Visit to D.C., August 2009.

View Photos of Washington D.C., August 2009

First off, about the photos. I lost my nice camera either at home or on the way to the airport. It's gone. The photos here were all done with my camera phone, so yeah, they are not exactly high quality. Beats nothing, though!

The Hotel

Okay, so it goes like this: Our trip to D.C. this time was so I could attend CFUnited 2009, a ColdFusion developers conference. The conference itself was a few hours out of D.C., in beautiful Lansdowne, Virginia. Well, my wife and I spent 3 days in D.C. first, though, so we could be tourists.

I decided to give Orbitz a shot, and did indeed lock in a 3 night stay at the Hyatt Regency at $89/night. This is pretty much less than half price. But wait, that ain't all. We get to the Hyatt at 11 p.m., and ask if we can get a room with a single king bed instead of two twin beds. The reservation lady drops a huge surprise on us, they only got one room left, and it's a nice suite. We get it for the $89/night!

This pic so doesn't do it justice. This room is more like a full-blown apartment. All the amenities. Full bathroom with separate shower. Coffee maker with built-in bean grinder. Computer, couch, sofa, big dining table, all that. I think the room is intended to be a war room for politicians. It had two of those double-door doors which connect to adjoining doors, handy for cronies or secret service buddies. Weird thing is, we opened one of the doors, and there is a person sleeping on their bed! The dude kept his door of the double-door wide open! Weird. We called up the front desk and they sent somebody up who dealt with the situation. A bit odd. Anyhow, I'm guessing this was a thousand dollar a night room. We got so spoiled.

Just a couple blocks away is Union Station. Sorry, no photos. Union Station is where the train meets the Metro. It also is where armies of homeless converge, turning the area into an American Calcutta. No joke. It's pretty sad, really. Within, though, is Au Bon Pain, where we scored goodies to eat at all hours. Great cookies, breakfast sandwiches, whatever. Fantastic.

We attended the Legg Mason Tennis Classic, our first tennis tourney ever. Saw Andy Roddick lose to Del Potro. Argh. Really wanted Andy to win.

Anybody mention that parts of D.C. are pretty much "the 'hood'?" Yeah they are. We took the Metro out of D.C. and to Silver Spring, MD. Along the way is some major 'hood graffiti, right off of the train track. Where else would it be?

Oh yeah, we did do something pretty cool. Turns out right on the Red Line is the longest escalator in North America, right in Wheaton Station. I don't have video of it, but this guy does.. Took what, 2 minutes and 43 seconds? Yeah, that was it. That's all we did in Wheaton Station. Got off the Metro, went up the escalator, went back down it, got back on the next Metro.

Well, anyhow, we did that and more in D.C., then headed to Lansdowne, Virginia, for the conference I was attending. Tell you what; other than the conference, there wasn't that much interesting in or about Lansdowne. So, ahh, that's about it. Bye!