Washington DC: Less than 48 Hours in December

National Christmas Tree & Washington Monument (Dec 2010)

Few people would consider a vacation that lasts less than 48 hours. Even fewer would consider it if it requires to travel over 5,000 miles to a destination where the temperature is about 30 degrees in December. Such are the risks of travel with a purpose. This time it's for the Washington premiere of Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Sunset Boulevard" at the Signature Theatre.

Posting about this December visit to Washington, DC will also allow to report on some other attractions from a visit in 2008 which occurred during my break in blogging. So let the clock start counting from a Friday arrival at 1:00 pm at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport to a Sunday departure at 8:30 am.

In general I've always extolled the value of visiting Washington, D.C. because almost every federal government attraction is free to visit. This would add up to substantial savings for an entire family or even a solo traveler. For example every Smithsonian Museum has no admission except for certain special exhibitions. Transportation is cheap via metro and reasonable by taxi considering that most government attractions are within a very concentrated area.

U.S. Capitol Building (Dec 2008)