Washington D.C. Archives - Your Mileage May Vary

If You Want To Visit This Museum, Better Make Your Reservations Way In Advance

When I visited Washington D.C. in August, I had some free time from when I arrived until the plans I had for dinner. I didn’t think much about what to do during the day, because I was going to be in Washington. There’s tons of things to do. Worst case would be walking around the monuments and through the Smithsonian museums. I remembered the one museum I have never seen, the National Museum of African American History and Culture, is now open. Why not go to check it out?

When I arrived, I realized that just walking into the museum wasn’t going to happen. There was a huge queue already outside and another queue where people were handing in tickets. In fact, the museum is so popular that you need to make a reservation time entry way in advance.

Here’s how to make a reservation if you want to visit the museum.

Continue reading “If You Want To Visit This Museum, Better Make Your Reservations Way In Advance”

What’s The Big Deal About Getting A Free Breakfast?

For as long as I’ve been reading travel websites, one of the biggest advantages of having status with a hotel chain was getting free breakfast. At first, I wondered what all the fuss was about. I mean, I’d received free breakfast at hotels before. They consisted of some stale bagels, bread and pastries, powered eggs, flimsy bacon, one flavor of yogurt, a vat of oatmeal and maybe some unripe bananas. Oh, don’t forget the really bad coffee.

The breakfast rooms were usually packed at the normal eating times and the food wasn’t refreshed nearly enough. Why were people so excited with this benefit? Continue reading “What’s The Big Deal About Getting A Free Breakfast?”

Hotel Review: Hilton Garden Inn Reagan National Airport – Arlington, VA

I recently traveled to Washington D.C. and needed a place to stay close to Reagan National Airport. Looking at the map, there are plenty of hotels just outside the airport, in the Crystal City area of Arlington, VA. Since I needed a Hilton stay to keep my points alive, I found a good rate at a Hilton Garden Inn that was perfect for my needs. Turns out besides being a great hotel near my conference, this is a great place to stay if doing some sightseeing in Washington D.C. and the surrounding areas.

Continue reading “Hotel Review: Hilton Garden Inn Reagan National Airport – Arlington, VA”

Restaurant Review: Smoke & Barrel, Washington D.C.

When I planned my trip to Washington D.C. to attend Frequent Traveler University I was excited about prospects for the weekend. Besides the opportunity to learn about all things in the points and miles universe, I’d get to walk around one of my favorite cities and I’d also have a chance to meet up with some close friends who moved to the area.

When we were making plans for the evening, I told my friends I didn’t care what we were going to do because that evening I just wanted to spend time with them catching up on the last couple of years.

As they put it, they “kidnapped” me from my hotel and asked what I wanted for dinner and they had two suggestions. The first was a pizza place near my hotel. I told them I had pizza the night before so I asked for option two. They said the second option was further away and it was a barbecue place. I did a double-take as I know my friends are vegan.

“Barbecue?” I asked, “Are you guys going to eat anything?”

“Yeah, they have some awesome vegan barbecue.”

Vegan Barbecue??

Continue reading “Restaurant Review: Smoke & Barrel, Washington D.C.”

Oops! What To Do When You Book Flights To The Wrong Airport

You ever spend hours looking for flights to a location, finally decide on which flight you are going to take and how to pay for it (cash or points) and then head off to bed, happy that you’ve finally finished booking a complicated itinerary? You wake up the next morning to book the corresponding hotel and realize that you booked flights to and from the wrong airport. Really? Really?? Ugh.

Here’s what to do when you’re finished beating yourself up about how stupid you were not to check this before spending hours on finding flights to somewhere that’s nowhere near where you need to be (Note from Sharon: And when your wife is done teasing you. Because oh yes I did!).

Continue reading “Oops! What To Do When You Book Flights To The Wrong Airport”