The BIG American History Road Trip - Philadelphia & Washington DC - April 2022

[smithlane]

Update - 26/02/22

Hello and welcome to my latest pre trippy for our girls only holiday to Philadelphia and Washington DC .
This trip was originally meant to be taken last April to celebrate Hope’s 18th birthday but thanks to a certain virus and locked borders she will actually have just turned 19 when we go.
So before I get into the nitty gritty details I’ll introduce who is going!

Up first is me, Alicia. Now 39, the big 4-0 is rapidly approaching . Still a holiday loving, shopping fanatic, mobile beauty therapist!

My daughter Hope. Will be 19 in March and is now in her first year at University. Not loving it but not quite hating it! It’s been a roller coaster of a ride for her but I’m hopeful she will settle in better soon. Loves holidaying in America and like her mum is partial to a spot of shopping

Last but by no means least my Mum, Sue. Mum is a rather late addition to the party as it was originally going to be just Hope and I but a few months ago I asked if she wanted to join us and she jumped at the chance!
She has wanted to visit DC in forever so is really happy to be going. Hasn’t quite got the shopping bug like Hope and I but is more than happy to come along with us. Her only request is to visit Arlington Cemetery and one of the Smithsonian museums which was already on the itinerary.

Here we are outside of Kensington Palace last summer just before seeing Princess Diana's wedding dress

The backstory
At the beginning of last year when we were locked down again, it was getting increasingly obvious the borders would not be opening any time soon and that we would have to cancel yet another holiday to the USA. I think this was number 6
As we had booked flights, car and our first hotel in Philadelphia with British Airways it was really easy to just cancel the package and get the deposit I had paid into a credit voucher. I knew I’d definitely spend it on another holiday with BA as they’re typically who we fly with.
It got to around May last year when things were opening up in this country but Biden still hadn’t given any glimmer of hope as to when he would open America’s borders, but I took a gamble and decided to rebook our cancelled trip for this April. Prices were still low, I guess with not as many people booking but I knew that once borders did open they were only going to go one way and that was up!

So I rebooked return direct flights to Philadelphia for 7 nights with a Group D car to be picked up on our second day before we start the drive to Washington. This came to £1118.64 for the two of us.

I ideally wanted flights into Philly and back from D.C. but they were coming in a lot more expensive for some reason so I figured as it’s less than a 3 hour drive between the two it’s no big deal.

I then booked the Club Quarters Hotel for our first 2 nights in Philadelphia and our last 4 nights in the Club Quarters Hotel in D.C., both in fantastic central locations and at amazingly low prices!
We had one night in between to fill but at that point I wasn’t sure where we should stay.

Fast forward to November last year and I mention to Mum about the trip and ask if she would like to join us which she of course says yes.
Thankfully there were seats still available on our flights so I booked her a flight only through Skyscanner for a little over £500 once luggage was included.

I needed to amend the hotels as there would now be 3 of us in a room so I emailed both Club Quarters asking if it is possible. The Philadelphia branch replied almost instantly saying it was no problem and for an additional $25 a night we would be upgraded to a suite. Fab! So it’s now costing just over £200 for the 2 nights which is not bad at all considering it’s excellent location in the city.

The Washington Club Quarters however took an age to reply and basically said no more than 2 can be in our room but didn’t give any other options. I tried to ask if we could pay more to upgrade to a bigger room (I wasn’t asking for a freebie!) but they still haven’t replied so I cancelled that and have now rebooked the Beacon Hotel & Corporate Quarters for £607 for 4 nights.
It’s a bit of a further walk but not by much at all and is very well priced for Washington.

Now to try and find somewhere to stay for the night in-between both cities.
I was reading about a place in Virginia called Assateague Island where wild ponies roam on the beach and I instantly wanted to visit! It’s not that much of a detour so for now I have booked one night on Chincoteague Island at The Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott which is right on the water and looks really lovely.

We will leave Philly on the morning of our second day, drive via a Mall in Delaware for a spot of shopping (obvs) then take a leisurely drive down to the island.
The next morning we can drive to the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge and maybe do one of their trails before driving up to DC, again stopping at the Outlets. The only thing I have planned for that day in Washington is the Monuments by Moonlight tour which is of course in the evening so there is no rush to get there.
It is a lot of driving but I drove to Brugge and back for the day to visit the Christmas markets a few years ago so this is a doddle in comparison!

The plan
So with us all hopefully having negative covid tests we will be flying from London Heathrow to Philadelphia on the 6th April at 10.05. We only live 15 minutes away from the airport so I will sweet talk my OH, Jim to drop us off before he starts work.
We then fly back from Philadelphia on the 18.35 flight landing in Heathrow on the 14th April at 06.45.

Philadelphia - 2 nights
Day 1 - 6th April
Travel LHR-PHL
10.05-13.10
Taxi to hotel
Reading Terminal Market
Dinner @ Iron Hill Brewery

I was debating getting the train from the airport to our hotel as it looks like it’s direct and then a short walk the other end but I think now that mum is coming it will be much easier to just jump in a taxi.
Once we’ve checked in to the hotel we’ll go for a wander and head over to Reading Terminal Market and the adjacent shops to try and keep us awake. I’ve earmarked Iron Hill Brewery for dinner as it’s near our hotel so we can crash soon after eating!

Day 2 - 7th April
Breakfast @ Morning Glory Diner
Liberty Bell
Independence Hall - 11am tour
Big Bus Tour
Rocky Steps
Dinner @ Hard Rock Cafe

Today is our one and only day in Philadelphia so will try and make the most of it! For our first American breakfast of the holiday I’ve got down a diner that comes highly recommended and is about a 20-25 minute walk from our hotel. I’m sure we’ll be up nice and early so it will be nice to stretch our legs before food.
I’ve pre booked an 11am tour of the Independence Hall so will either view the Liberty Bell before or after depending on times. This was very easy to do online and only cost a few $
We will then jump on a Hop on Hop off bus to see what else the city has to offer.
To be honest I’m not sure what else there is to see but I do know I want to attempt to run the Rocky steps of the Museum of Art! It’s highly doubtful I’ll be able to do it in one go though
Dinner tonight is to be at the Hard Rock Cafe as we normally eat in one of these in most cities we visit. I was able to book a table through the OpenTable App which was very easy to do.

Chincoteague Island - 1 night
Day 3 - 8th April
Breakfast @ Starbucks
Pick up car
Drive to Christiana Mall - 45mins
Lunch @ Cheesecake Factory
Drive to Chincoteague Island - 2hrs 45
Check in to The Fairfield Inn & Suites
Dinner @ Ropewalk Restaurant

Today we leave Philly and head South to start the road trip! I’m going to leave mum and Hope at the hotel while I go and pick the car up from the Philadelphia Convention Centre, it’s only a 10 minute walk away. I will then drive back to pick them and the luggage up.
Our first stop is of course to do a spot of shopping at the Christiana Mall in Delaware. One big bonus of going there is they have a Cheesecake Factory so it’s a no brainer that’s where we’ll have lunch
Now onto the big drive down to Chincoteague Island. We’ll hopefully arrive still in daylight and can take a walk around the town.
If we are still hungry after what I’m sure will be a huge lunch, then there is a restaurant attached to our hotel so we don’t have to go far.

Washington DC - 4 nights
Day 4 - 9th April
Chincoteague Island National Wildlife Refuge
Drive to Queenstown Premium Outlets - 2hrs 10
Drive to Washington - 1hr
Check into Beacon Hotel
Walk to The White House
Monuments by Moonlight tour

We’ll probably just grab breakfast at the hotel before we drive over onto Assateague Island. There are various parking spots and trails where we can hopefully view the wild ponies, but, they’re obviously wild so we might not see anything. It still looks a stunning area and coastline.
From here we’ll start our drive towards Washington DC. There is a Premium Outlets on the way so we’ll stop en route for another spot of shopping!
Once we have checked into our hotel if we have time and are hungry we’ll eat before our Monuments by Moonlight tour. If we are running behind, we’ll grab something afterwards.

Day 5 - 10th April
Breakfast @ Founding Farmers
Self walk monuments (WW2, Korean, Vietnam, MLK, Lincoln, Jefferson)
Museum of American History
Dinner @ Old Ebbitt Grill

I’m hoping for a bit of a lie in today, I think we’ll need it by now!
After seeing the monuments at night it will be nice to see them in the day. We’ll hopefully get round to them all! From here we’ll walk over to the Museum of American History, I’m looking forward to seeing Dorothy’s red shoes from The Wizard of Oz.
I’ve booked a table at Old Ebbitt Grill for dinner tonight, again through Open Table.

Day 6 - 11th April
Washington Monument
Capitol Building
Library of Congress
Supreme Court of USA
Lunch @ Tune In Diner
Arlington Cemetery
Georgetown
Dinner @ Clydes

I’m hoping we can get up to the top of the Washington Monument but you can’t reserve tickets until the day before so will set myself a reminder for those. Presuming we can get tickets, I’ll try and get them for first thing so we can then walk up to the Capitol Building and Supreme Court after. Unfortunately there are no tours to visitors currently so it will be a case of only taking photos of the outside. I’m gutted as I really wanted to be able to see inside the Rotunda.
There is a highly recommended diner called Tune Inn that has been featured on diners, drive in's and dives that we'll aim to go to for lunch. Bonus is it's only a short walk from the Capitol.
In the afternoon we’ll probably grab an Uber over to Arlington Cemetery. This is a must for this trip. Depending on how tired our feet are we will either walk around or jump on the land train that takes you around the cemetery.
Tonight I have booked a table at Clydes in Georgetown as I have read great reviews from a few people.

Day 7 - 12th April
Breakfast @ Starbucks
Drive to Harpers Ferry - 1 hour
White Water Rafting/Zip-lining
Lunch @ The Rabbit Hole
Murphy Chambers Farm Trail
Drive back to Washington DC

Originally I had today planned with a tour of the Pentagon with visiting Arlington Cemetery after but as there are no tours for visitors there either at the moment then we have a spare day as I put Arlington into yesterdays plans.
As this trip is for Hope’s birthday I figured she’d be ‘Hisoryied’ out by now so I wanted to book something she would enjoy.

About an hour out of the city in West Virginia is a town called Harpers Ferry. It is where the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers meet and is a place involved in the American Civil War. Here they have various activities on the river including white water rafting and tubing. I think we’ll be too early in the season for tubing but not for the rafting. They also do zip lining but I’ve left it up to Hope to decide what she wants to do. As someone who hates heights, I’m secretly hoping she chooses the rafting!
Mum will not partake in these so I’m going to drop her in the centre of town where they have various historical sights and museums for her to wander around. We will only be a few hours then afterwards we can get some lunch then go on one of the many trails they have that start from the National Historical Visitors Centre.

Day 8 - 13th April
Breakfast @ Lincoln’s Waffles
Drive to Philadelphia
Stop @ Christiana Mall - 2hrs
Lunch @ Bahama Breeze
Drive to airport - 30 mins
Flight PHL-LHR
18.35-06.45

Going home day! A last American breakfast at Lincoln’s Waffles before we drive back up to Philadelphia. We’ll need to drop the car off by 3pm so depending on how we’re doing for time we might be able to squeeze another bit of shopping in!
They have another one of our favourite restaurants in the Mall, Bahama Breeze so we may fill ourselves up there instead of eating at the airport.

So that there ends what should be an action packed, very enjoyable week with my two favourite ladies!

[emmabanana]

Sounds like a great trip!

[LOU LOU DISNEY]

Sounds amazing! I’m off to DC in 60 days & plan to do something similar. I’m also looking to go to Arlington & hope to get Washington monument tickets too, so fingers crossed! I’m hoping late March won’t be too busy but I’ll be in the ball the morning before to try & get them! We’ve booked a moonlight tour of the monuments as they all look amazing at night!
Hope you have a great time I’ll definitely be reading along!

[sparklegirl]

Sounds fabulous. We are planning to eat at Clydes this year when we go. We did Founding Farmers the last time we were there and it really wasnt as good as I had read. We may just have got an off day but for the money and the wait it just didnt live up to expectation. We just watched a really nice vlog that was in Harpers Ferry as we have 9 nights in Virginia after staying in DC

[smithlane]

Originally Posted by emmabanana

Sounds like a great trip!

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Thank you, we really hope it will be!

[smithlane]

Originally Posted by LOU LOU DISNEY

Sounds amazing! I’m off to DC in 60 days & plan to do something similar. I’m also looking to go to Arlington & hope to get Washington monument tickets too, so fingers crossed! I’m hoping late March won’t be too busy but I’ll be in the ball the morning before to try & get them! We’ve booked a moonlight tour of the monuments as they all look amazing at night!
Hope you have a great time I’ll definitely be reading along!

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Have a fab time! Would you be able to report back on how easy it was to get the Monument tickets? I think I’m going to have to set myself 2 reminders!
Thank you for reading

[smithlane]

Originally Posted by sparklegirl

Sounds fabulous. We are planning to eat at Clydes this year when we go. We did Founding Farmers the last time we were there and it really wasnt as good as I had read. We may just have got an off day but for the money and the wait it just didnt live up to expectation. We just watched a really nice vlog that was in Harpers Ferry as we have 9 nights in Virginia after staying in DC

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Oh wow, thank you! I’ll watch this later when I’m at home, I need to start watching more vlogs now that travel is up and running.
Maybe I’ll swap out Founding Farmers as it does look pricey, are there any other breakfast places you would recommend?

[anji]

Wow this looks the perfect trip. Definitely following along with this - again! Will be stealing your planning at some point hopefully

[nothingless]

Your plans sound awesome - I'd love to do something like this with my mom and daughter (once she's a little older, she's only 5 now haha) someday! Following along and hope you have a great time!

[smithlane]

Originally Posted by anji

Wow this looks the perfect trip. Definitely following along with this - again! Will be stealing your planning at some point hopefully

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Thank you Anji! Steal away, we have such similar tastes in holidays you know I’m always getting ideas and inspiration from your trips!