# NYC/Washington



## 1927 (Sep 20, 2009)

Right, after much discussion mrs27 has given in and agreed we can have a US holiday again next year as long as we take master 27 to Sesame place in PA. So I am gonna hire a car for the first time in NYC. My intinerary so far is as follows.

Day1 Fly in/ stay NYC
Day 2 Drive to Sesame Place/ stay Philadelphia
Day 3 Philadelphia, drive to Lancaster county/ stay on farm
Day 4 Amish Country/ stay on farm
Day 5 Drive to DC/Stay DC
Day 6 DC/stay DC
Day 7 Drive NYC/ drop car off
Day 8 NYC
Day 9 NYC
Day 10 NYC and fly home

Anybody like to suggest stuff I might wanna drop out of that, anything I shouldnt miss on the drives, especially DC back to NYC, should we split that, where would be good to stay. Think I might have to increase it by a couple of days, if I can find the money for somne extra nights.


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## D (Sep 20, 2009)

Omg.

Sesame Place - I sliced my foot open on a ball in a ball pit there in, I dunno, 1985 or something.


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## D (Sep 20, 2009)

1927 said:


> Right, after much discussion mrs27 has given in and agreed we can have a US holiday again next year as long as we take master 27 to Sesame place in PA. So I am gonna hire a car for the first time in NYC. My intinerary so far is as follows.
> 
> Day1 Fly in/ stay NYC
> Day 2 Drive to Sesame Place/ stay Philadelphia
> ...



It takes 4 hours to drive from DC to NY (assuming you don't encounter horrible traffic), so no inherent reason to split it.

When will you be going? What time of year?

There are some nice outdoorsy things in Delaware and NJ, but it's only worth stopping if you are into outdoorsy things.


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## 1927 (Sep 20, 2009)

Cheers D, I knew you'd come up trumps, you laways do!

Planning on being there last week April, first week May.  

What are the must sees in Philly and Washington? Where should I stay in those cities to balance cost/location? Thinking of staying near Arlington in DC.


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## D (Sep 21, 2009)

Philly - I don't know where to stay (I stayed with friends when I toured there this summer).

I can tell you one of my fave neighborhoods, though: West Philly.

DC - not sure where you should stay there either.


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## D (Sep 21, 2009)

Here's another thing - if you DO stay in DC or Philly, you won't need a car while you're there.


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## brix (Sep 21, 2009)

D said:


> DC - not sure where you should stay there either.




When I was in DC the area I liked best was the main gay area - Dupont Circle.  It was by far the most lively and interesting area in the evening as so much of DC goes quiet once the workers commute out to their homes in the suburbs.


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## D (Sep 21, 2009)

brix said:


> When I was in DC the area I liked best was the main gay area - Dupont Circle.  It was by far the most lively and interesting area in the evening as so much of DC goes quiet once the workers commute out to their homes in the suburbs.



That's near where I used to live, but I think he's asking about where to stay for cost-minimizing purposes and Dupont probably isn't it.


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## D (Sep 21, 2009)

oh, oops, and must-sees


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## D (Sep 21, 2009)

In that case, DC is tourist heaven.  It is a GREAT museum town.  

I haven't been there since I moved away in 2001.  So I'm useless for anything beyond what the guidebooks will tell you.  The U Street Corridor has really blossomed, though, that much I hear for sure.  Good for food, nightlife.


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## 1927 (Sep 22, 2009)

GGGGrrrrrrrrrr! I could scream.

Me and the 27 family weren't going to hoilday stateside next year cos we didnt think we could afford it and everyone we know who has holidyaed in Europe this year has said how stupidly expensive it is these days. So we thought about it, chucked a couple of budgets togther and realised we'd be better off going stateside as long as I could use my Airmiles to get free flights for me and junior.

Last night I logged onto Airmiles and found what flights were availbale, I also checked on KLM site at same time to check that the same flights were available for cash for Mrs27. Went thru both sites, put my flights in shopping basket and hit buy. KLM transaction wnet thru, but Airmile site crashed.

I attempted to log on this morning and site still down, when it is evntually up and running again, big relief, flights are still there. i click to buy but it says not available, i go thru process again, not available but still showing. Third time website doesnt recognise my destination, NYC ffs. i ring customer service swho tell me there are no Airmile seats available on the dates I want, bollocks, so I end up forking out £500 for me and junior, but we are not on same flight from Schipol back to cardiff and will have to wait 6 hours for connection while Mrs27 is happily on her way home.

Then I have a brainwave, get ickle 27s reservation taken off my booking and added to Mrs27's so atleast he will be with his mum all the way home while dad can get sloshed in bar and catch them up. So I ring KLM and as I am talking them thru problem I manage to get into Airmile site and put flights for me and ickle in basket, but I dont need one for ickle anymore cos KLM are sorting it, so I try to log in again and buy one ticket for me, again website wont recognise NYC as a destination. So I have to buy two tickets again, KLM had cancelled the two I had already bought, and charged me again for baby. So then I have to ring AIrmiles and get ickle taken back off the booking and get a refund for my airmiles. As you can imagine not much work got done today and I am now incredibly stressed and have sent a stinker of a complaint email to Airmiles,not that i suspect for a minute they will do anything about it all.


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## ethel (Sep 23, 2009)

take the train instead of the car.


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## D (Sep 23, 2009)

what a pain in the ass, 1927!

Car will probably work out cheaper than train all the way, but it depends on where you stay/whether you have to pay for parking when you're not using it in town.

If you really want cheap and easy and, in my experience, clean and not at all crowded (unlike the Chinatown bus companies and Greyhound), you can't beat megabus (yup, like *that* megabus).  It has to be a front for something, but it has served me well.  NY-Philly-DC ----> all along the Eastern seaboard.


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## 1927 (Sep 23, 2009)

All sorted.

Flights for 3, 10 nights accomodation and car hire all for £1150ish ($1840). Bargain

Staying near Flushing first night, most expensive night of trip $140! two nights on a farm in Amish country, two nights Washington,one night Philly, one night near Sesame Street and 3 nights in NYC. Can't wait now, just the must sees to sort out!


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## D (Sep 23, 2009)

how old is the little one?


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## 1927 (Sep 23, 2009)

D said:


> how old is the little one?



He'll be 20months at time of holiday.


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## D (Sep 23, 2009)

1927 said:


> He'll be 20months at time of holiday.



That's pretty young for Sesame Place in my opinion.  I don't know as I haven't been in, oh, 23-24 years or something , but I remember it being geared towards toddlers and kids under 10.  But maybe it will be fun just for him to look at and wobble around a good deal.  

I was going to suggest this place near Flushing (it's awesome), but it's definitely no good for a 20-month-old.

http://www.nyspacastle.com

Queens Science Museum is cool and nearby too.  That would be good for the whole family, I think.


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## 1927 (Sep 23, 2009)

All the times we've been to NYC in the past we have never hired a car so it will be good this time to get out and about and see some different stuff.


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## Fuchs66 (Sep 28, 2009)

We were in NYC and DC earlier this year, flew into Washington Dulles spent a couple of days looking around DC (museums are great) then hired a car and set of motel hopping up to lake Eyrie, Niagara then down to NYC where we dropped off the car and spent the last week, flying back from there. All in all a great time


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