Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: EskimoJoe on February 07, 2010, 11:39:35 PM
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Hey all, I'm heading off to D.C. for spring break this year to visit my father. We've made some plans to hit up the Air and Space museum, as well as a handful of other places. I'm wondering if any of you could suggest a few good local places to eat would be, and maybe some rather unknown goodies in the area.
Thanks!
-E.Jay
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well i saw on a episode of Man vs Food just alittle north of DC there is a place called Chick & Ruth’s Delly (Annapolis, MD) they have a eating challenge you'll get your name and pic on the wall if you can finish a 6lbs milkshake and a 1.5lb burger in under a hour! you should do it!!
Also a tip, If you want to tour the Capital building or the Washington Monument (i highly recommend you go up the monument its amazing) you MUST get tickets in advance.
When you visit the National Air and Space museum i believe there is a bus that will take you to the Udvar-Hazy museum in Chanitlly, VA ( i think the bus is free but i am not for sure) they have the Enola Gay, the Space Shuttle, and various WWI - Present Day aircraft.
If you happen to see 4 US Government helicopters flying in a group your possibly looking at Obama
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The natural history museam is right across the mall from the air and space building. Well worth the walk. The zoo in DC is also worth the trip. Those 3 things alone will take a couple of days to see. :salute
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Get some crab cakes from the kiosks around the mall.
The FDR memorial is pretty neat and worth checking out.
If I remember right there's a good barbeque place on the hill there called something like Hogs on the Hill, though it's been a few years since I've been there and it may not be there any longer. Lots of good seafood places on the river too.
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http://www.visitingdc.com/virginia/dulles-air-space-museum.htm (http://www.visitingdc.com/virginia/dulles-air-space-museum.htm)
:airplane: :joystick: :aok
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Swing by my apt, (walking distance to air and space) I'll cook up some tenderloin the grill. :rock
Also, I would second checking out American History and Natural History across the mall from A & S , both have all sorts of eye candy that will keep you occupied should you have crappy weather. Old town Alexandria and Anapolis are both nice areas to wander about if you want to get a bit outside of the district. As for unknown goodies, to be honest there aren't too many that aren't well documented around here. I can however tell you that Ben's Chili Bowl is overrated. (ducks)
If you happen to see 4 US Government helicopters flying in a group your possibly looking at Obama
3. :aok
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Its about an hour from DC but Ft McHenry is interesting.........Check out the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier as well in Arlington :salute
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Hey all, I'm heading off to D.C. for spring break this year to visit my father. We've made some plans to hit up the Air and Space museum, as well as a handful of other places. I'm wondering if any of you could suggest a few good local places to eat would be, and maybe some rather unknown goodies in the area.
Thanks!
-E.Jay
Air & Space - all the Smith, in fact, is excellent.
However, if you are limited to a single museum, I would go to the Udvar-Hazy Center. http://www.nasm.si.edu/UdvarHazy/
The Mall A&S location has some great aircraft on display (Spit, 109G, P51D, Zeke) but the UH Center collection is immense - far more airplanes and many of them extremely rare - if not the sole surviving examples.
Cut and past from the website; some of the WWII highlights.
Arado Ar 234 B Blitz
Boeing B-29 Superfortress "Enola Gay"
Curtiss P-40E Kittyhawk
Dornier Do 335A-1 Pfeil
Focke-Wulf Fw 190 F
Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat
Hawker Hurricane Mk.IIC
Heinkel He 219 fuselage
Junkers Ju 52/3m
Kawanishi N1K2-Ja Shiden Kai "George"
Kawasaki Ki-45 Toryu "Nick"
Lockheed P-38J Lightning
Nakajima J1N1-S Gekko "Irving"
Northrop P-61C Black Widow
Republic P-47D Thunderbolt
Vought F4U-1D Corsair
They also have an extensive collection of... well... everything. WWI to the SR71 to the JSF to the Shuttle. Gun/missile displays, engine displays, etc, etc, etc. Great way to spend the day. Its near Dullus - about a 15 minute drive from the Beltway on 267.
Here are a bunch of pictures that were taken by a friend of mine last time I was there. Also included are some of the Changing of the Guard at ANC. One of the group was a tomb guard-relation and was able to get us into the barracks. Great experience.
http://s572.photobucket.com/albums/ss168/catseyeweb/DC%20Trip/?albumview=slideshow
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Check out the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier as well in Arlington :salute
Everyone should do this at least once. Arlington is a very moving place to visit.
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eskimohojo is obama ur daddy?! tell him i says hi and i wont miss him when he gets booted outta office fer palin. :cheers: i joke. ducks at skuzzys ban bat hope you have a great time eskimo be careful checkout the lincoln memorial and the smithonian. <S>
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Definately try the crab cakes if you've never had them before.
I liked the Lincoln memorial, and the Vietnam and Korean memorials are right there. Haven't been since the WW2 was done. That is all considered 'the mall', but it might be pretty cold for a foot tour. Also on the mall you can see Washington momument, white house off to the side, capitol hill. Across the way is the Jefferson and FDR.
Tomb of the unknown soldier is at Arlington cemetary, which is a sight to behold. I believe every day at the tomb they do a color guard tribute (not sure what you call that). Much of it used to be Robert E. Lee's land, which is an interesting snippet. Also, part of the fence to the cemetary is actually made of the gun barrells of confiscated confederate arms....but just looking you would think it a wrought iron fence...found that neat. Close by is the eternal flame of Kennedy.
Next time I go I would take a paid tour by bus, plus you can stay warm. For years I've gone places and tried to do it alone with a brouchure...Im all about paid tours now, you just get so much more out of it.
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Definately try the crab cakes if you've never had them before.
Hey!!! We are talking about DC....not Maryland :aok
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Well it's right there and all...
Actually I've had some really excellent crab cakes in DC. I used to go there all the time, had a good friend who was a tour guide at the capitol building for years. I couldn't tell any difference between the Maryland crab cakes and the DC ones. We just can't seem to get a decent crab cake here in Tulsa.
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However, if you are limited to a single museum, I would go to the Udvar-Hazy Center. http://www.nasm.si.edu/UdvarHazy/
What he said.
I saw a lot of the sights when I was in DC for a week, but the Udvar Hazy was unforgettable. I wish I could have spent a full day or two there
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What he said.
I saw a lot of the sights when I was in DC for a week, but the Udvar Hazy was unforgettable. I wish I could have spent a full day or two there
the Observation Tower is my favorite part.
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The Arado really amazed me.
Tons of things to do here in DC. remember the Metro rail is YOUR FREIND!!. Its very easy to get around >>>>> http://www.dcmetromap.net. Just remember most of the places close at 5pm so try to plan your day before you go out. The Spy museum is pretty cool and if you have some $$$, some nice restaurants around that area.
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Tomb of the unknown soldier is at Arlington cemetary, which is a sight to behold. I believe every day at the tomb they do a color guard tribute (not sure what you call that). Much of it used to be Robert E. Lee's land, which is an interesting snippet. Also, part of the fence to the cemetary is actually made of the gun barrells of confiscated confederate arms....but just looking you would think it a wrought iron fence...found that neat. Close by is the eternal flame of Kennedy.
You are probably referring to the "Changing of the Guard." It occurs once every 60 minutes, IIRC.
ANC is full of little interesting tidbits of information. I didnt know about the gun barrels/fence.
Last I was there, one in the group asked about some of the unusual headstones. I never thought about it, but if you go, take note of how nearly 100% of the Confederate headstones are "pointed" at the top.
This, we were told, was done upon request so that "the Union could not sit on top of them." :neener:
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When buying crabcakes, don't go to cheap places, expect to pay $20 a plate and enjoy the good ones.
If you are posting here, you're probably a fan of aviation, so the Air and Space museum makes sense. However, I really enjoyed the natural science museum too.
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ANC is full of little interesting tidbits of information. I didnt know about the gun barrels/fence.
Last I was there, one in the group asked about some of the unusual headstones. I never thought about it, but if you go, take note of how nearly 100% of the Confederate headstones are "pointed" at the top.
I wonder why that is?
Someone told me about the gun barrell fence when driving by, but I'm not sure I read it anywhere or heard it from an authority, so I hope I am correct about that.
Here a neat tidbit on cemetaries, I visited the cemetary at Omaha beach in Normandy France (twice).
All of the headstones face west, towards the USA that the men buried there were from, but would never return to. I found that moving, mostly because someone at sometime thought to do that.
Also moving is that the French make us pay for the upkeep to show their gratitude...I heard.
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Quite a few people have already mentioned it. Arlington National Cemetery is very moving. They do offer tours for the historic significance.
When I was stationed at Henderson Hall, I used to take my lunches there on the nice days. It's a part of my life I will always remember.
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Hey bud...I've lived in DC for the past 7 years.
These are my suggestions-
Visit: Any Smithsonian - You've already paid for them with your tax dollars and they are fantastic. Of them I suggest you hit up-
Air & Space - Udva Hazy Center by Dulles... much cooler than the one on the mall though that one is good too. The UH Center is free but it costs $15 to park there. Or they run a shuttle back and forth from the A&S located on the mall that is free.
American History Museum is awesome, and also right on the mall.
The National Archive - a place EVERY American should visit. Inspiring and really cool. DO IT!
Arlington National Cemetery
The Vietnam / Korean / WWII / Lincoln & Jefferson Memorials.
The National Holocaust Museum. Absolutely devastating and worth seeing. (You have to pay to see it though)
http://www.ushmm.org/
The International Spy Museum - This is a privately owned place but cool to visit and has tons of cool insights on espionage and lots of cool spy toys. Pretty much all the stuff you've seen on James Bond is in there - except this stuff is the real deal.
http://spymuseum.org/
Where to Eat:
DC has ton of great places to eat. That said... YOU HAVE TO GO TO BEN'S CHILI BOWL.
Ben's Chili Bowl : A DC treasure and worth waiting for (and yes you will most likely have to wait but do it)
http://www.benschilibowl.com/ordereze/default.aspx
As far as other places to go... check out the restaurants near the Verizon Center. There are a ton of good places to go near there.
Anyway - have fun and take a ton of pics :)