A few things to do in DC

National Portrait Gallery and Smithsonian American Art Museum

Two museums in one, directly across the street from Hotel Monaco, and FREE! Your tax dollars at work... so be sure to stop by! It is a beautiful museum and rarely crowded. It is Lauren's favorite museum in the city. Open 11:30am-7pm daily.
Links: National Portrait Gallery American Art Museum

National Air and Space Museum
Two locations: one on the national mall and the other near the Dulles airport. This is Sameer's favorite museum in DC. Check out the Dulles airport location to see a full size Concord and the space shuttle Enterprise. Sameer actually wanted to hold the wedding here; but the Smithsonian doesn't allow weddings or wedding receptions....
Links: National Air and Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center at Dulles


The International Spy Museum
This is a fun museum and very popular. It is also located very close to Hotel Monaco. Not free though... admission is $18.
Links: Spy Museum

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http://traveler.nationalgeographic.com/guide/dc

an over all good site for things to do
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Bus tours
A great way to tour the whole city very easily. The bus tours take you all around the mall, through Georgetown, and the the Arlington National Cemetery.
Links: DC bus tours

Other Transportation information


Airports

There are three metro area airports which is helpful in finding competitive airfare.
BWI: located north of the city near Baltimore. Usually has the cheapest fares but is the least accessible. There is a train (MARC) that travels from BWI to Union Station in DC, from which you can transfer on to the red line Metro or catch a cab to your hotel.
IAD (Dulles): located in Sterling, Virginia. No metro access, but you can take the Washington Flyer bus to the West Falls Church metro station on the orange line for $18 round trip.
DCA (Reagan or National): located in Arlington, VA just across the river from downtown DC. Also located on both the yellow and blue metro lines or a short cab drive in to the city. This is by far the most convenient airport but usually has higher fares (note, Airtran does fly here).
Links: BWI IAD DCA

Metro

The metro is a great way to get around Washington, DC. All Souls Church is located closest to the Columbia Heights metro on the yellow/green line. The Hotel Monaco is located just steps from the Gallery Place-China Town metro stop on the red/yellow/green line. The metro also serves Reagan National Airport (DCA) via the blue and yellow lines.
Links: Metro Map

Cabs

Cabs in the District of Columbia are an easy way to get around the city and operate on a metered fare system (the zone system was abolished in 2008). While always easy to catch a cab, it isn't always a very fast way to get around.... take DC traffic in to consideration when planning how long it will take to get to your destination!
Links: DC Taxi Fares

Mike and Kristin's Wedding in DC

Less than a year away from the wedding (5/1/2010) so I thought I would start posting some information for our guests that will be traveling to DC.

The wedding will be held at Georgetown University's Dalhgren's Chapel
http://explore.georgetown.edu/locations/index.cfm?Action=View&LocationID=29

guided and self guided tours. http://www.culturaltourismdc.org/information2546/information.htm

We also recommend Washington Walks, DC’s premier guided walking tour company: www.washingtonwalks.com

On May 1, 2010 the cultural tourism group will be hosting Passport DC, an embassy open house event, which could be a lot of fun for your guests. The website for the event is www.PassportDC.org although right now you’ll see that it still has this year’s info on it. It will give you an idea of what the event is about.

Also, here’s a link to the Georgetown neighborhood page on our site: http://www.culturaltourismdc.org/information2550/information.htm?area=2526

contact the Georgetown BID for some more info: http://www.georgetowndc.com/

For those wanting to check out more of Washington, here is a good link:

http://www.visitthecapitol.gov/

A Walk in the South of France

An Early Morning Walk in Nice
Text and Photos by Kathy Hume
They say the reason so many artists flocked to the South of France is the light. The way the sun illuminates the scenery. It really is true. On an early morning walk along the Promenade des Anglais on the Côte d'Azur in Nice, I noticed that the colors shone brighter, bolder almost super saturated. The best light for photography is early in the morning or just before dusk, so at 7am I started out from The West End Hotel, and headed left along the Promenade. It was very peaceful, not many people were out yet. Walking along the beach I was struck by the blues….the sea, the sky and the umbrellas. This shot was awarded the first prize in our local photography show and remains one of my favorites. The value of being up early is being able to capture the shot without people.
Further along there was a man walking a dog. Using the “rule of thirds” I waited until the boat was at the 1/3 mark, and he was at the 2/3 mark. It was an added benefit that he turned to talk to the dog.

The air was so clear and the temperature just perfect for a hike up to Le Chateau, the park that overlooks the city. The view from up here is just incredible -- the blues of the sea, the rust color of the roofs of the buildings. Framed by blooming cactus plants, the harbor is on one side and on the other side, the Mediterranean sea stretches out forever in azure blue.

Walking down the bank past the waterfall, you come to the bottom of the hill and the Cours Saleya Market. It was just opening and everywhere you looked it was a feast for your eyes. Reds tomatoes and strawberries, green and yellow vegetables, multi colored marzipan fruit, and enticing smells of spices and dried roses was a photographer’s dream. I was on sensory overload.


After the market, as I wandered through the Old Town looking for shapes and shadows and reflections to photograph, I spotted this lingerie hanging on the side of a building. The warm color of the building contrasted with the red and black of the lingerie. The shadows gave a new dimension to the image. This photo also won first prize.
One of the best tips I ever received regarding taking photos was “turn around”. So often the best shot is behind you. When I turned around I spotted three color coordinated Gameboy playing young boys who were no doubt wondering why this crazy American woman was taking pictures of the underware.


I love the streets of the Old Town of Nice – people with dogs, flowers and paintings on the sides of the buildings. Walking along I knew that I had to share the essence of this amazing town. My sister is an artist and a photographer and I knew how much she would enjoy experiencing this wonderful part of the world. Years later (2004) we returned and together explored and photographed this part of the world. Just as I did years ago, she fell in love with the South of France.

photos discussed can be found at : http://www.kodakgallery.com/kathyhume/main/favorite_photos_of_france

Off to Savannah and The Cloisters

Leaving today for a trip down to Savannah to visit my dear friend, Mary. Mary lost her husband several months ago and due to the airlines canceling our flight, we were not even able to attend the memorial service. I am going to help Mary with the technology side of her life (programing things and showing her how to use the "talking lady" in her car and Mary is treating me to a visit to The Cloisters, where Ken and I honeymooned many years ago. Just read an article that if you have your original receipt (which I do) that you can go back for that same amount of $$. Since what we paid for 5 days would only cover around 5 hrs now, it will be interesting to see what the deal is....maybe Ken and I will be visiting there again!



I will post a review as well as photos when I return.

slight correction....to Inverness portion of Scotland Blog

Thanks to Snowfalling in Cedars...from the trip advisor board for pointing this out:

By the way (and not that it matters) many people seem to think Madonna got married at Dornoch Cathedral which isn't true. She did the deed at nearby Skibo Castle. Her son Rocco was baptised at the Cathedral; that's the connection

The Highlands

St. Andrews to the Highlands - Inverness
Thursday, June 26th

We got a bit of a late start the next morning since it took quite a bit of time to pack up the van. Traveling with 2 sets of golf clubs, 4 sets of luggage and 4 people isn’t easy. Needless to say, the back seats were very crowded.

We headed out of St. Andrews and programmed the talking lady. We thought she would take us through Dundee, but she did have a mind of her own. We got to see some nice countryside and some very narrow roads. Our first stop was at The Hermitage (http://www.nts.org.uk/Property/57/ ) another Charlotte suggestion. We parked in the upper parking lot and hiked down. There was a snack van in the lower parking lot. We took the hike along the water (about a mile) to the hall. There is a trick to getting the doors to open, but I can’t remember what it was. Once inside you can see over the falls. What was really fascinating was watching the salmon jumping up the falls. Hard to believe they can make it all the way up. Lovely walk through a peaceful woods. And hardly any bugs! Not a midge in sight.

We stopped next at the Fish ladder in Pitlochry but that was a bust. Lunch was at The Dowally Craft Centre where they serve a nice meal upstairs. The ladies there were nice and the weather showered the earth while were dining. Once back outside, the sun was again shining. We also visited Scotland’s smallest distillery, Edradour. (http://www.edradour.co.uk/ ), where we took a tour and see how Scotland’s national drink is made. It’s just on the outskirts of the town and easy to find. Its output sounds a lot - 240,000 bottles per year - but the average large Speyside distillery churns that out in a week. The small scale is part of Edradour’s charm. Unfortunately, they weren’t producing that week, so we didn’t really get the total “tour”. Mike enjoyed driving on the one lane roads…windy with a place to pass now and then and was only disappointed he didn’t meet up with any of the large tour busses from the distillery. We continued up A9 which meanders though the Cairngorm Mountains and finally found our way to Inverness.

Inverness hotel: The Best Western Inverness Palace Hotel & Spa; 8 Ness Walk; rooms 35 and 37, both our rooms were overlooking the river and castle

Nice location on the river overlooking the castle and easy walk to most of the town. Did have a swimming pool, but we never got to visit.

Dinner: Castle Tavern, across the bridge, rt at the first street beyond the castle and you run right into it. Dinner and drinks for 4 £41.10---but with many mix ups; 2 tuna cheese Panini (except they forgot the tuna) Mike ordered the pork tenderloin special…which turned out to actually be lamb (he said it was good), Kristin had the salmon mousse, Ken had soup and the non-tuna tuna Panini and we had several pints of ale and maybe a glass of wine (should have stuck to the ale).

Friday, June 27th

Before leaving the US I had contacted Tour guide Bill Gordon of Moray Tours http://www.moraytours.com/. Got his name from the Trip Advisor board. I wanted someone to drive us around so we could all sight see and someone that would know the area and history of the area. Bill was a nice guy, and took us to some lovely places. Unfortunately he wasn’t big on the history aspect, but did know all about the area golf courses and distilleries. One of the places we stopped was Shin Falls, west of Bonar Bridge near Invershin. We hiked down to the Falls (no jumping salmon) and then had a lovely lunch at the nice restaurant owned by Mohammed Al Fayed, owner of Harrods and father of the guy who Diana was with when she died. Ken and I both had a baked potato stuffed with tuna, Mike had venison stew and I forget what Kristin and Bill had. Nice, if expensive, gift shop.

We also stopped by Dornoch golf course, most northerly first class golf course in the world, ranked 11th in the world according to Rough Guide to Britain. Dornach was where Madonna got married…and how ironic that as we were looking at the chapel, word on the street is they are getting divorced.

Next stop was Dunrobin Castle – owned by the Sutherlands one of the principal driving forces behind the Highland clearances. We visited the outside, but didn’t have enough time to do the tour. Too bad, it looked fascinating.

We had been trying to find a Highland cow, with not much success. Saw three on the A9 while we were heading towards Inverness, but none since, at least none close enough to photograph…even with an 18x optical zoom.

Back to Inverness for a little shopping and dinner. We ate at Johnny Foxes; 26 Bank St. Nice Pub. Broccoli pasta (huge amount) , sea stew; catch of the day; melon & prawn cocktail; Foxes club sandwich plus 3 pints…£2.75 each (total £45.60).


Photos to and around Inverness


July 27th

Today we are headed back to Edinburgh with a slight detour to Dornie to See the Eilean Donan Castle. It was the gloomiest day so far. First stop was a pull off by Loch Ness. Saw a pretty nifty snail, but no monsters. Next we stopped by Urquhart Castle Another time we were able to use our Explorer Pass. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urquhart_Castle )
Pretty setting on the banks of the Loch. Nice restaurant and gift shop. Good views …if only it had been a bit sunnier! Had a snack then off to Dornie.

Nice, if long, road with good views. Lots of small waterfalls coming down from the mountains and even though it was the end of June, there were still some patches of snow. I can see why the Eilean Donan Castle (http://www.eileandonancastle.com/ ) gets a lot of play. It really is beautifully situated on the water with the mountains in the background. Too bad it was so ugly out. Mike did manage to get some good photos. We had a very nice lunch and I have to say, their gift shop had a great selection of items, much more reasonably prices, so we did a little shopping. On the road again…and I have to say, our son, Mike did an excellent job of driving.

Back down A87 to A82 which we followed for quite some time. Past Glen Coe and around Loch Lomand. We were headed for Stirling. Mike really wanted to see the Wallace National Monument since he is a big fan of Braveheart. (http://www.nationalwallacemonument.com/ ) Unfortunately, it closes at 6 and even though we got there 25 mins before, they wouldn’t sell us tickets. Mike and Kristin did walk all the way up the VERY LONG hill to get to where the monument was and said the view was quite nice, but they wouldn’t let him in to see the sword…not even for 5 minutes.
We also miss out on seeing Stirling Castle. It was getting late, so we just headed back to our next hotel…The Marriott Dalmahoy.

The kids were just staying overnight and Ken and I had one more day. Dinner that night was at the Long Weekend restaurant. Time for an almost sunset walk then off to bed. The kids left early the next morning and Ken and I spent the day relaxing. It was a nice way to end the trip.

Photos from Inverness to Edinburgh

June 30th
The trip home. Sometimes when you use points for your tickets you pay the price. We had a non-stop flight over to Scotland, but the trip back wasn’t quite as easy. Off to the airport for a 9am Air France flight…to Paris…then a 5 hr layover. Not enough time to actually go into the city. Fortunately the airport wasn’t crowded. Ken found a nice waiting area with lounge chairs…all the way at the end of the terminal (2E I think), so for a while we relaxed and read. Then we discovered a bank of Internet computers. Put 3 euros in the slot for 30 mins time and then found out our computer already had time…so we check for e-mails, Yankee scores, etc. Since I still had our slip with the 30 mins of time, I gave it to a woman who was going to by one. She wanted to pay me…I told her just do something nice for someone else. She said she liked the karma thing and said we would have good karma. An hr later her prediction came true when we were upgraded to Business Class. I have to say…if you have a 7 hr flight to NYC this is the way to go. You couldn’t even reach the seats in front with your feet. There were more buttons…including one that worked the massage rollers in the seat back. Champagne (or juice) and hot cloths before we even took off, then dinner, starting with Hors-d’oeuvres: I had Terrine de foie gras de canard, chutney d’abricots et de figues, country style walnut bread, baby spinach, Ken had salmon simmered with olive oil and lemon, vegetable brunoise and caper vinaigrette…and this was just the first course.

Main Course: pan seared Filet of beef, sautéed potatoes, sautéed vegetables with Chinese artichokes.

Desserts---you could have several if you wished
Chocolate almond cake with crème de caramel; chocolate raspberry cookie, sorbets et petits four secs, choice of fresh fruit.

And all the wine, beer etc. you wanted.
Our movie screens worked so I watched several movies. The seats almost fully recline. Really really nice. We didn’t even mind that our flight was delayed from taking off. A few hours later they showed up with Chicken and apricot brochette, smoked breast of duck, fennel salad, comte’ cheese and walnut bread, yogurt and fresh fruit.

Sort of the perfect way to end the perfect trip!

So Long…until the next time….
Kathy

Scotland Trip - St. Andrews

St. Andrews

St. Andrews hotels:
Ken and Kathy stayed at the St. Andrews Golf Hotel; 40 the Scores; Kristin and Mike stayed at Dunvegan’s; 7 Pilmour Pl

We arrived at our hotel around 6pm and were fortunate to find parking. It was graduation week at St. Andrews University and a lot of parents were in town. The second the car stopped both Mike and Ken almost ran down to the Old Course which was only a few hundred yards away. I swear Ken had tears in his eyes as he got his first look. It was heard to tear them away, but we were supposed to be meeting up with Charlotte and Jamie so they could introduce Ken and Mike to their caddies….Jimmy (Jamie’s dad) and Dennis, Jimmy’s friend. Jimmy had been caddying the Old Course since he was 13….he’s 72 now. That’s a lot of rounds of golf. He had caddied for Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Rita Hayworth, James Gardner, Sean Connery….and now Ken Hume. He was just what Ken was looking for, someone with a great sense of humor, tremendous knowledge of the course, good golf tips and plenty of stories.

Ken and I checked into our hotel, room 18, lovely view, nice room, if a bit on the expensive side ($400/night…at least that included breakfast). The kid’s hotel, Dunvegan’s, was more reasonably priced, and they got breakfast too.

We were supposed to be taking a tour of St. Andrews with Charlotte, but everyone was so wiped out that we decided just to go to Dunvegan’s (http://www.dunvegan-hotel.com/) for a drink. That is where the kids were staying…they only had one room available. Owned by Jack (from Texas) and his lovely wife, Sheena, it is the place to see and been seen at if you are a golfer. So while the boys discussed golf, Charlotte filled Kristin and I in on the history and stories of St. Andrews.

Soon Charlotte and Jamie and Jimmy left and the four of us stayed for dinner. We dined on homemade soup, smoked salmon (Kristin said it was the best she ever had). I had a chicken salad that was good, Mike had a cheeseburger, and Ken had a salmon filet. After dinner we walked back to our hotel. It was around 9pm and still very light outside. That night there was a lovely sunset which we could see from our room. (18) We overlooked the park running along the Scores, as well as the sea, West Sands, the beach they used for the opening scene of Chariots of Fire and the Old Course.


Tuesday, June 24
Ken and I were staying at the St. Andrews Golf Hotel and a very nice breakfast was included. We thought it was just the buffet, but found out after we were done, that they actually had a regular menu you could order off as well. The kids also had breakfast included at Dunvegans. We met up around 10 or so. The boys wanted to avail themselves of the very nice practice facility and Kristin and I went for a walk up to the castle. On the way we passed a beautiful house with a sign that said come walk in our gardens. There was a donation box and it turned out that the folks in the house sponsor a scholarship for pediatric cardiac care as their granddaughter had died as a baby. The gardens were very lovely. So many varieties and colors of flowers, all leading down a path to a gazebo that overlooked the sea. After that we toured the museum that was at the castle and part of our Explorer passport. It was interesting to see the history of the town. Afterwards, we walked around the castle…or what is left of it…not much. Interesting tunnel underground, but since both Kristin and I are a bit claustrophobic we decided to pass on going underground. By this time it was getting late, so we met the boys back at Ma Bells (basement of the St. Andrews Golf Hotel) for lunch. Nice pub, but very quiet. Mike and Kristin had the ham and mango sandwich, but said it was too sweet. I had a chicken Caesar, which was great once I removed the sardines! Ma Bells is supposed to be one of the “in” places when the university is in session.


The New Course
Mike said that when he approached the first tee at the new course his knees were knocking. He didn’t want to embarrass his dad or himself. He didn’t want to be like the golfer that Dennis and Jimmy had told them about Monday night that had a 31…and that was just the first hole. Mike tried to come close..with a 9, but then he got his act together, let the nerves go, and even birdied a hole. It was good planning for them to play the New Course first, which actually is a bit more difficult. Gave a chance for Jimmy and Dennis to get to know their level of play and give them helpful suggestions. Mike said these guys really know their stuff. It they tell you hit to the left…and you do it, you end up just fine. Mike is a sports writer and had written about his dad and golf, as well as preparing for the Old Course. Links are below.

Picking Splinters: Like Father Like Son to the 'Tee'

Picking Splinters: Cold Feet On the Scottish Green

Meanwhile, while the boys were getting battered by the wind, occasional rain, and cold on the New Course, Kristin and I were enjoying a girl’s spa day at the Old Course Hotel. (http://oldcoursehotel.kohler.com/spa/spa_index.html)
If you have two services, you can also use all the spa facilities for the day. Kristin decided to work out in their well equipped gym. I decided to pursue a more relaxing experience, testing out the several steam rooms, saunas, and thermal spa. I did, however, pass on the Plunge pool….8 feet deep of VERY cold water. Stuck my toe in…that was enough. The thermal spa has 5 stations that have multiple jets and you sort of follow the flow. Very relaxing. There is also a lap pool with a waterfall at the end. We had scheduled our services for approximately the same time. Kristin had a facial and a massage. I have the Sea Lime Sigh and a detoxifying wrap. I have to say, I have been to many different spas, and had many different services. This was by far the best and most relaxing. After our services, we relaxed by the pool, then decided to try the rooftop spa (well I decided and had to talk Kristin into it…she hates being cold) But it was quite nice, with a warm hot tub and the cool air. Unfortunately it began to rain and we were running short of time. So we finished up and headed off to meet the boys who were reliving their New Course experience with a few brews at Dunvegans.

Dinner that night was at Ziggy’s, 6 Murray Place, which was right behind our hotel. Sort of a music themed pub. Ken got the filet steak, which they claimed was the finest in Scotland…maybe it was, but not what we are use to for fine steak. We also had the line coconut chicken, the lasagna, garlic prawns, and one surf and turf. They did have the St. Andrews ale, which they both loved. (£73.50) After dinner we stopped by the very nice bar in our hotel for after dinner drinks. Very classy place.

Wednesday, June 25th
After breakfast at our respective hotels, Kristin and I headed off for some sightseeing and shopping. We stopped at the Public Library (Church Square, between South and Market) where we got library cards that enabled us to use the free internet computers and catch up on our e-mails. It was a good time to do this, as it was raining and we had left our umbrellas back in the room. We stopped by a few shops, ended up buying 2 cheap umbrellas, had a delightful lunch in a café that specialized in soup, then since it started clearing up, headed down to the Cathedral and Cemetery. Once again we were able to use our Explorer passes to gain entrance into the museum. Very ancient gravestones, quite fascinating. One with husband and wife, hands entwined. The story is she died while dancing at her wedding. (Ken would say this is proof you should never have to dance at weddings). We also saw Old Tom Morris’s grave, as well as his son’s who died on Christmas day at the age of 24, just weeks after his wife died giving birth to their child, who also died. Very sad. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Morris,_Jr.)
We did not climb the tower, which at 100 feet high gives great views, but since it was very overcast, and let’s face it…that’s a lot of stairs, we decided to pass. Here is a link to more information on the Cathedral and tower
(http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/standrews/cathedral/index.html). Kristin and I headed back, stopping at James Pirie’s (http://www.jamespirie.co.uk/standrews/welcome.cfm )which had great gift items. It is at 7 Greyfriers Garden St.

In the meantime, the boys went back to the practice facility, which they thought was just awesome, then had lunch at the Scores hotel before their 12:50 tee time. (club sandwich; bree and ham..which turned out to be that fatty bacon) When they got to the course, they found out the Manning family (as in Super Bowl winning quarterback, Eli and his brothers, had teed off just a few groups ahead.

Meanwhile, we stopped by Dunvegan’s to drop off our packages and found out the same thing. Kristin and I had a 3pm “Afternoon” tea time at the Old Course hotel, so we walked over. The path to the hotel leads by the 17th green, and as we were walking we spotted the Manning boys, so we stopped to take a few photos.
The tea part of the tea was great. Very tasty in cute tea bags. The scones were a bit of a disappointment and the clotted cream looked like it had been sitting out for days. They did have tiny lemon pancakes that were good and the desserts were very nice. We overlooked the 17th hole, so we watched to make sure our boys didn’t pass us by. It was sunny one minute and raining sideways the next. After tea we went out to see if we could see them and it wasn’t long before we spotted them teeing off. We didn’t realize that they were hitting over the hotel...pretty much where we were standing. They soon spotted us and Jimmy told us we could walk with them the rest of the way. We stopped for photos on the Swilkin Bridge, and then watched them tee off on the 18th. It really was quite exciting. Mike will be posting a “guest review” about playing on both the New and the Old Course. The link to his Picking Splinters column on the experience is below.

http://www.fcnp.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3255:picking-splinters-sharing-st-andrews&catid=19:sports&Itemid=77

Of course, after a round on the Old Course you have to go to Dunvegan’s. The boys shared their day, the thrill, the excitement, the sun, the sideways rain. It was indeed a day to remember. I hope to post a guest blog by Mike soon with lots of details about playing the New and Old Courses.

Dinner that night was at Number Forty in the St. Andrews Golf Hotel
Kathy had Leek and gruyere tart and Haricots verts (£11.50 and £2.95); Ken had Scottish smoked haddock, poached egg, new potatoes and mustard cream (£14.95); Kristin had some sort of fish; Michael had spring lamb cutlet, shepherds pie and slow cooked shank (£17.50). We had a table overlooking the bay. Very nice, very classy place to dine. There were lots of families there celebrating graduation and lots of guys in Kilts. All in all, I’d say our time in St. Andrews was a great success.

St. Andrew’s photos
Scotland - St. Andrews