Pauline Frommer's Washington, D.C., 1st Edition

by James T. Yenckel; Series Editor: Pauline Frommer

• ISBN13: 9780470082966
• ISBN10: 0470082968
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-07-01
• Publisher: Frommers

Summary

Winner of Best Guidebook for 2006 from the North American Travel Journalists Association (Pauline Frommer's New York City)

Author Biography

Jim Yenckel was a writer and editor for the Washington Post for 33 years. For 16 years, he was The Post’s chief travel reporter, writing a weekly advice column distributed over the Los Angeles Times/Washington Post News Service wire. Subsequently, he has appeared in Arthur Frommer’s Budget Travel magazine, Newsweek, Preservation, Washingtonian Magazine, and NARFE, a magazine for federal employees. He also has written for the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Newsday, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Denver Post, Hartford Courant, and other newspapers. He currently writes a weekly travel column for the Washington Examiner and the Baltimore Examiner, and he can be heard monthly on WAMU-FM, a National Public Radio outlet in Washington. He received the Traveler’s Advocate Award of the American Society of Travel Agents and a Silver Lowell Thomas Award from the Society of American Travel Writers Foundation. His guidebook to the Mid-Atlantic Region earned him the Travel Writer of the Year Award from the State of Maryland. Born in Omaha, he attended school in Nebraska and California. He is a graduate in Spanish American history from the University of California at Berkeley, where he served a term as editorin-chief of the Daily Californian, the student newspaper. After college, he received a fellowship from the Inter-American Press Association for a year’s study at the University of Chile in Santiago. While in Santiago, he served as managing editor of the South Pacific Mail, a weekly English-language newspaper. He has traveled in more than 80 countries and all 50 states. After an assignment as The Post’s night foreign editor, he obtained a year’s leave of absence in 1972 and backpacked solo around the world mostly by bus and train, visiting 30 countries in Europe and Asia. Earlier in his career, he circled the United States on a 99-day/$99 Greyhound Bus pass. His most recent adventure, to celebrate the conclusion of this guide, was to hike the rigorous 21-mile rim-to-rim trail in Grand Canyon National Park. He lives in Washington with his wife Sandy, who is also an avid traveler.

Table of Contents

A Note from Pauline	p. 1
Washington Is My Home	p. 2
Sights You Gotta See	p. 3
Things You Gotta Do	p. 4
Dining for Every Taste	p. 4
Uncommon Lodgings	p. 4
Finest "Other" Experiences	p. 6
Lay of the Land	p. 7
Washington's Logical Street Plan (and Why It Baffles Visiting Motorists)	p. 7
Getting around in the City	p. 11
And Now, the Liveliest Neighborhoods of Washington	p. 16
And Two More	p. 24
Accommodations, Both Standard and Not	p. 26
Alternative Accommodations	p. 27
Washington Hotels	p. 41
Low Cost Specialty Lodgings	p. 51
Hostels	p. 52
Dining Choices	p. 54
Dining on the Mall-Where to Make the Most of Your Limited Time	p. 56
Capitol Hill	p. 59
Downtown	p. 63
Penn Quarter/Chinatown	p. 66
Dupont Circle	p. 70
Adams Morgan	p. 71
U Street Corridor	p. 73
Logan Circle/14th Street	p. 76
Georgetown (and Glover Park, Right Next Door)	p. 76
Tenleytown	p. 79
Remarkable Sights & Attractions	p. 81
Getting Organized	p. 81
Make the Best Use of Limited Time, with 1-, 2-, and 3-Day Itineraries to the Essential Washington	p. 82
Washington's 8 Iconic Sights	p. 85
Iconic Museums	p. 104
Eight More Very Important Sights	p. 108
The Smithsonian Institution's Other Important Museums	p. 116
Washington's World Class Art Museums	p. 121
Museums and Attractions for Visitors with Specialized Interests	p. 122
Five More Memorials You'll Want to See	p. 126
Historic Houses and the Fascinating Folks Who Lived in Them	p. 128
Washington's Architectural Standouts	p. 131
Especially for Kids	p. 133
Washington by Escorted Tour, Including Some Offbeat Ways to Go	p. 136
The 'Other' Washington	p. 144
How We Learn	p. 144
How We Work	p. 149
How We Relax	p. 156
Outdoor Washington	p. 161
Outdoor Spaces for Active People	p. 161
Outdoor Spaces for the Not So Active	p. 165
The City As Outdoor Sculpture Garden	p. 166
Recreational Sports	p. 170
Spectator Sports	p. 173
Walkabouts	p. 177
Attention Shoppers!	p. 217
Where to Spend	p. 217
Washington's 8 Top Shopping/Browsing Areas	p. 219
Individual Stores You Will Want to Visit	p. 225
Washington After Dark	p. 242
Live Theater, the City's Top Entertainment Buy	p. 242
Classical Music of All Stripes	p. 251
More Live Diversions	p. 254
Bars and Dance Clubs	p. 257
Gay Nightlife	p. 262
Get Out of Town	p. 264
Mount Vernon	p. 264
Shenandoah National Park	p. 270
Gettysburg	p. 272
Down Colonial Lanes	p. 275
The Essentials of Planning	p. 278
Other Information Sources	p. 278
When to Visit	p. 278
Washington's Major Annual Events	p. 280
Entry Requirements for Non-American Citizens	p. 284
Customs Regulations for International Visitors	p. 285
Finding a Good Airfare to Washington, D.C.	p. 286
Traveling Beyond Washington to Other American Destinations	p. 287
Should You Buy Travel Insurance?	p. 289
Getting from the Airport	p. 290
What to Wear	p. 291
Money Matters	p. 292
Tipping and Taxes	p. 292
Is It Safe?	p. 294
What if I Get Sick?	p. 294
Staying Wired while You're Away	p. 295
Travelers with Special Needs	p. 295
Washington Books for the Well-Prepared Visitor	p. 297
Index	p. 301
Accommodations	p. 310
Restaurants	p. 310
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.