Washington D.C.

I go to Washington D.C.  nearly every summer.  After four years in a row you would think I would run out of places to see there.  Nope!  Rather than give you the run-down of all the common things, I'd like to point out the places that are new or off the beaten path that I visited last week.


Newseum- http://www.newseum.org
Family Four Pack (2 adults, 2 kids) $49.95
Adults $21.95
Seniors $17.95
Youth $12.95
Children Under 6- FREE

     When I first saw this on the itinerary I wasn't enthused.  I didn't know much about it and wasn't looking forward to it.  Once I arrived, I realized what a great place it is.  As you walk up to the building you are immediately overwhelmed with the first amendment displayed on the outside wall and a daily newspaper from each of the 50 states.  I don't mean this in a negative way!

Once inside you get to experience the history of the news media around the world.  There are various interactive exhibits, actual parts of the Berlin Wall, the radio antenna from the World Trade Center, among many other intriguing things.

On the 6th floor there is the Pennsylvania Avenue Terrace.  This overlooks the street with a magnificent view of the Capitol Building.

International Spy Museum- http://www.spymuseum.org
$20 adults
$17 children
$19 Seniors

Now I thought this was going to be hokey and very similar to a Ripley's Believe it or Not/ Tourist Trap.  I was pleasantly surprised!  I had so much fun in this museum and learned a lot too.  There were so many things I learned and confirmed about Intelligence Programs of both the U.S. and other countries.  Not only is it a museum detailing how it all works- but they have quite a few interactive things like a GPS guided tour of Washington that lets you in on some secrets.  This was highly recommended.

Woodrow Wilson House-  http://www.woodrowwilsonhouse.org
$10 per adult
$8 Seniors
$5 students

Certainly not as exhilarating as the first two I have mentioned I feel that it is worth it.  The only Presidential Museum in Washington D.C. The place he retired to after serving as the 28th President.  He had some great amenities for his time and a beautiful solarium that overlooked his garden.  President Wilson holds a special place in my heart as he was an educator, only president with a PH.D., and former President of Princeton University before serving in office.

View from the staircase in to his solarium.

View from the solarium on to his garden.

National Museum for the U.S. Navy- http://www.history.navy.mil/branches/org8-1.htm 

While rather difficult to get in, as they require very strict security measures, it was well worth the visit as it costs nothing to enter.  They have an entire museum set up in an old hanger as well as a ship USS Barry that can be toured.

One final recommendation-  Old Ebbitt Grill.  We had a delicious meal here on our final night in D.C.  I would suggest it to anyone.  Keep in mind it is very popular and gets busy, so make a reservation if you go!

Helpful Travel Website- Seatguru.com

Thanks to seatguru.com my very long flight to Alaska later this month has been improved!  My husband and I booked a cruise to Alaska about two weeks ago and had to book our flights quickly because of impending fare increases.  We had to make a snap decision and selected two seats because they were the only two together on that segment.  We didn’t think much about it.   

Today I stumbled upon seatguru.com and decided to look up our seats.  Well, it’s a good thing I did because our seats on the flight from Vancouver to Houston 1) did not recline 2) are a smaller width than standard seats 3) have no window.  Ahhhhh!  I quickly logged in to the Continental website to see if there were ANY other seats available.  Lucky us, there were two that opened up 5 rows forward from the original seats.  I can’t imagine what I would have done for 5 hours in a little box.  :(

A little research goes a long way.  :)

Alaskan Cruise

I have been on many cruises around the Caribbean & Bahamas and have developed a fairly decent understanding of what to expect.  I can pack without thinking about what I am putting in my bag.

My next trip has me rather perplexed.  I am going on an Alaskan cruise and am completely perplexed as to how I should pack.  I am a native Floridian- so when the wind blows I shiver!!

How many jackets should I bring?  How many layers should I wear?  I hear it warms up in the day.  Ahhh!!

Then I start thinking How in the world will I get all this winter gear in one suitcase and make sure it weighs under 50lbs??

So I started early- I have been making outfits and rolling them up together.  After all I don't need turtle necks in Florida in June!  As time gets closer I will add more info on what you NEED to pack :)

Traveling in Tough Times

Do you want to travel but feel like you don't have the money to do it???

My husband and I decided to save all of our change a couple years ago.  We have an old pickle jar.

Think: Costco/Sams/BJs size. 

We keep it by our hamper.  Every evening when we dress down from work we empty our pockets of ALL change.  We don't use a lot of cash either- we try to put everything on credit cards to earn points. We agreed that we cannot take coins from the jar until we take our Alaskan Vacation.

This morning I dragged the coin jar out of the house and hoisted it up in to my car.  I kept it in the car all day wondering how much we would get out of this...  At 3pm I headed over to the bank and barely made it in to the counter.  It took the machine over 5 minutes to sort and count, the whole time I was wondering how much it could be.

And the grand total was $300!!!  That was a great bit of satisfaction.  We are finally going to Alaska in a few weeks and can use this to pay for an excursion that we're dreaming of. 
A helicopter ride on to Mendenhall Glacier.  :)

We also saved up three years worth of credit card points to pay for one flight segment.  Unfortunately for us, our trip starts in one city and ends in another, which means expensive one way flights :(

Point is...  You don't realize how much you can help yourself take a vacation by simple things like saving your change and credit card bonus points.