Destination: Washington, D.C.
Aloha, Washington-Style
by Pam Mandel | 01.20.09 | 1:58 PM ET
It’s way too late now to get a ticket to the Hawaii Inaugural Ball, but if you’re looking to find some of the island spirit while you’re in D.C. today, National Geographic Traveler has the lowdown on Where the Hawaiians Hang Out. You might still be able to get in to the luau at the Hotel Monaco, just two blocks from the inauguration. Attire? “Aloha Formal,” of course.
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Yahoo! BuzzObama and the Departure Seen ‘Round the World
by Jim Benning | 01.20.09 | 1:00 PM ET
REUTERS/Mike Segar I wouldn’t have anticipated it, but for me, the most powerful moment of today’s inaugural events didn’t come during the swearing-in ceremony or President Obama’s speech. It came at the end: the moment former President Bush boarded the helicopter near the Capitol and departed, his chopper moving away from the seat of power, becoming ever smaller as it receded into the distance. We experience departures all the time, but few so symbolic for so many people around the world. What a sight. Travel as history.
Streets of the World: Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, D.C.
by Michael Yessis | 01.17.09 | 5:08 PM ET
Photo by Michael Yessis. Michael Yessis captures some of the sights on Barack Obama's inauguration parade route.
See the full photo slideshow »
What We Loved This Week: Washington, D.C.‘s Inaugural Spirit, Dinosaurs and More
by World Hum | 01.16.09 | 6:42 PM ET
Photo by Michael Yessis. Our contributors share a favorite travel-related experience from the past seven days.
Michael Yessis
I spent a frigid morning in Washington, D.C., walking up and down Pennsylvania Avenue. I brought my camera and stayed warm enough to snap some shots before the masses fill the bleachers lining the street. More images to come tomorrow in a slideshow.
Jenna Schnuer
While procrastinating this week, I became obsessed with this photo gallery of close-up images of sand from the book, A Grain of Sand. From now on, shell-collecting is out. I’m toting sand home. Then I’ll just need to pick up a high-powered microscope. I guess I’ll buy the book and stick with the shells.
President Obama’s ‘Green’ Inauguration?
by Joanna Kakissis | 01.16.09 | 1:10 PM ET
Photo by tifotter (Creative Commons). Depends on what “green”—that “it” word with the elastic definition—means. The event will no doubt leave a giant carbon footprint, since there will be lots of flying and driving to get the estimated four million people expected to attend the 44th president’s swearing-in to Washington, D.C., on Jan. 20. But if green means less wasteful, then those organizing the Inauguration of Barack Obama and veep Joe Biden are taking a few thoughtful and symbolic steps. For one, Obama will be the first president in history to take the oath of office on a carpet made out of recycled material. The Inauguration committee has also recruited 6,000 volunteers to gather recycling along the National Mall and parade route, is offering electronic versions of media guides (less printing), and even plans to gather the manure from the event’s horses for a nearby farm.
Eat Like Abe Lincoln. Sort of.
by David Farley | 01.16.09 | 12:02 PM ET
Barack Obama’s taste in food has gotten a fair amount of attention in the last year: when it came out that he likes arugula, the anti-intellectuals of the country wrinkled their collective noses (and then wondered what the hell arugula was). And a just-surfaced video showed him waxing about no-frills Southern food. Then there was all the hubbub about whether or not he was going to tell White House chef, Cristeta Comerford, to go pack her knives, replacing the Filipino-born, Vienna-trained top toque of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue with a big name all-organic locavore of a chef.
Now comes word that the Inauguration lunch is going to be Lincoln-themed: the 44th president has been reading the 16th president’s writings of late, and he’s even going to be sworn in on the Bible that Lincoln used at his Inauguration, so why not ape his food choices, too? But WWLE (What would Linoln eat), you ask?
Inoculation Vacation
by Tom Swick | 01.14.09 | 2:02 PM ET
Contemplating and celebrating the world of travel
Morning Links: Museum of Broken Relationships, GlobalPost and More
by Michael Yessis | 01.12.09 | 8:27 AM ET
- GlobalPost begins its “bold journey to redefine international news for the digital age.”
- Two Japanese restaurants split the $100,000 bill on a bluefin tuna. Yumiko Ono says it tasted “smooth, succulent and a little on the light side.”
- Turns out cities impair our brains.
- More than 200 people are feared dead after a ferry sank off Indonesia’s Sulawesi island.
- During the last two years an estimated 1.5 billion passengers flew on U.S. airlines. Not one of them died as a result of a crash.
- The Los Angeles Times tried out Row44, “a soon-to-debut satellite Wi-Fi system” for airlines.
- Daisann McLaine tells why she always visits supermarkets when she travels.
- Kristen Wiig and Neil Patrick Harris played long-nailed air traffic controllers on Saturday Night Live.
- Alexandr Vondra, the Czech Deputy Prime Minister, says “art is to arouse emotions.” A map of European cliches and stereotypes commissioned by the Czech Republic is succeeding on that count.
- The Las Vegas Mob museum is stirring up controversy in Washington, D.C.
- The Museum of Broken Relationships—“an exhibition of the relics of failed love”—opened in Singapore last week. It’s perfect for anyone who wants to see “an axe used by a woman to break up her ex-girlfriend’s furniture, along with the broken furniture.”
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For Inauguration Travelers, Saner Options
by Julia Ross | 01.08.09 | 4:22 PM ET
As a Washington, DC, native, I’ve attended my share of inauguration ceremonies, usually braving a bitter cold to catch a fleeting view of the proceedings. My earliest inaugural memory dates to Jimmy Carter’s swearing-in in 1977. Despite my parents’ determination that I witness history, all I remember are the reams of red-white-and-blue bunting draped across the Capitol and a very distant Rosalynn Carter standing next to her husband in a blue coat.
This time around, I’m opting out. Today’s Washington Post warns of up to 3 million visitors on January 20, and I’d prefer to avoid the chaos. For inauguration travelers who are of like mind, the Washington Post’s Inauguration Watch blog plans to post a listing of venues that will screen the event live. I’ve already stumbled across one that might tempt me off the couch: the AFI Silver Theatre in Silver Spring, Maryland, will show a big-screen broadcast beginning at 10 a.m., free of charge. Access to popcorn and no metal detectors: hard to beat.
D.C.’s Obama Souvenir Trail: Good, Bad and Ugly
by Julia Ross | 12.22.08 | 1:35 PM ET
Photo by Julia Ross. There’s nothing like a presidential inauguration to stoke Washington’s entrepreneurial spirit. With the big event less than a month away, Obama souvenirs are multiplying like “real Americans” at a Sarah Palin rally. I’m keeping an eye out for particularly egregious examples, but here’s a snapshot of what I’ve seen around town thus far:
Washington D.C. To World: During Inauguration Weekend, We’re Keeping our Bars Open Late For You
by Michael Yessis | 12.03.08 | 11:58 AM ET
The D.C. Council voted to allow bars, nightclubs and restaurants to pour booze until 5 a.m., and to serve food 24 hours a day, from January 17-20. That’s the long weekend before Barack Obama will be sworn in as the 44th president of the United States. So you may not be able to find a place to sleep, but you’ll always be able to find a place for a Yuengling and a crab cake.
‘You Could Literally Smell the Tourists Coming Into the Capitol’
by Michael Yessis | 12.03.08 | 11:52 AM ET
Senator Harry Reid’s staff told him not to say that, but, yeah, he said that. During the opening of the new Capitol Visitors Center, he said, “In the summer because of the heat and high humidity, you could literally smell the tourists coming into the Capitol. It may be descriptive but it’s true.” His not-so-populist statement and the opening of the $621 million facility has proved good fodder for writers. My favorite take: Dana Milbank’s column in the Washington Post. He nails Reid, as well as House Minority Leader John Boehner.
He writes:
But where Reid saw toilets and trinkets, Boehner saw history. Recalling the British burning of the unfinished Capitol in 1814, he concluded: “It took 38 years and two wars to truly gain our independence, and it took several generations and a bloody Civil War to end slavery and win freedom for millions of African Americans. And today, we mark the opening of the Capitol Visitors Center.”
So, children, those are the great moments in American history: the Revolution, the War of 1812, the Civil War and the opening of the Capitol Visitor Center.
Happy 100th, Union Station
by Valerie Conners | 09.30.08 | 10:21 AM ET
The station—Amtrak’s headquarters and one of Washington, D.C.‘s most visited sites—will be celebrating its centennial this weekend, with exhibits that pay homage to the landmark transportation hub and the history of the rails. I have a soft spot for Union Station. I commute through it most weeks, enjoying the sight of the looming main concourse, the hum of the crowds, the smells of the food court, the anticipation of arriving in the nation’s capital. A very happy birthday, indeed.
Theroux, Horwitz and the Frommers Featured at National Book Festival
by Michael Yessis | 09.26.08 | 10:03 AM ET
They’ll be on the Mall in Washington, D.C., tomorrow, talking travel and signing books. So will U.S. poet laureate Kay Ryan. I wonder if the organizers flew her out from California, or if this is how she decided to spend part of her $5,000 travel allowance?
Notes From an Unofficial Tourist Greeter
by Julia Ross | 09.17.08 | 4:51 PM ET
Summer is over, and so is Julia Ross' season as an ambassador to travelers in Washington, D.C.'s Woodley Park neighborhood. She's happy to be off duty.
See the full audio slideshow: »