The 411
Who: phpBB users in the Washington, DC metro area (District of Columbia, Virginia, Maryland, and anywhere else in the Northeast corridor, or anyone else who needs a good excuse to visit our nation's capitol)
What: A local chance to meetup and do some touring of Washington, DC
Where: Washington, DC (specific locations TBD)
When: Saturday, March 13, 2010
Why: Because we can, because we're going to, and because we're awesome!
Agenda in Brief:
Note that it is not required to attend all three parts of this meetup; see details below.
9:45-10:00 AM: Meet at the Newseum outside of the main entrance on Pennsylvania Ave.
10:00 AM-12:45 PM: Self-Guided Group Tour at the Newseum
12:45-1:00 PM: Regroup outside of the Newseum main entrance on Pennsylvania Ave. (to meet up with anyone who isn't coming to the Newseum)
1:00-1:30 PM (approx): Take Metro to U Street
1:30-3:00 PM: Group Lunch at Ben's Chili Bowl
3:00-3:30 PM: Take Metro to the National Mall
3:30-5:00 PM: Group Tour of the Washington Monument
Agenda in More Detail
While this is a meetup event for phpBB, it is a much less formal of a meetup event than Londonvasion 2008 or OSCONvasion 2009 was. Therefore the schedule has been crafted around the idea of having the opportunity to get to meet each other and check out some awesome DC tourist attractions as a group.
Furthermore, the schedule has been designed into three separate activities so that you don't have to attend every activity if you don't want to (or if you can't afford to or can't stick around long enough to do so). So here is the schedule in more detail:
Part I: Self-Guided Group Tour at the Newseum
The Newseum is Washington, DC's newest museum and it is an awesome place to visit. The sheer number of interactive exhibits and really cool things to see is overwhelming; I've personally been there twice now and there's still awesome exhibits that I haven't gotten to fully experience yet.
We will meet outside of the main entrance (on Pennsylvania Ave.) between 9:45-10:00 AM, and then spend a good 2.5 hours embarking on a self-guided group tour of the Newseum, culminating at around 12:45 PM.
Note: Unlike most DC museums, admission to the Newseum is not free, but is totally worth it. Plus, if we get a group of 10 or more people, we will be able to purchase tickets at a group discount. Please see the "Cost of Attendance" section below for more details.
Part II: Group Lunch at Ben's Chili Bowl
Ben's Chili Bowl on U Street is hands-down my favorite place to eat in Washington, DC. It also has a lot of history as well.
We will be meeting outside of the main entrance of the Newseum between 12:45-1:00 PM to meet up with anyone who doesn't plan an joining us on the Newseum tour. (Alternatively you could join us at the restaurant, but it will be easier to coordinate meeting up--and likely easier for you drivers to park--closer to downtown DC.) At 1 PM we will take the short walk to the Archives/Navy Memorial/Penn Quarter Metro station, and then take the Yellow/Green line to the U Street/African American Civil War Memorial/Cardozo Metro station (long station names, anyone?), which is across the street from Ben's Chili Bowl.
At Ben's, we'll order lunch off of the menu, and plan to eat and socialize there until shortly before 3 PM.
Part III: Group Tour of the Washington Monument
This part of the meetup is an entirely optional addendum to round out the day. Personally I haven't gotten to climb the Washington Monument, so I thought that tossing this in would be fun. Assuming I'm not the only one who wants to actually do it.
We will depart U Street at 3 PM on the Metro and get to the Smithsonian Metro station by 3:30. From there we'll take the short walk along the East side of the National Mall to the Washington Monument, and enjoy a tour there. Not sure how long that will take, but it will be done by 5 PM, since that's when the monument closes.
Admission to the Washington Monument is free, but requires a ticket, which can be in high demand during the day-of. Because we won't have time to stand in line, we are going to try to reserve tickets ahead of time; as such there will be a service charge applied for the reservation; see the "Cost of Attendance" section below.
Cost of Attendance
Because a few of the tourist activities are going to cost a price for admission, we are going to attempt to secure the applicable group discounts. So if you want to attend, you will need to RSVP by obtaining a ticket to the Monumental Meetup on Eventbrite. There are four types of tickets, depending on which parts of this meetup you plan to attend:
- Lunch Only -- Free
- Washington Monument (and Lunch) -- $1.50
- Newseum (and Lunch) -- $17.50
- Full Day -- $19
You must reserve a ticket on Eventbrite by Wednesday, February 24 if you are reserving one of the priced tickets. This is to allow me to have sufficient time to tally up and place the group reservations. If you miss this deadline, you're still welcome to join us at the Newseum/Monument, but you'll have to obtain tickets to these places on your own.
All of these tickets are non-refundable unless for some reason it becomes necessary to alter the planned schedule. Sorry, but I don't get a refund if you don't show up, so neither can you.
If you are coming to join us for lunch at Ben's, please RSVP on Eventbrite by Wednesday, March 3. This is not a strict deadline, however I will be attempting to notify Ben's with a headcount so that we can hopefully make a reservation, or at least so they can be prepared for our arrival if we have a large group. Nothing better in this world than common courtesy, right?
Other Costs to Be Prepared For:
The Metro fares between Archives and U Street stations, and between U Street and Smithsonian stations, will be $1.45 each.* This may be in addition to any Metro rides that you intend to take to get to/from the meetup. You should plan to have sufficient Metro fare available for your trip.
Alternatively you can purchase a one day Metrorail pass which is good for unlimited rides for one day within the Metrorail system; the pass can be purchased at any Metro station or purchased online. The cost for this pass is $7.80 (if you buy it before March 1, $8.30 after March 1).
*Note: Metro recently announced a fare increase that will take effect. Therefore, until Metro updates its website accordingly, add $0.10 to any fare listed on Metro's website. If you're confused about Metro's system or fare structure, and need help figuring out how to get around on and/or budget for Metro, please send me a private message.
If you're joining us for lunch, plan to have $6-$12 to spend at Ben's. You can view their menu online (I highly recommend the Chili Half-Smoke).
And of course, there will be gift shop opportunities at all three portions of this meetup, so plan accordingly as you see fit.
w00t, I Want to Go!
Please visit the Monumental Meetup event page on Eventbrite and RSVP that you are planning to attend by either purchasing one of the priced tickets or selecting the free ticket. I will maintain a list at the bottom of this post of who is coming based only on who has RSVP'd through Eventbrite, regardless of what is or has been stated in this topic.
Of course, this topic continues to be open for general discussion as we get nearer to the meetup event.
Getting to the Meetup Event
We will have only two "official" meetup times during this event (between 9:45-10:00 AM and between 12:45-1:00 PM), both of which will be outside of the front entrance of the Newseum. You are more than welcome to join us at any other time during the day, but you'll be on your own to track us down.
The Newseum is located at 555 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20001 (view map).
There is no on-site visitor parking, however there are public parking garages available nearby. The closest Metro station is Archives/Navy Memorial/Penn Quarter (served by the Yellow/Green lines). Other nearby stations are Gallery Place-Chinatown (served by the Red/Yellow/Green lines) and Judiciary Square (served by the Red line).
Full driving/Metro directions are available on the Newseum website.
Getting to Washington, DC
Coming in from out of town? The Washington metro area is served by three airports and one Amtrak station.
- Washington Union Station Union Station is a historic train station in northeast Washington served by ten Amtrak lines. The station is also served by the Metro Red Line which you can take to get to most hotels in the area.
- Reagan National Airport is located in Arlington, VA and is the closest of the three DC airports to DC itself. The airport is served by the Metro Yellow and Blue lines.
- Washington-Dulles Airport is located in Dulles, VA, west of Washington. You can either take Metrobus 5A (cost $3.20) to Rosslyn Metro station (served by the Orange and Blue lines) or take the Washington Flyer shuttle (cost $10) to the West Falls Church Metro station (served by the Orange line) to make your connection to DC.
- Baltimore/Washington Airport is located near Baltimore, MD, northeast of Washington. You can take Metrobus B30 (cost $3.20) to Greenbelt Metro station (served by the Green line) to make your connection to DC.
Who's Coming:
Fountain of Apples -- Meetup Event Organizer, Former MOD Team Member (attending Newseum, lunch, and monument)
Thanks for reading, and hope to see you there! It's always great to meet more members of the phpBB community!
I'm in Southern Virginia right now.
