PhillySpeak.com

We have stayed in Philly most of the summer enjoying dinners with friends and getting work done around the house.

Since we have not been to Washington D.C. for far too many years, we thought a trip there would, much as a trip to Baltimore, Manhattan, or the shore, constitute and keep intact our staycation.

Not really a vacation but rather a weekend away.

It is so easy to forget Washington, with all it has to offer, is just a two hour drive. I did not keep strict track but I bet it took less than a full tank of gas. We even found a place on the way back where I filled the tank for $3.45 a gallon.

Oh! Please! do not think that was cheap. When GW began his administration we were assured by him, how he was an ‘oil man’, he and the dick Chancey. And they, for once, did not lie. They are oil men and gas was at $1.89 a gallon. They did their job for the folks who backed them. The folks with whom they will go home to roost.

So do not let me hear one of you say, Hey! I got gas cheap today at 3 whatever dollars a gallon. Do not get me started.

So.

We had a fairly traffic free drive into our hotel with good directions from Yahoo maps. Parking is expensive in D.C. You can park free on the weekends but we were unsure of the terms and the territory so we paid, too much, to have our car parked for the weekend.

Next time we will know better. But we felt safe our car would not be towed away or vandalized and be returned without broken windows etc. and it was. But next time we are parking on the street.

It costs almost as much to park the car as it does for a hotel room and I think the free parking on the street is only good from 6:30pm Friday until midnight Sunday.

We were very nearby Union Station a hub for public transportation throughout the city.

Union station is quite a place and should you have the time worth a visit and walk around. I always look at places in relationship to Philadelphia, so naturally, I am thinking about 30th street station. How can we borrow the good ideas of Union Station and put them to use in Philly.

Union station is something. It is filled with restaurants and shops and a heck of a lot of people go there who are not getting a train. It is a hub for the area and for tourists. Outside are many a tour bus and city bus waiting to take folks where they want to go.

Not speaking much French we found the Paris metro and even their bus system easy to use. Not so much the Washington metro. Not enough signs, not enough easy to read maps. How easy is it for visitors to use our Philadelphia subway and bus lines?

More on this staycation in Washington soon.