THURSDAY PREVIEW
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*Important message for all taking the bus trip on that day.
We need to have everyone's cell phone numbers to assure that if something unexpected happens we can contact you and you will not have to walk the 40 miles back to Baltimore. The longest march most of us took during training was 28 miles. It will seem a lot longer once your lumbago starts acting up!
One last message here: there are a number of links to websites that will expedite your preparation for your visit to Washington DC. Be sure to click on them for detailed information on the attractions. The links are in blue and underlined.
Now back to our regularly scheduled program:
Our day trip to Washington DC is planned for this day. Normally, the hotel restaurant opens at 6 AM but the hotel has agreed to open at 5:30 AM so that we may have the opportunity to eat breakfast before we head to the capitol.
The bus will be arriving at 6:45 AM to begin picking up people to take to Washington DC. The bus is a luxury coach with toilet facilities and holds 57 people. We probably will be going over that figure, but we believe that we will have enough vans and autos to take everyone who needs transportation to Washington. Registration for that trip will begin for everyone once everyone learns how to do it with the publication of the April 1st issue of 'Alpha's Pride'.
The bus trip to Washington DC is being paid for with excess funds that were collected over the years with the help of the generosity of many of our members. At 7AM we will be leaving for Washington DC. We're hoping to arrive at our first destination, the Vietnam Memorial by 9:00AM.
Once there, we plan to hold a ceremony followed by a etching of the names of our Honor Roll veterans. At the conclusion of
the ceremony, the group will be released to individually take in the attractions in Washington DC.
I am going to highlight what I believe are important attractions in the area. You would never be able to see all of it in a day, but I'm sharing what I know of the district and what might be of interest to you.
For those wishing to stay in the immediate area, there are a number of attractions within walking distance.
The Lincoln Memorial is located 500 feet from The Wall, the Korean War Memorial is another 500 feet from the Lincoln Memorial.
The World War II Memorial can be walked to after returning to the southwest corner of the Reflecting Pool. From there, it is
a 1300 foot (.4 of a mile) pleasant stroll to the World War II Memorial. All of these sites are not to be missed
if you've never seen them before.
At 10AM the bus will be returning to pick those that will not be remaining in the area. The bus will head towards the Eclipse where the people who have tickets to the 11:00 AM tour of the White House will be dropped off with enough time to walk to the east side of the White House where they will walk through the White House Tour Entrance.
When you receive your tickets to the White House there will be instructions as to what time you'll need to be there and where you will need to pass through security.
(If you have not requested a tour ticket from your representative or
one of your senators in congress, you need to move as soon as possible).
After the White House tourists are dropped off the bus will travel with the rest of the group to the Capitol Building with a drop off at either the Grant Memorial (for those going to the Capitol Building) or The Smithsonian Castle, further west. Those two locales will be the only two places where you can board the bus for the trip back to Baltimore at 4PM. See stars below.
For those of you taking the White House Tour you may want to consider a walk over to the Ford Theater where you can
see not only the theater where Lincoln was assassinated, but also across the street, you can see the home they carried him to
and the bed he died on.
Upon exiting the White House tour, you will exit the north entrance and arrive at the North Lawn area which leads out to Pennsylvania Avenue. From that point, it is about a mile walk to The Ford Theater district. That may seem like a lot, but it's convenient if your running out of money. You'll pass right byThe Treasury Building. They've been practically giving money away to Wall Street so just drop in and ask for your share.
Going down G Street NW, assuming that your not sent to the slammer after the Treasury visit, you can wet your whistle at the Laughing Man's Tavern's and learn why he's laughing all the time. (Probably laughing at the prices tourists will pay for his drinks)
Actually, the prices are typical for the capitol area. If you're interested you can click on the link above to see their menu.
After you view the Ford Theater, you just need to walk directly by the J. Edgar Hoover Bldg (FBI Headquarters, that you used to
be able to tour before 911) and shortly you will run right into the National Museum of Natural History. You are now in the same area where most everyone is bound to be. The National Mall Area where all the famous museums are located near. Everyone of them is free. Each have their own cafeteria that serve fast food at reasonable prices. The real value cafeteria is in the Capitol Building. More on that later.
Now, for the people that were dropped off in either the Smithsonian Castle, here are a few maps to make your way around with:
Remember that World War II Memorial that I mentioned earlier? You can see it to the west on this map.
The Washington Monument is nearby but has been closed since August, 2011when it suffered major damage from an earthquake that had its epicenter 84 miles SW of the district. Not expecting that to happen again, I hope.
If you walk a couple of blocks south down 14th St NW, you will arrive at two remarkable attractions. One you will be able to visit. The second one is trickier.
The first is the National Holocaust Museum.
Chris and I toured the museum years ago and was very moved by the many exhibits depicting the Final Solution directive driven by Adolph Hitler and his henchmen in the SS. The Museum is free, but during peak periods a pass is required to get in to see the Permanent Exhibits. If you click on the link above, you can learn how to procure a pass online ahead of time. Click on the link under MUSEUM where you see PLAN A VISIT.
A block away is the US BUREAU OF ENGRAVING AND PRINTING
This is where all the official printing is done for the government, including paper currency. According to the website, you will need a ticket to get in. The tickets are given out starting at 8AM. Seeing as we will probably not get there until afternoon, it may be a long shot to get in, however if you're at the Holocaust Museum nearby, you might want to walk the block to the bureau to see if there are tickets still available. That worked for us when we visited Washington years ago, arriving in the afternoon.
OK, now we can catch up with the gang who were dropped off at the Smithsonian Castle, earlier in the day.
This building is primarily the Headquarters of the Smithsonian Society.
There are three outstanding museums in this area:
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AMERICAN HISTORY
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
and the most popular of the museums,
SMITHSONIAN AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM
There are other museums in the area, but these three are the 'must see' museums when you are in Washington DC.
Fast food is available in each of them.
OK, how about those that went straight to the Capitol Building.
As with the White House Tour, you will need to make reservations well ahead of your schedule if you want to take the tour. You can learn more about planning your visit here:
And book a tour here:
Or just go get it through your representative, like the White House Tour participants.
As I wrote earlier, the Capitol Bldg has a cafeteria that is open to the public. Trust me, the food is excellent and relatively cheap. You may even run into your representative there. Maybe he'll buy you lunch....Yeah, right.
The most interesting part of your tour will be to actually be able to sit in the gallery of the House of Representative and the Senate Chamber. In many instances the rooms will be filled by few people making video clips for the folks back in their districts, but you may get lucky.
When we last went to the House there was a very energetic debate going on relative to firearms. It's fun to watch the back and forth and wonder how much they really believe on their position. Anyway, you can judge yourself.
*Now comes the important part!
We will be picked up by our bus at either of the two locations that I specified earlier.
It is imperative that we all make it to those two pick up points (OK, these last four words were one of those clickers) by 4PM. If you cannot make it there in time due to some emergency, we will try to make arrangements to have someone come to your aid. That is why we need everyone's cell phone number to be registered with us beforehand.
THE BUS CANNOT STAY AT THOSE PICKUP POINTS OTHER THAN
TO PICK UP WAITING TO BOARD PASSENGERS AT THE STOPS!
HE CAN'T WAIT THERE. HE HAS TO MOVE ON ONCE EVERYONE IS ON BOARD
Sorry. Ok, I'm done shouting. I just want to make clear what needs to happen that day. Once that bus us gone, it's not coming back. This is important for you to keep in mind as the day nears the pick up 4:00PM pickup time.
You ask, where is it going from there? I'll tell you.
With the help of Joe Amos, our man on the ground in the Baltimore area, we were able to receive access to a local American Legion Hall near our hotel.
For the price of $15. per person we will enjoy a buffet consisting of:
Stuffed Chicken Breast
Mashed Potatoes and Gravy
Green Beans Almondine
Tossed Caesar Salad
Fresh Rolls and Butter
Regular and Decaf Coffee w/condiments
Cash bar will be available for those who want hard drinks. You say, " I won't be coming early enough to take the Washington tour, but I sure would like to enjoy the buffet." No problem, as long as you register and pay in advance, you can take your own vehicle to the hall and join us there. It is only 7 minutes away from the hotel by car. If anyone from the Washington tour not care to join us at the hall for the buffet, they will be dropped off at the hotel.
Here are directions showing the reunion hotel and the Legion Hall, the address and directions from the hotel to the hall:
The American Legion Post
Towson Post 22
125 York Road
Towson, MD 21204
410-823-8030
2 miles and 7 minutes from (A) reunion site to (B) American Legion Hall
1. Head west on Cromwell Bridge Rd
toward Gleneagles Ct
About 1 min
go 0.8 mi
total 0.8 mi
2. Turn left onto Providence Rd
About 2 mins
go 0.4 mi
total 1.1 mi
3. Slight right onto E Joppa Rd
About 2 mins
go 0.6 mi
total 1.7 mi
At the traffic circle, take the 4th exit onto York Rd
About 2 mins
go 0.4 mi
total 2.1 mi
5. Turn right
Destination will be on the right
go 272 ft
total 2.1 mi
125 York Rd, Towson, MD 21204
If all goes as planned, after leaving Washington DC at 4PM, fighting the rush hour traffic, we should be getting to the American Legion Hall just around 6PM. We have no special presentation or speeches to slow us down, so we figure to be back at the hotel somewhere around 8PM leaving plenty of time for socializing that evening.