I first set foot in Virginia in 2023, and technically spent longer there than nearby Maryland. Yet it was only the latter I felt I had a meaningful travel experience in, and was thus willing to add to my list of visited states. 2024’s transatlantic trip focused more heavily on Washington DC, but I was keen to explore its neighbours too. An overnight stay in Bethesda strengthened my minimal claim to Maryland, whilst in Virginia I was able to add several tourist attractions.
IAD
My time in ‘the old dominion’ last year was consumed entirely by travelling to, and awaiting to depart from, Dulles International airport. Although such transits don’t normally meet my criteria for a state visit, IAD did give me pause. The terminal itself is a celebrated work by Eero Saarinen, who made notable contributions to the mid-century modern movement. As a student of both mathematics and architectural history, I am doubly able to appreciate the catenary curve to its tent-like roof: the building is simultaneously sculptural and functional.
But adding a third circle to a Venn diagram of my interests is Saarinen’s novel solution to airport expansion: the mobile lounge. His vision – promoted in a 1958 concept film by Charles and Ray Eames – was for boarding lounges to detach from the rest of the terminal. These would then transport passengers across the airport to aircraft waiting at remote stands. Later models, known as Plane Mates, could even raise themselves to dock directly with the boarding door!
This intriguing concept only ever found application at a handful of airports – and by NASA, where it was adapted for crew transport. Astronaut or not, opportunities to ride in one are few and far between today, and at Dulles they are now mostly used for transfer between gates. As a departing passenger in 2023 I had no need of their services thanks to the AeroTrain, but deliberately made an extra lap of the airport just so I could add ‘lounge’ to my lifetime modes of transport 🙂 .
Arriving this year I was able – in fact, required – to repeat the experience. With an A380’s worth of passengers to shuttle over, it’s clear why they didn’t quite catch on… Not that the delay particularly mattered, as once in the main terminal we were presented with an immigration queue that took an hour and a half to clear. Sadly I don’t count the slow queue shuffle (or a night at the airport Hilton) as relevant experience of Virginia, even if it added significantly to my total time in the state. Fortunately I was able to fit in some sightseeing once we had settled in DC.
National Air and Space Museum
Continuing the aviation theme, I returned to the outskirts of Dulles to check out the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. This is part of the National Air and Space Museum, housed in a series of hangars on the outskirts of the airport – allowing for much bigger aircraft than their other site on the National Mall in DC, but nearly two hours away by public transport…
Still, I couldn’t resist the pilgrimage as their collection includes my big three: an SR-71 Blackbird; a Concorde (F-BVFA, my first Air France example); and a space shuttle (Discovery). Much of the Boeing aviation hangar is devoted to military aircraft, which don’t hold much appeal for me – and it was chilling to realise one curious-looking plane was the Enola Gay, used to drop the first nuclear bomb on Hiroshima.
But there were plenty of small exhibits dotted around which captured my attention – covering topics from balloon mania to high altitude sky dives. The space hangar similarly had rather more missiles than I’d like, but was otherwise home to many curious artefacts, items such as vintage NASA computers or astrophotography equipment connecting to multiple interests of mine.
Like all the Smithsonian museums, it’s free to enter, and unlike the ones in DC, you don’t even need to book a time slot. There’s a Shake Shack on site if (like me) you spend enough time there to need a meal; and there’s an observation tower for watching movements at IAD. So I was able to make a day of it – even if half that time was spent travelling to or from. Inevitably I took more photos here than the next few days combined; I’ve added some of those to this gallery.
Alexandria
My transcontinental adventures had earnt me a healthy pile of Amtrak rewards points, but after two years of inactivity the whole balance was at risk of evaporating. There’s no good way to earn more from the UK, but I discovered that spending a few would also keep my account alive – even if I didn’t travel until months later.
I initially hoped to put together an excursion to Harpers Ferry, but the timetable just didn’t work out for a day trip north. So I settled on the cheapest possible redemption: 300 points (of my 2500) to travel a few miles along the Potomac to Alexandria. The Palmetto transported us there in just 15 minutes; a slower Northeast Regional brought us home that evening for $8.
Thanks to a local contact I had a promising list of eateries to check out around the historic King Street, which proved useful when rainy weather put a dampener on exploring the waterfront. Andy was happy with the coffee at Misha’s, I favoured a sweet treat from Alexandria Cupcake, and we both enjoyed a substantial lunch at Capo Italian Deli.
The Old Town has plenty of attractive gift stores and souvenir shops, although the only memento I picked up was of DC rather than Alexandria. If I’d had any way to transport it home, however, I would have loved to purchase something from the Torpedo Factory. Instead of munitions, this vast riverfront complex now turns out art – housing more open studios than any other single site in the US. We spent well over an hour roaming the galleries and watching new pieces take shape.
I don’t think Alexandria is an essential addition to a Washington visit, but it is a convenient one – as well as the train, it’s accessible by metro, ferry or even by bike / on foot along the Mount Vernon Trail. Although the weather wasn’t quite on my side, I’m glad I got to see more of Virginia: and balance out all the planes with some trains!
