Washington, DC before the Caps game

Our game against the Capitals wasn’t until 7:00 pm, so we weren’t expected back at the hotel until 5:00 pm to get our tickets and board the bus to the arena. The Verizon Center wasn’t far from the hotel, but since it was cold out, and it was also safety in numbers, we decided riding the bus was a better option.

We kicked off our first full day by getting up at 7:00 am. The Ducks catered breakfast in the hotel conference room, and our first day consisted of eggs, bacon, sausage, potatoes, fruit, and a medley of pastries.

That really helped fuel our day, as we had an 8:15 appointment at the
Bureau of Engraving and Printing, and then a 2:30 pm tour of the
Capitol.

We saw on the map that the walk to the Bureau of Engraving was only a mile. So 5 of us walked “briskly” to the venue, while 4 of our group members took a taxi. Unfortunately, it took longer than we thought, and we were 10 minutes late. Fortunately, tours were going on every 15 minutes, and since it was a slow season, no tickets were needed! WHEW! Once inside past the lobby, we were not allowed to use our camera, until we got to the gift shop.

This way!

No time to stop… quick snap of the Washington Monument!

We made it!

Whew!

Lobby / Waiting Area

Group photo!

Stephen is worth over $1.6M

After we left the Bureau of Engraving, we had no clue what to do. First, it was cold outside, and Second, we had a few group members who couldn’t do a lot of walking. As if reading our mind, a hop on/ hop off bus appeared, and we tried yelling “How much is a tour?”. The guy motioned us to jay walk (which we did, just as the police drove by), and he said “hop on, I’ll tell you more later”.

Our driver, Patrick, pulled over at the next stop, near the Jefferson Memorial, and told us that a 1-day tour with unlimited access was $48. We decided to go ahead and take the tour, not realizing the upstairs part of the bus was COVERED!! How lucky was that?

So for the next 2 hours (perhaps longer) we went around in 2 circles taking pictures of Washington monuments from the top of a covered double decker tour bus.

Thank you, Patrick for stopping!!

Tour brochure

Its covered!!

view of the WWII memorial from the bus

View from the bus

At 2:00, we had to be at the office of our Representative, Ed Royce, which was located at the Rayburn House Building, near the Capitol. We were across town and took an Uber car to the building, and arrived at 2:00. The Rayburn building was not easy to navigate, as there’s signs and long corridors. We finally found Mr. Royce’s office on the 3rd floor, and his staff member said they’ll escort us to the Capitol, but we had to leave our coats and large bags in their office

Ed Royce is in suite 2310 on the 3rd Floor

These corridors go on forever!

Found it!

Staff member Paige, took us underground, walking under Independence Avenue to the Capitol Visitor’s Center for the tour.

Pretty cool walking underneath the city!

Our tour ticket!

Entering the old Supreme Court Chamber

The dome was under rennovation

The tour was about an hour and a half. When we were finished, I called Paige to escort us back to Mr. Royce’s office to collect our belongings. While at his office, Paige took a group photo of us inside his actual office. What a day… and up next, our game versus the Capitals!

The Anaheim Ducks play hockey in a non traditional hockey market. Our ticket prices are among the cheapest in the NHL. I’ve been to other arenas, where we paid almost $200 for our seats, but it was still a surprise to see our tickets were $150 for this game.

However, included in our ticket price was free food and drinks in their Club Level. The food wasn’t the greatest… more bar food like wings, sliders, potato, and dessert, but it was free, and the drinks (alcohol, too!) was included.