22 July

It was an earlier start today as we had a train to catch. There were mini waffles at breakfast which were a treat - we usually find the waffles you can make yourself are too big but the smaller waffles were just right and nicely crunchy. Yum.

It felt like a bit of a rush to get to the subway as we were conscious that we had to be a Penn station in plenty of time to catch our train. As we walked to the station, we realised that Hannah's suitcase had been yet another victim of the New York subway. Not content with emptying our pockets, the fiendish system had also stolen one of the wheels from her case. (Okay, maybe it wasn't a deliberate theft, but it had four wheels when we first got a train and only 3 wheels when we arrived at the station a few days later . . .)

It wasn't difficult to get to Penn Station and we also had a Woody Allen look-and-soundalike who helped us get from the metro to the main station. (We didn't actually need any help but he was so friendly and keen to assist us that it seemed churlish to refuse!). In the end, we were there quite early and as our train was delayed, we had a fairly long wait. This gave us time to have a look around and to leave the multi day metro card where someone else could find and use it as there were a couple of days left on it.

It did seem odd that they don't have platform announcements until the train is there and as you can't book seats in advance, we were fearing a complete scrum once the platform was announced. The platforms are all quite far apart so it was hard to position ourselves ready to run!

As it happens, there was a bit of a melee once we knew which platform it was but we headed to one of the furthest carriages and easily found four seats. I don't understand why the seats aren't bookable but I guess that system works for them. A ticket guarantees you a seat so in theory, it should all work out okay.

The luggage goes overhead and fortunately the boys were strong enough to lift the cases up and put them out of the way. We ended up in the quiet coach but that wasn't a problem - we all read and napped and enjoyed the journey. The seats were spacious and comfortable and we enjoyed a fairly relaxed journey, passing through Philadelphia and Baltimore on the way to DC. It made a nice change to catch a train rather than driving and I'm glad we decided to do it this way.





Paul's cousin Alex lives in Washington and we had been in touch with her about meeting up. She very kindly offered to pick us up from the station and as it was really raining, we appreciated a nice dry drive to our hotel in Alexandria.

We had picked the Alexandrian hotel as it was a good price for Washington and we are so glad that we did as it was a lovely place to stay. Alexandria is a really charming town with lots of shops and restaurants and a nice riverside area as well. Our room wasn't quite ready when we arrived, so we stored our cases and went to explore, despite the pouring rain.

We found a nice looking taco place, so stopped off for a late lunch and a catch up with Alex. We had stayed with her family in Alabama the previous year and it was so lovely to see her again.

It wasn't long before we were able to check in properly and get into our room and we were very impressed - really spacious and very comfortable. It even had robes!



Once we were settled, we could see that the rain had stopped so we decided to walk through the old town to the Potomac. We also stopped to take a super American photo with Alex!



The riverfront is very pretty with restaurants and a really interesting artist space that we had a nice wander around.



There is a free trolley that runs from the waterfront to the King Steet Metro station, so we caught this back to the hotel and then Alex headed off. We had noticed that the Taco place were doing half price Margaritas on a Monday, so made arrangements to meet up for these the next day.

We had a nice relax in our room before heading out again for something to eat. We had found the Hard Times cafe when looking for food options in Alexandria so headed there. They do four different types of chilli and you can get a sampler of these before you make your final choice. They were all very tasty and it was quite hard to choose but we eventually managed it. The chilli comes with spaghetti and we had a really tasty - and very filling - meal.

Walking back to the hotel, we spotted a little shop called Nice Cream that (unsurprisingly) sells ice cream - making it to order with liquid nitrogen. They were very generous with samples and again it was hard to choose. The ice cream itself was delicious. Yes, it was a bit gimmicky but also very good!

Despite the weather, it was a good day. Alexandria was a nice laid back contrast to the hustle and bustle of New York and we were looking forward to exploring Washington over the next couple of days.

It sounds much more of a relaxed day despite the travelling element!

I have never been to Washington - it is on my list of places to go but for a solo visit the hotels seem expensive!

Looking forward to reading more!

we loved Alexandria too, lovely place to wander about , especially after hustle and bustle of the city

Alexandria sounds lovely and a good contrast to New York. Lovely you could meet up with your cousin too.

Alexandria sounds like alovely place

Alexandria sounds lovely. I always look for hotels too with lots of restaurants close by, so that we can walk to them in an evening. Will make a mental note for when we plan our Washington trip - it’s definitely on the cards.

I'd definitely recommend Washington but we did think the hotels were expensive, hence the trip to Alexandria.

It was so charming, we loved it.

It was great and so good to see Alex.

It was. I wish I'd taken more photos!

I'd definitely recommend it - really lovely place to stay.

Sounds lovely

I'm excited to read about the next few days in Washington. It made our shortlist for this year before being bumped in favour of a cruise.

Quite a relaxing day with the train ride then a wander by the river

Nice day . We thought it was a scrum to get on the train too ! But v comfy .
Alexandria looks lovely and nice to catch up with family. Glad the sun came out for you .