Local
Coming to the inauguration? Time to get creative
By: Leah Fabel
Examiner Staff Writer
December 4, 2008
Last-minute travelers hoping to roll into town for Barack Obama’s presidential inauguration in January may want to consider packing a sleeping bag and a fuel stove.
The only hotel rooms left near the city cost thousands of dollars, like $999 per night at Alexandria’s Morrison House hotel with a minimum four-night stay.
The nearest beds that won’t cost a life’s savings are at least 100 miles out of the city in towns like Midlothian, Va., and Salisbury, Md.
Even in Midlothian, rooms at the $51-per-night Super 8 Motel are a hot commodity. Of 41 total, only four are still vacant during inauguration week, down from nine Tuesday, manager Bob Bater said.
For the faithful, dozens of Capitol Hill churches have opened their doors to traveling groups. As to renting out a pew, though?
“Probably not,” said Pastor Andrew Walton, of Capitol Hill Presbyterian. His church plans to host 140 people in its retreat center, and the elders met Wednesday night to discuss options for welcoming more.
If nothing else, Walton said, many area churches will stay open during the day for people needing a clean bathroom or an escape from the cold.
And if visitors can do without even those, they could enjoy some of the cheapest and most accessible spots in the region.
Travel Trailer Village in Prince William Forest Park, 25 miles outside D.C., has plenty of recreational vehicle hookups available during inauguration week for about $30 per night, clerk Mary Watson said. And at Maryland’s Greenbelt Park, 12 miles from the city, 160 tent spaces will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis.
“People don’t know we’re here,” Watson said, adding her park is planning to offer a shuttle service to the Metro stop 4 miles away.
For an RV rental of $98 per day and 32 cents per mile from Cruise America RV Rentals and Sales, the entire brood could make the trip for less than the cost of an average hotel room.
But don’t get any ideas about cookouts on the Mall, said Bill Line, spokesman for the National Park Service.
“Whoever said camping on the Mall is allowed was wrong, wrong, wrong,” Line said, quickly adding the Ellipse and Lafayette Square to his no list.
But he won’t stop all-night idlers, or those looking to walk off a 3 a.m. burger once the city’s bars and restaurants open around the clock for inauguration week.
“Well,” Line said, “they could do that if they wanted.”
The only hotel rooms left near the city cost thousands of dollars, like $999 per night at Alexandria’s Morrison House hotel with a minimum four-night stay.
The nearest beds that won’t cost a life’s savings are at least 100 miles out of the city in towns like Midlothian, Va., and Salisbury, Md.
Even in Midlothian, rooms at the $51-per-night Super 8 Motel are a hot commodity. Of 41 total, only four are still vacant during inauguration week, down from nine Tuesday, manager Bob Bater said.
For the faithful, dozens of Capitol Hill churches have opened their doors to traveling groups. As to renting out a pew, though?
“Probably not,” said Pastor Andrew Walton, of Capitol Hill Presbyterian. His church plans to host 140 people in its retreat center, and the elders met Wednesday night to discuss options for welcoming more.
If nothing else, Walton said, many area churches will stay open during the day for people needing a clean bathroom or an escape from the cold.
And if visitors can do without even those, they could enjoy some of the cheapest and most accessible spots in the region.
Travel Trailer Village in Prince William Forest Park, 25 miles outside D.C., has plenty of recreational vehicle hookups available during inauguration week for about $30 per night, clerk Mary Watson said. And at Maryland’s Greenbelt Park, 12 miles from the city, 160 tent spaces will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis.
“People don’t know we’re here,” Watson said, adding her park is planning to offer a shuttle service to the Metro stop 4 miles away.
For an RV rental of $98 per day and 32 cents per mile from Cruise America RV Rentals and Sales, the entire brood could make the trip for less than the cost of an average hotel room.
But don’t get any ideas about cookouts on the Mall, said Bill Line, spokesman for the National Park Service.
“Whoever said camping on the Mall is allowed was wrong, wrong, wrong,” Line said, quickly adding the Ellipse and Lafayette Square to his no list.
But he won’t stop all-night idlers, or those looking to walk off a 3 a.m. burger once the city’s bars and restaurants open around the clock for inauguration week.
“Well,” Line said, “they could do that if they wanted.”
