Ian,
I agree one hundred percent.
My wife and I spent the weekend in DC a couple of weeks ago.
On SAT. we drove from Alexandria to Georgetown, made a wrong turn and ended up downtown. Took us forever to get out because of the traffic and closed streets. All for lunch by the water.
On Sunday, we drove about three blocks, took the Metro to the station we wanted, took in the Arlington cemetary, including the Arlington House, the Lincoln memorial, the Vietnam memorial, the Korean war memorial, the construction of the WWII memorial, walked on the concrete bottom of the relecting pond, (the one Ginny ran thru in the movie Forrest Gump, it has been drained for the winter), and the Washington monument. Took the Metro back to the station where my car was parked, and drove three blocks back to the motel. It was great. I think it cost $4.40 for both of us round trip. It would have cost more than that to park the truck. And I would have had to find a place to park. Driving around in DC sucks.
Have fun,
Phil
