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Old 09-18-2004, 03:50 PM   #1
Montana_404
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Washington, DC

We need advice. We are traveling to Washington, DC for the first time. We don't want to stay in Washington would prefer place in Virginia. We have a Montana 5th wheel and would like to go economically as possible. What about tours or taking the metro in to the city. We are very unsure about the whole thing. Any suggestions? Thanks so much, Jerry and Char
 
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Old 09-18-2004, 06:14 PM   #2
azstar
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Hello Jerry & Char welcome to the Forum.

We stopped for a tour in DC a couple of Mos. ago. Had a wonderful time. The new WWII Memorial is fantastic.

We stayed in Front Royal VA, but we are members of Coast to Coast so we stayed at a members only park. But there are several RV Parks in that area. It's a great jumping off point to DC, Shenandoah Park, the Skyline Drive and many Historical Sites.

We Rode into DC on our Motorcycle, wouldn't do that again. Lots of reasons, ie. DC Traffic, Parking & Freeway jams. I would no doubt take the Train.

You can get all the info. you need about the train system at www.vre.org You can park at one of the out lying stations ( the further out the better) and get off in DC. It's the only way to go.

Be prepaired to do a lot of walking. Almost all the Museums are free. You will spend a lot more energy than dollars.

Enjoy your trip. We sure did.
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Old 09-19-2004, 03:38 PM   #3
sreigle
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We recently stayed at Mountain View CG near Haymarket, VA. Not a bad park, nice white sand beach on a small lake, wooded sites. We had 30amp full hookups. Not much for email, though. You have to use their one and only phone line in their office area. I did that almost every day but it was just a quick upload/download of email. We've stayed in this park several times before because our granddaughters love that beach. For mail, this park has no mail service, so they say. So we had our mail sent to General Delivery, Haymarket. That worked fine. What I like about the park is decent room on your site.
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Old 09-19-2004, 07:52 PM   #4
Northstar
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Yes I would suggest park outside of downtime area and ride the train. Keep us posted. Happyrving......
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Old 09-20-2004, 02:45 AM   #5
Bowie
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Campgrounds near DC are by definition NOT near DC. The cost of land is so prohibitively high that any campgrounds have long since turned into townhouse sites or shopping malls. However, if you check the site azstar gives you should find out quite a bit about the Metro system. If you opt to use the campground which sreigle mentions, your best bet may be the Vienna Metro station right off I-66 (unless they have built one further out since we lived there). Parking is not cheap but is less than in town and the Metro ride is easy. You can buy multiple ride tickets. Be sure to have the most recent Metro map in hand (you can pick it up at the station). Pay attention to the color names of the different lines--very important. HOWVEVER, keep in mind that you will be travelling with the morning rush hour on 66 and on the Metro--and rush hour starts at 6AM out in Haymarket! AND you will be going home in it as well.

IOHO--Fall is a better time to visit than spring though spring is certainly more beautiful especially at cherry blossom time when all the blooms (and tourists!) are out. In the fall the schools have not had time as much time to organize field trips so there are significanly fewer large tour groups about.

PLAN AHEAD! You may find some not so fun city issues to deal with if you don't do your homework. Buy or borrow a current guide book for the city--especially since hours and closings frequently change.

Do spring for a hop-on-hop-off guided bus tour--pick one up on the Mall. They do a "great circle route" through the city and you may get on or off at any stop. Not cheap but it will give you a great feel for the city and how it is laid out. Of course you will want to see all the museums and tourist attractions--and they are fantastic. Don't forget the National Zoo. An interesting place to eat is Union Station where there are all different kinds of food--many interesting ethnic goodies. They cater to the DC lunch crowd with reasonable prices for DC--and the station is gorgeous. We actually frequently packed luch in a bacpack when we were hauling all the kids--there are a surprisingly large number of nice picnic spots.Keep checking back in and people who still live there can offer more tips. Have fun!
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Old 09-20-2004, 03:25 AM   #6
w4nfr
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NEW FOR THE METRO - If you are using the Washington DC Metro Subway, they have started a new way of paying for your parking. They had so much trouble with the parking fee collectors pocketing the money, they fired them all and started using electronic pass to get your car out of the parking lot. These pass cards are available from a machine located alongside the Metro card machines and the (parking machines) take credit cards.
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Old 09-20-2004, 07:37 AM   #7
NJ Hillbilly
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Check out Cherry Hill (I think). The bus goes right to the campground. We have stayed there and not driven anywhere just used public trans.

John
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Old 09-20-2004, 02:07 PM   #8
Montana_2087
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Jerry,

Do a search on the Prince William Travel Trailer Village. Or you can click on this web page http://campgroundreviews.com/ and click on the state of VA and then on Dumfries. Hope this helps.

Almo5
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Old 09-21-2004, 01:37 AM   #9
nkwist
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I'm typing this from our site in Pohick Bay campground. It's just outside Lorton, VA, about 20 miles south of DC. We pulled in here yesterday evening (Monday, Sept. 20). Pretty nice park, 30 amp electric for $20/night.

We plan on taking the Metro this morning from the Springfield/Franconia station to the Smithsonian station on the Mall. I'll get on again this evening to let you know how it turns out.

Norm
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Old 09-21-2004, 01:33 PM   #10
nkwist
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OK, we made it in and out. The ride from Franconia/Springfield took 45 minutes each way once we got on the train. There is a little learning curve if you haven't ridden the Metro before. We bought a reduced rate round trip because we left after 9:30 am. On the way back, we had to go the the "exit" machine and pay an additional $1.25 because we came back after 3pm. The parking is 3.75 per day, but as said before, they don't take cash. You have to go to a different machine and pay $10 for a "Smartcard". This card gives you $5 worth of parking or travel on the metro and can be "recharged" for as much as you think you're going to spend. The other $5 is for the privilege of having a card, I guess.

I-95 south from the city was bumper to bumper at 4pm. The HOV (minumum 3 people) was moving very well, though. With the opening of the American Indian museum this week, all the police we talked to recommended not trying to drive into the Mall this week. We'll use the Metro again tomorrow.

Norm
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Old 09-21-2004, 03:34 PM   #11
Montana_404
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To everyone that responded to my plea for help in Washington, DC THANK YOU. We made it here and are staying at Prince William Travel Trailer Village in Dumfries, VA. Full hookups w/senior discount is $26.00 a night. We took a tour van today, picked us up at our rv this morning. For $70.00 together we toured and rode by all the main attractions. Norm, like you said they are opening the new Native American Museum this week so there is extra traffic. We did not get to tour any of the Smithsonian, but for $35.00 together can go back Thursday and spend the day there. We might even get brave and try the metro. The man next door told us to go to metro office and buy the senior discount tickets, get maps then go to parking lot of Macys and catch bus to metro station. That way you don't have to pay parking fee. But thanks again fellow rv'rs. Jerry and Char
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Old 09-22-2004, 03:10 AM   #12
DrivesBGM
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Quote:
quote:Originally posted by Jerry1936
... We made it here and are staying at Prince William Travel Trailer Village in Dumfries, VA. ...
Just curious. How big is your unit? I was told by the staff at PWTV that they could not accomodate my 3655FL.

Craig
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Old 09-22-2004, 03:24 PM   #13
Montana_404
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Our unit is 34' rear kitchen Montana. My husband said thats true they can't handle the 36' here. We are taking the metro tomorrow from Springfield Franc station. We are parking at Macy's and taking the bus to the metro station. We bought 2 passes from office in mall down by Targets. They are $10.00 good for about 3 trips depending on where you are going. Have a good time. Jerry and Char
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Old 09-23-2004, 01:40 PM   #14
Montana_1781
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Although it's in College Park, Maryland - Cherry Hill Park is your best bet for visiting DC. The metro bus goes right to the campground so you can hop on it to Union Station and then take the subway. We never used our vehicle the whole time we were there as NJ Hillbilly said.
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Old 09-29-2004, 06:37 AM   #15
w4nfr
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Outside Washington DC near Dulles Airport is the new "Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. It is an annex of the National Air and Space Museum and contains some fantastic aircraft. It is located just off Rt 28 in Virginia and is well signed. The Museum has free admission, but they charge $12/car to park, so take a car load of people if you can.
We took the tour the other day and really enjoyed it. Some of the planes on display are: SR-71 Blackbird, Enola Gay, Space Shuttle etc. There are walking tour guides that explain the various aircraft and their history! We did not go to the movies, but they have IMAX shows also.
This is one of the Must See things in the area and good way to spend a day!
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