Washington DC

Washington’s Airports: Pretty in Pink

MWAA Cherry Blossom FestivalWashington DC’s airports are getting in the spirit of the National Cherry Blossom Festival with pink lighting to greet visitors flying in for the event.  This year, peak bloom is forecast for April 8-12, 2014.

Check out some spectacular photographs of Dulles International Airport (IAD) decked out in pink by photographer J. David Buerk.

At both Reagan (DCA) and Dulles airports, food and retail concessioners will feature specials such as pink cocktails. donuts and apparel, through April 13, 2014.

The most interesting offering looks to be the Pink Hana Roll with salmon and avocado at Matsutake Sushi, at Gate A18.  You can find a complete list of specials at IAD shops and restaurants here.

$3 per Day Parking at BWI

Save 40% on Parking at BWI with Econopark Express
Save 40% on Parking at BWI at
Econopark Express

I live just six miles from Dulles International Airport (IAD) but often find myself flying out of  Baltimore-Washington International Airport (BWI).

Because BWI is a hub for Southwest Airlines, there is more competition and you can often find cheaper airfares.

The last time we flew out of BWI, we found cheaper long-term parking with a  an “offsite” vendor.  In reality though, the parking was no further away from the airport than the “onsite” parking.

Park for $3.20 a day at BWI

There’s a terrific deal available from Groupon for 40 percent off parking at BWI with Econopark Express.  

The deal offers long-term parking for $4 a day, but there is a coupon today (3/19/2014)  for 20 percent off, bringing the rate down to an amazing $3.20 a day.  Use coupon code LOCAL20 at checkout.

There are 3 options available:

Continue reading —>

Half Price Tickets to the National Building Museum

National Building Museum Great Hall
The Great Hall
National Building Museum

My favorite museum gift shop in all of Washington, DC is the bookstore and gift shop at the National Building Museum.

The shop features books on architecture, design and city planning, but you can also find a large selection of fun and funky stationary items, jewelry, accessories, kitchenware, and more.  The selection of children’s toys is especially terrific!

When my daughter was an active toddler, the National Building Museum was one of my favorite places to visit on a rainy day.  There are lots of stairs to climb, and long corridors to explore, and even an indoor fountain.

These days, there is an ongoing Play, Work, Build exhibit for kids aged 2 to 6 years old.

Half Price Tickets to the National Building Museum

You don’t have to pay admission to visit the museum gift shop, cafe, or the colossal Great Hall, but if you want to see the exhibits, you must buy a ticket.

National Building Museum
National Building Museum
The Pension Building

Admission is normally $8 per adult, $5 for youth, students and seniors, or $3 per person if you only want to visit the kids’ Building Zone.

TravelZoo is offering half priced tickets to visit the exhibitions at National Building Museum.

Continue reading —>

Discounted Admission to the International Spy Museum in Washington, DC

Discount Tickets to International Spy MuseumWith so many free museums in Washington DC, it is easy to overlook those attractions that charge admission.

That’s why the International Spy Museum, which has one of the most creative marketing departments out there, has partnered with Metro to provide transit users a discount on admission.

Spy Museum Discount Admission

Just show your Metro SmarTrip® card and receive $7 off  the normal admission price of $21.

The offer is valid through March 21, 2014, and cannot be combined with other promotions.

Metro Smart Spy Twitter Contest

While you’re at it:

Every week @intlspymuseum and @wmata will tweet a clue about a cloak and dagger site on the rail system.Spy Museum Tweet Up Contest

Once you find the secret site, tweet a selfie with the photo clue and #metrosmartspy.

This will officially enter you in a contest, with a chance to win an unspecified spy prize.

Hey folks, I could not find any actual entrants into this contest.  It sounds like fun and it looks like you’d have a great chance at winning!

Family Days at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum

Open House at the Udvar-Hazy Center
Open House at the Udvar-Hazy Center

Residents of  Washington, DC and visitors alike have access to the vast cultural opportunities of the Smithsonian Institution, most of which are free.  Last month, we took part in the first ever open house of the restoration hangar at the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum’s Udvar-Hazy Center.

This was a really fun event that is likely to be repeated every January henceforth.  Not only did we get to see areas of the museum that are normally off-limits to visitors, but we also got to catch up on newer features of the museum like the space hangar.

My favorite part was going up in the control tower, which offers a fantastic view of the runways at Dulles International Airport (IAD).  It was a blast!

The second Saturday of each month at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center from 10 am – 3 pm. is Super Science Saturday!

African American Pioneers in Aviation Family Day

 

The museum has also scheduled a series of Heritage Family Days at their downtown location on the National Mall, as well as at the Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia.   Family Days offer a wide variety of hands-on activities, presentations, and opportunities to meet pilots, astronauts, and scientists.

Here is the line-up of upcoming programs:

Continue reading —>

Free Spielberg Films at the National Archives; Plus: Guastavino Vaulting

Steven Spielberg Film FestivalOne of the things I love best about living in Washington is easy access to cultural institutions — museums, embassies, parks, monuments, and libraries — all of which offer a plethora of free programs.In many Smithsonian museums and government buildings, there are beautiful auditoriums that present concerts, lectures, and film — often free to the public.

The William G. McGowen Theater, deep inside the National Archives building on Constitution Ave., is a leading venue for the screening of documentary films.

This coming weekend, the National Archives will screen a number of Steven Spielberg films in a mini film festival honoring the director’s work, that runs November 15-18, 2013.  This free, public film festival will showcase four of Spielberg’s critically acclaimed films.

Continue reading —>

Vermont to DC — 4,000 Points on Amtrak — Quite the Deal!

Amtrak's VermonterI reeled in a great deal on a round-trip train ticket from Vermont to Washington, DC for the Thanksgiving holiday.

For just 4,000 points, you can travel the entire length of the Northeast corridor on Amtrak — over 500 miles.

I transferred 8,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points to my Amtrak Guest Rewards account to purchase a round-trip ticket for my daughter.

The points transferred instantaneously!

The retail price of the round-trip ticket on her travel dates is $239.

Points redeemed in this fashion are worth 3 cents apiece.  This is a value proposition!

I earned these points through routine spending on my Chase Freedom credit card.

Amtrak Guest Rewards has a number of blackout dates around popular holidays when award tickets are not offered.  Fortunately, there was no problem with our preferred travel dates.

Amtrak used to run a train to Montreal — “The Montrealer” — but dropped the line when Congress cut back funding.

Continue reading —>

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Drugstore

Vanilla Reload CardI was in attending a conference in Washington, DC yesterday and happened to stop in a CVS drugstore.

Out of habit, I checked the gift card rack, even though I had not seen Vanilla reload cards in Northern Virginia for a couple of months.

Everyone was picking up chocolate Halloween candy yet I was in search of vanilla!

There were no Vanilla reloads on the gift card rack, but when I was checking out I noticed boatloads of them by the cash registers in the front of the store.

Yum.

Continue reading —>

Kind Bars — Best Travel Snack — Deep Discount

Kind Bars from Relay Foods
Kind Bars from Relay Foods

When I travel, I like to throw a few healthy snacks in my overnight bag.  Just in case.  Kind Bars are my latest healthy snack obsession.  These delicious bars are made from nuts, fruit, and whole grains and are packed with fiber, protein and antioxidants.

I love them, but they are expensive.  I’ve seen them sell for $1.50 per bar at Walmart, and for $4.00 apiece at an airport vendor.

When The Girl and Globe alerted me to an opportunity to save $30 on $50 at Relay Foods, I jumped on it.  Relay Foods sells over 20 varieties of Kind Bars — and until October 31, 2013, they are on sale for $1.

With the introductory discount, you can pick up Kind Bars for as little as 40 cents each!

Continue reading —>