As I described earlier, we took an Amtrak vacation recently which included time in Washington DC as well as in Pigeon Forge TN where we visited the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. This post will address the Washington DC leg of our trip. First let me say GMG Jim is a great DC tour guide so if you have questions for him, reach out.
We took the Amtrak from South Station to Union Station in DC which was about an 8 hour ride. It’s very similar to airplane travel without the hassle of TSA checks. You are told your luggage is limited like on an airline but no one seemed to be chcecking that. We opted for coach seating which meant no assigned seats. That worked our for us even though the train was quite full on that Monday morning. There are some limited food options but don’t expect a scenic ride because it really wasn’t that.
Amtrak set us up in a nice downtown hotel within walking distance to public transportation as well as popular sights. We visited the Zoo, Air and Space, American History, Museum of the American Indian, Botanical Garden, and several monuments (monuments tour inlcuded in this trip)…all with no admission charges though some required timed ticket entries so check on that. I HIGHLY recommend visiting the monuments at night. They are very striking.
The city is mostly clean and feels safe. We only saw the National Guard at Union Station otherwise no active presence visible to us but we felt very secure and safe. If you haven’t visited the nation’s capital city, it should be near the top of your list. Here’s some of what we saw there:
Good Morning Gloucester 