 |
Continental Airlines Flights from Cleveland (CLE) to Washington (IAD)
Orbitz is pleased to offer airline tickets on Continental Airlines, which operates a daily non-stop flight from Cleveland (CLE) to Washington (IAD) regularly scheduled to depart at 3:45pm and arrive at 5:15pm, and 2 additional non-stop flights, departing between 8:05am and 8:15pm on select days of the week. Usually an Embraer RJ135 or De Havilland DHC-8 is flown for this route. The average travel time from Cleveland, OH to Washington, DC is 1 hour and 25 minutes.
During your Washington vacation, don't miss these great establishments and attractions:
National Museum of Women in the Arts
Eighteen years after it opened, this stunning collection remains the foremost museum in the world dedicated to celebrating "the contribution of women to the history of art." Founders Wilhelmina and Wallace Holladay, who donated the core of the permanent collection -- more than 250 works by women from the 16th through the 20th century -- became interested in women's art in the 1960s. After discovering that no women were included in H. W. Janson's History of Art, a standard text (which did not address this oversight until 1986!), the Holladays began collecting art by women, and the concept of a women's art museum soon evolved.Since its opening, the collection has grown to more than 3,000 works by more than 800 artists, including Rosa Bonheur, Frida Kahlo, Helen Frankenthaler, Barbara Hepworth, Georgia O'Keeffe, Camille Claudel, Lila Cabot Perry, Mary Cassatt, Elaine de Kooning, Käthe Kollwitz, and many other lesser-known artists from earlier centuries. You will discover here, for instance, that the famed Peale family of 19th-century portrait painters included a very talented sister, Sarah Miriam Peale. The collection is complemented by an ongoing series of changing exhibits. You should allow an hour here.The museum is housed in a magnificent Renaissance Revival landmark building designed in 1907 as a Masonic temple by noted architect Waddy Wood. Its sweeping marble staircase and splendid interior make it a popular choice for wedding receptions.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial
The FDR Memorial has proven to be one of the most popular of the presidential memorials since it opened in 1997. Its popularity has to do as much with its design as the man it honors. This 7 1/2-acre outdoor memorial stretches out, rather than rising up, across the stone-paved floor. Granite walls define the four "galleries," each representing a different term in FDR's presidency from 1933 to 1945. Architect Lawrence Halprin's design includes waterfalls, sculptures (by Leonard Baskin, John Benson, Neil Estern, Robert Graham, Thomas Hardy, and George Segal), and Roosevelt's own words carved into the stone.One drawback of the FDR Memorial is the noise. Planes on their way to or from nearby Reagan National Airport zoom overhead, and the many displays of cascading water can sound thunderous. When the memorial first opened, adults and children alike arrived in bathing suits and splashed around on warm days. Park rangers don't allow that anymore, but they do allow you to dip your feet in the various pools. A favorite time to visit is at night, when dramatic lighting reveals the waterfalls and statues against the dark parkland.Conceived in 1946, the FDR Memorial had been in the works for 50 years. Part of the delay in its construction can be attributed to the president himself. FDR had told his friend Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter, "If they are to put up any memorial to me, I should like it to be placed in the center of that green plot in front of the Archives Building. I should like it to consist of a block about the size [of this desk]." In fact, such a plaque sits in front of the National Archives Building. Friends and relatives struggled to honor Roosevelt's request to leave it at that, but Congress and national sentiment overrode them.As with other presidential memorials, this one opened to some controversy. Advocates for people with disabilities were incensed that the memorial sculptures did not show the president in a wheelchair, which he used after he contracted polio. President Clinton asked Congress to allocate funding for an additional statue portraying a wheelchair-bound FDR. You will now see a small statue of FDR in a wheelchair, placed at the very front of the memorial, to the right. Step inside the gift shop to view a replica of Roosevelt's wheelchair, as well as one of the rare photographs of the president sitting in a wheelchair. The memorial is probably the most accessible tourist attraction in the city; as at most of the National Park Service locations, wheelchairs are available for free use on-site.If you don't see a posting of tour times, look for a ranger and request a tour; the rangers are happy to oblige. Thirty minutes is sufficient time to allot here.
Phillips Collection
Conceived as "a museum of modern art and its sources," this intimate establishment, occupying an elegant 1890s Georgian Revival mansion and a more youthful wing, houses the exquisite collection of Duncan and Marjorie Phillips, avid collectors and proselytizers of modernism. Carpeted rooms with leaded- and stained-glass windows, oak paneling, plush chairs and sofas, and fireplaces establish a comfortable, homelike setting. Today the collection includes more than 2,500 works. Among the highlights: superb Daumier, Dove, and Bonnard paintings; some splendid small Vuillards; five van Goghs; Renoir's Luncheon of the Boating Party; seven Cézannes; and six works by Georgia O'Keeffe. Ingres, Delacroix, Manet, El Greco, Goya, Corot, Constable, Courbet, Giorgione, and Chardin are among the "sources" or forerunners of modernism represented. Modern notables include Rothko, Hopper, Kandinsky, Matisse, Klee, Degas, Rouault, Picasso, and many others. It's a collection you'll enjoy viewing for an hour or so, although some of those masterpieces mentioned above may not be on view; 50 of the museum's best loved works, including Luncheon of the Boating Party, are on tour to other museums, while the Phillips finishes a renovation. The 50 paintings are due to return by the summer of 2005. Meanwhile, don't be put off by the sight of the construction, which is expanding the Phillips Collection's annex building while keeping the main building open throughout.A full schedule of events includes temporary shows with loans from other museums and private collections, gallery talks, lectures, and free concerts in the ornate music room. (Concerts take place Sept-May on Sun at 5pm; arrive early. Although the concert is free, admission to the museum on weekends costs $8.) On Thursday, the museum stays open until 8:30pm for Artful Evenings with music, gallery talks, and a cash bar; admission is $8.On the lower level is a gift shop, which holds clever collectibles tied to the art of the museum.
Make your reservations for discount hotel rooms in the
Washington area, including:
Capital Hilton
This longtime Washington hotel attracts locals as well as hotel guests to its Capital City Club fitness center and full-service day spa. The club fronts on K Street, so you can work your buns off while watching the downtown Washington scene. The club doesn't have a pool but does have 60 pieces of exercise equipment, from Lifecycle to treadmills; facials, massages, and other spa services; and personal trainers. Use of the club is free to certain Hilton HHonors guests and $10 per day ($25 maximum, no matter how long your stay) for all others.The hotel has hosted every American president since FDR, and the annual Gridiron Club Dinner and political roast takes place in its ballroom. The Hilton's central location (2 blocks from the White House) makes it convenient for tourists, and business travelers appreciate the Tower's concierge floors (10, 11, 12, and 14) and extensive facilities.The rooms are decorated in Federal-period motif with Queen Anne- and Chippendale-style furnishings. Corner rooms on the 16th Street side are the most spacious and offer the best city views. A number of suites are available, including three with outdoor patios. Most of the rooms are on the high end of the price range given below. But always check out the website for best deals. An ongoing promotion is the "Hilton bounce-back" weekend rate, which includes full buffet breakfast for two, and discounts for AAA members, seniors, military, and families.Facilities: 2 restaurants (steakhouse, American); 2 bars; 10,000-sq.-ft. health club and spa; concierge (6:30am-11pm); tour and ticket desk; business center; salon; room service (until 1am); massage; same-day laundry/dry cleaning; concierge floors; 13 rooms for those w/limited mobility; ATM with foreign currency.
Embassy Suites Hotel Downtown
This hotel offers unbelievable value and a convenient location, within walking distance of Foggy Bottom, Georgetown, and Dupont Circle. You enter into a tropical and glassy eight-story atrium with two waterfalls constantly running. This is where you'll enjoy an ample complimentary breakfast -- not your standard cold croissant and coffee, but stations from which you can choose omelets made to order, waffles, bacon, fresh fruit, juices, bagels, and pastries. Tables are scattered in alcoves throughout the atrium to allow for privacy. Each evening, the atrium is the setting for complimentary beverages (including cocktails) and light cold snacks. The hotel's restaurant offers discounts to hotel guests and a children's menu for $4.95.By February 2005, the hotel will have completed a $4.5 million renovation to give the entire property an "urban-modern, but not chi-chi" look: Dark marble replaces light marble, guest room sofas will be covered in maroon tapestry fabric, and wireless Internet access will be available throughout the hotel (guests pay $9.95 per 24-hours for a computer access card, if needed).The accommodations remain, as always, nicer than your average hotel room, with better amenities. Every unit is a two-room suite, with a living room that closes off completely from the rest of the suite. The living room holds a queen-size sofa bed, TV, easy chair, and large table with four comfortable chairs around it. The bedroom lies at the back of the suite, overlooking a quiet courtyard of brick walkways or the street. A king-size bed or two double beds, TV, sink, easy chair, and chest of drawers furnish this space. Between the living room and the bedroom are the bathroom, small closet, and a kitchenette. It's worth requesting one of the eighth- or ninth-floor suites with views of Georgetown and beyond, as far as Washington National Cathedral (the hotel will note your request, but won't be able to guarantee you such a suite). For the roomiest quarters, ask for an "executive corner suite," the slightly larger, slightly more expensive suites situated in the corners of the hotel.Facilities: Restaurant (northern Italian); state-of-the-art fitness center with indoor pool, whirlpool, sauna; game room; concierge; business center (with free Internet access on 3 computers); room service (11am-11pm); coin-op washer/dryers; same-day laundry/dry cleaning; 8 rooms for those w/limited mobility, 2 with roll-in showers.
Phoenix Park Hotel
The Phoenix Park is one of a cluster of hotels across from Union Station and 2 blocks from the Capitol. It's distinguished by its popular and authentic Irish pub, The Dubliner, which attempts to set the tone for the entire property. Because of this well-worn, wood-paneled pub, which offers Irish fare, ale, and nightly entertainment, the hotel attracts numerous sons and daughters of Erin, stages a number of Ireland-related events in its Connemara marble-accented ballroom, and generally conveys an air of Irish hospitality. The rooms are attractive but rather cramped with furnishings. Reserve a "deluxe" room (about $30 more than a standard) to stay in a room with a view (Union Station, Smithsonian museums, or congressional buildings). Or book a one- or two-story suite, some of which have balconies, working fireplaces, and spiral staircases. The last major renovation was in 1997, when marble was installed in all the bathrooms; more recently, bathroom scales and heat lamps were added. Irish decorative accents include linens and bathrobes, artwork, toiletries, and carpeting. High-speed Internet access is currently available only in deluxe rooms.
|
|
|
