Trip Report: Coasters and Culture in Virginia/DC

I'm writing this up for my FB friends, so apologies if I "dumb down" some things!

It took some planning, but our trip this year ended up being great (if hot), and worked out perfectly!

We had 9 days, and thru use of Expedia, I was able to get some fantastic rates and we stayed only at Marriott Courtyard Hotels – lovely hotels that all have pools/spas, free internet (as well as computers set up in the lobbies for use), lots and lots of couches, books, games, and booths to enjoy food from the Bistro on site (including a Starbucks with great smoothies).

It was an ambitious plan: Fly to DC (cheaper to fly into Reagan), rent a car, and drive to Willamsburg Virginia (about 2 ½ hours away), and check into hotel there for 4 days – intending to hit up Busch Gardens Williamsburg and Colonial Williamsburg. Then check out on Friday, drive an hour towards DC, stop at Kings Dominion for 6-8 hours, and then continue on the remaining way into DC – where we would stay for 3 nights in Foggy Bottom, near George Washington University, intending to hit up the National Mall, and many of the Smithsonians, as well as the Capital. On the last day, we’d have to change hotels, because I was unable to keep the great rate for a 4th day, so we moved to one near Reagan Airport, and used the excuse of moving the car to go by the Pentagon, and to the outlying air & space museum. *(funnily, this last hotel was by FAR the most expensive ($270 for 1 night) and also was the least impressive. . but eh, for 1 night it was fine.

Anyways, on to the report!

Day 1:

We got up at 3 am, and headed out to the airport to catch our 5:20 am flight.

Normally, I would NEVER book that early of a flight, but in this case, it was on a Monday (meaning we could simply go to bed early on Sunday – and the dog was already boarded as of Saturday – so it shouldn’t be an issue to get up). Also, this was as close to a non-stop as I was able to get (we stopped in Houston, but did not have to change planes!), and still get us into Reagan Airport by Noon – Important, since we still had a 3 hour drive once we rented the car and we had to get to Colonial Williamsburg by 5pm to pick up our tickets (I’ll explain in a moment). Thank goodness for Southwest, since we each got two free checked bags, I insisted on bringing a 2nd suitcase, which meant we could share 1 carry on, and have light luggage to schlep around.

We got up and I checked the flight and saw it was being delayed 30 minutes. I wasn’t thrilled with this, as we could have slept a bit longer, but at the check in counter I was assured it was not a mechanical issue with the plane (it turned out to be one of the crew had gone over the time limit, and they had to call in a replacement. . who got there earlier than expected and the plane left sooner than they had told everyone. We went for our usual seats near the toilets in the back of the plane, but since I knew it was a full flight, I convinced Nick to go to the row before the last row (slightly larger seats), instead of the very back. . which is way crammed when all 3 seats are full (since typically I take aisle, he takes window, on last row and no one wants to sit next to us. . on a full flight tho, this doesn’t work, and we end up squeezed in.

It was a really full flight, not surprising, as anyone doing business in Houston would want to land before 7am, I suppose, but it was SO full that even tho the Stewards took drink orders before take off, they still were not able to complete drink service . . which sucked, as we both could REALLY use coffee (something I had mentioned to our Steward when he took orders. . remember, we got up at 3am, and the Austin airport was pretty much shut down food/drink wise when we got there for our early flight). They were very apologetic, so as we pulled into the gate in Houston, I asked him if we could possibly get coffee while we were stopped, since we had to wait for folks to exit, a quick plane clean, and then new passengers. Not too surprisingly, our Steward was “family”  and said, of course!. . so he hooked us up.

The flight to Washington from Houston was also almost completely full, and we had a chubby teenager sit between us . . luckily, our friendly Steward noticed this, and with a wink to us, he pulled the kid out of the seat and moved him to an open Aisle seat on the row behind us . . LOL. . . so we actually ended up with an open seat (the only open seat?) between us for the longer flight from Houston to Washington. . . yep, our trip karma was kicking in!

When we landed, we were surprised at how outdated, and just. . . eccch Reagan National Airport was (no wonder it was cheaper to fly in there!). but we quickly got our luggage, and went looking for the Rental cars. VERY poor signage, but we lucked out an as we were outside looking around stupidly, the Dollar shuttle pulled by, and we followed it to where it stopped! (I knew the Dollar rental was off-site, but I was expecting some signs to point to the shuttle!). I talked Nick into using Dollar again, since we had used them in our Pennsylvania trip last year, and was very pleased. . and once again on this trip, we got a very good deal from them, and a perfect little hatchback car (4 door tho), that got GREAT mileage. . and they knocked $100 off the estimate if we could get it back by 11am (which we managed to do). So yeah, I’ll go for Dollar rent a car on our next trip too!

So the shuttle takes us who knows where, and Nick and I are TRYING to follow along, but we have no clue, so we’ll need to look up later in the trip where the heck this place is, so we can return it! As I’m a planner, I had a nice, thick packet of Google directions printed out with us, from each location to the next – hotel to hotel, and hotel to each park, etc. These worked out GREAT and we really only got lost once we hit Washington DC proper, where the directions were such a mess, I just told him where to go based on the National Mall and the Washington monument (since I had an idea of where we were staying). But I didn’t have any directions for car return, because I had no idea where it was located! That concern was for later in the trip tho. . for now, we stood in the line, got a car, and were on the road towards Willamsburg by 12:30.

It was early enough in the day on a Monday, that traffic was moving great, and we actually arrived at the Hotel in Williamsburg by 3pm. The Quality Inn next door was a bit questionable, but our hotel was not only beautiful, but was less than 4 minutes from BGW (take a right from hotel drive), and less than 10 from Colonial Willamsburg (take a left from hotel drive). .so easy peasy. As I was trying to check in, I got stuck behind an older lady who was complaining that she wanted a King bed, and they had given her a double. . so after standing behind her for a good 10 minutes (while the desk clerk kept giving me “I’m sorry!” eyes), she finally finished up and we were ready to check in.

She bit her lower lip, and looked a bit concerned, so I jokingly said, “you just gave her our King room, while I was stuck in line behind her, didn’t you?”. . . she blushed and went to get the Manager, Apple, who immediately upgraded us to a 1st floor King room, with sliding glass doors that opened towards the pool. Trip Karma. 

I mentioned we had to get to Colonial Williamsburg before 5. . well, that was because I had bought online what is called the “Summer Bounce Pass” that cost $124 / ticket, and what that got us was 7 days unlimited admission to Colonial Williamsburg, Busch Gardens Willamsburg, and Water Country, + free parking at all 3 places!. . . the catch was that we had to pick it up at Colonial Williamsburg, since that’s whom I had purchased it thru online. Luckily we were there well early enough to go pick them up. . . Colonial Williamsburg is open until 11 pm (or even later, as some folks stay on site in period hotels), but the Visitor Center, where you pick up the tickets, is only open until 5.

So we hopped in the car, took a left, and drove for under 10 minutes to find Colonial Williamsburg (think Renaissance Festival, but set in Colonial Times, instead of Medieval times). It’s usually $45 to get in (and BGW is $70+ / day, with parking $15 each time). . so you can see what a great deal $124 / ticket was, for 7 days unlimited. . even if we were only going to be there 4 days, and never use the waterpark. . we just aren’t really waterpark people!

We parked (way too far away, but we learned for next time), and found where in the Visitor Center I needed to swap the voucher for the passes (they are plastic passes that you are supposed to wear while in Colonial Williamsburg, but you scan them to get into BGW, Water Country, or to park at those places). They had lanyards, but when I asked, was told that they are only for “guests staying on site, but I could BUY one for $6 if I wanted in the gift-shop”. . .LOL. . cheap bastards. Heh..

I did notice that the bounce passes sold on site, are $146, so buy online if you do this, to save some $$.

It was really only about 4pm by this time, and we hadn’t really eaten anything except the snacks on the plane (and remember, we’d been up since 3am), but we were perky, and they had a Post Office on site, and I thought how much my Dad would enjoy getting his Father’s Day card, with Colonial cancellation on it! (yes, I had figured they had a post office and had brought the card with me to mail on our trip). So we decided to take the “bridge to the past” and walk into Colonial Williamsburg (another mistake, as it turns out, because although it was only about a mile walk, it was hella hot, and NOT a lot of shade. . but we learned from this too, and when we came back later in the week, took the shuttle busses!).

It was so hot that the place had really cleared out, but we found our way to the post office and mailed the card, and then did a bit of shopping and sightseeing up and down the main street, stopping to watch the blacksmith (you’d think, it was so hot, why would we go into a Blacksmith??? Good question. . LOL. . we’re dummies sometimes). We hadn’t eaten, as mentioned, so I convinced Nick that we should eat at one of the authentic pubs, and they were able to get us in fairly quickly. The food was only so-so, not amazing, but it was basic pub food, at theme park prices. But the home made cider was fantastic, as was the lentil soup.

By this time it was well after 8pm and we were exhausted, so using the map, I got us to the nearest shuttle bus stop (see? We learned quick), and headed back to the Visitor Center, where we hopped in the car and were back and the hotel and out cold by 9:30. We had to get up early the next day to be at Busch Gardens for opening!

on the road from Reagan Airport to Willamsburg Virginia

Concentrating on the road

Nick in front of the Visitor's Center & Map of Colonial Williamsburg

Me.. still in the same clothes from the plane. . but hey, Knoebel's T-shirt!

Close up of Map.

In the Stockades on Colonial Williamsburg's main street.

marker on the "pathway to the past". . after we made the silly decision to walk there from the Visitor's Center instead of the Shuttle bus.

Still smiling on the walk to the past. . not dying from the heat yet.

Main street Colonial Williamsburg ~4:30 pm. .yeah. .it was hot, yeah, people were NOT out.

Nick is happy about Horse Poop.

Day 2:

Up and out of the hotel early. . we were close to Bush Gardens Williamsburg, but I was giddy and wanted to be there at opening. BGW is one of my bucket list parks, and I had been dreaming about getting to ride the Loch Ness Monster (the yellow interlocking Loops coaster) for over 25 years! The park also routinely wins “most beautiful theme park in the world” and is known for it’s amazing themeing, great shows, and above average food.

We took a right out of the Hotel drive, and were in line for BGW in under 5 minutes. Even the line to get in to park was exciting, as you pull in right next to Apollo’s Chariot (the giant Purple and yellow mega coaster), and Tempesto (the new Blue and Orange Skyloop the park just opened). . so everyone is watching the coasters test as you’re waiting to park.

The booth scanned our card (free parking with Bounce pass, yay!), and directed us to the “Italy” lot, where we parked under a numbered pole (so we could find the rental car later!), and took the shuttle train to the front gates!. . . we stopped to take some pics, as we were going towards the gates, and I noticed how hot it was getting. The sun was out for sure! But I had covered myself in 50 SPF, and amazingly? No sunburns the whole trip!

Once thru bag check, we came out into a very well themed England section. Looking at the park map (where different sections open with the park), we could either go straight ahead to Scotland and ride Loch Ness Monster (but I wanted to save that for last for the anticipation), or we could go left to Italy, for the new coaster, Tempesto. . which, being a sky loop, means only one car on the track possible, and terrible capacity.

Nick wasn’t going to ride Tempesto or the other big coaster there (Apollo’s Chariot), so I felt bad going there first, but my instincts were get the low capacity ride out of the way FIRST. . so we headed that way, past Escape from Pompeii (which looked stuck already!!) and I got on Tempesto with only a 2 car wait. Ok. . this ride is great in theory, but in reality? I’m a little too old for it. . I didn’t realize that it turns you upside down more than once (in addition to the signature S-L-O-W roll-over at the very top of the loop). I got off this thing with my legs like jelly. . the adrenaline being a bit too much for me. . LOL. So yeah, that was a 1 and done, but at least I rode it!

While in line for Tempesto, I could see that Apollo still had an almost non-existent line – I guess most of the crowd had gone towards Loch Ness Monster – so I got right in line and walked on.

I knew from the moment we hit that first floater airtime hill that Nick would love this, after all, he loved Phoenix at Knoebel’s and Jackrabbit at Kennywood. . the issue is the design of the seats. But I got off and told him that he would love this ride. And that yes, the seats are “exposed” but if we sat in the center two seats, he would feel enclosed, and I didn’t want him to regret not trying it. He hemmed and hawed a little bit, but I told him I’d go right back on with him and I wouldn’t bug him to ride anything else for the rest of the trip.

So he trusted me, and we put our bags in the “storage places that cost $1 each time), and we both got on. . . and it was a fantastic ride again, and he really, really liked it J (yay me).

At this point, I’d ridden 3 coasters in a row, and we had walked a lot (BGW is a BIG park), and so we went to buy some water. We noticed it was hot, but, eh, we’re from Texas. .and the lady in the Ice Cream parlor just stared blankly ahead as I commented on the fact that bottled water was $3.99, and how she must hear that a lot -- and a woman came in behind us and said, “you know, they’re giving free water”. We didn’t know, and the counter lady didn’t bother telling us. . but it was SO hot, that BGW was giving out free cups of water to anyone who wanted. (we bought the bottles anyways, for the screw on tops, but thought it was amazing that a park would be giving away stuff. . the water might not cost much, but every cup was free too). We cooled down a little on trade-winds (a music express type ride), and the teacups, and although we didn’t WANT to get wet so early, it was HOT, so we hopped on Roman Rapids (and barely got spritzed). This part of the park was starting to get a little more crowded, because folks were coming over for the new Coaster, so we headed out and hung a left to go towards DaVinci’s gardens, and the 3 rides there: Battering Ram (basically a swinging ship, which we skipped), Flying Machine (which we really liked), and Davinci’s Cradle (a Flying Carpet type ride. . which I’ve never been on, and lordy, it made me SO nauseas. . I just wanted it to stop. I mean, I can say I’ve finally been on one, but boy howdy, did I NOT care for it). Luckily, there was a nice shady spot to sit in, and cool down, and we had the nice Italian shopping plaza to stroll thru, meaning we got a little bit of a break. . we definitely enjoyed the spritzers on the bridge over by Verbolten on one side, and Loch Ness Monster on the other.

By the time we got across the long bridge and emerged in Oktoberfest, we were ready to ride more, but were also getting hungry. We passed by Mach Tower, with no line, but I wanted to go to Verbolten, as it’s something Nick knew nothing about (and it has that surprise vertical drop in the middle of it!). Verbolten is BGW’s new coaster from last year, and it has magnetic launch (it replaced the suspended coaster Big Bad Wolf. . which I got a really cool RIP BBW shirt of). Like the rest of the park, it’s themed incredibly well, as a journey thru the black forest, where the trees have come alive. Verbolten had NO wait, so we got right on, and .. . . it shook the crap out of us.

Nick doesn’t like to ride in the front of coasters, so we were in the 2nd car, but wow, was it rough. I liked it, but yeah. . shook the crap out of us. After that, Nick needed a little break, so I went to ride Mach Tower (since it was working, and the BGW drop tower is infamous for not working, same true of Escape from Pompeii). . so when I saw it was running? I went for it. It was so, so, so hot, but what is unique about this tall drop tower is that it spins you as it ascends, so I could see that not only had the Italy lot where we parked NOT filled up, but a lot of folks seemed to be leaving as it was hitting noon. I didn’t have long to ponder this, because the awesome drop happened J. . . I found Nick and convinced him that since Verbolten had no line, we should get on it again, but this time in the front seat. And it actually *was* much smoother the 2nd time, although still very shakey. We both got off it feeling a bit ill this time, but I reasoned that it was because we were out in the heat and had not actually eaten anything yet. . . so we bypassed the Wirbelwind (swings) and the bumper cars (which we both dislike), and went into the Festhaus for lunch.

Ahhh. . air conditioning. . . we had just missed the show they have in the center of the huge seating area (Roll out the Barrel), but it was so nice to sit down and cool off. We had no idea of the portion sizes, so we stupidly each ordered a sandwich (Corned Beef for me, Turkey for Nick) and these HUGE ass sandwiches came out. . we should have just split one. . .LOL. But we ate as much as we could (and I gave and bought a souvenir cup for $12, but with free refills the whole day you buy it. We more than got our money’s worth, even tho we alternated sodas with water when refilling). So we finished our lunches and cooled off, but no way could we really ride anything being so full, and now, around 1pm, you could really tell that the place was clearing out.

So we went to Curse of Dark Castle (not knowing what to expect) – which was a walk on, and absolutely loved this 3D, fully immersive Dark Ride! I wanted to go on it right again, but it was *just* “sloshy” enough that we decide against it on a full stomach, and instead continued thru to the Germany Section, where we came across the German ‘hub’ of BGW’s unique Triangle Skyride. That was the perfect amount of movement for us, so we went ahead and took the skyride from Germany to England, then from England to France, and then back to Germany, where we got out and wandered into the stores, and watched the giant clock do it’s thing (it’s got a ton of moving parts and jousting knights that come out of the clock every 15 minutes).

By then the food had settled a bit, so we went ahead and continued around the park, into the tiny Switzerland (?) section, where Alpengeist was also a walk on. Nick took one look at it and said “no way in hell”. . so he rode “Bench: the ride” while I tried the test seat (I fit!), and made my way to the suspended coaster with 6 inversions. Now, something about Busch Gardens. . many of the rides are not “male-friendly”. .they all have a little “claw” that sticks up in the middle of the crotch – basically a bucket seat, but with a rubber divider in the crotch area. MOST of the rides, this didn’t bother me – tho in the Mach tower, I almost landed “poorly” getting out of the seat at the end of the ride. .if you know what I mean.

But on Alpengeist? So shakey, they should have renamed this thing the nutcracker. . . . the WHOLE ride, other than the lift hill? “ow ow ow ow ow holy crap ow!”

It’s fast, it’s mean, it was a 1-and-done. .did NOT get back on it, even with a lack of line. . . ouch!

We hobbled across the bridge to New France (aka: Canada), and decided to ride the Le Scoot log flume (again, because it was hot, we barely got wet. . ), but we love flumes, and as usual, bought the picture set. We also rode Le Catapult while here (a scrambler out in the boiling sun. . no shade for it at all). This section was all rustic log cabins and such, so not much shopping was done, and we continued on to France, and to Griffon, the parks Diving Coaster. Nick took one look at the 3 rows of stadium seating (open on all sides) and said, no way, but you ride. So I did. It was walk on, and unlike Alpengiest, Griffon has “big boy” ie: more comfortable seats, in all rows. So I rode in back row first, and was blown away. Smooth, smooth, smooth, and so dang fast, and that first drop! Like a drop tower, but face first. I got off it and Nick said he didn’t mind if I rode again, so I got back in line and it was walk on for 2nd row, and I loved it just as much the 2nd time.

By now our feet were really starting to hurt, and we were coming up on the Jack Hanna preserve section of the park – lots of shade and animals, so we stopped and looked at the Golden Eagle, and the Bald Eagle, and the Grey Wolves, and passed by the butterfly and bird walkthrough..and decided we’d get off our feet for a bit to see the Pet Shenanigans show. They came out prior to the show start and announced that since it was so hot, they were only going to do a 10 minute, “training” version of the show. . although we did get what I assume is the finale (with the animals by themselves on the stage, and it ends with a sign dropping over a pig’s butt that says “the end”). And the theater is wonderfully shaded by a giant tree, with some nice fans.

Across the walkway was the Predators show, and that one was starting in about 10 minutes. . and since the Wolves are native to the desert, they were running that full show, so we stayed and watched that (and enjoyed it a lot). Hawks, Wolves, Owls, and even a vulture and some rats. . good fun.

We continued onward towards Ireland, and noticed that a showing of Celtic Fire was in about 30 minutes and did we want to hang around to see it?. . we had decided that since it was so hot and the rides were all walk on, that we would spend the day doing rides and would do shows the next day (that would bite us, since it turned out Celtic Fire was dark the next day). . .so instead went to Europe by Air. Nick decided to sit this one out too, since he does not like the hang-glider feeling of Soarin at Disney (it’s the heights), but I went ahead to do it, since it was walk on. It was nice and cool in there. It’s the best thing I can say about it. The film just does not work, and instead of the hang-glider type seating that Disney uses, BGW has the whole theatre moving in time to the screen. . .some of it was Ok, but the majority of it was just.. blah. Nick declined to go see it (I offered to sit thru it again, once I knew he would go on it due to the seating type). . .but he told me that while I was in Europe by Air they had made an announcement that bad weather was approaching and they might have to shut down some rides. (it was super hot, and no clouds??).

So we made our way past the Clydesdales and into Scotland, and we had to stop and check our shoulder bag and got in the No line for Loch Ness Monster, and as we walked into the empty station, they made an announcement that everything had to shut down due to severe weather. (it was still blazing hot and no clouds). Nick checked his iPhone weather app, and there was one small storm moving close. . but nothing behind it. . so we decided to wait it out. All the other rides also shut down and every two minutes, he announced to the 4 or 5 folks (including us) waiting that they were shut down due to weather. We chatted with the operators, and everyone laughed when it rained (with sun!) for about 20 seconds.. . and then?. . they opened everything back up again, and we got two rides in on this classic coaster!

We headed back towards Italy after that (having now walked the whole park), intending to ride Apollo’s Chariot again, but when we passed by Escape from Pompeii, it was actually running! So even tho we didn’t want to get wet, really, it WAS hot, and we hopped on the boat that was there. The ride has some amazing special effects, with the city collapsing around you, and tons of fire effects (just what everyone needs on a hot day, right?), but I could see why it would break down so often. . all it would take is for one thing not to re-set, and the computers would shut it all down! It was enjoyable, but yeah. . we didn’t get anything other than a spritz..and we never got another chance to ride it, since EVERY OTHER TIME we passed it over the next few days? It was always broken down. . often with people stuck in a boat on the lift hill!

At this point, we were wiped, but it was only just after 7pm, so we got on the train, and took a nice 20 minute ride around the park, and then we went towards the front section (England) because even tho we weren’t hungry, we had to eat something. . so we found the Pub in England is the only restaurant in the park that serves burgers! (really). . but they were pre-made and just sitting in the juices and didn’t look appetizing at all. So instead, Nick got a cheese pizza, and I got a Strawberry Shortcake, and we shared it, and it was enough. While we were eating they started making announcements that the park was closing in 15 minutes (they were open until 8), but that the England section would stay open for shopping. . . . so we did a little bit of shopping. . . realizing that we had stayed in the park the entire day, from open to close.

Something EXTREMELY rare for us. (so that says something about how great BGW is).

Trip karma stayed with us as the shuttle to the parking lot was there and just about to go when we got out the front gates, and they held it for us, so we didn’t have to run.

Then, while on the shuttle to the parking lot? It started to POUR. . I mean, out of nowhere. We had bought a few things that I didn’t want to get wet (like the le scoot pictures), but we didn’t have any umbrellas, and we had parked fairly far out under a pole so we could find the car.. we stood under a tree at the disembark station as everyone ran to their cars, but it didn’t really seem to be slowing down. .so we just walked briskly (or as briskly as we could after being on our feet all day) to the car, and as we got to the car, of course, it slowed down to a drizzle. . .so we laughed and drove back to the hotel.

As we were getting out of our soaked clothes, I realized that we *both* had in our back pockets, the rain ponchos, that we use as a “fake wallet” to thwart pickpockets.

I went and showed Nick and we both said “we so stoopid !!”

We’ve been carrying these on trips for YEARS, and the one time it rains and we could use them, neither of us thought of it and instead ran in the rain. . . LOL

So we laughed, and showered, and I went to the lobby to get a smoothie and post about our day online at Theme Park Review, and then we conked out exhausted from a full and spectacular day!

we're finally here!

I see you Apollo!

Apollo's Chariot and Tempesto, from the tram pick up area in Italy parking lot.

I rode it! Only once, but I did it! Tempesto, the new coaster for 2015.

Nick in front of Apollo's Chariot's 1st drop.

on the skyride . . .

where you can get some GREAT pictures. Loch Ness Monster

Griffon in the back, Alpengeist in the front

artsy! but got the car in there

of course, the next pic got it better!

Griffon going up the hill

and going down..

Wait. . what does that say the wait time is?

oh, HECK yes!

It looks so pretty and hurt so, so much! Alpengeist, tho that's Griffon's dark blue track near the front.

we're here. . actually here!

see? proof!

Me on Apollo's Chariot (no, I didn't know he was taking the picture)

Davinci's Cradle . . the magic carpet ride I will never set foot on again. .

oh hey, Loch Ness Monster. . how's the line situation?

oh yeah!

more pics:

Golden Eagle

from the Predators show -- those are rats running along the rope at the front

Predators show

Hawk during Predators show

Predators show

Grey Wolves predators show

Me and an owl!

owl!

in front of Verbolten. . with NO ONE ELSE around. .it was seriously a walk on.

having lunch in the Festhaus with a wolf on my head.

more LNM goodness

such a photogenic park. . three coasters in this tangle, right? Loch Ness Monster, Griffon, and Alpengeist

Grey Wolf!

Two Grey Wolves!

station wait for LNM, when they shut down the ride due to weather that didn't show up. . . back open in less than 20 minutes.

station wait for LNM, when they shut down the ride due to weather that didn't show up. . . back open in less than 20 minutes.

we're happy to be at Busch Gardens Williamsburg!

I am always extremely surprised any time I hear someone mention that they had a rough experience on alpengeist. It has always been the standard by which I compare other coasters for smoothness.. Is there some magical seat that I have yet to ride that turns this masterpeice into an SLC?

Funny how all the pictures have nice blue sky and you got dumped on when leaving!

Funny how all the pictures have nice blue sky and you got dumped on when leaving!

yeah. . .we had amazing weather the whole trip, tho hot.

wait until you see the blue sky behind the Iwo Jima monument, I took on the Monuments by moonlight tour.

ah heck, I'll post that out of order just to show. . . it was amazing (and totally looks photoshopped. . but it's not)

I am always extremely surprised any time I hear someone mention that they had a rough experience on alpengeist. It has always been the standard by which I compare other coasters for smoothness.. Is there some magical seat that I have yet to ride that turns this masterpeice into an SLC?

we talked about this some in the BGW thread when i posted about it on day of (6/16). . and it seems as if the coaster is very temperamental, sometimes going from smooth to rough within the same day.

I liked that it was fast, but shook me up so bad, I declined to ride it again the other two times we went back to the park. . . took lots of pictures of it tho

Day 3:

Since we spent the whole day there on Tues, we took our time on Wed, sleeping in, and getting to Busch Gardens around 10:45 am. . and the lines to park were stretched all the way back to the freeway! Yep, the cooler weather on Wed (it was in the 80’s) brought out a lot more folks than had been the prior day.

In fact, the lots were apparently full, and so they directed us to the left, and we parked in the England lot (I’m not 100%, but I think that’s the preferred parking, as it’s just across a short bridge, and you’re at the front gate – no need to take a tram. We didn’t pay an upcharge, but ended up at the back row of this lot anyways, so it worked in our favor.

The park was absolutely more crowded, so I was very glad that we had ridden almost everything the day before and today was going to just be about re-rides, shows, and shopping.

The 1st moment of excitement was when I picked up the park map and saw that London Rocks! was back playing again, since it had been off the day prior, but then disappointment set in when I noticed that Celtic Fire was dark on Wed! I sulked about this for a while, as *everyone* younger and older had been telling us that’s the show to see! And we had the chance to see it the day before, but decided against going to any shows while the park was so dead. So yeah, I sulked, until I realized that we likely could come back on Thurs. afternoon (because certainly Colonial Williamsburg wouldn’t keep us occupied the WHOLE day – we knew from the time we had already spent there on Monday, that it wasn’t quite our cuppa. .to be fair, we hate Renaissance fairs too), so I checked at Guest Relations what time the Celtic Fire would be showing the next day, and made plans to come back for the 6pm show. While I was at Guest Relations, I also asked what attendance was the prior day, when it had been so hot. . and was told it was just over the 2K cut off that they use to keep the park open. . .if we needed any further proof it had been dead the prior day.

That wasn’t the case today, but since we had made a plan to come back and see Celtic Fire, and re-ride Apollo, I was in a much better mood, and we set off for Italy.

Disappointingly, Apollo had a fairly long line, so instead we rode the Teacups, and then walked over to the Pizza place by the Roman Rapids, since I had noticed on the map that it identified a Buffet restaurant over there. We checked to make sure it was open (a good idea, since not everything had been open the prior day), and they assured us they were open until 7pm. It’s a good deal, considering: $14 for Salad, Pasta, Pizza, Deserts, and drinks, sitting along side Roman Rapides. Quite a good deal, when at Cedar Fair two pieces of Pizza and a coke is $16!). We chatted with the manager for a bit (and went in to take a look at the offerings, since Nick still can’t eat certain foods. .remnants of the radiation) and I assured the ladies that we weren’t the people who come back 10 minutes before closing and demand to eat the full menu (and so of course, when we were trying to get back to the Pizza place, we got delayed big time by the Glass blower in Germany, who was busy trying to impress some folks by talking about how he used to date Karen Black – no seriously, he pulled out his phone to show them pictures!. . . and THEN we got stuck waiting forever for the train, so of course, we showed up to the restaurant at 10 to 7. . I felt terrible. . LOL).

Anyways, after confirming the Restaurant was going to be open and that’s what we would do for dinner, we decided to walk back to the England Skyride, and go over to France (we were headed towards the shopping area back by the Festhaus and to see the show there). . even the skyride had a good 15 minute wait. But amazingly, when coming into France, I could see into Griffon’s station, and there was no line except for the front row. So we walked over, and I hopped on Griffon in the 2nd row for a ride. We snapped some pictures with some of the roaming talent, and walked back towards DarkCastle (and hopped back in the short line for a ride).

I guess that side of the park just didn’t have many folks yet, since when we went over by Verbolten, on the other side of the Festhaus, the line was a 40 minute wait. The show started in 20 minutes, so instead, we rode the swings again, and headed into the Festhaus to watch “Roll Out the Barrel”. It was cute, but certainly not worth making a special trip for. But if you are there eating when the show is on, it’s entertaining enough. It was hard to understand them (a lot of echo in there), but it had to do with a Beer making contest, and winning the keys to the Brewery. Or something.

I wanted to catch the 2pm showing of London Rocks!, so we headed back towards England in the front of the park. We tried to eat a light lunch over in Ireland, but the main restaurant was closed, so we ended up eating “Irish Nachos” and Pulled Pork sliders in the attached Pub. They were actually pretty good, and it was the perfect light snack to hold us over. We did a little shopping in the stores by the castle, and then headed back towards England for the show – stopping to look at the Budweiser Clydesdales! They had the horses out for photo opportunities, so I posed with a very good boy, and then we went to See London Rocks!

how was the show? Very good production values, with some not GREAT singers. Oh, they were Ok, and the effects in the theatre (speakers in the backs of the chairs, bubbles from the roof, psychadellic projected set changes) were good. . it’s just that it was very. . . . cruise ship.

It was OK, but just not wonderful.

We headed out after the show towards Loch Ness Monster, but the line was a bit longer than we hoped for, so instead wend down the steps, and onto the long wooden bridge (great for picture taking of the coasters), and went to the Rhine River Cruise. We lucked out and got there just as a boat was pulling in. . there was enough of a crowd that they were running two boats. Oh sure, it just goes up the river and comes back, but it was very relaxing, and you get some fantastic views of Apollo’s Chariot’s drop towards the Rhine, as well as Verbolten’s big drop. I actually said to Nick that if he would let me, I’d stay on the boat for an hour and just go up and down the river. . it was that nice.

Instead we went back to Loch Ness Monster (yes, I s-l-o-w-l-y climbed back up all those steps!), and we got in line and rode that . . not too bad a wait now, it was only 15 minutes or so, if I recall. We went back towards Italy (walking by an again stuck/broken down Escape from Pompeii) because the next show on the list was “Mix It Up!” basically Stomp! but as performed by a marching band dressed as Italian Chefs.

We were WAY early for the show – almost an hour – so I did some shopping, picking up a beautiful hand painted lilly necklace in porcelain from the store there, and then even tho we were very early, we sat down in the theatre (themed to a restaurant, so lots of tables), and I got us some Gelato. . and we just relaxed and ate gelato and talked to other folks waiting for about 40 minutes.

The show was very good, and its one I’d recommend to folks. They are spot on with the marching band antics, and the music was just full of joy. 2nd best show at the park.

After Mix it Up! ended at ~4:30, we just slowly wandered around the park, shopping, watching the glassblower, and riding small things here and there, until we got close to when we needed to head back to Italy for the Buffet. As I said, we barely made it due to the delay on the train. . .everyone was starting to head out at the time we needed to be headed towards dinner!. . . but we made it, and had a very enjoyable dinner while watching them try to get Roman Rapids up and running . . something must have happened to the water rides, because as we walked up someone was complaining about the Flume, Escape from Pompeii, and the Roman Rapids all being closed on a hot day. . so maybe something messed up the pumps?. . about 20 minutes into eating, the Rapids started having empty boats float by, and by the time we were done, full cars were going by, so whatever it was they fixed it. Tho we did notice on the way out that Escape from Pompeii was still down (boy was I glad we rode it when we did, and that it worked!).

The mind was willing to try an evening ride on Apollo, but the belly full of pizza said. . oh, HELL no. . . so we decided just to head out, after a little bit of Magnet shopping.

We got back to the hotel, and swam and made use the hot tub for a while. Then we just watched the news for a bit, and turned in, since we had a full day again planned tomorrow.

Verbolten doing it's thing

oops, based on shirt, leftover picture from Day1. I like it when a park is this busy on a day we attend.

Pics Nick took while I was on the ride.

and it's hang time!

Going down the steps to the wood bridge crossing by LNM for Rhine River Cruise

Going down the steps to the wood bridge crossing by LNM for Rhine River Cruise

Apollo's Charitot's dive towards the river, from the Rhine River Cruise

the lovely and relaxing Rhine River Cruise

able to get a good shot, but longer queue meant we skipped it today.

leaving the Festhaus after Roll out the Barrel.

leaving the Festhaus after Roll out the Barrel.

Back in the skyride for more LNM goodness.

Skyride towards Griffon. . do I spot open seats?

closer to the queue, we saw that yes, Griffon was a walk on still.

More crowded than yesterday, but still a walk on.

Roaming Talent in France

stopping to take a pic of Alpengeist, even tho it hurt me so

Near the Carousel.

In queue (or lack of queue) for DarkCastle

such a good boy! (the horsie too)

Having a blast at Oktoberfest!

our Le Scoot pic from the prior day!

Great photos and report. I just killed a bunch of time at work reading lol.

Great photos and report. I just killed a bunch of time at work reading lol.

Thanks! Glad I could help

LOL. . .yeah, I"m quite chatty in my Trip reports.

I actually have Day 4 almost ready to go, but I hope to have Kings Dominion, and at least some of Washington up by end of weekend.

Glad you guys had fun!!! Super glad you actually got your partner to ride Apollo’s Chariot, and I am even more glad that he enjoyed it! I remember when you were looking at getting advice about taking the trip, that getting your partner on any major roller coasters would be nearly impossible!!

Awesome photos! Can't wait to see/read the rest of the trip report! Thank's for sharing!!

Great photos and report. I just killed a bunch of time at work reading lol.

Too funny!

Day 4:

We knew from the few hours we had spent there on Monday afternoon/evening that Colonial Williamsburg wasn’t really for us. I mean, I compared it to a Renaissance Festival, and we hate going to those (and it wears off quickly dealing with people who insist on staying in “character”). But we were determined to at least give it a fair shot, and to be honest, there were a couple of things I was interested in doing there – the Governor’s Mansion, and the On-site Museum (with exhibits on Colonial Furniture).

It also helped that it wasn’t as hot as it had been the prior days.

So we got up around 9:30am and headed out to Colonial Willamsburg. This time we knew to park close to where the Visitor’s Center was, and we headed directly for the shuttle stop to take the shuttle to the Governor’s Mansion.

We were greeted at the stop by a woman in period gear, but who was handing out maps and schedules for the day (a quick peruse showed us nothing of real interest, but I did note the Capital on the map and asked her about it, and she said it was a good tour, with a coffee/sweet shop nearby, so I mentally planned a stop there for a morning snack).

To go inside the Governor’s Mansion, you aren’t allowed to just self tour.. you have to go with a tour group, and we had managed to time it that a group was just getting the “starter history lesson” from the tourguide inside one of the side rooms, so we were ushered in to join them.

We quickly learned that this wasn’t the original Mansion – that had burned down and was restored, but they had furnished it with period pieces (this same disappointing news greeted us at the Capital too). I really wasn’t that impressed, I mean in Philadelphia, the buildings are original, with some restoration, but in Colonial Willamsburg, it seems that most *everything* was rebuilt. Maybe it would have been different in Jamestown, but finding out most of the buildings were recreations? Made it feel even more theme-parky.

The tour was also a dud, with a guide that was VERY hard to understand (and yes, I realize they are all volunteers, but she spoke with a very thick speech impediment, and not very loudly), and with a group that was mainly made up of what looked like High-School kids who wanted to be anywhere else but on a tour of the Governor’s Mansion! So lots of grumbling, and selfies being taken while we were trying to hear what the guide was telling us about the last Royalty that had lived in “this” Mansion leading up to the American Revolution.

Still, the Mansion was beautiful, with some wonderful furnishings, and an absolutely jaw dropping “great room” that was covered floor to ceiling in Swords and Muskets. So I’m glad we took the tour, even if we were rushed thru the rooms, and not able to spend a lot of time looking (there was another tour 10 minutes behind us that caught up quickly). . . the tour ends thru the ballroom, and out the back into the Gardens. So we headed back to the Shuttle Stop, and took the ride around to what I guessed was the Capital. (not a whole lot of signage around. . all they really tell you is that “if a flag is outside, the business/building/residence is open, and please just open the door and walk in).

So there’s this large “church-ish” building, with a big brick fence around it, and only one entrance, but no signs, near the shuttle stop. There was a largish group on benches under a big tree in front of the building, and several folks in period dress, so once ensuring this WAS the Capital building, we joined the group, and ended up really liking this tour.

It may not have been the Original Capital building (frown, but it was explained that armies REALLY like torching buildings), but it had a lot of the original furniture inside, so it really did remind us very much of the Philadelphia Congressional houses tour we did last year.

It also helped that our guide for this tour spoke loudly, clearly, and was having a great time sharing stories with us in the chambers of the Capital. He walked us thru the votes leading up to the Revolution, how the Parliament worked back then, and even to the Courtroom wing to see how/where the judges and the accused sat to listen to cases. It was supposed to only be a 30 minute tour, but I think he went almost an hour, and kept us interested the whole time.

As we were exiting from the side of the courtroom, we noticed that although it didn’t FACE that direction, this building actually WAS at the end of the main street we had been on, and marching up the street was a fairly large crowd (mixed of tourists and people in period dress), and they stopped in the cul-de-sac. A check of the map/guide the lady outside the Governor’s Mansion had given me, showed that this was part of the “call to Revolution” experience, and that Benedict Arnold (on horseback) was trying to calm the people of the town and prevent them from rallying to join a Revolution.

We had a great view from inside the Capital fence, so we watched this for a bit (SPOILER: it ends with the Redcoats with Benedict Arnold shooting some of the townsfolk who were complaining), and then decided that we needed a bathroom break and to eat something, as it was already getting close to 1pm.

The coffee shop up the street was a no-go, since they wouldn’t let you buy anything unless you did an hour long tour of the place! (I later realized at the Museum, that the “coffee shop” is one of the original structures that they build Colonial Williamsburg around, and that it was treated more like a pub/gathering place in Colonial times. . hence they gave tours of it rather than it just being a place to, you know, grab coffee and a donut). But the lady out front directed us to the bakery a block or so up, so we went there, and the ladies were baking fresh Gingerbread in giant stone ovens (along with other basic theme-park food). We opted for the warm gingerbread muffins, and a local made Ginger Ale (expensive, but at least they were super fresh, and still warm), and got into a conversation about Congress with a very nice, VERY Republican lady (seemed to be the vast majority of the crowd – older, white, and Republican ) while in the courtyard eating – she asked about our vacation and I mentioned we were going to DC the next day.

Nick was worried that I would say something, or the conversation would get very heated, but we politely disagreed with each other over certain things (I may have actually scored a point on equal rights with her), and ended up wishing each other a nice rest of the day.

We headed to a close-by shuttle stop and went to the onsite museum, our last planned stop at Colonial Williamsburg. The Museum is MUCH bigger than it looks on the map, since you enter in the main building, but then go underground two stories for the vast majority of the exhibits.

It was interesting to find out that the first Mental Institution was at the Williamsburg – that’s what’s in the main building -- and some of the older medicinal devices were pretty scary looking! But then we went downstairs to the rest of the museum where we spent at least an hour and a half looking at artifacts and learning about the area.

Huge rooms full of furniture from the original Colonies were incredible to look at (couches, cabinets, chairs, etc), as were the several large rooms full of Organs, Pianos, and all kinds of stringed instruments – in a nice touch, most of them had a “phone” type handset that you could pick up and hear what the instrument sounded like. There was also a huge room full of China and household items from Colonial Times, and an exhibit of typical signage from stores (cigar store Indians, or hanging signs, for example).

One thing that was interesting, was that although *everything* was behind glass/plastic protection, in the large area displaying Doll Houses, I had an older Security Guard give me stinkface and start following me around! I realize that we were far younger than everyone else in the museum (several of whom were in wheelchairs), but it was still so odd that he was following me around and watching me. What did he think I was gonna do? LOL. It was so odd, I even mentioned it to another guard, who told me to “ignore the old crazy man” and that he was likely just watching to make sure I didn’t leave any fingerprints on the glass. Oh well.

apparently we didn't take ANY pictures in the museums! (sorry.. just realizing that as I'm going thru!).

Anyways, it was getting close to 3:30 by now, and we had seen enough of the museum, so we caught the shuttle back to the Visitor Center, got the car and headed to Busch Gardens.

Since we were passing right in front of the Hotel, we swung by and swapped shoes, and grabbed my refillable mug, and off we went with the intention of catching Celtic Fire’s 6pm show.

We got there a bit too early for the show, but we headed to Ireland anyways to try again at the Irish Restaurant. No dice, it was still closed, with only the pub food option like it was yesterday, so instead we went back to the Pub in England that serves the Hamburgers, and Nick had pizza again while I had a huge salad (both were good, again, and reasonably priced). We rode the skyride around the triangle again, and I hopped on Griffon for another ride, since the line was short. I think we also re-rode the swings up in Oktoberfest before heading back to Ireland for the show.

Everyone was correct, the show was easily the best one we saw (the only one that came close was the Mix it Up! one). Great production, great dancing, a very enthusiastic cast, and a crowd that seemed to be singing along with several of the songs (I guess long time fans?). Well worth going back to see – something I mentioned to a performer on the way out, and she couldn’t believe that we came back another day just to see them. But hey, 7 day pass + Parking, so why not?

We had intended to ride Loch Ness Monster again today too, but my head was not cooperating and I was worried that the shake would give me a headache. Nick didn’t want to ride alone, so instead we headed towards Italy for another ride on Apollo’s Chariot

I honestly don’t recall how late we stayed at the park, but I do think we were headed out by 7:15 (so we were only there about 3 hours total?), but we had had a fun, exhausting 3 days in Colonial Williamsburg, and we had to get back to the room to pack things up for tomorrow’s check out, and what was going to be a long day (drive to Kings Dominion, 7-8 hours there riding coasters, then drive to Washington and check into our room). . so we just headed back to the hotel and relaxed for the evening.

The only pic we took the last day at BGW -- it's the old time music player inside the Christmas Store over in Germany.

Outside the Governor's Mansion in Colonial Williamsburg

Looking up the main walkway, towards the main street of Colonial Williamsburg (from the front of the Governors Mansion)

More of hte guns, and on the right you can see some of the massive amounts of swords that were on display int he great room.

some of the guns on display in the great room of the Mansion

Our Guide for the tour of the Capital in Colonial Williamsburg.

Here he is explaining that we are in the Congressional Chambers.

Now we're in the Judicial chambers, and he's walking us thru how the Court would operate back in Colonial Times.

On the Streets of Colonial Williamsburg (outside the Capital), where Benedict Arnold (on horseback) is arguing against the townfolks (in costume in the crowd) against calls for Revolution. The Coffee House is the Brown House on the right.

a cart for hire in Colonial Williamsburg.

better pic of the great hall decorations (found on line, since we didn't take a non-blurry one)

Glad you guys had fun!!! Super glad you actually got your partner to ride Apollo’s Chariot, and I am even more glad that he enjoyed it! I remember when you were looking at getting advice about taking the trip, that getting your partner on any major roller coasters would be nearly impossible!!

 

Awesome photos! Can't wait to see/read the rest of the trip report! Thank's for sharing!!

Thanks! Glad you're enjoying our adventures.

Next up is Kings Dominion, and 1st night in DC.

to be followed by Capitol Tour, Smithsonians, and Monuments by Moonlight tour! I"m hoping to get it done by end of weekend, but as you may have noticed, I type a LOT

Looks like Griffon needs a new fresh coat of dark blue paint!

Day 5: Kings Dominion and Washington,DC.

Although Kings Dominion didn’t open until 10:30 -- and we were only just about an hour away in Williamsburg -- since we had relaxed the night before in the room (other than a trip across the street for McDonalds at around 9pm), we were both up by 8am and ready to go. We didn’t want to get there TOO early, so we farted about the room for a bit, but by 8:40 were getting antsy, so just went to head out.

Because I had booked thru Expedia (and prepaid to guarantee the room rate), there wasn’t even anything for me to sign upon check out, so that took about 2 minutes tops, and we were on the road. We had intended to fill up with Gas (not that we *needed* it, but there was a gas station across the street from the hotel – unfortunately, we were in the wrong lane to turn in . . . really? A gas station has NO entrance from the major highway side of it? Oh well, like I said, we didn’t need it, so just hopped on I-64, towards I-295, and then onto I-95 headed towards Kings Dominion.

We kept our eye out and did pull off at some point to stop and get a snack and top off the tank, but were back on the road and pulling off the Kings Dominion exit by 10am.

We were following the signs, but I guess we got a little too excited, because what we thought was the entrance, turned out to be the way to the hotel in the parking lot (with Denny’s! attached). . LOL so we had to back-track and go one more light further before turning into the park’s actual entrance. We were still just about a ½ hour from opening, so the lot wasn’t too full and we parked along the main walkway by what looked like it used to be tram stations. . . now picnic areas?

We knew by going on a Friday, and also the 1st day they were open until 10pm, likely meant bigger crowds, but it’s just how the planned trip worked out. I had planned to spend 7-8 hours here, with the intention of leaving by 6pm at the latest, which would put us in DC around 8pm – still light enough to navigate. Because we were expecting crowds, we accepted before going in that there were a couple of “rules” we were simply going to have to follow, since we really don’t believe in buying a “fast pass” type thing (to us, standing in a queue is part of the theme park experience):

1) We had factored in that Nick would not ride several things (due to his issues with heights, or the designs of the ride being too open), so I would be riding alone on a few things, but he’d wait in line with me.

2) We were going to skip anything that would cause physical problems (such as headaches), so the Stand Up coaster, Shockwave, was definitely out, as were, likely, several of the wood coasers.

&

3) We took a 1-and-done policy for rides, to ensure we could get on as much as we could for what we wanted to ride.

Maybe it was the heat, or that school wasn’t quite out yet, but surprisingly, the lots never really filled up and we had a pretty empty day at the park.

So we got out of the car, and I debated bringing in my BGW refillable cup (I had seen plenty of KD cups at BGW, and since they look *very* similar, people were getting refills with no issue), but decided that we weren’t going to be here that long, and that we didn’t want to screw up our trip karma by trying to be “sneaky” so I left it in the car. I do wish I had brought it in, since I could have just used it for water, but it was kind of nice to not have to schlep it around, even tho Kings Dominion has a very nice cubbie-policy on their rides, where you can leave your stuff in the station. . .as opposed to having to rent a space to use, as we had to do at BGW.

Anyways, as I was covering myself with 50SPF sunscreen, I noticed folks were going in, and I pointed that out to Nick. So we headed up to the front gate, thru bag check, and into the park. I wish I had stopped to get a picture, as KD has a very impressive front entrance, with gardens and fountains leading to a large Eiffel Tower in the center of the park. But we were on a mission, least of which was that I had to pee. . and we were NOT passing toilets, LOL.

All the trip advice I had gotten from the forums at Theme Park Review had advised to resist the urge to ride Dominator (a floorless coaster) and instead go to Volcano: the Blast coaster at opening, since that one has a very limited capacity, and once the line gets long it never really gets shorter. So following that advice, we bee-lined it to the left from the main entry, past Berserker (a swinging ship, that does a full 360 flip. . . heck no, maybe later, tho we never went back for it), and past Dominator, along side the back of Woodstock Express to where a small crowd had formed by Boo Blasters . . .we thought something was going on, but then when the group surged forward, I realized we had walked up just as the 10:30 am rope drop to open that section of the park happened.

I really had to pee, but since we had timed it so perfectly with the rope drop, we followed the crowd as they rushed towards Intimidator and Volcano (walking as fast as we could). I tried the test seat in front of Volcano (it was snug, but it fit), while Nick watched the LIM launched suspended coaster shoot out the top of the giant Volcano. I had been asking him if he thought maybe he could try to ride it, but he didn’t make up his mind until then, when he said “ok” and we got in line, waited one car, and then we were getting into the back row of seats! The operator had to “staple” me in (blush), but the restraints clicked, and off we shot, fast around the first turn, then straight up, ass-over-elbow out the top of the Volcano. . whooping and hollering the whole way. We both loved it! (it’s really been the only coaster from the trip Nick has been telling everyone about, even tho he also loved Apollo’s Chariot at BGW), We considered violating the 1-and-done rule, since it was so, so good, but upon exiting from our one ride, even tho it had been less than 10 minutes, the line had more than quadrupled in length.

Crypt was down (and in pieces). .it seemed to be a really well themed Top Spin, but regardless, we wouldn’t have ridden that anyways..but as I was standing in front of Volcano, looking at the map to try and find a toilet, they opened up Avalanche -- the bob-sled coaster right next to Volcano. I had heard that didn’t usually open until Noon, and also has terrible capacity, so we immediately went over and it was basically a walk on. Got in the 2nd car out. What a great bob-sled, pretty fast, and you get super high up on the edges on some of the turns. I liked it way better than La Vibrora at SFoT.

Kings Dominion is weird, in that they have a bunch of “big” coasters stacked up right on top of each other on the left side of the park (in the Safari Village section), so tho I absolutely had to pee pretty bad, I didn’t want to walk out of that section (that has NO bathrooms) since the coasters are all right next to each other. So we took a left past the Scrambler (which we skipped, since we had ridden it at BGW the day before), past Flight of Fear, and headed into Intimidator 305 -- the Giga Coaster star of the park (300 ft 1st drop, and themed to Dale Earnhardt), and one Nick absolutely would not be riding – as it’s infamous for causing grey-outs and black-outs, so I wouldn’t have let him on it if he wanted to.

Basically a walk on, even with only one car running, because there was a guy in the 2nd row riding alone, so I just teamed up with him and got on the coaster right away, while Nick stepped thru to the exit and waited for me.

My only comment upon getting off was “holy $#!t” . . that sucker is FAST. . and I was smiling and holding on for dear life the whole time. . .amazing, and one of the best coasters I’ve ever been on, even tho the super fast direction changes didn’t do wonderful things for my back, it was still crazy great. Nick didn’t want to buy anything from the Earnhardt store – surprising, since he’s a fan – so we walked (slowly, due to my jelly-legs LOL) back towards the main park and to Flight of Fear (an indoor launched spaghetti bowl coaster, that’s basically Poltergeist from Six Flags Fiesta Texas, but indoors, in the dark.

Flight of Fear had the longest line we had experienced thus far (and really, the longest line of the day), at around 15 minutes, but it’s all indoors, and themed as if you are entering a spaceship. While in line, I heard a phone ringing that sounded like Nick’s, so I asked him if that was his phone? (he said no). So I checked my phone and saw I had missed a call from the Vet (where our dog Roxxi was boarded). He then checked his phone and saw that he too had missed a call from the Vet. . .so I started to worry. Making it worse, is we were in the middle of the line, so I couldn’t get out of line, and because we were indoors there was no signal, so I couldn’t listen to the message L. So I spent the entire remaining time in line for Flight of Fear, and the time on the actual coaster, worrying about the dog. I liked the ride, but it wasn’t as dark as I was expecting it to be in there, and while I thought it was fun, I like Poltergeist better.

Then again, not only was I worried about the dog, but we rode this after Volcano, Avalanche, and Intimidator 305. . of course it wasn’t going to compare. . and remember, I STILL had to pee – so it’s a shame we didn’t try this one again, I might have liked it better.

So upon exiting, I immediately found a quiet spot to listen to the voicemail (which meant, of course, that IMMEDIATELY a big group of kids, bouncing those damn theme park basketballs, came to right near where I went!.. . . so I had to go around the corner to hear). It wasn’t anything major, Roxxi was just being stubborn and not eating, and they were worried she had an upset tummy due to some loose stools, so they wanted to know could they give her some medication for it. I was glad they called before doing it, but they basically freaked me out for no reason. . . but I told them go ahead (ended up adding about $130 to the boarding bill), and tho I really, really needed to pee by this point, I was so relieved, I pointed out to Nick that we were literally across the way from the entrance to Anaconda (the parks looping Arrow coaster, that goes over the lake). .so into that line we went.

We spent more time walking thru the long, empty, queue, than we did waiting for the ride (but it’s an old school queue, so single file along the banks of the lake, with lots of shrubbery and overgrown trees). The coaster DOES have a couple of rough transitions, but I liked the dive into the tunnel under the lake, the large loop, and even the S-L-O-W double-corkscrew it goes thru near the end of the ride. Funny that the cars are exactly the same ones that Loch Ness Monster uses. . they were even painted the same way! As a bonus, this ride gives you some great views of several of the other coasters around it, so it wasn’t too painful, and was pretty to look at. In other words, not the best of the day, but I’ve been on worst.

The exit of Anaconda puts you right out near Backlot Stunt Coaster, so we walked over to that, only to see that the entrance was blocked and the ride was not operating “sorry for the inconvenience”. . darn, as that was a ride we could do together. . . but OK, at least we were right next to the toilets, finally.

RELIEF

We needed to drink something by that time, so stopped about bought some cokes, and wandered into Camp Snoopy, as I wanted to check out Woodstock Express, a wooden Junior coaster (I wasn’t sure they’d let us ride). We didn’t see any restrictions – other than the seats being TINY, so we’d need our own row, instead of sharing – so we got in line. It quickly became apparent that with only one car on the track, this was going to take way too long to ride, so we abandoned the line after about 10 minutes, and decided we’d come back later. As with Dorney Park, the Planet Snoopy area in Kings Dominion has a ton of rides for the kiddos, and looked fantastic (Cedar Fair really does seem to do it’s children’s areas well). But a lot of fun rides that we were way too big for, so we went back out to the main walkway, and headed into the Candy Apple Grove Section. . stopping to take a picture in front of the singing Mushrooms, of course!

I had noticed that neither Windseeker, or the Drop Tower had been working. . . and I was disappointed, since those are two things I definitely wanted to ride. . I’ve never been on a Windseeker. . . but just after it hit Noon, the Drop Tower started up.

We bypassed the Bumpercars and the Wave Swinger (having ridden them twice at BGW the prior days), and went over to Bad Apple, something we’ll ride together. It was he fastest version of this type of ride that I’ve ever been on, and maybe I was just exhausted and overheated, but it actually made me a little bit nauseous. To the point that we stopped and sat in the shade and watched Shockwave for a while. No one seemed to be enjoying that ride, and it reinforced our decision to skip the stand up coaster J

The Drop Tower was a no-way for Nick, but I was feeling a little better, so I left him in the shade and went to get in line (they were only running about 10 seats on opposite sides for some reason), but I got on with very little wait, and we started the lift to the to of the tower. It’s an odd set up, in that the seats are set in an “outer ring” that sits out from the main tower. .it also lies, with a countdown at the top of the tower, but the drop comes well before the 1. LOL. . . I liked it a lot. Actually, I’d say it’s the best drop tower I’ve ever been on, and is easily my favorite.

Nick doesn’t do Ferris Wheels, so we passed that and got onto Rebel Yell, the parks dueling woodie (that we had heard was the smoothest in the park).

We didn’t realize that the line splits at the main entrance for the two different (dueling) cars, and so we had mistakenly gotten in the line with a lot of people in it. . but when I tried to move lines, the folks behind us quickly jumped over and rushed past. Oh well, it didn’t matter, as there was an open row on the next car, so we got on anyways, and because our train was full, as opposed to the other train that was mostly empty, we beat them easily in the racing aspect of the coaster (we were heavier, of course).

But oh. . smoothest in the park?. . that really worried us, as Rebel Yell beat the crap out of us, shaking and rattling us all over the place. Oh, we thought it was OK, but didn’t really like it. Compared to other woodies we’ve been on, this was rough.

My nausea had started to come back, and I realized that it was probably because we hadn’t really eaten much so far. We knew that Cedar Fair is infamous for their bad and yet really expensive food (we had experienced some of that at Dorney last year), but we decided we really needed to eat something, so we headed towards the Juke Box restaurant that’s over by Windseeker (which started operating while we were there, Yay!).

Not surprised at all at the limited menu, but the prices DID throw me. $15 for a Hamburger or Chicken Sandwich or Tenders!

The lady at the counter told me these are all combos, so I asked am I able to buy just the main and NOT a combo? (since Nick tends not to eat fries anyways), and I’m glad I asked, since the answer was “yes”. Oh, it didn’t save much, taking off the Fries and the drink dropped the price down to $10. . so still over-priced, but at least it was cheaper).

Still, $25 later for a so-so chicken sandwich, OK chicken tenders, oversalted fries, and a shared coke. . . yeah. Wasn’t thrilled, but it WAS the right call, because as soon as we ate, and sat in the shade for a bit, I started feeling much better.

As I noted, Windseeker had started running while we were eating, so I went and got in-line (another tall ride that’s a nope for Nick), and tho I had to wait for 1 cycle, still not a bad wait. The park never really did get crowded, even tho the heat wasn’t unbearable. .but I guess there were a lot of folks in the waterpark. As my first Windseeker, my opinion of it was. . “meh” It didn’t go fast enough to be scary, and it played the silly “Flight of the Valkyrie” the entire time we were spinning high up at the top of the tower. It was basically an outdoors version of the old Observation tower rides like Astroworld used to have. Simply not thrilling at all to me. I hope if I ever get a chance to ride a Skyscreamer (Starflyer) it will be much more exciting with the chained seats. Still, it was very cool and breezy up there, and I enjoyed the wind.

We now had a choice, the wooden coaster, Hurler, or the wild Mouse, Ricochet – the entrances are across the walkway from each other. Since it was now operating (it also appeard to have not been running earlier in the day, but we saw trains cycling while on Rebel Yell) we decided to give Hurler a shot, despite having been advised that it was a rough coaster. And yes, it was. . it wasn’t the worst wooden coaster we’ve ever been on (that would be Wildcat at Hershey Park. . a car with square wheels going down a street full of potholes, is how I described that one). .but it certainly wasn’t the best. Actually, what killed Hurler? That first turn-around where it just SLAMS you into the left (I hit Nick good w/ my elbow, and it got my ribs on the side of the car), and you just never recover from that. So glad it’s a very short coaster.

We hobbled off that, and across the walkway to Ricochet. Personally, I’m not a wild mouse fan, and could have lived without Ricochet, but Nick loves them so I said I’d ride with him.

Turned out to be a good decision, as this mouse is super smooth, particularly fast, and not so many drops that my back wasn’t giving me issues . . surprising, after Hurler.

It was probably around 2:30 by this time and tho we were starting to slow down a little, we had ridden a lot of stuff, so were very pleased with how we were doing timewise. We headed into the Old Virginia section, deciding that we still didn’t want to see the “Dinosaurs Alive”. . LOL, we’ve passed them up in every park that’s had them, and went to Flying Eagles, a ride Nick really likes. I’m not that much of a fan of flyers, and to be honest, I wanted to get off my feet for a bit. .so I encouraged him to ride alone. He really didn’t want to, but I pointed out that I had ridden several things without him, so he could ride this without me. . please don’t pass up something he wanted to ride just because I didn’t want to. So he got in line, and had a great time. He actually got his flyer pretty high up a few times.

We looked at the gas cars/taxis, and Nick really didn’t want to ride those, so we went over to the entrance to Grizzly, the park’s 3rd big Woodie, and I asked the lady at the entrance to “please be honest. . is it rougher or smoother than Hurler”. . she said, “OMG, rougher.” The other lady at the register in the store at the entrance asked what we had asked, and concurred, that Grizzly is the roughest of the wood coasters in the park. So we made a call, and passed on it. I kind of regret that we did, as I really did want to ride the wooden coasters, but we just knew that it would jiggle our brains up and we’d just be no good for the rest of the day. So we passed L

Kings Dominion does have some shows (tho most of them are Peanuts/Snoopy related), and we caught part of the “Clown Band” a little bit later. But really, the only show I was interested in was one called Cirque Imagine (a Cirque Du Soliel type show) . . unfortunately, it opened on 6/20, and we were there 6/19. Now there WAS a preview of it, but that wasn’t until 6pm, and we knew we couldn’t stay that late. . we had to get to Washington. So we just kept walking past the theatre.

I’m a huge Flume fan, but we had decided earlier in the day that we had no plans to get wet.. so I knew the Whitewater Canyon Raft Ride was a no-go, but I was hoping to talk Nick into riding the Shenandoah Lumber Co. flume. . but when we got to it?. .the line was easily and hour long. So despite my love of flumes, we just didn’t have time for that kind of line, and decided to skip it.

KD has a big 4D theatre, showing an “immersive” film (I guess similar to the “It’s tough to be a bug” film at Disney, but with a dinosaur theme. Based on the amount of queue space, this must be a very popular attraction, but it was down when we walked by. The guy working the gate (telling everyone it was down) was saying it would be up within an hour. . but Nick wasn’t really interested in seeing a movie, and we had discussed and said we’d shoot for leaving the park by 4pm, to get us to Washington even earlier than we had planned). . . so we moved on and didn’t do this either.

Nick did agree to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower with me, and it was nice and breezy up there with some great views. While we were up there, I noticed that Woodstock Express had put a 2nd train on the tracks, and we also noticed that Backlot Stunt Coaster was now running! So we decided that we’d hit up both of those, do a little shopping, and then decide on Dominator before heading out. There were some storms heading our way –at least it had gotten cooler, and the sky turned darker so we hurried . . although nothing did come of those clouds, they just blew over with no rain.

Back Lot Stunt Coaster is a launched coaster with some special effects, but not really any “big” elements. There was a bit of a line here, since I guess word spread that it was open, but we still waited less than 15 minutes for it. Huge disappointment. Not only are the seats in the cars super, super uncomfortable (for me at least), but most of the effects didn’t seem to be working (no helicopter blades spinning, no machine gun turrets spinning, no fire effects). . so it was just a junior Steel coaster that went fast in a couple of spots. Meh. . . not worth the effort to rush over to ride it, nor the short amount of time we waited for it. They either need to fix up this dud, or get rid of it.

On the other extreme, adding the 2nd train to Woodstock Express cleared out any line they had, and the Junior Woodie was basically a walk on. Nick and I chose the 2nd to last car, and we each took a row, since the trains are tiny. I asked the operator if it was OK that we were adults riding, and he said he had never denied anyone a ride, and never would. I was sucking in big time, to make sure the lap bar would close, and surprisingly, not only did it close, but I had a good 3 inches clearance! So not only was it ok for us to ride, it was comfortable. And what a pleasant, pleasant surprise. . really fast for a junior coaster, smooth as all hell (this is the smoothest wooden coaster at KD), and with some great pops of airtime over the bunny hop hills. We enjoyed this ride very much. To the point that we ended up buying the on-ride photos from it (typically we buy flume, but since we skipped the flume here, this was a very suitable substitute).

That was such a high note, I didn’t want to ruin it by chancing nausea with Dominator. I mean, I wanted to ride it, but I wasn’t in the mood to go upside-down at this point. So yeah, the grumpy old man in me came out and I passed on riding Dominator. Not too upset about it, it’s basically a Superman from Fiesta Texas floorless coaster. . at least that’s what I’m telling myself J so we ended up skipping Dominator too.. but still we did the vast majority of the rides in the park, and it wasn’t even 3:30 yet.

I really wanted a purple 40th anniversary Singing Mushrooms shirt, but despite trying in several shops (and each of those shops sending us to another shop), we could never find one that was a size larger than “Large”. In fact, the only shirts we found in 2X (a size I prefer getting, so I don’t worry if they go into the dryer), were stupid-ugly. . .the kind I wouldn’t even wear to sleep in. In the last store, out of desperation – after clerks had gone into the back to check for me and still found nothing larger than large, I said to a Manager, “I don’t understand why you have no T-shirts bigger than Large. Have you SEEN your crowd? You seem to be ignoring a huge potential revenue stream, as I’d be buying stuff if I could find anything in the size I want” She nodded her head in agreement (and I’m sure did nothing whatsoever about it, or report it to anyone). . and so we just bought some magnets and headed out. Tho Nick did get a nice, Medium shirt that says “keep calm and ride on”

Overall, we had a great day at Kings Dominion. . tho I had planned for 7-8 hours, we managed to ride and do everything we wanted to in 5-6 hours, and we felt it had been a very successful day thus far. The park has some real standouts (Intimidator, Woodstock Express, Drop Tower, Volcano, Avalanche), but also quite a few “meh” or “duds”.. .but we had a great day. We pulled out of the lot, and into the crowded 7-11 across the street, where I bought sodas and Gatorades for our drive to Washington (for $1 each instead of the $4 in the park), and we headed out on I-95 towards DC.

Part II coming up soon: into DC, and the 1st fun-filled evening.

Legs like Jelly, but I LOVED it.

One of the main reasons we are here today (along with Volcano & Windseeker). . 2 of the 3 will NOT disappoint!

I see you, Dominator, but ignoring you to follow the advice to get to Volcano first!

We had planned to come back, but our love must remain unrequited. . . for now!

Beautiful big loop. . but too many upside-downs for me to take at end of day

Nick on the Flyers

Nick getting that sucker up there!

From the top of the Eiffel Tower.

L-R clockwise: Avalanche, Volcano, Flight of Fear (in building hidden by trees), Intimidator 305, Rebel Yell's wood, Anaconda, Backlot Stunt Coaster (grey steel track), wave swinger, Shockwave's green steel.

Us on tower, with guest appearance by Intimidator 305

I don't care how snug it looks, I fit!

Volcano: the Blast Coaster, from the Anaconda station exit.

Why yes, i Do love the singing mushrooms.

Good shot of Intimidator 305, Anaconda, some of the waterpark, & most of Shockwave

Dominator, Woodstock Express (blue wood), the very cool (but we were too big for ) Snoopy's Driving school, and the Planet Snoopy monorail.

Woodstock Express purchased picture. . it goes WAY faster than you'd expect

Hmm--to me, Hurler is rougher than Grizzly (although the former was a lot of fun during its first season of operation).

Hmm--to me, Hurler is rougher than Grizzly (although the former was a lot of fun during its first season of operation).

yeah, we're regretting not giving Grizzly a shot. . particularly after watching the YouTube videos (Grizzly seems to have a lot more bunny-hops and less turns than Hurler, meaning it was likely less rough).

it was a spur of the moment decision

^Well, Grizzly has its good days and its bad days. If you had a headache, avoiding it was probably wise.

Day 5 Part II

So, after a fun filled morning/afternoon at Kings Dominion, we were on I-95 towards DC. As we got closer to Washington, DC the traffic on the other side of the Interstate really started to slow down – and it got really bad once we exited off of 95 onto the local freeways. Luckily, we were coming in around 5:30 pm on a Friday, so the VAST majority of the traffic that was stacked up was going in the opposite direction – out of town for the weekend. Oh, we did spend a good 20 minutes going 10-15 MPH, but could have been much worse.

It really is a pretty straight shot so we had no problems following my printed out directions, until we got to a bridge that led us into DC Proper, and then the directions went out the window, as the turns were suggested faster than we could spot street signs! I got frustrated super quickly, but luckily I knew the general location of the hotel based on the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monuments. . so I directed Nick to make a left, and we just went up and down a few streets until we spotted the flag for the Hotel (kind of hidden, but on the back side of a Student Housing residence building). All in all? We found the hotel within 7 minutes of hitting Washington, DC. . so not bad at all. There’s no place to park, so Nick pulled up in the very small (big enough for *maybe* two cars) drive, and I ran in to check in and see the situation.

The Courtyard Marriott at Foggy Bottom is a beautiful hotel, even tho squeezed into a small space. (our 3rd floor room overlooked an interior courtyard, so not much of a view, but that didn’t really matter to us). They have the computers, the snack nook, the Bistro restaurant, and all the couches/TVs/books that we had seen at the prior hotel in Williamsburg – but the selling point here is absolutely the location: On the Edge of George Washington University, 10 minute walk to the Vietnam and Lincoln Memorial, 12 minute walk to the White House, and 10 minute walk to the Foggy Bottom Metro Station.

The only negative I can even say about this hotel, was the parking situation. We had to valet the car at the hotel (at $39 a night!) and we did not touch it for 3 days until we checked out, since the convenient location meant we either walked or took the Metro everywhere. Still, with the great rate I got on the room, even the extra cost for parking couldn’t ruin a fantastic deal.

It was only about 6pm, when we got to the room, so after relaxing for a little while, I went down to the front desk to see about transportation options.

I had planned on us using Taxis to get around, but a gentleman I had met the night before in Williamsburg at the computers in the lobby had told me that the DC taxes crazy overcharge, and if we had an opportunity we should use the metro transit for MUCH cheaper. In fact, one of Nick’s coworkers had given us metro cards from when they were in DC a couple of months back and we had brought them with us, although we didn’t know how much was on them. So I went to desk to confirm what the gentleman had told me, and the desk clerks eagerly agreed – don’t use Taxis, take the metro. They drew me a walking map to the Foggy Bottom Station, and gave me a Metro and area map to take with.

I went back up to the room, and convinced Nick that it was way too early to turn in for the night, and I didn’t just want to hang around the hotel. . so let’s go to the metro and figure out the stop we would need for tomorrow’s 9:20 am Capital Tour, and take a look at the National mall. I think he didn’t really want to, but to make me happy, Nick put his shoes back on and off we went towards the Foggy Bottom Metro station.

Along the walk, we passed a lot of Security Guards, and on every block were emergency call boxes (remember, we were on the edges of GWU, among the student housing). . so it felt very safe to walk even tho we were not familiar with the city. Nick confessed to me that he’d never ridden a metro before, but luckily I take the MARTA in Atlanta every year for Dragon*con, so I assured him it was a snap, and that we really just needed to figure out which colored train line we needed, and then figure out which stops we wanted.

Also on my agenda was to try to spot the restaurant we were going to meet an old High School friend of mine at the next night (I hadn’t seen Ben in well over 30 years, but he lived in DC, so we had made plans to meet up for dinner) when he found out where we were staying he made sure to get reservations at a restaurant within walking distance. We found the Metro station entrance easily – and right across the street was the restaurant! (so that worked out perfectly). .and we went down the escalators to the self serve machines.

I admit, I was a little stumped, but a bit of direction from the security guard on duty, and we were like old pros. The cards Nick had been given, had about $1.50 left on them, so we put an additional $14 on each card – and that total $15.50 on each card lasted for every trip and transfer we took over the next 3 days (and we used them a LOT), so yeah, way, way cheaper than even ONE cab ride would have been. . so if you ever go to DC, use the Metro rather than Taxis.

We quickly determined which line we’d need, and which stop, and we hopped on a train headed to the Smithsonian Station, since that would let us out in front of the Smithsonian Castle – about midway up the Mall between the Washington Monument, and the Capital -- with the plan being that we’d walk back to the hotel from the Smithsonian stop, and grab dinner in the Bistro of the hotel (which was open until 10pm).

I really couldn’t believe we were in DC, it was so surreal. I knew that they were still doing repairs on the Capital Dome (I see the scaffolding every Sunday behind the news anchors on the Political shows), but I was shocked to come up the escalators from the Metro to a great lawn . . . that was ripped to absolute shreds. Chain link fences, rocks, and mud EVERYWHERE. We found out later that it is a project to put sprinklers under the lawn, and to also input WiFi. Still, it was a big disappointment to see all the construction. . although we did manage to get some good pictures of the areas that were unaffected.

With so much torn up (and the Capital still under scaffolding anyways), we didn’t even head that direction, and instead just started across the Mall, and towards the Washington Monument. As I noted, it’s hard to believe you are there. . it really is breathtaking, and we kept stopping just to look at the Washington Monument as we got closer and closer to it. There was a big gathering going on to the North of the Monument (turned out it was a Stargazers party), and a lot of construction on that side toward the White House as well (which turned out to be the new Smithsonian African American Museum, opening in 2016).

We were thinking about grabbing a snack from a food cart (all we’d eaten all day were those chicken options from Kings Dominion), but restroom needs won out, so instead we headed to the Washington Monument to make use of the facilities. Once you’re actually standing next to it, you really realize just how HUGE it is. It wasn’t dark enough to have it all lit up, but it was still hugely impressive. We took some pictures, including some I asked passerbys to take – which always freaks Nick out (he worries about his iphone. .LOL), and then I realized we were standing by the Security Booth.

Nick calls me “chatty Kathy”. .and I can’t help it, I like to engage, so when I heard a Ranger (who reminded me very much of my late Uncle Freddy with his Joisy accent) telling some folks where to go for the tour, I started up a conversation with him. I told him how impressive the Monument was, and how we weren’t able to get tickets for the tour online, but we might try to come by early the next morning after our Capital tour to see if anything was available. He told me “probably not”, but then asked if we’d “like to go up now?”

He said he couldn’t guarantee anything, but since his 8pm tour hadn’t filled up, if we wanted to sit on the side, he’d see if he could squeeze us in. I said sure, since we had nothing to lose -- we had already figured we weren’t going to be able to get tickets to go up to the top of the Monument, so had really made peace with it. But we went and sat down on the benches (along with another couple and their kids, who had heard the Ranger telling me he might be able to squeeze us in). We sat maybe for 2 minutes? And then he motioned us over to get in line for the security X-ray screen!

It was awesome, and unexpected (which is the best kind of awesome), there are some statues, and some plaques to read in the lobby, but mainly there’s a pretty incredible mosaic floor to look at while you wait for the elevator, and then next thing you know, you’re way, way up on the top of the Washington Monument, on a perfectly clear day, with windows to look out in all 4 directions (the Capital, the Lincoln Memorial, the White House, the Jefferson Memorial/Pentagon).

You can also look straight up and actually see where the stones come together to form the point of the monument.

Facing the Capital, there’s two sets of metal steps that bring you down a level, to a pretty decent museum (a lot of information is provided on the history for the amount of size they had available in there!). We spent probably a good 10 minutes in the top of the Monument, then another 50 minutes one level lower reading the information in the museum. This Museum level is also where you board the elevator to go down, but it’s not just a straight shot down. .at two points during the decent, the elevator slows down, and the glass goes from opaque to clear, and you can see many of the giant stone plaques, from all the States, that are located within the structure of the monument. Impressive as all hell.

I noticed a bench near one of the plaques (as well as walkways around the monument walls), and the Ranger running the elevator told me they haven’t used those since the late 70’s and are only for emergency exits (I totally expect this is due to there being no elevator stops other than floor, top, and 2nd to top level. . . so if someone has problems on the steps/ramps, there’s no way to evacuate. . so basically, the fattening of America means we can’t take the stairs in the Washington Monument ).

We got back to the bottom, and I wanted to thank the Ranger that had gotten us in, but he was busy (another Ranger heard me tell Nick I wanted to thank him, and told me that he’s aware that he makes people happy. . .LOL). . so still bouncing on air at our unexpected score, we started off back towards the hotel – MUCH later than I had planned, and figuring we’ll have to eat crap from the “Snack Nook” in the hotel, since we were gonna miss the Bistro restaurant.

We walked past the WWII memorial, lit up in all it’s glory (it had gotten totally dark while we were in the museum portion of the Washington Monument), with all the fountains running. It would have been nice to stop, but despite the adrenaline the trip to the top had given us, our feet were starting to give out. The blocks in Washington, DC, are by no means “short” blocks, but we’ve walked the Strip in Las Vegas, so we could compare and at least be happy they weren’t “Vegas Blocks.”

We continued walking along the reflecting pool, when I realized I had made a navigation mistake and that instead of walking along the Reflecting Pool, we should have been by the street -- we likely had to go up 23rd street to go towards our hotel.. but there were no cuts from the reflecting pool walkways up to the street. I felt bad doing it, but we quickly followed another couple who climbed over the chains, and walked across the grass to get up to a walkway that did head up to the street.

Again, we hit the situation we had seen upon arriving in DC -- lack of street signs ANYWHERE. So I took a guess and we headed across the street to a street food cart that was just closing up for the night (it was almost 10pm, so we were definitely going to miss the restaurant in the hotel and I took a gamble they would still serve us). It worked out perfect, not only did they gladly sell us some great Bratwurst and Hot Dogs, but they confirmed we were on 22nd street, so only one short block from where we needed to go. And it also turned out that Nick had never eaten from a street cart, so a day of firsts for him, Volcano: the Blast Coaster, Riding the Subway, and Street Card food.

We stood by the cart watching the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument, and ate dinner, and started back towards the hotel as it started to sprinkle. Not heavy rain, actually, but just enough to be cooling and comfortable. We walked up 23rd to the cross street. . and didn’t see the hotel. So we took a left and started going that way.. .and still didn’t see the hotel. I wasn’t too worried, since we were in the GWU area, so I didn’t feel unsafe, and asked some guys walking where the hotel was. . and perfect timing, the guys I asked, pointed about ½ a block behind them from the way they had come. LOL.. we were so tired, we had walked the block AROUND our hotel.

We were back in the room in less than 2 minutes, and although we were still hyped from the evening’s adventures, we knew we had to get up fairly early to ensure we were at the Capital an hour before our Tour (and I had to factor in 40 minutes to get there), so that meant getting up at 7-ish. So we took showers, watched some TV, and I did some reading up on the Smithsonians, to get our game plan together for the next day post Capital tour. And then we crashed hard, after a very full day.

Disappointing shot, but as we got closer, the grass was filled in.

Our first view of the Capital, upon exiting the Metro Station. Aw Man, what are they doing to the Great Lawn????

(answer: putting in a sprinkler system and WiFi)

Thru the fence

On hill across the street

Headed towards the Washington Monument on foot.

On the Washington Monument grounds. The people are a Stargazing Party, and the Construction is the Smithsonian African American Museum (open 2016). Way off in the back is the White House.

Looking towards the White House

The Washington Monument from the Smithsonian Metro stop

thru the chain link gap

Capital thru the chain link gap

Ain't it pretty?

Getting Closer!

trying to get a closer pic of the White House from Washington Monument Grounds.

At the base, looking up!

from inside the Washington Monument:

Statue across from the Elevator, inside the Washington Monument

From the top of the Washington Monument -- looking down on the WWII Memorial, the reflecting pool, and the Lincoln Memorial.

From the top of the Washington Monument -- looking down on the Jefferson Memorial

From the top of the Washington Monument -- looking down on the Holocaust Museum

From the top of the Washington Monument -- Nick looking out the White House View

From the top of the Washington Monument -- looking down at the torn up great lawn towards the Capital, with several Smithsonians -- clockwise from lower left: American History, Natural History, Portrait Gallery/National Gallery of Art (two buildings), Capital, American Indian, Air and Space, Hirshhorn Sculpture (the round one), The Smithsonian Castle, Freer Gallery & Sackler Gallery. Except for Portrait Gallery, we went to every museum for at least one thing, and most of them we did the entire museum sites.

From the top of the Washington Monument -- Looking down on the White House.

Over the Elevator Doors.

From the top of the Washington Monument -- another shot towards Lincoln Memorial

From the top of the Washington Monument -- better shot of the Pentagon on the right, with the Jefferson Memorial on the left. (if you zoom way in, you can see the Wolverine's Claws: aka the United States Airforce Memorial, to the right of the Pentagon)

From the top of the Washington Monument -- another shot of the torn up National Mall looking towards the Capital, with the Smithsonians.

From the top of the Washington Monument -- good pic of the White House

selfie: me, my jowls, and the White House.

on the Museum level, while waiting for the elevator.

I'm enjoying your writing style, pics and comments! I dislike Colonial Williamsburg as well although so many people seem to enjoy it. Not my cup of tea either, I guess. Something not many people know about is they do, or did, allow extraordinarily well-behaved dogs to walk around on the property with you. Leashed, of course, something far too many people disobey in general and drives me crazy. My favorite visit there was a decade ago when my family met some friends there for the day, last-minute. I was expected to attend and brought my dog, a beautiful female German shepherd who heartbreakingly passed away last year at age 11.5. I was satisfied with sitting around in the parking lot with her all day until they were done touring. Imagine my surprise when a kind worker mentioned that I could absolutely bring her inside with us to walk around but not in any of the buildings. For me it was such a neat experience and somewhere we have a picture of me and her sitting on a big log together. The only reason I am mentioning this is because I can tell you are an animal lover too based on your panicked moments regarding Roxxi. I have a family of pets and have been in situations like that before too. BGW is a beautiful park and I am going to lose all credibility now since I have never seen Celtic Fire! Apollo's Chariot is my favorite ride there. If you're ever back in the area towards the end of the year, BGW's Christmas Town is a sight to behold. It's spectacular!

Kings Dominion coaster comments:

Even on opening day I-305 had no more than a 15 minute wait. I rode it 14 times that day but that was before they re-profiled the first turn which IMO made it worse. They get those trains filled and out quite fast but I think the height plus high speed combined with grey-outs scares off a lot of people. I can only ride it 2-3x a visit now because it takes a lot out of me. The coaster is awesome but not super re-rideable for many people. Compare that to Millennium Force which I just rode 4 days ago and 15 years later it is still kicking ass and taking names! I rode it multiple times each day and didn't feel worn out like I do after riding I-305.

The former Scooby Doo coaster, now Woodstock Express, is one of our favs and I'm glad you got on it and loved it too!! The on-ride pic is great. There are plenty of adults (such as ourselves) that ride it and you don't need to borrow a kid to do so, ha! Dominator is awful and if you're at all sensitive to head banging or motion sickness then steer wayyy clear of it. Volcano is the best coaster in the park IMO and yes, Rebel Yell is the smoothest wood coaster there which is really saying something. Berserker is great and Boo Blasters is an interesting laser shooting ride that's hidden behind Woodstock Express. It's great to have another Avalanche bobsled fan around here. Drop Tower is awesome and besides Zumanjaro it's the best one I've been on. Stunt Coaster's effects worked when it opened and sadly they haven't kept it up at all. Still, I enjoy riding it when at KD. More importantly, I had no idea you could buy just the main item of chicken fingers without fries!!! Looking forward to your next installment.

^ glad you're enjoying. . I'm having fun writing it all up.

I keep getting asked if I took notes, and the answer is "no". . but I do have a very good memory for the order we do things in, and it was only 3 weeks ago

(I did have to pull out a park map to remember some ride names tho. . . heh).

Very glad I could help with the not-a-combo secret! It only saved $5, but hey, $5 is $5, right?

we didn't see any animals at CW (other than horses), but it was so hot, there were barely any tourists there! Yep, dog lover, and my baby is a blind, diabetic dog, so she needs 3 different eye drops + insulin shots, all twice a day. . so when we travel, she has to do medical boarding these days. So any call from the vet while on a trip, always freaks me out, and I fear the worst right away.

would love to see that pic of your dog if you can find it!

I'll have to MAKE time to complete the trip report, because even tho there's only 3 days left, we crammed in 9 Smithsonians, Dinner with a High School Friend, a Tour of the Capital, Union Station, a drive out the offsite Air & Space Smithsonian, AND a Monuments by Moonlight tour!. . . . LOL. . so yeah, a lot of typing for me, even tho we really didn't take pictures (other than 1 or 2) in most of the museums -- Air & Space being the big exceptions. . *lots* of pics in those two.

but I'll try to have a day up every two days. that's my goal. . until finished.

Day6:

We started the day off early, as we knew this was gonna be a full one: A tour of the US Capitol, followed by at least 2 Smithsonians, and meeting my high-school friend Ben for dinner at a place called Circa. Tho I had researched it and the dress code is casual for the Tour (and for the Restaurant), we still decided that we’d dress a little bit “nicer” (no T-shirt) so I wore a button down shirt, and Nick wore a polo today.

So we were up and out of the hotel by 7:20am, and headed to the Foggy Bottom Metro station, where we were going to take the Blue Line to the Capitol South station, and then walk to Capitol Visitor’s Center. I wasn’t sure how far it really was (it’s a bit hard to tell from the map), so I wanted to make sure we got there in plenty of time – which we did, arriving about 8:15 for an 8:30 visitor’s center opening. The Capitol South station is actually much closer to Capitol Hill then it looks on the Map, so following the signs, we took our time heading towards the Visitor Center, walking among the office buildings that house the Congressional Offices of the House Members, and stopping to take pictures of the Library of Congress, and the Supreme Court building (there was one lonely protestor standing in front of the Supreme Court Steps with signs against Gay Marriage – we were there on Sat, 6/20, so about 6 days prior to the Historic Court ruling – but Nick would *NOT* let me go across the street to take a picture with her. . LOL, I was dying to!

We met a lobbyist who was taking a tour with his Granddaughters (who looked like they would rather be doing anything else, heh), but he was from Austin, so while walking to the Visitor Center and waiting in lines, we chatted with him about Texas, and our Representatives (he didn’t care for them either), and about Austin.

At 8:25, the door opened, and people went into the Visitor Center to either exchange their online vouchers for actual tour tickets, or to try and get tickets (something we had also seen in Philly last year, where we got lucky and were able to snag day of tickets for Independence Hall). The signage in the Visitor Center really sucks, and I actually had to ask 2 different people where to go! (you got to the right side to exchange your voucher, then you go to the left side to exchange your ticket for another ticket, then you line up in front of a movie theatre to watch a 15 minute film about America and how Congress works, before you start the tour).

Because of my uncertainty, we were way early for our 9:20 tour (it was only 8:35ish), but at the 2nd counter when you exchange your tickets for other tickets, the Ranger asked me if we wanted to go on an earlier tour? It seemed there were large groups of School kids, they were trying to keep together, so were moving anyone there to earlier tours if they wanted to.

We said, sure, why not? And went directly into the line that went into the theatre. The theatre holds probably 350 people, but the 1st tour of the day (at 8:40 – the one we ended up on) only had maybe 150 tops? We watched the film, and then you exit out the back of the theatre where you are funneled into 4-6 lines, each with their own tour-guide. Volunteers stood with headsets that you put around your neck and would pick up the mike from YOUR tour-guide only, something I thought was just brilliant, as you could hear the information clearly, and without the guide needing to shout.

-- Nick and I were the only two people in our group who could figure out how to put these headsets on. . seriously, there are some stupid people visiting DC.. even with my trying to help, everyone else in our group ended up having the string that’s supposed to go around your neck hanging from one ear or the other. . . LOL.

Our tour-guide not only looked exactly like Jonah, from “Veep”, but he also carried himself with that same aura. I asked him about it, and he said he has heard this several times, and he really needs to watch the show. . LOL.

Once again, our Trip Karma kicked in, and not only were we on the first tour of the day, but our group was the 2nd one to go – meaning that we walked into nearly empty rooms, allowing us to take some great pictures, before they got crowded. The guide even commented that within 20 minutes the rooms would be so crowded, that the headsets would be required use, because it gets so noisy/busy. Very interesting tour, even with the disappointment that the work on the dome outside, is also affecting the inside (something we hadn’t realized) – so there was a giant “donut” blocking much of the mural on the inside of the dome . “Donut” is what our guide told us they call it...it looked like a Hemorrhoid pillow to us 

The tour brought us thru the Main Hallways, under the Dome, and into the original House Chambers. Very interesting to see all the original artwork, and all the sculptures – each State provides 2 Sculptures of notable people (not all politicians, either, there was an astronaut and the inventor of Air Conditioning represented in Marble and/or Brass), and those 100 statues are on display throughout the Capitol.

We weren’t able to go into the actual House of Senate Chambers, even tho they were not in session, but still it was a great tour.

An interesting note about that. You actually need special passes from your State Congressman to go into those chambers (one for each chamber) while they are in session. We had not counted on going into the chambers, because as I told Nick, no way in hell am I contacting the idiots who represent my State for anything!

But then the same co-worker who had given Nick the Metro Cards, also had given him passes to BOTH the House and Senate that he had requested, but hadn’t used.

We were told we could come back on Monday morning if we wanted, to trade the passes in and watch the Houses in session, but decided it wasn’t worth our effort, and besides, they make neat little souvenirs.

As I said, it was a fun tour, but the Capitol was starting to fill up, so as the tour ended, we made a very brief stop at the Museum in the Visitor’s Center (a decent museum, but the standout are a series of 6-7 large Dioramas that show how the Great Mall sprung up around the Capitol, and how DC filled in around that). Of course, we had to go by the gift shop too, to pick up a magnet, and a shirt – everything proudly stating “Made in the USA”.

Since we had gotten on the early tour, we had finished earlier than I had planned, so I think it was only ~10:15 am at this point, so looking at the map, we decided to head towards Union Station, which didn’t seem to be too far of a walk, and the Smithsonian Postal Museum is right across the street from it. The walk was very pleasant (not hot yet today), and as opposed to the Congressional House Member Offices we had passed when coming out of the Metro, in this direction we walked thru several buildings of Senate Offices. We saw the flags and fountains of Union Station up ahead, and decided to swing by there first, since our “Monuments by Moonlight” tour left from there the next day, so the planner in me wanted to make sure we knew exactly where we had to go to check in. We easily found where we’d have to check in (which of course, when we went the next day, it wasn’t in the same spot!), and then continued across the street to the Postal Museum.

Because this museum is not on the National Mall, I expected it to be less crowded, but really. . wow, there were maybe 10 people (including us) in there! It’s not a large museum, but it is a good size, and we spent a good hour there. We saw the most expensive stamp in the world (it had just gone on display for a limited engagement. . but it just looked like a purple blob), we saw the famous upside-down plane stamp sheet, we saw mail that was cancelled on the moon, and mail that was from the Hindenburg, and the Titanic. We saw early stagecoach carts, and saddles from the Pony Express (learning all about that in a very interesting exhibit). Another great exhibit was about Postal Inspectors, and how they investigate mail fraud, and other crimes – they had some of the Unabomber’s letters, and package bombs on display! There are also exhibits on how mail is sorted, and processed thru the Country, and various ways it was delivered in the past (the Pony Express and Stagecoach stuff was in this part of the museum). Very interesting stuff, if not super thrilling.

Of course, when we went into the gift shop, every other person in the museum crammed in there with us (something that always happens to us. . we go, crowd follows. .LOL).

We didn’t take a lot of pictures in the Postal Museum, because you really can’t take pictures on the stamp side, and really once we got down into the main museum, we simply didn’t think about it! But we could have spent many hours there if we were serious stamp collectors, as their archives/exhibits on that side were HUGE.. we just only hit the highlights without digging into the detailed displays.

It was lunchtime by then for sure, and we were hungry, so we walked across to Union Station and went down to the food court. Nick had to look to see what he could eat (I think he ended up with Subway). . but what did I see? “Cajun Grill”. . run by little Asian Ladies, with the EXACT same menu (and ordering options) as our beloved “Tropical Cajun” that they have in Peachtree Center in Atlanta – also run by little Asian Ladies – that we eat at almost every day when I’m in Atlanta for Dragon*con! I asked them if they were affiliated, and they had absolutely no idea what I was talking about, but seriously, the menu was exactly the same and the food tasted exactly the same.

I was in Bourbon Chicken heaven, but two months before I was expecting it!!! (Dragon*con is Labor Day weekend in Atlanta, so I thought I had to wait until Sept. for Bourbon Chicken)

Once again, trip karma was with us, as literally the moment we sat down, the food court flooded with over 200 school kids and their lunch vouchers. Seriously, the came pouring down the escalators, and suddenly every counter had lines that were 20-30 deep, the biggest being Taco Bell.

We had our food, so relaxed and ate, while I looked at the map, and formulated a plan – we’d take the Red Line from Union Station to Metro Station, where we’d change lines and then take the Blue Line down to Federal Triangle station – that would put us our right by the Smithsonian American History Museum on the Mall. Nick was worrying because it was starting to look like Rain. . and definitely clouds were forming, but we were underground, and it looked like the stations are close to the museums, so I figured worst case, we’d get a little wet. . but reminded him that we do tend to have very good trip karma, and the weather always works with us!

So we hopped on the Red line, did the transfer, and got to Federal Triangle station, and came up in the middle of a courtyard surrounded by buildings (none of which had any signs, but all of which were tall enough to block the view, so I couldn’t even use the Washington Monument for reference). By the way, I should mention, the freaking METRO stations don’t even have good signage! We could have walked right by this place and never have known there was a station there, if we hadn’t had a metro map! Anyways, I tried to center myself according to where I thought the map matched, and took an educated guess, and we started off down the narrow street on the left. After a few minutes, we did pass a lady and her Mother who were coming from that direction and I asked her if the National Mall was that way – she told me “yes” and “aren’t the signs terrible?? So hard to read!”. . LOL. . so I was happy I had chosen correctly. We went thru a large archway, and into the street, directly across Constitution Avenue from the back entrance to the Smithsonian American History Museum.

We crossed the street, and went into the lobby, and were immediately overwhelmed by just how many people were in this museum (especially since we had just come from the Postal Museum which was deserted!). This place was so jam packed, it was crazy. We had gotten there just prior to 1pm, and there was a sign that a “highlights” tour was starting at 1, so after checking and finding out it was a free tour, we decided to do the Highlights tours. . simply because I was so overwhelmed by all the people. We sat on the benches and waited, and then at about 1:10, the information booth lady came over and apologized that the tourguide (all of whom are Volunteers) had not shown up, and she was very sorry, but there was another tour at 2:30 if we wanted to come back for that. Poop.

Oh well, I had been looking at the Museum Map, and although it is a large museum, 3 floors, with 3 wings on each floor. . one entire wing was closed off for renovation, meaning we only had 2/3rds of the Museum to see. So we decided that we’ll just go to the top, and work our way down, and hopefully not have to fight the crowds too badly!

the 3rd floor has the exhibits:

the Price of Freedom - which I don’t recall much about, I guess it was about the American Revolution, so we went quickly past, since we had just seen that History in Colonial Williamsburg.

Gunboat Philadelphia – the full recovered shipwreck on display

American Presidency – with really cool stuff such as campaign paraphernalia, Thomas Jefferson’s Desk, and Abraham Lincoln’s Top Hat (that he wore to the theatre the evening of his assassination).

First Ladies – with many of their gowns, china patterns, jewelry, etc. on display (LOL, Nick nudged me and said that we were the only guys in this exhibit, which while not quite true, was close enough. . LOL).

We then went down to the 2nd floor, which has the exhibits:

Within these Walls – buildings from Colonial times, and what they tell us about living back then (we blew thru this section, since we had just seen all this info in Colonial Williamsburg)

Star Spangled Banner – the remains of the actual flag that the Star Spangled Banner was written about. It’s a beautiful display, and well worth the trip to the Smithsonian just to see that in person.

American Stories – lots and lots of really cool stuff such as Edison’s 1st lightbulb, the ruby red slippers from “Wizard of Oz”, Archie and Edith’s chairs from “All in the Family”, the Kermit muppet wasn’t on display, but Count Von Count was!,

African American History & Culture – with the original Woolworth’s lunch counter (from the famous sit in during the Civil Rights Movement), stage worn clothes from big R&B stars, and Broadway costumes. (I expect most if not all of this gallery will move to the new African American Museum when it opens in 2016).

While we were midway thru the 2nd floor, we heard the 2:30 pm tour going by and stopping at the Ruby Slippers and the lunch counter, but since we were doing pretty well on our own, we just continued on down to the 1st floor.

the 1st floor has the exhibits:

the American Currency - which didn’t open until July, so we were a little too early, but they did have the wing open so folks could peek in past the barricades,

Food! – with Julia Child’s full kitchen, transported from her home, and on display, as well as a ton of classic Americana relating to food (supermarket carts, fast food restaurant menus, etc.

On the Water – which, if I recall, had to do with the history of Sea Exploration and oil drilling.

America on the Move – by far the biggest gallery in this Museum, with many full size cars, motorcyles, campers, trains, carts, etc. from over the years on display.

Lighting a Revolution - about the development of the lightbulb, power lighting, and the installation of which throughout history.

Power Machinery – big turbines, and machinery used in factories, and a focus on the Industrial Revolution.

We were exhausted (it’s a lot of walking), so we took a lot of breaks to rehydrate, but we had made really good time.

It was only about 4:15, and we didn’t have to meet Ben and his partner until 8pm, and we were fairly close to the Metro station still. So I said to Nick, let’s go next door to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. . even tho it’s billed as being over 24 Football fields in size, at least we can get some of it done.

If we thought the American History Museum was crowded, the Natural History was absolute pandemonium. Easily double the amount of people, plus at least 40% more kids, and not just toddlers. . babies. TINY babies, being pushed in giant strollers, thus making the crowd even more tightly packed.

I almost turned around and walked out, but instead we looked at the map I got and saw that since we weren’t going to any presentations in the Auditorium, we weren’t going to see an IMAX film, and weren’t going to go into the Live Butterfly Pavillion (in addition to the huge National Fossil Hall being closed for Rennovation). .that this museum was very “doable” if we did ½ today and came back tomorrow for the other half.

I was most interested in seeing the Hope Diamond, so we went up the 2nd floor, with the plan of attack we had used on the American History Museum (start at the top, and work our way down). . . and it was a zoo. You could barely get into the special room they had set up for it, and when you did get in the room, there were people packed at least 20-24 deep among all 4 sides of the case. The diamond necklace is on a turn-table and it moves around so everyone could see it. You would think folks would go, take a look, take a picture if wanted, then move on. Nope. . they camped out in front of the glass and watched it and took multiple pictures, while the whole crowd heaved to try and squeeze up to it. I said to Nick, and to a guard that was standing there ‘this is insane! Why would y’all not put a walkway like they do with the Mona Lisa in the Louvre? Come in one side, see it and move on?”

The Guard said to me, that if we came back closer to 6, the place would clear out. . since the museums were on Summer Hours, but most of the tour groups stick to the usual 5:30 closings, so the crowds would really thin out. I thanked him for the advice, and we decided to head across to the opposite side of the Museum to start looking.

Of course, stupid me, didn’t look at the map, and so we started off in the section with the Butterfly Pavillion, and the live Bug Farm – which as you can imagine were packed with kids, and those strollers I mentioned. We sludged our way slowly thru, looking at what we could see over the people’s heads in front of us, eventually coming out in the Mummies room, which was slightly less crowded (and I love Egyptian stuff). .so we took our time looking at the Cat and Bird Mummies, and then headed into the hall of Bones. . which is just astounding, full skeletal displays of every kind of creature you could imagine (including whales).

The bones exhibit put us back out in the main atrium (looking down on the gigantic stuffed Elephant that dominates the room), and so we went to the left and into the Into Africa exhibit, with lots of interactive displays, and National Geographic quality pictures of the African savannah and what lives there. Into Africa leads into the Wilderness Forever exhibit – again pictures, but some incredible ones of rare Natural phenomena captured in images – such a blood falls, or rainbows in gorges.

I needed to sit again by this point, so we took advantage of the Korea Gallery at the back of this wing to sit and enjoy looking at some of the textiles they had on display and just peoplewatch for a few moments. It was quieter back here, but I wasn’t sure if it was because it was getting later, or just because we were at the back of the wing. Next to the Korea Gallery was a big exhibit on Beyond Bollywood, that was very interesting, and I was pleased to note that I had seen several of the films they had on display as examples of good Bollywood storytelling. They had some sets from films recreated, as well as a typical Indian dinner table set up (with info on all the food types), and even info about the Swami who opened up Woodstock Music Festival.

Next gallery was the Dinosaurs, and I was expecting this to be packed with kids, and there were some in there, but not too bad, as several of the dinosaur bones had been removed from display for cleaning, so we got thru this section pretty fast, even with stopping to look at the Fossil Lab for a bit. The Dinosaurs exhibit dead ends into the Mummies, so we took the left and headed thru the Hall of Bones again, and this time it was very noticeable that the crowd had thinned. So I said to Nick, let’s try the Hope Diamond again. We went around the main atrium to the Gems/Geology wing, and walked right up to the Hope Diamond. Wow. .what a difference an hour and a ½ makes! LOL

It really is a beautiful diamond necklace, although I did think that several of the other Jewelry on display in the Gem and Mineral Hall put it to shame with both their luster, and settings. Hope Diamond gets all the glory tho because of the supposed curse, so it’s infamous. Now that the crowds were gone tho, we took our time looking at the set stones (examples of rubies, sapphires, emeralds, gold, diamonds, etc), and the amazing gem, mineral, and rock formations in this wing. They even have exhibits of Gold, Silver, and Copper Mines, in the back of this wing, so you can see what the raw material would look like. This wing wraps around to the Geology wing, and heads back to the main hall. Nick is a big fan of Geology, in particular how it relates to weather, Volcanoes, Earthquakes, etc. . . but he didn’t want to do much in this wing, I’m guessing due to a combination of being a bit tired, and that he has already seen most of the information they were playing – since they were from Smithsonian Channel and History Channel.

So we finished up this final section on the 2nd floor, and looked at the clock (close to 6:30). . and looked down at the nearly empty 1st floor, and decided that since we didn’t need to get on the Metro until after 7:30, let’s just stay until the Museum closes.

We headed down the stairs to the first floor, and since (as I noted) the massive Fossil hall was closed for renovation, we started in the Ocean Hall. The giant squid was interesting, as were the rare species of fish, and the live coral reef, but since we’re Aquarium aficionados, a lot of the info in this hall was not new to us, so we moved thru it pretty quickly (you don’t have to read the info, if you know about it already. . you can just look and move on). So we finished the HUGE Ocean Hall quick, and went in to the African Voices exhibition.

Now this hall was interesting, as it did have some history (the grass huts, the tribal culture), but it was more focused on the current way of living in African villages, rather than the tribal villages. We didn’t have time to sit and watch the film playing in this gallery, but there were a few folks back there watching it, so I’ll bet it was good.

Back out the way we came, we went into the “Portraits of the Ocean Floor” exhibit – another photo exhibit with beautiful photos of sea life, and then continued into the largish Human Origins section. This section focused a lot on evolution, and Neanderthal life, and how they lived, worked and died. Way too much info to take in with the amount of time we had (it was just before 7 at this point), but we took our time with anything that looked interesting, and actually enjoyed this hall very much.

The Iceland Revealed exhibit didn’t open until July 1, so a little too early for that (frown), but last exhibit hall was the gigantic Mammals hall. As the upstairs Hall of Bones had the skeletons for almost every creature, the Mammals hall had so many stuffed and mounted animals, that anything I could think of, they had on display (as long as it was a Mammal, of course). Having been to the Field Museum in Chicago, I’ve seen a large display of tons of animals (where the field museum has a heard of stuffed Giraffes, the Smithsonian had one. . but the point is they BOTH had at least one of each type to see), so I could see this being amazing for the kids. But for me, since I’d seen similar, it was just OK. So we stayed in this hall looking at creatures until just about 7:30, then headed out the back exit on the lower floor, past the T-Rex skull, to make our way towards the Metro station so we could meet my friend for Dinner.

I didn’t realize until looking at the map now, while typing this up, that we *did* actually miss an entire wing of the Museum (on either side of the Auditorium) on the lowest level – the Birds of DC exhibit. Shoot. . I like birds.

But still, we had managed to knock out the Capitol, and 3 Smithsonian Museums (Postal, American History, and Natural Science) in one day.. .meaning we had more time for the remaining museums than I had planned, so I was in quite the good mood despite my aching feet.

While walking back to the Federal Triangle Metro station, it started to drizzle, but nothing heavy. So we went down to the station, and hopped on the Orange line for the short ride back to Foggy Bottom Station. . . and as we stepped out of the train, we heard a roaring sound. We went up the escalators to street level and it was absolutely POURING. Like the sky just opened up and buckets and buckets of rain. We were still about 20 minutes early, and the station is right next to the George Washington University Hospital complex, with a Starbucks inside, so even tho we were just across the street from the restaurant, rather than walking in the rain, we went into the Starbucks to wait it out.

While we were sitting, Ben called me and told me that they were running late due to severe thunderstorm warnings and tornado warnings, and could we reschedule for tomorrow (he had sent me a text, but I didn’t get it because my “cat head phone” (as Ben called it) doesn’t receive texts). We hadn’t heard anything about the warnings or the weather, as we’d been gone from the hotel since 7am, and hadn’t been near any televisions. So I explained that we were actually right across the street from the restaurant, and when the rain stopped, we’d go over and get the table to hold the reservation, and that I hoped the rain would stop so we could see them. . since Sunday afternoon wasn’t going to work – we were booked solid, with a tour Sunday evening too.

Ben told me he’d call back when they are able to leave the house, and the moment we hung up, it started to hail outside. . good, golfball size too! Nick and I just looked at each other, but what were we gonna do? So we waited for it to stop, which it did (slowing down to a drizzle around 8:10) and we headed across the street after calling and telling Ben the rain had stopped. He reported there was flooding near him and a tornado watch and they were going to keep an eye on the TV and call is when they headed out.

So we checked in at the restaurant, and got seated, and ordered an appetizer and some drinks to wait for my friends. . . and the sky opened up again, and it just poured and poured, and poured. We chatted with the waitress – although it was a Sat. night, the downpour was keeping new customers from coming in, and the patio was just under-water (I specifically had asked for indoor when being seated. . I’m smart sometimes!). We really did not expect Ben & Mark to make it, but when I called them at 9 to check, he surprised me by saying they were on their way. By 9:20, they came thru the drizzle and met us. It was a true pleasure to see a friend from High School, who I really had not seen in over 30 years. He looked EXACTLY the same too. . LOL. He and his Partner were super pleasant and we reminisced about HS days, and our mutual friends, and I teased him about how I didn’t have any hijinks to share with Mark, because Ben was never with our group when we got into trouble (heh, he was a good boy). . . but we spent about an hour and ½ drinking and eating and having a great time, and before we knew it it was almost 11pm, and they had to get going. I finagled a ride back to the hotel (rain was the excuse, but really, our legs were shot after the day we had), and we said our goodbyes outside the hotel entrance.

And wouldn’t you know it, as they were driving off, I said to Nick. . not one picture! Three iPhones, and a real camera, and not one of us got the idea to take a picture! Dang it.

Luckily, he told me he might be coming to Austin in the near future for business, so we’ll definitely meet up and get a picture then.

Full, buzzed, and tired, we collapsed into the hotel bed, and got some much needed sleep before our next full day started! But at least we could sleep until 9am.

And again, Trip Karma. . . the ONE night we didn't have anything planned? it POURS. If it had rained the next night for our Monuments by Moonlight tour, it would have been miserable! (and they don't give refunds, so we would have ended up riding around in a sealed up bus, looking at things thru wet windows!). But nope, poured the night before instead, and was beautiful the next night for us!

statues and paintings around the inside of the Capitol Dome

statues and paintings around the inside of the Capitol Dome

statues and paintings around the inside of the Capitol Dome

statues and paintings around the inside of the Capitol Dome (some of them very famous)

Looking up at the "donut" surrounding the central mural (to protect from construction) in the Capitol Dome

Looking up and trying to get some of the detail inside the Capitol Dome.

Looking up at the "donut" surrounding the central mural (to protect from construction) in the Capitol Dome

Standing in the original House of Representatives Chambers - now used to house Sculptures.

Standing in the original House of Representatives Chambers

Standing in the original House of Representatives Chambers - now used to house Sculptures.

Just up the street from the Metro Stop and on the way to the Capitol Visitor's complex -- the Library of Congress.

Nick and the Library of Congress, but I tried to get in that incredible (and naked) fountain in front of it.

walking up to the Visitor's Center

a nice pic of us taken by a fellow Texan (those are his grandkids by the wall).

The art over counter #1 (where you exchange your online voucher for a ticket you take to counter #2 on the other side of the complex).

More detail inside the Capitol Dome

statues and paintings around the inside of the Capitol Dome, some of them quite famous. . you can see how empty it was. . we were the 1st tour of the day!

Zooming in on the mural to try and get the details (George Washington surrounded by Roman gods)

A slightly blurry pic of Nick showing the headphones/necklace combo that only we were able to figure out (really).

Standing in the original House of Representatives Chambers

Standing in the original House of Representatives Chambers - now used to house Sculptures.

Declaration of Independence in the original House of Representatives Chamber

Nick with Declaration of Independence in the original House of Representatives Chamber

Me in front of the Supreme Court, and just over my left shoulder is the one anti-gay marriage protester that was out.

in the Postal Museum, one of the original mail planes.

another early plane in the Postal museum, over the mail train.

me at the Presidential Podium.

(I look like my Dad) frown!

Lincoln's Top Hat that he wore to the theater on the night of his assassination.

Lincoln's Top Hat that he wore to the theater on the night of his assassination.

Edison's 1st Light Bulb

Count Von Count!

Gay Wedding Cake Topper. . about a week before the Supreme Court decision.

Edith and Archie's chairs, from "All in the Family"

Nick and a full size steam train in the America on the Move exhibit.

the Hope Diamond

Closer view of the Hope Diamond

me and some Rhinos at a watering hole in the African exhibit

a view of the Natural History Museum from across the mall (taken the next day from the entrance to the Smithsonian Castle)

Your description of Wildcat is so spot on. Hands down the worst coaster I've ever had the displeasure of sitting down in. I implore everyone to not ride it please, for your own good. I'm glad I bring advil to parks just in case I get battered by the woodies.