Boston and Washington Spring 2016 - Boys, Blades and Balls! - Highs and Lows

[Guest]

This is my first trippie (please be gentle)...

Trip Report Index Here


Between holidays, I do get SO much pleasure from reading other people’s trippies - they can be so helpful in the planning of one’s own holiday!

I have intended to start doing these for ages (I even took photos of airplane food back in 2013, to my DH’s chagrin). Alas...the best laid schemes…

SO - after two Hawaii and two Florida fails - here goes nothing…


What:


Boston, Washington D.C. and Baltimore


When:


Spring 2016


Who:


Me (April) Long Past Legal

DH (R.C.) Even Longer Past (but still not past it)

DM (Judybat) A Real Lady

DS (Pooter) Aged 9, Loves Baseball and Books


On to the Highs and Lows:


April’s Highs:


The World Figure Skating Championships in Boston

Public Transport in Boston ( easy to navigate and DIRT CHEAP!)

Touring Fenway Park - and Seeing Games at Camden Yards and Nationals Park

Lunch at Pizzeria Regina in Boston’s North End

The Smithsonian Museums (with one exception)

The Jefferson Memorial

The National Botanic Garden

Pandas!

DS’s Highs (in his own words):


Spending SO Much Time with Dad!

Coming Back With a Suitcase FULL Of Books

The Wright Brothers’ Plane

American Birds (not that kind of bird, he’s 9!)

Lows:


An unpleasant confrontation in Baltimore (more on this later)

Security personnel at the Museum of American History


The Spanner in the Works:


Unseasonably Cold Weather (we were *meant* to see 80 degrees in D.C. Did we? No...it SNOWED!)

To sum up, we LOVED Boston - I am eager to return.


Washington, hmm...DH and I had been before, and to be frank - I feel like we’ve seen enough (more on this later). However, DS is DYING to go back and “finish” the things we didn’t do. We’ll see…


As for Baltimore, Wow! I had no idea how bad things had gotten there...living as I do in the packed-to-the-rafters Southeast, it was a real jolt to see so many abandoned buildings (and, indeed, whole neighbourhoods ). I am pretty fearless about travelling on my own (or with just DS) - but if I had known then what I know now - I would have done Baltimore BEFORE my DH flew back to London.


Holy Cow, this has taken ages! Now I know why so many people give up part-way through…


I hope this has been helpful (?) and somewhat interesting (? )...do let me know if I can answer any specific questions that might help with your own planning.

NB: A few of the above photos are stock ones off the web (the rubbish ones are mine ).


Pre-Trippie Here

[jocat]

Well you've whetted my appetite to read along! Looking forward to reading the full trippie.

[janey2000]

We are going next April (school holidays) to Smoky mountains - Williamsburg - Washington DC- New York.

I'm finding Dc hotels for this time (Wednesday to Friday stay mid April) to be outrageously priced. Did you find this too? Maybe there is something going on that i'm not aware of? Interested to see the weather you had! What did you pack, a mixture of summer and winter clothes? I want to travel light!

P.s.. our daughter will be 9 also when we go, but she's a girl so birds, sports and history will not interest her in the slightest

[Guest]

Originally Posted by jocat

Well you've whetted my appetite to read along! Looking forward to reading the full trippie.

See more...

Well, thanks. Until I started this, I didn't quite appreciate how rewarding feedback from fellow Dibbers is!

Originally Posted by janey2000

We are going next April (school holidays) to Smoky mountains - Williamsburg - Washington DC- New York.

I'm finding Dc hotels for this time (Wednesday to Friday stay mid April) to be outrageously priced. Did you find this too? Maybe there is something going on that i'm not aware of? Interested to see the weather you had! What did you pack, a mixture of summer and winter clothes? I want to travel light!

P.s.. our daughter will be 9 also when we go, but she's a girl so birds, sports and history will not interest her in the slightest

See more...

Hey, I'm a girl (OK an old girl, but still) - and I LOVE history!

Seriously though, DC is not cheap. April (Cherry Blossom Season) is PEAK season. My DH and I did a weekend in November a few years ago and I think it worked out to about £60 per night.

For the week this year in April (we stayed near the Air and Space Museum at a Residence Inn) it was about £1,100. I booked through Quidco/Expedia and got 10 or 12 percent back.

As for clothes, I DID NOT expect snow (and did not pack for it). Luckily, we had some warm clothes because of the skating. DS wore my fleece beret and mittens and I was lucky to find a very ugly pair of Star Wars gloves on clearance at Barnes and Noble. I enjoyed all outdoor activities with the hood of my waterproof up (see above!).

Normally I travel in my motorcycle boots - so those I wore EVERY DAY (my sandals didn't leave the case). DS wore his Crocs (that's all he brought) - sometimes with two pairs of socks. My husband always wears a suit or something like it, so he was OK (except for his hands, he had no gloves).

We went hand luggage only - so as for DS and I - for warm clothes we had a pair of dressy trousers (for the plane), a pair of jeans and one long-sleeved shirt (also for the plane). It was good that our second hotel had washing machines!

We all had our waterproofs, and these were a godsend in the rain/sleet/snow.

[tocpe321]

Looks good. We went to Pizza Regina. Remember that view as we queued round the block for ages. It was really good though.

[Guest]

Originally Posted by tocpe321

Looks good. We went to Pizza Regina. Remember that view as we queued round the block for ages. It was really good though.

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We were lucky - the weather was miserable - locals stayed home! So we walked right in for Sunday lunch.

...which is good, because there is NO WAY my DH would have queued for pizza. Beer, yes. Pizza, no.

[Rob & Jan]

Looking forward to picking up some tips from the Washington bit we are there is a few weeks.

[Guest]

Originally Posted by Rob & Jan

Looking forward to picking up some tips from the Washington bit we are there is a few weeks.

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No pressure, then.

[tocpe321]

Originally Posted by GopherLass

We were lucky - the weather was miserable - locals stayed home! So we walked right in for Sunday lunch.

...which is good, because there is NO WAY my DH would have queued for pizza. Beer, yes. Pizza, no.

See more...

I think we've still got one of their plastic cups.

[Guest]

Originally Posted by tocpe321

I think we've still got one of their plastic cups.

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I'm always a bit nervous trying somewhere that is "famous" - so often it doesn't live up to the hype!