Travels with Tish Girlfriends’ Getaway Guide

Midwest Airlines and PayPal have teamed up to help you get away to your favorite destination with an extra $50 in your pocket. It’s too good to pass up this summer. Midwest has no blackout dates, either. That’s $50 off per ticket on your reservation. So if 4 of you fly, you’ll save $200! Like I said — too good to pass up! You’ll need to purchase your tickets online and use the special promo code. Get that promo code here and get away for a few days with your friends.

It’s not out of the question — you can still fly for the July 4th holiday at great faresl Midwest Airlines is trying to keep flying affordable. Check out Midwest Airlines special offer for this weekend’s holiday. Fares are as low as $218 roundtrip.

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Plus — and only on Midewest Airlines — you can save an additional $50 if you purchase tickets with PayPal!

Don’t pass this up! Book now and get your holiday trip going!

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You certainly don’t need a car in Washington. Plenty of transportation options, but you’ll probably cover a lot of ground on foot as well.

We found the cabs reasonable. $16 from the airport to our hotel several blocks off the National Mall. From Georgetown to our hotel, just $10.

Shuttle Tours. We decided to buy a tour trolley ticket for the day — you can also buy for 2 days. Old Town Trolley – $32 for the day — has 3 routes — you can get on and off as you please and change routes as well. The only problem we found was that the trolley stop was still a good distance from the building or memorial we wanted to see. And it ran every 30 minutes, so if you missed one, you wasted a significant amount of time waiting for the next one.

Another similar service is Tourmobile Sightseeing. The route is not as extensive, but it does drive through Arlington National Cemetery — which is a big plus. Appears to be $20 for the day with free reboarding. Both tour services offer moonlight tours to see the memorials illuminated at night. I’d highly recommend a tour service like one of these to get you around town most efficiently.

Walk. Walk. Walk. Make no mistake — you’re going to need excellent walking shoes. There is a tremendous amount of walking — from bus stops to buildings, up stairs, down stairs, across cobblestone paths, up hills, down hills. That seems to be the only way to see the great things in D.C.

Some of My Favorite Places.

• Holocaust Museum. Probably the most moving historical site I have ever experienced. I’ve been there twice. Don’t pass it by just because you may not be of Jewish heritage. Check it out online before you go for hours, tour times.

• National Cathedral. Magnificent. Massive.
• Arlington National Cemetery. Its size and the number buried there will astound you. Its particular memorials will bring tears to your eyes. Not only the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers, but John & Jackie Kennedy’s graves alongside their two infant children, Bobby Kennedy’s ultra-modest white cross on the side of the hill. Then there’s the sound you’ll hear of the bagpiper signalling the end of yet another funeral or the clippety-clop sound of the black horses drawing a flag-draped caisson. I suggest using the tourmobile available at the cemetery — it’s very hilly terrain.

• National Gallery of Art. Encompasses several buildings and sculpture gardens.
• Viet Nam Memorial. Still an emotional site.
• White House. At least from the fenceline. Tours must be arranged months ahead through your Congressman.
• Albert Einstein Statue. Just fun.

There’s way more to do in Washington (and around Washington) than you’ll ever have time for. Plan some “must-see” places for your trip so that you can enjoy your time there and not feel like you have to see it all in a day or two.

TIP: I wouldn’t bother with the White House Visitor Center (about 2 blocks away form The White House). Not much there. We thought it just wasted our time.

Holocaust Museum PhotoCredit: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

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Besides shopping and dining, Georgetown is rich in history. First, all the homes in Georgetown are locked in time — they cannot have the exteriors altered and must be maintained in their original appearance. You’ll notice that the homes don’t even have storm windows — historic preservation takes precedence over energy savings.

JFK’s Home. One of the neighborhood’s most prominent residents was Senator John F. Kennedy back in the 1950s. He and Jackie lived at 3307 N Street. Other residents include Madeleine Albright, John Kerry and George Stephanopoulos. Oh yes, and Francis Scott Key called Georgetown home in the 1700s.

You might want to visit the campus of Georgetown University, Dumbarton Oaks (where the U.N. got its start), Tudor Place, or the Kreeger Museum of art. You’ll find about 4,000 buildings in the Georgetown historic district. If you’re interested in the history of the Underground Railroad, you’ll want to visit Mt. Zion United Methodist Church which was a stop on that route.

Getting To and From Georgetown. Transportation options between Georgetown and Union Station include the DC Circulator bus. You’ll find Union Station just a couple of blocks from the Capitol and the National Mall. Besides being a famous railroad station, Union Station also offers shopping and dining. The Green Route on the Old Town Trolley Tour will get you to Georgetown as well. (You can tour the Washington area, getting on and off as much as you’d like for $32/day — or buy online in advance for a discount.)

NEXT: Options for getting around The National Mall and Memorials

Photo of DuPont Circle (near Georgetown) courtesy of William Geiger/Cultural Tourism DC .

Photo of Washington National Cathedral courtesy of cathedral.org

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If you have any inclination to take a fun shopping getaway before Christmas, NOW is the time to act! Midwest Airlines just released a short-term sale that will get you to great shopping cities at an unbelieveable fare. The news of the sale came through this morning in its weekly fare special e-mail.

Kansas City to New York is just $148! Washington, D.C. is $149 ! San Antonio, Atlanta, Boston — $158! These are ROUNDTRIP fares!

Milwaukee to New York is just $138. Washington, D.C. and Boston — $148. San Antonio is $159. Kansas City is $99. All Roundtrip!

Omaha to New York is $169 RT. Washington, D.C. is $149 roundtrip.

So many cities are included in this special sale and you should know that some of them do start at $99 roundtrip. That leaves  a whole lot more cash in your pocket for shopping and hotel!

Here’s the deal: You must travel between November 28 and December 12. Perfect dates for Christmas shopping! Buy your ticket before December 5 — today is best if you want to ensure you get seats at these terrific rates! (You know that airline seats at the very best fares are always limited.) And you have to stay over a Friday or Saturday night. No problem — there’s lots to do in New York,  D.C., San Antonio, Kansas City and Milwaukee!

Click here for the details on these fares. Use promo code GGG if you do book tickets (so Midwest will know you heard about the deal here). Then call your girlfriends, pull out your weekender bag and get your shopping list ready. What a fun and spontaneous way to get your holiday shopping done!

Check my postings on New York, Washington (Georgetown), Kansas City , San Antonio and Milwaukee for some getaway recommendations. Then check  the special offers and discounts (on the right sidebar) available for you in some of these cities. And, by the way, please do report back on your getaway experience! We’d love to hear what you liked best!

Sandy and I decided that the next getaway we take to Washington is going to be more about exploring Georgetown with less focus on “seeing it all” in Washington. “Seeing it all” is hard work! We’ll pick out 3-4 Washington sites that we really want to see and then spend more time relaxing, dining and shopping so that we can feel truly re-energized after our getaway. I’m sure Georgetown has a spa or two that we could also enjoy.

We arrived in Georgetown on the trolley tour as part of our full-day ticket. It was early on a Friday evening when we dined at Sequoia overlooking the Potomac. A beautiful view and a wonderful restaurant that was recommended to me by Mary Jo Manzanares, author of Fly Away Cafe travel blog. Menu items included Pumpkin Bisque with creme fraiche ($7.95). Autumn Apple Salad ($8.50). Homemade Duck and Pine Nut Dumplings. All very, very good. Pasta and entree salads were about $16. Kobe Beef Steak ($23.95) Pretty reasonable prices for excellent food. We both chose the Kobe Beef Slider Trio — three small, plump, freshly ground burgers surrounded with the the thinnest fried potato sticks and string-thin onion rings. ($13.95). I’d go back there in a minute! With all that said, we wonderered why the restaurant was not more crowded on an early Friday evening. The waitress told us that their clientele start the evening later and it would begin filling up after 7:30 p.m.

After dinner, we strolled in and out of the many boutiques up and down the fairly crowded streets. Plenty of people of all ages were out and about. Then we headed over to Blues Alley, a small, intimate little jazz club that is really located on an alley in a 18th century carriage house. Mary Jo had also recommended this spot and it was fun. To me, it was reminiscent of late 60s era coffeehouses. We learned it is the nation’s oldest continuing jazz supper club. Dizzy Gillespie, Grover Washington, Jr., Nancy Wilson, Maynard Ferguson and other prominent jazz artists have performed there. Although we just stopped in for a drink, we thought the menu looked pretty good, too. From there, we cabbed it back to our hotel south of the Capitol for about a $10 fare.

NEXT: What Else Makes Georgetown a Great Destination

TIP: The dress in Georgetown ran the gamut from chic to hippie (mostly in the 20-something group). Overall, very casual.

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