DC People! I need parking help!

[raisintorte]

Tomorrow morning I am meeting thekatebeyond in DC. I'm picking her up at National, and then we are going sightseeing.

I *hate* driving in cities. The plan right now is to park the car in one place in the morning, and then not touch it until that evening.

Here's the help I need - where can I park my car? I don't want to drive around looking for a spot, and I know spots in town are very limited.

We're totally good with taking the metro, and plan on spending most of the day on the Mall and in the Air and Space Museum.

So any suggestions for lots in those areas? Or lots near a metro that won't be full by mid-morning on a weekday?

Comments

[goodisrelative.livejournal.com]

Um... is there a reason you can't leave your car at the airport and take the Metro from Reagan? (There is a Metro stop literally right at the airport.) Reagan's Metro stop is for both the Blue and the Yellow Lines. To get to the Smithsonian Metro, you can either ride the Blue around, through Arlington Cemetery (which is cool) OR take the Yellow and transfer to the Blue at L'Enfant Plaza. The Blue line only is 11 stops, but pretty when above ground... the Yellow to the Blue is only 4 stops on the Yellow and 1 on the Blue.

[raisintorte.livejournal.com]

That's not a bad idea. I forgot the airport had a metro stop. The only time addition would be back tracking between there and the hotel in Maryland, but no matter where we parked, we would have to back track.

I'm good with taking the metro, I've ridden it many times before, I just have never had to park in town. :-)

[goodisrelative.livejournal.com]

I know!
When I lived south of DC for the JAG Internship, when I headed into DC, I always parked at Franconia-Springfield on the Blue line or Hunnington on the Yellow. When I went to DC in early Feb this yr, I parked at the Ronald Reagan International Trade Building at 1300 Penn... but that was on a Saturday, so I have to think it's full by midmorning on a weekday.

[lavidaessueno.livejournal.com]

There are a few options. First, you could leave your car at National Airport. It's a $10 max if you park in the economy lot. You could take the blue line into town and back out to your car.

Also, you could take the GW Parkway into Rosslyn (Arlington, VA, just across the river from Georgetown) and see if you can park in the Hyatt's parking garage for the day. That's right across the street from the Rosslyn (blue and orange lines). There should be a bunch of parking garages around there, and you wouldn't have to go into the district. Also, the blue/orange line runs right along the mall, so no changing trains.

[raisintorte.livejournal.com]

The Hyatt is a good idea! I'm pretty comfortable with driving around Arlington, I have a friend who lives across from the Pentagon City Mall, and I've been there many times. I think I'll check out there or National. $10 is not bad for parking at all! I pay $8 a day where I work.

Thank you so much! I always flail about the idea of having to drive in a city. Thankfully mine has less than 100,000 people so traffic isn't a big deal.

[smittywing.livejournal.com]

You could borrow my hangtag since I'm only going to be at school for a couple hours tomorrow. :) GMU is a few blocks down from the Virginia-GMU Metro Stop. Or you could go to Pentagon City and take the metro from the basement of the mall. I'm not sure how much the parking is at the garage at the mall. It's a couple dollars for the first hour but I don't know what the max is.

Parking at a metro station is $3.75 but you have to have a SmartTrip pass to get out of the lot. I'm not sure how much it costs to get one (K gave me mine for my birthday) but you could always borrow mine. And pay me back in brownies. ;)

[raisintorte.livejournal.com]

Thanks!! I had considered Pentagon City, but I was trying to avoid going far into Virgina, since our end destination is at the top of the loop in Maryland.

Right now I'm leaning towards just parking at the airport. It's only $10, and the metro is close. I'm just kicking myself for not even thinking of it. :-)

I still owe you finishing TBTILAF brownies. :-)

[goodisrelative.livejournal.com]

And if you park at the Airport, when you leave, you just get on the GW Parkway North and take that up to the NW area of the Beltway... not through DC at all! It's an easy zip... mostly wooded, but y'all should be used to backroads!

[smittywing.livejournal.com]

Yay brownies!

[wabbitseason.livejournal.com]

I completely forgot about SmartTrip cards when she asked me initially. Worse, they're not available at every Metro station. Some of the bigger stations have kiosks. I think they're $5.