For me this was a return to mostly familiar places, following my trip here in spring 2015. But for Val it was all new, and her first visit to the US for about 15 years. This was the first long non-cruise holiday that Val has done for a number of years, and knowing how much she has enjoyed the ease of cruising (get yourself to the ship and from then on you’re taken care of), I was wondering how much she would enjoy this one. Readers, she loved it, and is talking about returning.
So the executive summary is: we had a great holiday. The time in DC was enjoyable as were the days in Front Royal. The trip to Virginia Beach was – well, ‘interesting’, though some particular moments there were among the best of the holiday.
Looking back on it, it’s struck me that the things we enjoyed best were the more impromptu things. The plan (before we left) included walking the National Mall, visiting into one or more of the Smithsonian museums, and doing the Skyline Drive, and we did those and enjoyed them. But among the activities that we enjoyed most were the trips to the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) museum in DC; the visit to the Jamestown Settlement museum; and the walk around the historic houses of Front Royal in the rain! Then there was the hour’s walk along the beach at Virginia Beach, and later that day the visit to the interestingly-named Lager Heads bar and restaurant. All of these weren’t originally planned but turned out to be the highlights.
I’ve mentioned the driving and the use of phones, and these were an important part of the holiday. We booked a mid-sized SUV, and in the event that turned out to be a Kia Sportage. It was very comfortable and easy to drive, though not very economical – at the end of the trip the trip computer told me that I’d managed about 31mpg. However, that’s US gallons, not imperial gallons, and a US gallon is about 18% smaller than an imperial gallon. So I’d have managed maybe 36mpg on imperial gallons – not great, in fact.
Finally, I should say that we enjoyed our stays in the two B&Bs – Woodley Park Guest House in Washington and Woodward House in Front Royal. They were different – Woodley Park in DC was busy at breakfast time, as most of their guests are visiting DC on business, while Woodward House, given its location, caters almost solely to holiday-makers. But both ar excellent at what they do and gave us the opportunity to meet people and engage in conversation.
I did a number of detailed posts about this holiday, so here are some links to them:-
- Getting there;
- The days in Washington, first and subsequent;
- A wet day in Front Royal, and the Skyline Drive;
- Virginia Beach;
- Jamestown;
- The last day – a quick visit to a National Park site on the Potomac, and fun with aircraft at Dulles airport;
- And about using a US sim in a UK phone.