ChiefNWA

College Vacation: The U.S. Capitol

The day? Wednesday October 31st. A friend of mine asks me a question. Have you ever been to the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C.? I respond with no. Last time I was on DC, in 2009, we saw and did everything there was to do minus that museum. So that's is how this trip began. A simple question that later led to a short vacation. This is my trip report for my recent trip to the United States Capitol. Hope you enjoy!

Tampa International Airport (TPA), Tampa, Florida
Saturday, November 3, 2012 at 7:15AM

The night prior to our trip we decided to stay in the Doubletree near the Tampa Airport. Mainly due to our cheapness and willingness to avoid paying for parking at the airport. So, I took the 7:00AM shuttle to TPA to catch my flight to Atlanta at 8:30AM. I made my way to the gate where a Delta 757-300 was waiting to take me to Atlanta.


Overall, I'd say this was a great flight. I had the entire exit row to myself and was able to spread out and relax and get some shut eye to prepare for the long day in DC. This was the first time I saw the new Delta safety video on board. I gotta say, I was impressed that they were able to get laughs out of the passengers. This flight went out quite empty. First was full and there were about 65 open seats in Economy.

Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson International Airport (ATL), Atlanta, Georgia
Saturday, November 3, 2012 at 10:00AM

Upon landing in Atlanta I was going to run over to the new F concourse to see how nice it is. However, I was quite hungry so I thought I'd stop, get some food and head over to the flight to DCA. Plus, my connecting flight was going out of T, the complete opposite side of the airport. This is the kind of connection I love. A quick one hour switch.


Even though this flight wasn't full either (about 35 open coach seats) I was given an aisle. I decided just to keep it and use this flight to sleep so I could be ready when I get to DC. Luckily there was no one in the center seat on this flight so I wasn't bunched up. After some time flying, we finally landed in DC less than 6 hours after I left Tampa.

Washington Ronald Reagan National Airport (DCA), Arlington, Virginia
Saturday, November 3, 2012 at 1:00PM

Our flight landed a bit early in the DC area. I was waiting for a friend arriving from a nonstop US Airways flight from TPA to land at 2:00PM so I decided to walk around, get some pictures and browse the internet. I happened to also see the President heading back to the White House in his helicopters.

Washington, D.C.

We had limited time in the DC area so we had to make the most of it. The main reason for flying to DC was to visit the Holocaust Museum. So, after taking the shuttle from DCA to the Doubletree Crystal City Hotel and checking in, we walked over to the subway station and headed for the Smithsonian stop. By 2:45PM we had made it to the museum. To be respectful, I didn't snap any pictures while inside the museum but one, mainly because it was at the end and I really liked the quote. After the museum, we decided to walk around the National Mall. First starting at the Washington Monument we headed to the World War II Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, Reflecting Pool and the Korean War Veterans Memorial. At about 7:00PM, we decided to call it quits for the day and head back to Crystal City to get a bite eat at Buffalo Wild Wings. And I had some online homework due at midnight that I had to complete. Overall, I'd say our day in DC went just, if not more successful, then expected. Enjoy the pictures!

ChiefNWA

ChiefNWA

Washington Ronald Reagan National Airport (DCA), Arlington, Virginia
Sunday, November 4, 2012 at 5:15AM

Upon arriving at the airport via the first morning shuttle from the Doubletree I chose to quickly make my way through security and head to gate 18 for my first flight to Memphis. I was a bit excited to go to Memphis again as I hadn't been there since early 2009. I was curious to see how busy the airport would be. The flight today was quite empty (5 First and 115 coach open) so boarding commenced only 20 minutes prior to departure.


I was quite happy to get first class again. Normally, I average about 50% of my flights in first class so after two flights in economy, it was time to be up front haha. I gathered some blankets on this flight and passed out since I had only gotten four hours of sleep the night prior. Before I knew it, we were descending into Memphis.

Memphis International Airport, Memphis, Tennessee
Sunday, November 4, 2012 at 7:45AM

After landing in Memphis I made my way to Corky's to get some breakfast then walked to gate B38 to wait out the time for my flight to Tampa, on another A320 (I'm getting tired of them now). Memphis was a ghost town until the other flights started arriving. Plus they had the majority of the flights (SLC, MSP, LAS, TPA, MCO) all going out of the same area so it became quite hectic when they were all boarding at the same time. Needless to say, I enjoyed my time in Memphis and just took advantage of it as MEM will sooner or later, be downgraded from a Delta hub.


I was once again happy to get first class on this flight, however it was an aisle preventing me from getting any pictures. The flight went smooth and quick. I actually ended up sitting next to another nonrev that both my parents knew from when they worked in CLE in the early 1980's. Besides that, this was your basic takeoff and land kinda flight. The load was full in first and about 30 coach available.

Tampa International Airport (TPA), Tampa , Florida
Sunday, November 4, 2012 at 11:15AM

We landed a bit early but I quickly made my way to baggage claim where I met up with my friend who once again flew nonstop and had arrived about 20 minutes before me. This marked the end of our weekend in DC.



On a side note, expect a few more trip reports from me in the coming weeks. I'm going to get some done from the summer (Peru and Canada) then probably the ones from earlier this year (NYC and Boston). I did quite a bit of flying last weekend just for fun so I'll be getting that report up next. This upcoming weekend will be crazy. I'm currently scheduled TPA-MSP-SFO on Friday, SFP-SLC-JAC-SLC-LAS-LAX-SFO on Saturday, then SFO-LAX-TPA on Sunday night. So, expect many more reports from me from now on. Thanks!

blr1222

Great pictures! Glad you got to see the Holocaust Museum.

Wiirachay

Thanks for sharing. It was great to get a tour of DC. (Note in my profile where I live now.) I've been meaning to go to the Holocaust Museum for years.

blackmamba

Great pictures! DC is certainly the best place for any vacation.

toophatboy

Thanks was very nice quick report! i like that American flag next to the monument. fantastic!!

ChiefNWA

Thanks everyone. If you haven't gotten to the Holocaust Museum yet I highly suggest going. Its very interesting and extremely in depth.

CX828

Very nice TR! I am going to DC in January for the day, so it is nice to see some pics of the city!!

You want to go where?

Great TR! When I first saw the title, I thought it was a criticism of the current Congress, but I realized I was in the Trip Reports Forum, not OMNI!

N830MH

Wow! What a fabulous TR!!! I'm glad you had a great time. Enjoy the flight. Hope you enjoy for your stay.

ironmanjt

Yup same - the District/DC is the "capital" but the building where congress meets is the "capitol." Just a little pet peeve of a local.

Nice report, and I'm jealous how often you see first as a DL nonrev. I think I've seen it in 1 of the last 50 flights I've been on.

ChiefNWA

Thanks alot!

Fixed it to "capital" haha.



Just a bit of info, I'm working on a few more trip reports from over the summer. My Peru and Canada trips should be up by the end of the week. Peru probably today though. New York and Boston will get up sometime next week or the week after depending on the time I have. I flew TPA-LGA-BUF-DTW-MDW-DTW-LAX-TPA two weeks ago so I'll get that one up to. This weekend I'm heading out to SFO so that'll be queued up too.

Non-NonRev

Excellent report, outstanding photography. You have a good eye for "framing the shot" in your photos. I'm looking forward to the other reports ^

(PS what camera did you use)?

ChiefNWA

Thanks, I use a Sony A200 with the stock 18-70mm lens and an additional 55-200mm lens. I'm looking at upgrading to a Canon 60D though in the near future.