We actually made the trip so that the kids could attend Wheaton Ice Skating Academy's Annual Ice Dance Camp, but we arrived in time to spend July 4 in Washington DC!
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Saturday, July 3, was a travel day. We woke up early since our plane left from Denver International Airport, which is quite a drive from Colorado Springs. We had a flight that made one stop in Indianapolis, but we didn't have to change planes. We arrived in Baltimore at 3:30 PM.
It took some time to get our luggage and pick up our rental car. Then, the drive to our Rockville motel took a little over an hour. Once we found our motel, and settled in, we went out to dinner at Red Lobster. Everyone was excited and realized we were in for an adventure!
Sunday, July 4, 2010
We woke up with excitement! We planned to take The Metro into Washington DC. The motel recommended we also take tour bus to get the most out of our visit to the Capitol and suggested we get off at Union Station.
I decided to first drive to the rink where the ice dance camp would take place (I like to locate things in advance) so I'd be prepared on Monday morning. Then, it was off to the Metro station. We bought Metro tickets and boarded the train.
It was scary and exciting, but many families were on our train. The ride was over 30 minutes. When we did get off at Union Station, we found ourselves in a busy place. People were leaving the Amtrak trains.
We enjoyed food at a pretzel place and at Starbucks and headed out of the building. There, we bought tickets for a Double Decker Tour Bus that took us through Washington DC.
The bus was air conditioned. It was SO HOT outside. We saw all sorts of wonderful things on the bus, including the Capitol.
There was a delay when our bus hit another tour bus near Ford Theater. We decided to check the area around the Ford Theater and got to go inside the house that Lincoln died in.
We boarded another bus and got off at the White House. There, we went to the White House Visitors Center.
Then we went into the Ronald Reagan Building's food court. The kids had a good meal there.
We got a bit lost when we left the Ronald Regan Building, and saw the crowds getting ready to see the Fireworks. We walked back towards the White House and got back on our tour bus.
Our tour took us through the entire city. I loved seeing the area with the beautiful embassy buildings, the Washington Cathedral, and the hotels on Washington Circle.
When the bus got us back to Union Station, we spent a few hours in the cool food court enjoying ice cream and relaxing. We then took the Metro to the Federal Triangle station and found a nice area to wait for the Fireworks in front of the Natural History Museum.
Wow, fireworks in Washington DC are like no other! The kids describe them as AMAZNG!
Seeing the fireworks was wonderful, but going home was close to a nightmare. We had to battle unbelievable crowds that pushed their way on to the Metro platforms. Finally, we boarded a train, but I realized after we had made the first stop, that I had gone the WRONG direction. We had to go back which took forever since we had to enter a platform filled with a mass of people. We had to wait quite a long time. Finally, we pushed our way on to a train.
We had to get off at Metro Center and get on a train for Shady Grove Station in Rockville. That was another long wait. Fortunately, we all ended up with a seat to sit on and had a fairly relaxing trip back to Shady Grove Station. It was easy to find our car and soon we were back to our motel.
We went right to bed. It was close to midnight.
Our Wheaton Ice Skating Academy Experience
- Summary of Our Week at Wheaton Ice Skating Academy
- Summary of a Week at Wheaton Ice Dance Academy's Camp
I've written a summary of what the kids experienced "skating wise" on About.com, but that doesn't tell about what went on behind the scenes.
The main thing is that the children and I made friends. I especially "hit it off" with Juleann Falgatter, Kyle MacMillan's mom. She and I are about the same age, have similar interests, and look at the skating world in similar ways.
We were also invited to the home of Rachel and Michael Parsons (a sister-brother novice level team) on Tuesday after skating. The kids got to enjoy the Parson's wonderful home and huge yard and their pool. We ate hot dogs and hamburgers and stayed up way to late enjoying just talking. Annabelle "hit it off" with the Parsons' youngest daughter, Katie.
Jennifer Strand, a skating friend, from Texas is moving to Maryland to train with an ice dance partner and coach at another rink. Her family also came to the Parsons' house. It was great fun to visit together.
I learned my way around the area and was grateful for our air conditioned car and air conditioned motel room.
Changed Hotels - Thursday Morning, 7-8-10
I have not mentioned that the motel we stayed at for the first 4 nights was awful. It was a Red Roof Inn that Dan found on the AAA website, but was really a dump. The first night, our room had ants in it. We moved to a new room on July 4th before going into Washington DC. That room was a bit more modern and nicer, but on Monday night, the toilet wouldn't flush. It took awhile for the motel to fix the toilet.
The maid service was poor (they didn't even make our room or vacum until I asked for service). There was no laundry room or pool. There was no refrigerator, microwave, or even in-room coffee. The inside of the room was OK, but the outside was dirty. Cigarette butts lined the walkways. This motel was just not good for an extended stay.
I kept passing a Comfort Inn only a few blocks away from the Red Roof, and wished we had stayed there. Finally, on Thursday morning, after I got the kids to the rink, I called the Comfort Inn and made a reservation. I drove back to the Red Roof, told them I was checking out, and packed up our things. I checked into the Comfort Inn, unloaded our things, and settled in. It was very hot. Loading our stuff at the Red Roof was a chore for me because I had to get our luggage down the stairs in the heat, but moving our things into the Comfort Inn was not too bad since it was a motor inn with inside hallways and an elevator. I was able to use a luggage cart and got everything in the room with on two trips to the car.
When I returned to pick up the kids at the camp, they hadn't really noticed I was gone. I surprised them with the news that we switched hotels. Annabelle and I went swimming in the hotel pool that afternoon. We were happy to have a refrigerator and filled it with fruit, yogurt, and other things the kids liked.
Back to Washington DC - Thursday Evening, July 8, 2010
We waited for the weather to cool down a bit. So, after the late afternoon skating, the kids and I boarded the Metro for Washington DC at around 6:00 PM. I promised the kids food once we arrived (I had no idea that it would be hard to find food in Washington DC's mall area). We took the Metro the Smithsonian exit and arrived at the mall, and walked towards the Washington Monument. After spending time there, were went to the World War Two Memorial. We loved it. The kids put their feet in the water that was in front. It was great. Then we began walking towards the Lincoln Memorial. We thought it would be fun to walk along the water. What a mistake! There was birds everywhere and it smelled of like bird poop! We couldn't turn around and just kept walking until we were on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. It was truly exciting to be there, but it was very hot inside the Lincoln Memorial, so we didn't stay long.
We walked towards a visitor's area and finally got some food. Soon, it was dark and we ate our light dinner as the Lincoln Memorial lit up behind us. Finally, we began our walk towards the Metro.
We walked across Constitution Avenue and headed the the Foggy Bottom Metro Station. It was quite a long walk and uphill. When we got to The George Washington University, we took a bathroom break. Finally, we boarded the Metro towards the Metro Center Station. There was quite a long wait for a train. When we boarded the train for Shady Grove, the train was packed since a baseball game had just ended, but soon the train emptied out and we got to sit in seats to the Shady Grove Station.
It was delightful to return to the nice room at the Comfort Inn instead of the awful Red Roof Inn. Everyone went right to sleep.
Saturday, July 10, our last day
Our adventure ended after skating on Saturday with a shopping spree to the White Flint Mall after the kids skated the morning in Wheaton.
It was not just a shopping spree; I visited with a friend I had not seen in 20 years, Lynn (Wein) McCoy. Lynn and I enjoyed visiting together so much that the visit went on for the entire afternoon!
I had planned to take the kids into DC again to visit a museum, but it just got too late to go, so we went back to the hotel and went swimming instead.
Sunday, July 10, our trip home
Our plane didn't leave until 3:30 PM, but I had to drive to Baltimore, return the rental car, and do all the usual check in stuff. It also took awhile to pack things up and check out of the room. We left the hotel at 11:30 and thanks to my GPS on my phone had no trouble finding the Baltimore Airport.
The plane trip was non-stop to Denver. All went smoothly. Dan was at the airport and we had a wonderful ride home to Colorado Springs!
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