Executive Office Building

My Road Trip to Washington DC

My First Road Trip to Washington DC

Lincoln Memorial

Lincoln Memorial – Washington DC

My first road trip to Washington DC was when I was a young teenager.  I went with a group of friends and we stayed in Baltimore, Maryland.  The purpose of our trip was to help fix up a poverty ridden neighborhood to help the community.  While we were there, we were able to go tour the White House in Washington D.C..

If I remember correctly, we also saw the changing of the guards at Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.  I don’t remember much of that trip but I believe it was while George Bush Sr. was in office.  Most of everything else we saw that trip was from the Interstate.

My next trip to Washington D.C. wasn’t actually a road trip.  It was a business trip and my company does not allow road trips.  I guess they actually expect me to work on business trips.  They flew me to D.C. for a convention.

After the convention each day, I walked around Washington D.C. taking in all of the sites.  Unfortunately, by the time I got anywhere on foot, it was already dark.  But D.C. lights up very nicely and it was a really cool experience to see everything at night time.  I hope to do that again one day.


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Places I Visited

Road Trip to Washington DC - Iwo Jima

Iwo Jima Memorial

While on the business trip in 2013, I was able to see a bunch of places.   Unfortunately, I only got to see them from the outside that trip.

 

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My Second Road Trip to Washington DC

Fort Matanzas

Fort Matanzas – St. Augustine, FL

My son was highly disappointed when I took my business trip to DC in 2013.  He told me that he had always wanted to go there.  He was 9 years old at the time.

So, I promised him that we would save up and make a trip up there together as soon as we could.

Two years later, I made that happen.  In fact it was right after the New Orleans trips for visitation with his dad.  We came home from that trip and turned right back around the following week and left for Washington D.C..

 

I Planned A Trip!

This trip was the first time I used Roadtrippers to plan a trip.  I didn’t yet know how to properly use the tool though.  So I planned a one way trip with way too many stops.  I don’t remember how many stops were on the original trip.  We ended up cutting the trip a little bit short because I was exhausted and my ankles had swollen up real bad.

Anyway, we were so excited to take this trip, we actually ended up leaving 5 hours earlier than we intended to.  I had rented a car for this trip because I did not have reliable transportation for a drive that far.  We ended up getting a tiny Ford Fiat which I was not happy with.  But when you’re just above broke, you take what you can get.  I had used the Avis rewards program to reserve a car and when I went to pick it up, that was what they gave me.  Sheesh.

We were planning to leave the house at 8am in the morning.  But neither of us were able to get to sleep and stay asleep the night before.  We both kept dozing off for a few minutes at a time but our excitement for this trip was literally keeping us up all night.  I figured this was going to make me too sleepy to drive the next day so I said, “Hey!  Let’s just go!”  So we did.  That was a bad idea.

 

Washington D.C. – Take Two

Road Trip to Washington DC - Sunrise

Crescent Park Beach – St. Augustine, FL

Our first road trip stop for this trip was an hour and 41 minutes away.  We left the house at about 3am.  So we got to our first destination at about 5am.

Guess what time it opened.  9AM!!!  Leaving early was threatening to mess up the scheduling on the entire trip!  So we had to improvise a little bit.

We visited nine road trip stops on the way toward Washington D.C. but then I got too sleepy to drive by the time we got to South Carolina.

I had only booked the hotel we were going to stay in while we were actually in the D.C. area.  I knew that we would stay in a hotel on the way there but I wasn’t sure when or where I’d be done.  So I didn’t reserve one.  I figured we’d just stop wherever we could.

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On The Way to D.C.

Mission of Nombre de Dios

Mission of Nombre de Dios – St. Augustine, FL

We had planned for our first stop to be Fort Matanzas National Monument in St. Augustine.  We knew that we were way too early to see the fort, so we stopped along the way at St. Johns County Crescent Beach Park to watch the sun rise.

We parked and walked down to the beach and hung out watching the sun come up.  It was a real nice memory we made.

Then we drove to the fort but it was still a couple hours before it opened.  So we drove across the street from the entrance and parked at the beach there.

We walked out onto this white sand beach and found a sand castle that someone had begun building at some point.  We hung out on the beach for a little while but then we decided we’d try to visit the fort on the way back and to just continue our trip at this point.

Our next stop was Mission of Nombre de Dios.  Unfortunately, it was closed as well.  It also opened at 9am and it was still around 7am.

So we left and hit the highway headed North.  No regrets!  The good news is that those two places are only a couple hours away from where we live.  So we can visit them any time.

 

Day One Stops

Road Trip to Washington DC - Tybee Island Lighthouse

Tybee Island Lighthouse & Museum – GA

After we left Mission of Nombre de Dios, we drove a few more hours to our next stop.  From this point on, it was smooth sailing all the way.  No more arriving before opening time.

I think the stops were very well planned out in that I would drive a little while and then stop and stretch while seeing something new.

We repeated this until I got tired in South Carolina after our 9th planned stop (11th actual stop).

Places we stopped:

 

It had started to storm shortly before we arrived at the Chapel of Ease.  As we were getting closer, we took notice of lots of downed branches.  It looked like it had been a pretty rough storm shortly before we arrived.  While we visited the Chapel of Ease, it was only drizzling.  It was pretty dark and I couldn’t tell if it was actually starting to get dark or if it was from the storm.

South of the Border

South of the Border – Hamer, SC

I decided we should stop soon in case the storm got really bad.  We stopped a nearby hotel but the power was out all over that area.  So we continued North until we found a spot just off the highway.  We stopped for the night so I could rest.

Day Two Stops

After a pancake breakfast and some good ol’ orange juice to start the day, we hit the road again early the next morning.  We drove just a short while through South Carolina before stopping at South of the Border.

After spending a little while there goofing off, we went up the Sombrero Observation Tower where we were able to see the border of North and South Carolina.

I had a few stops planned for Richmond, Virginia but by the time we went through there, they had already closed.  It was late in the afternoon and we hit rush hour.

So we went straight to our hotel which was in Arlington, Virginia.  We checked in about 7:30pm and went to our room.  We relaxed and enjoyed a quiet evening in the hotel room that night.

 

Planned But Not Taken Stops in Richmond
  • American Civil War Center at Historic Tredegar
  • Belle Isle
  • Museum & White House of the Confederacy

 

Planned & Unplanned Stops

When I was planning the trip on Roadtrippers, I only added 5 stops in the Washington D.C. area.  It was my first time using the software and I wasn’t familiar with it yet.

But while we were resting in the hotel that first night in the area, I was so excited to see certain things.  So my son and I discussed it and decided to abandon my plans and just do what we felt like doing the rest of the trip.

Road Trip to Washington DC - Arlington National Cemetery

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier – Arlington National Cemetery

I had planned to visit the following places while we were in the area:

  • Chancellor’s Battlefield
  • Fort Washington National Park
  • Meadowlark Botanical Gardens
  • Arlington National Cemetery
  • African American Civil War Memorial
  • Washington National Cathedral

By day three though, I wasn’t too excited about most of those places.  So we did a little research from the hotel and ended up visiting the following places instead.

 

DC Road Trip Actual Stops

Day Three Stops
Day Four Stops
Pentagon Memorial

Pentagon Memorial – Washington DC

Day Five Stops
Day Six Stops
Road Trip to Washington DC - Reflection Pool

Washington Monument – Washington DC

Day Seven Stops
Day Eight Stops
Day Nine Stops
  • Colonial Williamsburg

By the time we made it to Colonial Williamsburg, I was so exhausted that I could barely enjoy it.  We only made it about halfway through this stop before I was just done.  Between the heat, the horse flies, and my exhaustion… I just wanted to go to bed and sleep for days.  So we went back to the hotel fairly early and then decided to head home a day early.  We drove straight home the next morning without stopping.  We made it home just before midnight.

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My Next Road Trip to Washington DC

Road Trip to Washington DC - Next Trip Guide

My Next Trip to DC

The Washington DC area is so packed with things to see and do, it would take many trips to see everything.  We knew when we left that we would be back one day.  There was still so much we want to see.

I have no idea when I’m going to be able to make it back, but I know that I’m planning to do it.  In fact, my son and I have invited my bestie to tag along with us this next time… and I know where we’ll be stopping when we go, thanks Roadtrippers!  Seriously, if you haven’t used that software before, check it out.

For our next road trip to Washington DC, we have about 60 road trip stops planned.  Some of them are hotels, but most of them are cool places to visit.  Some are places we’ve been, others are places we want to go.

We’ll be driving 2,907 miles at the very least in order to make this trip exactly as planned.

Sidenote: my trips rarely go exactly as planned.  But having it planned out still helps us get the most out of the trip and adjust to any obstacles… such as flat tires.

 

Actual Plans

This trip is planned over a 10 day period for a base cost of $1,956.  Since the trip is planned for three of us, we will each pay $652.  My son will be grown by that point and is already working, so he’ll help pay his share of the trip.

Again, we’ll be driving from Orlando, Florida to Washington DC and back. In the map below, each number represents the stop I have planned for that location.

For my next trip to Washington DC, I’ve planned for the following stops:

Day One

1. Chapel of Ease – St. Helena Island, SC

2. Old Sheldon Church Ruins – Yemassee, SC

3. Hotel for the night – Lumberton, NC

Washington DC Next Trip MapDay Two

4.  Luther Henry Caldwell House – Lumberton, NC

5.  Averasboro Battlefield and Museum – Dunn, NC

6.  Tillery House – Halifax, NC

7.  Hotel for the night – Williamsburg, VA

Day Three

8.  Colonial Williamsburg – Williamsburg, VA

9.  Museum & White House of the Confederacy – Richmond, VA

10.  American Civil War Center – Richmond, VA

11.  Belle Isle – Richmond, VA

12.  Hotel for the night – Buchannon, WV

Day Four

13.  Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum Paranormal Tour – Weston, WV

14.  Flight 93 National Memorial – Stoystown, PA

15.  Hotel for the night – Chambersburg, PA

 

Day Five

16.  Old Jail Museum – Chambersburg, PA

17.  National Civil War Museum – Harrisburg, PA

18.  Gettysburg National Military Park – Gettysburg, PA

19.  Washington Monument State Park – Boonsboro, MD

20.  Hotel for the night – Springfield, VA

 

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Day Six

21.  Antietam National Battlefield – Sharpsburg, MD

22.  African American Civil War Memorial – Washington DC

23.  Florida House – Washington DC

24.  Frederick Douglass National Historic Site – Washington DC

25.  National Mall – Washington DC

26.  Lincoln Memorial – Washington DCWashington DC Map

27.  Reflecting Pool – Washington DC

28.  Vietnam Veterans Memorial – Washington DC

29.  Vietnam Women’s Memorial – Washington DC

30.  DC War Memorial – Washington DC

31.  National WWII Memorial – Washington DC

32.  White House – Washington DC

33.  Washington Monument – Washington DC

34.  Tidal Basin – Washington DC

35.  Thomas Jefferson Memorial – Washington DC

36.  George Mason Memorial – Washington DC

37.  Japanese Pagoda – Washington DC

38.  Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial – Washington DC

39.  Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial – Washington DC

40.  Japanese Lantern – Washington DC

41. Korean War Veterans Memorial – Washington DC

42.  DC at Dusk Night Tour – Washington DC

 

Day Seven

43.  Manassas National Battlefield Park – Manassas, VA

44.  Old Stone House – Washington DC

45.  Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History – Washington DC

46.  Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site – Washington DC

47.  Washington DC Ghost Tour – Washington DC

48.  Hotel for the night – Washington DC

 

Day Eight

49.  Arlington National Cemetery – Arlington, VA

50.  Washington National Cathedral – Washington DC

51.  Fort Washington Park – Fort Washington, MD

52.  George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate – Mount Vernon, VA

53.  Hotel for the night – Fredericksburg, VA

 

Day Nine

54.  Chancellorsville Battlefield – Chancellorsville, MD

55.  Hollywood Cemetery – Richmond, VA

56.  Museum of Edgar Allan Poe – Richmond, VA

57.  Virginia Holocaust Museum – Richmond, VA

58.  Petersburg National Battlefield Park – Petersburg, VA

59.  Hotel for the night – Smithfield, NC

 

Day Ten

60.  Bentonville Battlefield – Four Oaks, NC

61.  Tybee Island Lighthouse and Museum – Tybee Island, GA

62.  Bestie’s House

 

Home!

 

This will be yet another exhausting road trip to Washington DC but I am so looking forward to it!  I love the area and plan to go back there several more times if I can.  Have you been there?  If not, you should definitely add it to your bucket list.  It is such a humbling place to visit.  Out of all of my vacations and trips, my road trip to Washington DC has maintained it’s #1 spot on my list of favorites.

 

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If you’re looking to plan a road trip, be sure to check out the Roadtrippers Trip Planner to see what all may interest you and get it added to your trip.  It’s amazing how many hidden treasures are out there just waiting to be explored.  Driving several hours to see one place just seems like a waste to me.  Why not see what else is along your route and make the most of the trip?  Just, please… do me a favor and travel safe.