Washington D.C. (including Baltimore) - Where to meet up between DC proper and IAD?

In a couple of weeks, I'm going to be in Staunton, VA (about 3 hours SW) for a few days with my 2yo daughter, returning to LAX via IAD. We have an 8am flight out from IAD on 7/20. I have a good friend who lives in DC that we would like to meet up with at a mutually convenient place somewhere in-between. We're staying at the Hyatt Dulles that night. We hope to get back to the Dulles area from Staunton by 4 or 5 pm, check into the hotel, and then meet up with the friend so that we're back at the hotel by 10pm or so. Both the friend and I will have cars.

Any thoughts on where we should meet up? I'm not sure what the rush hour traffic patterns are, but I'd like to minimize the amount that either of us sit in traffic.

I'm afraid one or both of you will get stuck in traffic that time of day.

In terms of places in between that have a somewhat reasonable assortment of restaurants, there's the Reston Town Center area (closer to IAD than to DC), the old town section of Herndon (again, closer to IAD), the Market Commons complex in Fairfax, parts of Falls Church. The halfway point is probably somewhere around the border between Fairfax County and Arlington.

Are you looking for something specific to do?

Not looking for anything specific to do, just have dinner at someplace decent and have someplace safe to walk around afterwards.

Just out of curiosity, how long would you expect it to take to drive into, say, the Federal Triangle area at 5 or 6pm on a Monday from IAD?

In theory, that'd be going the opposite way of most traffic, so it might not be too bad, but 5 to 6 is the height of rush hour in D.C., so who knows?

So what constitutes "not too bad"? 45 minutes? An hour?

I'd say about 45 minutes if you don't hit much traffic. The problem in D.C., of course, is that the traffic is horrible, and not always in ways one would expect. I've been stuck in parking lot conditions on I-95 on a Sunday afternoon.

If you're going to do this, though, you'd definitely be better off going in than having your friend come out. Your friend will certainly be stuck in traffic, whereas you might or might not be.

I don't typically try to drive into the city from that direction, so maybe someone with more personal experience can chime in.

Another option might be to drive to an outlying Metro, and take that in. There's a stop at Federal Triangle. The East Falls Church Metro has parking, and you could take the Dulles toll road (mostly against traffic) almost all of the way there. It's an option to explore, anyway... I've never tried it personally. Definitely don't just take my word for it.

I'd say about 45 minutes if you don't hit much traffic. The problem in D.C., of course, is that the traffic is horrible, and not always in ways one would expect. I've been stuck in parking lot conditions on I-95 on a Sunday afternoon.

If you're going to do this, though, you'd definitely be better off going in than having your friend come out. Your friend will certainly be stuck in traffic, whereas you might or might not be.

I don't typically try to drive into the city from that direction, so maybe someone with more personal experience can chime in.

5 to 6 pm on a weekday is the delightful time when traffic coming from 267 (Dulles Toll Road and access road) merges onto I-66 eastbound right after the exit for Rt. 7 (exit number 66). There is another merge from 3 to 2 lanes at exit 69. The bottleneck here can vary from not too terrible to horrendous, depending on luck, phases of the moon, etc. I can't speak for the portion past Rosslyn on to Federal Triangle. Of course, as the above poster mentioned, this is still a better option than your friend driving westbound (unless they have a hybrid). I'll leave the meeting point recommendations to others, unless you're looking for a particular restaurant genre.

Of course, as the above poster mentioned, this is still a better option than your friend driving westbound (unless they have a hybrid).

Or one of these (http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-20009240-71.html) ;)

In a couple of weeks, I'm going to be in Staunton, VA (about 3 hours SW) for a few days with my 2yo daughter, returning to LAX via IAD. We have an 8am flight out from IAD on 7/20. I have a good friend who lives in DC that we would like to meet up with at a mutually convenient place somewhere in-between. We're staying at the Hyatt Dulles that night. We hope to get back to the Dulles area from Staunton by 4 or 5 pm, check into the hotel, and then meet up with the friend so that we're back at the hotel by 10pm or so. Both the friend and I will have cars.

Any thoughts on where we should meet up? I'm not sure what the rush hour traffic patterns are, but I'd like to minimize the amount that either of us sit in traffic.

Your friend will be paying the price for leaving DC during rush hour. I'd recommend either somewhere in the Tysons Corner area, or (giving your friend some leeway with the traffic) somewhere in Arlington like Clarendon or Ballston. Lots of restaurants in both parts of Arlington.

As someone who used to do more or less that reverse commute trip on a daily basis (and my boyfriend still does it), I'd say from Dulles to Federal Triangle at 5 or 6pm would be one hour on a good day, two hours on a bad one. An hour and fifteen minutes probably isn't a bad average to bet on.

Meeting in the Clarendon/Ballston corridor is an excellent idea, especially if your friend is willing to skip the car entirely and metro there. That spares you any potential bottlenecks on the bridges into DC.

Any thoughts on where we should meet up? I'm not sure what the rush hour traffic patterns are, but I'd like to minimize the amount that either of us sit in traffic.

McLean pops into my mind. You could drive straight out the toll road and exit onto the second Rt. 123 exit. You'd be going against traffic. Your friend would have to drive across Chain Bridge -- not exactly easy that time of day, but not the worst drive in DC rush hour, either. S/he would avoid Arlington and the Tyson's Corner mess.

While the McLean dining scene isn't exactly terrific, there are three decent restaurants (in order of my preference):
1. Kazan Restaurant - Turkish and Mediterranean, often has excellent, fresh fish. http://kazanrestaurant.com/

2. Pulcinella - Basic Italian. http://www.pulcinellarestaurant.com/

3. J. Gilbert's - Steakhouse, seems to do well, but I think they are a little overrated. http://www.jgilberts.com/Home.aspx?LocationID=823

I would only suggest Arlington if you could both take Metro.

Thanks to all for the suggestions so far (anyone who hasn't yet weighed in should feel free to add their thoughts). My mouth is watering over the Turkish restaurant in McLean, but I'm not sure what my friend will think :)

Given what everyone has said, perhaps we'll go in a little bit later, or drive to a metro and take the metro in. My daughter's naptime and temperament may end up dictating the timing of things.

I'd go with Tysons or Ballston/Clarendon, maybe Falls Church ... you really do not want to drive into the city as you'll have nowhere to leave your car, and the meters now run until 10ish which is just a major pain (when you can find a spot). Metro is a pain but has it's uses on occasion.

A warning for Tysons as noted above is the construction has made traffic horrendous, I would stay close to/in the malls and not venture much further unless you want to sit for awhile. Especially during rush hour, but at anytime it can be nasty there.

If your friend is on his/her own, then they are not HOV and will not be able to use Route 66 to exit DC, instead they'll likely use 29 or 50 (or drive up to 123 if you're going with McLean/Tysons) -- those options are good for the clarendon/ballston area

If your friend is coming from the Federal Triangle metro (presumably where they work) the best answer might be to have them metro out to East or West Falls Church and you pick them up there and go to Tyson's or one of the places mentioned in McLean and then if they are going back into the city you can drop them off at the metro after dinner.