Washington was the final destination of our holiday in the USA having started off with four nights in New York and travelling through the Skyland Drive to spend one night in the Skyland Resort and one night in Front Royal. We then spent four nights sunbathing in Virginia Beach before heading towards Washington. We didn't have a hotel booked before hand and a friend had recommended Alexandria as a base to explore Washington. Before settling in Alexandria we checked out Crystal City but did not think that it looked as inviting as Alexandria. We tried a few hotels for availability but found that the Hampton Inn was most reasonable at $154 per room exc taxes. The hotel itself was very comfortable and the rooms had everything we needed and were very clean. We also enjoyed a nice breakfast with a hot choice each morning along with fresh juices, fruit, cereal, tea, coffee etc. The hotel also has a nice outdoor pool not that we had time to use it because we had so much to cram into a three night stay. The biggest plus for this hotel is that it is walking distance from the metro and it took us approx 15 mins to get to Washington with trains running every ten mins. Alexandria itself has a lot of bars and lovely restaurants - the only problem is there are too many to choose from. We ate in a beautiful french restaurant along the main street called Bistrot Lafayette and it was absolutely beautiful - in fact it was the best meal we had throughout our entire holiday. Bottles of wine are half price on a Monday night and the food is just delicious - my fillet steak was cooked to perfection. Alexandria was the perfect location for staying close to Washington and not having to stay in it. We got the metro to Washington and visited the White House, the Washington Monument, Capital Hill, the Air and Space Museum, the Lincoln Monument, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial (very touching), the Korean War Memorial and the WWII Memorial. We also stumbled across the Crime and Punishment Museum (just below the Verizon Centre) - it was excellent and took us two hours to get around it. It costs approx $16. On our final day we drove to Arlington Cemetery and visited JFKs grave, the Unknown Soldier Memorial and witnessed a funeral of a soldier killed in Iraq. Although this was a memorable day it was also a very sad day and one that I will never forget. Arlington cemetery was completely awe inspiring. Iwo Jima Memorial is also worth seeing - a US Marine Memorial. I should mention that on our last night we took the metro to Washington to see Neil Diamond in concert in the Verizon Centre - so it may be worthwhile checking out concerts as they attract big name artists. Washington was a great experience and I will definitely return one day and I will definitely stay in the Hampton Inn in Alexandria because it was a good hotel in a great location.
