<p>cartera, coming from New Carrollton, does it make more sense to get back on 495 and go around, rather than taking the more direct route? I am only looking at maps, and I know that things look different when you are actually there.</p>
<p>bulletandpima, Can you tell me the name of the restaurant? And do you order family style? They are on very tight budgets and will not want to spend $15-20 pp. They will not be able to use the leftovers. But if the platters are large, and they don’t need to order too many, then it could work.</p>
<p>The name is Tony Chengs (I think) it is a large Pagoda style exterior so you can’t miss it. Yes it is family style and the portions are large. I would suggest that two people order apps, and the third orders the main course…if it is guys than swap it for 1 app and 2 main We never go for dinner, just lunch so I don’t know if the portions change in size, but I would think dinner portions are larger. </p>
<p>Also tell them to hit the WH visitor center if you celebrate xmas, they have the most beautiful WH ornaments that cost @16 and are collectors items. this yr it is an enameled christmas tree. All of them come in a beautiful box and give the history of the ornament, they are always after Presidents …this yr is Pres. Harrison. Harrison was the first to have a Xmas tree in the WH. I have collected them for yrs, and have an official WH ornament tree in my home, we call it that, but it also has gold and crystal to fill in, I only have @25 of them.</p>
<p>Also since they are on a limited budget they should know that the SPY museum costs money so that might be a no go for them. Union station has alot of restaurants and they can also get off at UMD where there can get the best wings (or so my DS says) it is all called Ratsies.</p>
<p>Ratsies does have good wings, but the subway station is not really near anything around the university (it’s a good walk), so I would suggest skipping College Park altogether. For the time they are arriving, New Carrollton is an excellent choice.</p>
<p>I, too, would go 95 south rather than 295.</p>
<p>The Metro is about a 5 minute walk from the main drag at least from my last memory, DS goes to UMDCP and so I am going off of that and every weekend they are traveling into DC. Dupont and Chinatown are the haunts</p>
<p>95S is easier than 295 b/c it can become confusing if you don’t know the area. Also since there are 3 people they can take the HOV and not get stuck in traffic. We have done basically all of them minus 695, 295 is the fastest if you know it. 495 can become confusing if you don’t understand inner and outer beltway, 95 is the simplist, b/c you can exit and u turn faster if you miss the exit.</p>
<p>Where are they traveling afterwards…had I known earlier, I would have said they can crash at my house b/c I am off of 66 and 95.</p>
<p>Thank you, bulletandpima, you are awfully sweet to think of having them crash at your house! But there are 10 of them! They were expecting to get to New Carrollton about 2 pm (now), which would put them at the Smithsonian easily before 3. Last time I spoke to them, they were thinking of the museum, walking around a little looking at monuments after it closed, then rushing back to the van to get on the road. They were thinking of skipping dinner, or at least making it something very quick on the run. They really want to finish their drive tonight, and they have 8 more hours after DC! I urged them to stay at a cheap motel along the way and finish the trip tomorrow. </p>
<p>I’ll tell them to get on 95S after they leave New Carrollton. That’s the concensus, right?</p>
<p>Text them and tell them to get on the HOV for 95S…you need 3+ in the car after 3 until 6. They will hit traffic around exit 152, b/c 95s goes from 5 into 2 for a very long time. They can get off at 152 and hit cracker barrel, after that they won’t hit another stop until 139 for food (stafford)</p>
<p>I don’t know how far down 95 they are going, but tell them from mile marker 21 until the NC state line cops live there, most are county sheriffs, which means pay the fine now. VA has a speed limit of 65 and NC has 70, so the police just go up and down the corridor for speeders who don’t realize the speed limit changed and for those in VA who are hitting the peddle knowing they will be over the line soon… Do not go more than 70 or they will nail you. Trust me I commuted back and forth from NC to VA for 6 mos, and I never came through that area without seeing at least 6 cops on the road.</p>
<p>Good advice from BandP about the speeding - Virginia loves to get those out of state license plates too. It is so nasty out - I wish they had a better day to sight see. The traffic could be bumper to bumper all the way to Fredericksburg - I have run into that more times than I care to remember. I travel from Baltimore to southern Virginia quite often - doing it tomorrow in fact - and the traffic can be bumper to bumper from the Wilson bridge off and on to Fredericksburg. Sometimes there is just no good way around or through DC.</p>
<p>Thank you, thank you! A speeding ticket is not in their budget. They’ll be taking 95 past Richmond, then 85 through Charlotte into SC. I’m sure there are speed traps along 85, too. </p>
<p>I hope they don’t hit too much traffic. By the time they get back to their van it will be at least 7. Won’t things have cleared out by then?</p>
<p>Traffic should be better by 7 but the rain could cause problems - people drive way too fast and there are often accidents. This is the weekend before Christmas and there will be traffic in addition to the regular rush hour.</p>
<p>For the novice driving in DC the Capital creates four quadrents, so you have Northwest (NW) where the Spy Museum is, Southwest (SW), Northeast and Southeast. In this era of Mapquest and navigators not much of a problem, but umpteen years ago without these tools my buddy and myself had a nice tour of NE when looking for a NW address.</p>
<p>My nephew and his 9 passengers arrived home safely about 9 this morning, 24 hours after leaving here. They had a great time in Washington! After the Smithsonian closed, the plan was to look at a couple of sights, then head back to the van and be on the road by 7. But the international students begged to stay long enough to see everything, because most of them will never have another chance to visit DC. My nephew, of the soft heart, gave in, and they walked around DC until 10 pm, seeing all the monuments, the White House, the Capitol, etc. They all had a wonderful time! I hope that they had room on their memory cards. At breakfast yesterday, they were tallying the number of photos they’d taken in NYC. The number was well up in the thousands! One boy had taken 300 photos at the Statue of Liberty alone!</p>
<p>Thank you so much to everyone who posted the information that allowed me to tell them how to manage the stop in Washington. They all had a great time, and it more than made up for the day they lost in NYC to escape the storm.</p>
<p>The nominal 8 hour drive home from DC ended up taking much longer. The two drivers switched off frequently, they stopped often for coffee, there were two stops at truck stops to allow drivers to sleep for 1-2 hours. They are all home now, exhausted but safe.</p>
<p>Thanks for letting us know how the trip went. Glad they had a good time. Sleep can happen later :)</p>