Weekend Trip to Washington DC
This year, to balance the overwhelming concentration of cities on America’s western coast that had hosted our annual college reunion, we settled on last year’s runner up choice, Washington DC. (In fact, we had not held it in an East Coast city since the very first one in Boston.)
American Airlines Flight 4505 from Boston to Washington Reagan
The Boston–Washington Reagan corridor was my most frequently flown route, and American Airlines used to offer dependable T-class (partner) award inventory on it, at least on the early-morning and late-night flights. For years, this was my go-to redemption for British Airways Avios. But after Avios substantially devalued partner awards, Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan stepped in to fill the void: the same route now costs just 4.5k miles (plus 12.5 dollars of partner award fee) one-way.
On Friday, July 10, I found myself on a morning flight from Boston to Washington Reagan. (A late-afternoon arrival would have been ideal, but no standard award space was available; in any case, the early arrival gave me the day to catch up with friends in Maryland, so it hardly felt like a compromise.) A ticketing error prevented me from attaching my American Airlines FFP number to the reservation, so I was stuck in Main Cabin. However, this was a short hop aboard a regional Embraer jet, so the difference wasn't that pronounced (except that my seat cushion wasn't properly cleaned).
Once onboard, the departure was slightly delayed as the pilots worked on "clearing an error message". Given the huge scheduling cushion, it wasn't much of an issue.
American Airlines 4505
Operated by Republic Airways
Boston, MA (BOS) - Washington Reagan (DCA)
Embraer ERJ-175 (N131HQ)
Seat 18F
Scheduled Departure - 7:00am
Actual Departure - 7:42am
Scheduled Arrival - 9:00am
Actual Arrival - 8:54am
1 hour and 12 minutes
Here's GPS tracking:
Approaching Washington DC, some very familiar sceneries cruised past the window.
After arriving in Washington, DC, I headed to College Park to catch up with some friends(, and squeezing in various work-related calls along the way).
Our hotel for the weekend was near Washington DC's Union Station, so once I'd wrapped up in College Park, I needed to make my way back into the city. By the time I reached the College Park metro station, I realized I was just in time to catch a slightly delayed MARC commuter rail train to Union Station. On paper, it was faster than taking the Metro, and since I was traveling against the commute direction, I was all but guaranteed a seat. So I went with it, higher fare be damned.
That decision did not age well. The train ended up sitting at a prolonged hold just outside Union Station, apparently waiting for platform arrangements to be sorted out. As it happened, MARC had access to fewer tracks than its peak afternoon departures, which forced them to stack two trains along a single track at Union Station (photo below).
So, what was supposed to be the faster option ended up slower than the Metro. To add insult to injury, while we sat there idling, I had a front-row seat to Metro trains gliding past us on the neighboring track.
Hotel: Hyatt Regency Washington DC / Capitol Hill
We selected this hotel given its proximity to the attractions on the National Mall, and its very spacious suites. In short: it didn't disappoint.
Tour of Washington DC
On the morning of Saturday, July 11, we began our tour of Washington DC at the Library of Congress, where we had secured the earliest available reservation at 10am.Library of Congress
Unfortunately, 10am was the library's opening time, which meant a long queue had formed outside it as people had arrived early and waited for it to open. We had a subsequent 10:30am reservation for US Capitol tours. As we didn't anticipate this queue, we could only afford a very quick glimpse of the Library of Congress.
(By the time we left, we looked with envy as the queue had shortened significantly.)
US Capitol Tour
Next came a tour of the US Capitol Building. Given how vastly more popular it was than the Library of Congress, the Capitol only offered guided tours, with multiple groups moving through simultaneously, and each guide addressing their flock through a microphone headset.
The actual House and Senate Chambers were off-limits, so the tour focused primarily on art and sculptures. Each state sends two statues for display in the Capitol. A highlight came in the crypt, where our guide pointed out the newly installed statue of Virginia civil rights activist Barbara Rose Johns. At this, one particularly astute member of our group asked whose statue Barbara had replaced. Our tour guide replied in an almost perfectly flat tone: "Robert Lee."
After touring the U.S. Capitol Building, we had lunch at an elegant restaurant in downtown Washington DC. Since I wasn't much of a food person, I'll skip the details (and all subsequent food) here.
After lunch, some of us walked past the White House on our way to Washington Monument. While I recalled walking right along the fence of White House's South Lawn during my visit to DC 10 years ago, now the entire President's Park was closed and fenced off, seemingly to make way for parking spaces for contractors working on President Trump's ballroom.
Washington Monument
This is the unmistakable obelisk rising above the National Mall. An elevator inside carried visitors up to a set of observation windows near the top. Because capacity is so limited, only a small number of tickets are released each day; advance reservations open a month ahead and often sell out in minutes. Fortunately, we had managed to secure ours a month earlier, which meant we could take in the sweeping bird's-eye views from the top. From there, Washington DC looked remarkably orderly, with public museums lining the edges of the National Mall and federal government buildings stretching out behind them.
By the time we left Washington Monument, it was 3pm. Although that left us ample time to explore the museums lining the National Mall, enough of us felt tired already that we opted to head back to our hotel rooms, where a FIFA World Cup game awaited us.
Tour of Great Falls Park
The following day, Sunday, July 12, some of us were eager to find a bit of nature around Washington, DC, so I suggested we visit Great Falls Park after brunch. There, a series of waterfalls cascades along the Atlantic Seaboard Fall Line, marking the limit of the Potomac River's natural navigability. Having lived in Maryland for several years, I had visited this park numerous times, so I'll spare the details here.
American Airlines Flight 1556 from Washington Reagan to Boston
Finally, it's Monday July 13. My friends had planned to visit U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing (which was closed on weekends) and observe a session of the House of Representatives. Not wanting to miss any more work, I decided to fly back to Boston that morning. As it turned out, there was a perfectly timed flight: late enough that I didn't have to wake up early, but early enough to give me much of the workday in Boston.
American Airlines 1556 Washington Reagan (DCA) - Boston, MA (BOS) Airbus A319 Seat 2A Scheduled Departure - 8:32am Actual Departure - 8:52am Scheduled Arrival - 10:11am Actual Arrival - 10:04am 1 hour and 12 minutes
Interestingly, the airborne time of this flight was exactly the same as my flight from Boston 3 days ago. Here's GPS tracking:
Here's a video of the takeoff:
Here's a video of the landing:
And that brought my weekend trip to Washington DC to a close.
END