Recent DC Trip

Submitted by HereComesHR t3_11uaizm in washingtondc

Random note: my family and I just got back from a few days in DC. Flew up from Texas and stayed for 3 nights. We had a great trip and loved all the things we saw.

Coming from really crap mass transit in Tx, the subway trains were amazing. We stayed at a hotel on the blue line and the ease of using the subway was fantastic. I wish our state was better about that. Underground tunnels were amazing. Food was fantastic, everyone we met were very friendly. Did the usual Air & Space, American History, Smithsonian Zoo, Arlington, National Mall type things. I’m sure you guys have a lot of problems just like any other place, but I was very impressed with everything we experienced.

Thanks

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Practical_Awareness4 t1_jcn844v wrote

I came from florida and I’ve been a lot of other places. I think this is my favorite place I’ve lived. Glad you enjoyed it here

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malhoward t1_jcn8875 wrote

Ditto for me! We stayed in Crystal City and loved it! The city and train were pretty clean and we kept finding places to enter the subway/mall closer and closer to our hotel!

I say “pretty clean” because, well, full disclosure…. On the steps to a subway entrance this morning, we saw a pile where some human had shat right there.

I figure if that’s the worst I see in 5 days it’s been a pretty good trip.

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Disused_Yeti t1_jcn9cz5 wrote

amazing what taxing people for the collective good can accomplish!

texas should try it

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synth_stryder t1_jcn9j11 wrote

This is really nice to hear, glad yall had a good trip

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how-tobe t1_jcn9qxr wrote

Awww thank you! You probably some bad things on the subreddit, but I'm glad you enjoyed your stay!

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kzwa t1_jcnaow7 wrote

Hey, that’s really kind of you to say! We’re so glad you enjoyed your visit and hope you come again sometime!

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bard_ley t1_jcnbfgx wrote

Found the mayors burner account /s

Glad you had fun!!

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Navitach t1_jcnbv9o wrote

So glad you had a good time! (I actually grew up and live in northern Virginia, but the city is close enough that I've been to the museums and such many times over the years.) Reading posts like this just reminds me that many of us in the DMV take those things for granted and don't visit them as often as we should.

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HereComesHR OP t1_jcnchzy wrote

Replying to GuardMost8477 (#2,259,287)

Thanks! Originally this was just a “show our kids the nations history” trip and I wasn’t looking forward to it as much…nothing against the city, just looked at it only from an educational standpoint. But man did we enjoy it. We’ve already talked about going back.

And the two favorite things on our trip were a) the subway, and b) seeing snow on the car ride home. Pretty funny. I’m sure to many it’s just transport, but man it was efficient and easy to use. We were just blown away.

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alldaylurkerforever t1_jcnegin wrote

Wait, you weren't car jacked, mugged, beaten up or something else criminal?

That's what I've been told happens in DC to everyone every minute of the day.

I am shocked. SHOCKED you had a great time.

This subreddit has lied to me!

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putinsbloodboy t1_jcnf7jn wrote

As a fellow Texan, agreed on most of your points but I have 2 disagreements:

  1. I’m wondering which city you’re from if you think the food is good in DC. There’s some nice spots but they’re more difficult to find, away from the tourist areas, and the other good ones are very very expensive.

  2. People are a lot less friendly here than in Texas, it’s a pretty stark contrast actually.

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gopoohgo t1_jcnfaqs wrote

Replying to MaxAmericana (#2,259,436)

You don't math or read.

As above, property taxes in TX are much higher. As are sales taxes (8.5% v 6.25% in MA)

For our friends (dual income, 3 kids) taxes were a wash.

You can't escape taxes. "No income tax states" will get their pound of flesh somehow.

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10tonheadofwetsand t1_jcnfhki wrote

Born and raised Texan, moved to the area a decade ago. Glad you enjoyed it! Come back, there is so much to see and do in this area that isn’t memorials museums and monuments (which are all great of course). Safe travels.

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sellers1020 t1_jcnfuf0 wrote

Replying to HereComesHR (#2,259,323)

I’m from the Dallas area and fell in love with DC on my 8th grade class trip in 2006. I’ve been here 7 years and have no plans of moving. Happy to hear your family enjoyed it as well! Next time bring up some Tex Mex, I sure do miss it! 😁

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HereComesHR OP t1_jcng2za wrote

Replying to putinsbloodboy (#2,259,478)

Hey bud,

  1. Houston. It’s not that it beats Texas (I was missing Mexican food), but rather we were very happy with the food. You kinda expect crappy touristy food in a lot of places. Maybe we’re easy to please.
  2. I found them to not be as overtly friendly (more minding their own business and not looking to start conversations) but anyone we interacted with was wonderful.
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HereComesHR OP t1_jcngkqr wrote

Replying to sellers1020 (#2,259,528)

Thanks! You’d sure think someone could make a killing putting a Tex-Mex restaurant up there.

Did you find the cost of living increase to be difficult when you moved up there? Seems like Dallas-to-DC would be some sticker shock.

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gumercindo1959 t1_jcnhbgi wrote

First time in DC? Did you have any preconceived notions of the city?

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Malnurtured_Snay t1_jcnhtdh wrote

Replying to HereComesHR (#2,259,616)

Helicopters for the mayor? Over DC? Only if she's flying with the president!

I might've bought that you weren't the mayor ...

... but only the real mayor would've pretend not to notice I misspelled your first name, Madam Mayor!

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HereComesHR OP t1_jcnhyx7 wrote

Replying to gumercindo1959 (#2,259,628)

I was in DC once in around 96 for a class trip? So don’t really remember much of that trip since I was shuttled around by teachers.

No real preconceived notions. Houston is a massive city, so I know that one part of a city can be a shitshow while other parts are wonderful. Had no idea what to expect getting around the touristy areas (will there be pickpockets trying to steal your stuff?). And knew absolutely nothing about navigating the tunnels or subways. I looked up as much as I could online and downloaded the transit apps.

We’re not your typical Texans in many ways, as many Texans like to shit on places like DC. I expected it to have pros/cons just like any other place. But again, our experience was overwhelmingly positive. Except Hertz rental at Union Station. That place freaking sucks.

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Kusharti21 t1_jcniivg wrote

Glad to hear it and welcome to r/fuckcars

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Last_Noldoran t1_jcniv3z wrote

I recently moved from Austin, and the public transit is one of the best things about this area. Even tho i am not next to a metro, being able to hop on a reliable bus to a metro stop is great. Really wish that DART was more frequent, Houston expanded their trains, and Austin/San Antonio had more reliable busses

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Htowntaco t1_jcnjb8i wrote

Replying to HereComesHR (#2,259,544)

I’m from Houston and yea the food from dc is pretty good. Some of the best Chinese food I’ve had.

I spent 3 days in dc and 3 days in Philly and took the Amtrak from Philly to dc. Man how I wish we had that here. Being able to go to Austin or Dallas would be awesome.

The subways in dc and Philly are pretty sweet. I only had to use Uber a few times when I got lost but google maps is pretty good at telling you what train to get on.

From what I experienced the people there where very friendly. I would be on a park bench eating a hot dog and people would just come up and talk to me, it was nice. And I didn’t know how to use the subway when I got to dc and a nice lady saw that I didn’t know what the hell I was doing and went over and explained to me how it works.

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BrightThru2014 t1_jcnjhx3 wrote

Replying to gopoohgo (#2,259,485)

Genuine question — do you really believe that the average net tax burden (or even net CoL) for a married family of five is equivalent in DC and Texas? Because this is Trump 2020 election levels of delusion jfc.

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NoTV4Theo t1_jcnjj7u wrote

Well we do have a working electrical grid up here so I’m sure that was a box checked for you.

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reddit_toast_bot t1_jcnlhkq wrote

Hey you havent had the real DC experience until you’ve been mugged, sat in beltway traffic or been pulled over by some random protective service.

Just kidding! Keep it real Texas!

:D

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s-multicellular t1_jcnlops wrote

If I am honest, loving riding the Metro was in the top five for me when I first visited as a teen and started thinking about moving here. I wasn’t unfamiliar with riding public transit, I was born in Boston. But there was something special about all the particular wonders you could see from this one Metro. Funny that I work from home now, but I enjoyed it for many years.

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growingmahurr t1_jcnlyo3 wrote

I just left yesterday and only had a day to explore but the place truly is amazing! I rented an e-scooter and got to see most of the sites within a few hours! Lots of people from spring break so pictures turned out bad but it was all an experience. Wind chill was brutal coming from the west coast but I wish I had more time to check out the museums and maybe do a tour somewhere. I’ll be back for sure!

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AnonymousCarolinaDog t1_jcnm5xg wrote

Replying to MaxAmericana (#2,259,584)

Since Texas’ (notably high) property taxes are collected at the local level instead of the state level, wouldn’t your link about State Government Tax Collections be leaving out a fairly big piece of the equation?

One of many issues when comparing a state to a city, right? Like DC vs Austin seems like a more useful comparison— I would expect people in Austin pay less but not by some massive amount

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The_4th_Little_Pig t1_jcnm9ac wrote

Replying to HereComesHR (#2,259,325)

I’m originally from Texas and the mass transit is so much better than sitting in traffic for long periods of time, but if you live further away from a metro stop and have to walk or bus to metro it’s kind of a grind: the COL up here is crazy and unless your from Austin or DFW proper you won’t know how it is. Just know if you plan on moving up here it’s a major culture shock, and you should definitely have a job and a place to live before doing it.

Much love from a former Texan.

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RedfishSC2 t1_jcnnrp7 wrote

Replying to HereComesHR (#2,259,580)

From a Houstonian who has been living in the area for almost 10 years now, it boggles my mind. Republic Cantina is pretty good, but the whole metro area overall is flooded with tasteless, disappointing, garbage Tex-Mex. Every time I go back and visit my parents and have Ninfa's, I cry a little bit knowing what I'm missing.

That said, there is great Korean, Vietnamese, Thai, Ethiopian, and Salvadoran, so there's a lot out there.

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CandyCaneCrisp t1_jcnnyfe wrote

Glad you liked it, wish you could have waited to see the cherry blossoms.

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slideright1929 t1_jcnpygy wrote

Love the positivity and love that you loved my home. Thank you :)

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WontStopAtSigns t1_jcnravw wrote

Replying to HereComesHR (#2,259,580)

If you come in the summer we have water parks and stuff kiddos will love. Right off metro too. I've been here 6+ years and it still feels like an amusement park compared to fucking Miami where you spend 30-40 hours a month in the car like it's nothing.

Tbh I sold my truck and just bike everywhere now. It never even snowed this winter here. Although may have been a flurry or two we tend to worry about accumulation and there was 0. Bonus points for pretending you're captain America going by the monuments.

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HereComesHR OP t1_jcnrr1w wrote

Replying to WontStopAtSigns (#2,260,160)

Nice! If I lived there and was anywhere near a metro I would sell my vehicle too.

The snow happened as we were driving through Virginia. Wasn’t in the forecast, came out of no where. Absolutely beautiful. And the state itself was great, we’d never been to Virginia.

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Piracanto t1_jcnrxad wrote

No Rudy's though.

Seriously, we're glad you had a good time! Come back anytime!

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appleofrage t1_jcns8p4 wrote

Glad everyone had a good time! DC really is great for how much stuff there is to do and how easy it is to get to that stuff. Personally I love how easy it is to take a trip away from DC since the metro now goes to two big airports. Yall take the metro back to the airport?

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HereComesHR OP t1_jcns9u3 wrote

Replying to Creative-Ad-9871 (#2,260,177)

We knew nothing. We wanted a Marriott. Side all my points are through Marriott from work. My wife found Crystal City and that it was connected by tunnels to the Metro. We had no idea if that would be super great, or dingy crap holes.

When we got there we looked up a local Chick-fil-A to get some Dr Pepper, as good Texans do. That led to some shop tunnels, but we quickly learned those weren’t the ones connected to the Metro. We decided to go exploring so we’d know what we were doing the next day. Found the right tunnels and walked to the Metro entrance and bought 3-day passes. I had downloaded the Metro app and knew that the Mall and Arlington could be reached on Blue line stops. For the zoo I knew we had to transfer at Metro Center to get on the red line.

So…we just figured it out as we went! We’re big planners so we tried to know as much as possible in advance. The different colored lines, plus the naming being the last stop the train is headed towards, made it seem pretty easy.

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HereComesHR OP t1_jcnsk9w wrote

Replying to appleofrage (#2,260,221)

We flew to DC, then rented a car for the return trip so we could see Virginia, Tennessee, etc. Blue Ridge Mountains and Smokies were gorgeous. Virginia was beautiful. Really loved Virginia. Tennessee was mediocre, which I didn’t expect. Thought I’d love it, but liked Virginia more.

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WinterMedical t1_jcntqnc wrote

Im so glad you had a nice time! It’s a great city!

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TrillyMike t1_jcnuayo wrote

Ay man! Glad you came through and enjoyed it! Come back again soon!

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Migue04090812 t1_jcnuex8 wrote

Wow! That’s super nice! Thanks and come back again (autumn is especially nice).

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Nagisa201 t1_jcnvl87 wrote

I mean TX is just a million times bigger than DC. If the public transit wasn't better then something is dramatically wrong

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OnlyHunan t1_jcny68a wrote

I was in North Carolina before DMV. I was right on the border between the state Capitol (2nd largest city in the state), and the 7th largest. There were exactly TWO bus routes between them, and one was a semi-express. The nearest stops to me were a 1-mile walk to one route and 1½ miles to the other.

Now, I'm a suburb north of DC. There are two routes ½ mile away and 5 more one mile away.

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isabellla321 t1_jcnyoif wrote

I am so so glad you guys loved DC! This was so sweet! There are still toms to explore, hope you guys come back soon! 😎

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malhoward t1_jcnzcoo wrote

Replying to HereComesHR (#2,259,225)

We were at Crowne Plaza. The last morning we discovered we could access the metro through the Crystal City shops literally next door. The first day we trudged several blocks (passing lots of access pints) to get on the train. We did try 1 short trip on the bus and comparatively, not a fan. 😂

We also enjoyed We the Pizza!

I’m from TN (sorry it was disappointing) and we don’t have efficient public transportation. I was wishing for a blue line from my house to Target by the time I had made a couple of trips back & forth.

Edited to finish my thought.

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stuffsmithstuff t1_jco0tyy wrote

What a sweet note, yo. You should come back and now that you’ve done the Smithsonian circuit try heading up to the U Street corridor, up further to Rock Creek Park, and then down to Hains Point. The “real DC” can be awesome.

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QueMasPuesss t1_jco1puv wrote

Replying to RedfishSC2 (#2,260,010)

Dallas has great Korean, Ethiopian and Vietnamese food and decent Thai and Salvadorian. Houston has the best Vietnamese and Chinese food outside the west coast imo (though queens gives houston a run for its money with Chinese food.)

Edit: though I think DC has better French and Italian than major Texas metros, plus a greater variety of more obscure cuisines (by American diasporan standards) due to the breadth of diversity, ie Balkan, Uyghur, Bangladeshi, Peruvian, Georgian, Filipino, Portuguese, Russian etc etc.

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kungfu-barbie t1_jco2tbe wrote

We are from Texas, too and just returned from DC. Was cold, but great. I agree about the Metro. Wish we had something like that here.

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reflectioninternal t1_jco6qcn wrote

I live in DC and I'm visiting Austin rn, and I just gotta say, right back at you buddy. I'm lucky the friend I'm visiting has a guest bedroom on 6th st, I'm having an amazing time. If you live where my friend lives things are mostly walkable (though he admits having a car is a necessity). Visited the LBJ library, and a bunch of amazing venues full of people having fun and living life to the fullest. 10/10.

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iHeartweeddc t1_jcof9as wrote

Glad you had a great visit. Would you mind speaking to someone at HEB about expanding north? Please & thank you.

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2lurky4you t1_jcoii7r wrote

Glad you enjoyed it! I grew up nearby so we'd do school field trips to the mall every year or so. When we finally took the Metro in from greenbelt it was the coolest thing. I still love taking the Metro and looking out the window at the city.

How was air and space? I hear the renovated space is really nice.

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HereComesHR OP t1_jcom7lz wrote

Replying to 2lurky4you (#2,261,448)

I stayed in green belt many years ago on a trip with my girlfriend at the time. What a lovely area.

Air and Space was fantastic. About half of it is still closed for construction so we didn’t get to see a big chunk of it.

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thenewjs713 t1_jcoowzc wrote

For you to say the food was fantastic, you must not live in Houston. As a native Houstonian DC food is BS!

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jamz_fm t1_jcoyhni wrote

Replying to wanderouswanderer (#2,260,022)

Guided tour of the National Cathedral is a must IMO. The Library of Congress is beautiful, and you can get a card while you're there. I held sheet music handwritten by Louis Armstrong. Love the Arboretum.

Also, small thing, but whenever I take visitors to the mall, we stop by the echo chamber outside the Canadian embassy. Always good for a video and a laugh 🙂

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sellers1020 t1_jcoyl3t wrote

Replying to HereComesHR (#2,259,580)

I found it more expensive, but was living in Uptown (Dallas) before moving to DC, so not too crazy different. However, in Dallas I lived in a brand new apartment with one roommate and in DC I lived in a 1900’s row home with 3 other roommates. Still loved the experience of living in an old row home full of history and stories. I did grow up in Plano TX where you can get a veryyyyy nice home for what a one bedroom condo would cost in DC. 🥲 that one is hard to get over but I’m willing to make it work because I love the area so much!

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rajits t1_jcp184q wrote

Compared to TX, the mass transit here is amazing. Compared to cities like New York or Chicago, the rail system here is sad.

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rajits t1_jcp24hb wrote

Replying to HereComesHR (#2,262,462)

  • The rates aren't flat, you pay somewhere between $2-5 for a one-way trip.
  • There aren't a lot of lines, or at least no loop. The system really exists just to get commuters in and out of the city
  • I often see tourists confused, and I can see why - it's not immediately clear which line you need to be on, or where you need to go
  • Why aren't Farragut West and Farragut North connected? It makes no sense. And if I enter a station and leave immediately, why am I still charged? The system knows exactly how long I was there.
  • Trains catch on fire more often than I would like.

In DC's defense, I will say that our rail system is better than either Houston or Atlanta.

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notevenapro t1_jcp2g9y wrote

I forget how spoiled I am to live in this area.

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rmm0484 t1_jcpbvh3 wrote

Replying to HereComesHR (#2,261,616)

When you come back, Annapolis is a short drive, and Ocean City, and Cape May are also great day trips from Washington, DC. Check out Williamsburg and Richmond also. So much to see! Also Manassas, Monticello, Arlington National Cemetery and Antietam for history buffs!

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[deleted] t1_jcpmy3q wrote

given the doom and gloom nature of this sub sometimes, I really love hearing this. Y'all come back now, y'hear.

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s-multicellular t1_jcpvqgm wrote

Replying to Tony0x01 (#2,264,084)

'wasn't unfamiliar'....sorry, confusing double negative. I could have been clearer.

Ya, 'The T' as we called it. It was just, not a pleasant experience. That was a long time ago and I may have been unconsciously influenced by my parents hating it. Though, I did visit as a teen and it was meh then too.

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JustPlaneNew t1_jcpweyg wrote

I'm glad you enjoyed some of what DC has to offer.

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gwenqueenofshadows t1_jcr5wuo wrote

You’ve gotta warn the other Texans when you’re coming next time so we can put in some orders for HEB seasonings, tortillas, etc.

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Quelcris_Falconer13 t1_jcrujnd wrote

Thanks! I think the problems DC has are the same as any American city, crime and car traffic. I don’t count that as a bad thing just a part of city living and it’s not bad here compared to other cities

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HereComesHR OP t1_jcs1lbq wrote

Replying to malhoward (#2,260,615)

Bummer about not finding the tunnels till the last day.

Sorry, didn’t mean to shit on TN. To be fair we were towards the end of a long trip so we may have just been ready to be home!

Loved the blue line. So wonderful! We have so many good memories of our trip.

Hope your trip was as great as ours!

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malhoward t1_jcsk385 wrote

Replying to HereComesHR (#2,267,646)

Oh I didn’t take the TN thing personally. I’m well aware that the best parts are not along the interstates. 😉 And I TOTALLY understand being ready to be home. We made our 7+ hour trip from DC with ONE stop.

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[deleted] t1_jctnlg6 wrote

Replying to Sekh765 (#2,268,694)

I mean, the best we have around here is El Sol or Guapo's so i'm always looking for an update. I'll take your word for it seeing as you're from Texas...I'll trust that palate!

Thanks again for the rec and have a great weekend!

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