A Journey Through American History, And Much More

I did have my laptop with me during my trip to Washington, DC, yet I never did find the time to post anything on this blog as I had planned - there was just that much to do in the capital. Here begins my attempt at recalling the best parts of the trips - which can be likened to picking out diamonds amongst rubies: there's a clear difference yet one can easily settle for the other parts of the trip.

How it all began

It began as an idea that arose during a discussion between Kwong Hann and myself. I was however contemplating between the budget trip and a ticket to watch one of my favorite band of musicians - the Trans-Siberian Orchestra live at the Chicago Theatre (which just took place last Saturday, by the way). After much thought, I finally figured life in any country cannot be complete without a trip to its capital. Of course, it was to be a true budget trip, very different from our excursions to Vegas, LA & even New York.

We started by booking our accommodation at the Washington International Student Center, a really cheap hostel meant for backpacking students. At the same time we also booked the cheapest return flight tickets to DC, and our mix-and-match approach ended with us arriving and departing from different airports. With that, I began planning our itinerary for the 6 days, when I suddenly recognized the risk of running out of things to see and do (which in any budget trip, would really suck). After a little bit of research online, I finally made one change to the trip - a one-day excursion to Philadelphia. The cost of the return trip from DC: $4, I kid you not. All hail Megabus, the most amazingly cheap system of inter-state land transportation, but there's nothing cheap about the bus-ride itself: Nice seats, clean lavatories, AC power receptacles and free wi-fi connection. I only hope the company remains in business, and doesn't hike the rates up down the road.

With all the free time I had, I went one step further in the planning process by employing the 'Street View' function on Google Maps to take a virtual tour around the National Mall so we could get around much faster when we're there. With that, we were all set for an exciting trip. The significant points of each and every day are chronicled in the following posts, so stay tuned!