smithsonian Institution.
Blossom Clouds
After slogging through occasional winter snowstorms and icy rains and often-gray skies, Washingtonians heave a collective sigh of relief at the arrival of spring. And no harbinger of the season is quite as glorious as the blooming of the city's Japanese cherry trees.
Their history dates back to one Mrs. Eliza Ruhamah Scidmore, who in 1885 first proposed that they be planted along the Potomac River waterfront. Her persistent campaign drew little interest until 1909, when first lady Helen H. Taft-who had lived in Japan and was thus well aware of their flowering beauty-responded to a note Mrs. Scidmore sent declaring her intent to purchase trees and then donate them to the city. Taft herself facilitated the donation of 2,000 specimens from Japan, a gift of friendship from the Japanese people. They unfortunately had to be destroyed because of an insect infestation, but a second batch of 3,020-including many of the trees seen today-was donated in 1912.
Three principal varieties of flowering cherry grow in Washington. Most predominant is the Yoshino variety; these are the trees that encircle the Tidal Basin and spill over onto the Washington Monument grounds. They produce a profusion of delicate, single white blossoms that in mass present the dreamlike illusion of banked clouds. Mingled with the Yoshino trees are a small number of Akebono cherry trees, their pale pink blossoms providing a lovely soft contrast.
The Kwanzan cherry grows primarily in East Potomac Park, the elongated sliver of land just south of the Tidal Basin between the Potomac and Washington Channel. Blooming approximately 2 weeks after the Yoshino, the Kwanzan-named after a Japanese mountain-has strong branches laden with heavy clusters of double pink flowers. In and among these three varieties are some Weeping Japanese cherry trees, with gracefully arched branches and blooms ranging from single to double and dark pink to white. They flower about one week before the Yoshino trees.
Enjoying nature's glory to the utmost hinges on determining when peak bloom occurs (defined as the time when 70 percent of the Yoshino cherry blossoms are fully open). This is not a scientific process, dependent as it is on the unpredictability of the weather. The National Park Service starts inspecting the trees once flower buds begin to expand in late February or early March, closely monitoring their development and issuing a prediction for the expected bloom period-which hopefully will coincide with the National Cherry Blossom Festival.
Based on park service records, the long-term average peak blooming date is April 5 for the Yoshino trees and April 22 for the Kwanzan trees. The earliest peak blooming date was March 15, 1990; the latest, April 18, 1958. Based on these numbers, the last week of March and the first week of April together offer a very good bet for seeing at least some blossoms. In good weather the flowers stay on the trees up to a week, although the blustery winds of spring storms can play havoc with their fragile beauty.
And where is the loveliest place in the city during peak bloom? For our money, it's the steps of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial, looking out over the Tidal Basin. Surrounded by clouds of white and pale pink petals and the pastel greens of a new season, you may never budge from the spot.
|
|
|
|
