Pooch Goes to Washington

Recently, my husband had a business trip in the District of Columbia area, and invited me to tag along. Because our dear dog is a senior citizen, now blind and half deaf, we did not have the heart to leave him behind, so we decided to drive and stay at pet-friendly hotels along the way, from Southern Ontario, Canada, all the way to Washington, D.C.  Our pooch was born in the US, but had not crossed the border since we brought him home as a puppy, more than fourteen years ago, so this was his big adventure. 

We crossed the Canada US border at Detroit, Michigan, then drove through Ohio (slide show, photo 1); we stopped at the Oakmont Plum service station just outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (slide show, photo 2) and spent the night in nearby New Stanton, at the Wingate by Wyndham Hotel (106 Bair Blvd, New Stanton, PA).  The next day, we had a beautiful drive through the Appalachian Mountain Region; on the slide show below, photo 3 before entering the Allegheny Mountain tunnel, and photo 4 shortly after exiting the tunnel:

We arrived to National Harbor, Maryland, just South of Washington, D.C., across from the Potomac River:

My husband’s Workshop and Conference took place at the Gaylord Convention Centre (photo below, left), which is not pet-friendly, so we stayed at the nearby AC Hotel Marriott (photo below, right):

The AC hotel was right next to the American Way, a stretch of a few blocks that features fountains, a playing area, and several statues of illustrious figures, from members of the Armed forces (as seen above), to politicians, WWII role models, and artists, giving the tourists a photo opportunity, and the immature a chance to engage in some birging: 

After the conference, we took the opportunity to visit the historic town of Alexandria, Virginia, on our way to spending a weekend in Washington.  We walked along the waterfront:

Their Old Town area is famous for its well-preserved buildings from the 18th and 19th centuries, such as Gadsby’s Tavern, where the founding fathers once dined, now a museum.  Brick sidewalks guide visitors through the many specialty stores and restaurants, with some literal “Art Attack” moments, that kept us on our toes:

We arrived to our hotel in the early evening, and had time to walk to The Capitol:

And have a photo opportunity with The Library of Congress in the background:

After all the excitement, it was nice to go back to our hotel, the Kimpton George (15 E Street NW, Washington, District of Columbia), named after President Washington, and charmingly nicknamed “The George”:

Our room was a beautiful suite with a bar counter, sitting area, and a comfortable king size bed (photo below, left), big enough for the three of us (LOL).  Our pooch was ready for a good night sleep (photo below, right):

The next morning, we strolled around the hotel and Capitol area, and our pooch had a chance to catch up on the local news:

In the afternoon, we took an Uber to the Lincoln Memorial, to be able to make our way back to the hotel on foot.  In the photos below, the Lincoln memorial (left), statue inside (centre) and a view from the memorial of the Reflecting Pool and Washington Monument (right):

From there we walked along one side of the Reflecting Pool, passing the WWII Memorial, towards the Washington Monument (photo below, left), and the National Mall, with the White House in the background (photo below, right):

That afternoon and the next morning, my husband and I took turns watching our pooch, so the other could go inside one of the many Smithsonian museums in the area.  I was able to briefly visit the National Museum of Natural History, and the National Gallery of Art, then took our pooch back to the hotel (seen below, with the hotel’s mascot, George), and my husband visited the National Air and Space Museum:

One could spend a whole month in D.C. and not be able to visit all the Smithsonian National museums, and it is amazing that they are all free!  We exited the city driving along Pennsylvania Avenue for a while:

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We stopped for one night at The Residence Inn Marriott Hotel (1308 Freedom Rd, Cranberry Twp, PA), near Pittsburgh, before making it back home.  We were pleasantly surprised at how well our pooch did, walking for a good part of our activities, and taking in all the new scents and experiences. As we always say, a tired dog, is a happy dog, and he enjoyed the last leg of our drive mostly napping comfortably:

Of all our hotels, The Kimpton George was the most expensive, but definitely the best in terms of service, value, and especially true pet-friendliness, with no extra fees for the pooch.  The Residence Inn in Cranberry was second, with lots of green areas for the dog, and the manager was very nice and waved the pet fee.  The Windgate in New Stanton was also convenient, and they gave us a room on the ground floor for easy access to the outdoors; there was a fee for having the dog, but somehow ours got waved, as well.  Finally, the AC in National Harbor was really not pet friendly; we had to go down in two different elevators just to reach the street, then walk about six blocks to the nearest green area!  The fee was basically just to allow the dog in the premises.  Other than that, though, it was a nice hotel, and had a prime location, with all the local attractions just a few steps away, right at the corner of Waterfront St. and The American Way (pictured below, very appropriately for a day like today.)

Happy 4th of July!

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I am sharing my post at Thursday Favourite Things #617, with Bev @ Eclectic Red Barn, Pam @ An Artful Mom, Katherine @ Katherine’s Corner, Amber @ Follow the Yellow Brick Home, and Linda @ Crafts a la Mode.