Andy writes: Chuck once described his experiences in DC as Southern in an ugly way, but my search-fu is no match for the post I'm thinking of. Chuck, would you care to comment? ----------------
My experience in DC is limited to four trips. A couple of times I stayed at a four star hotel (on the govt's dime); once at a corporate hotel; and once at a boutique hotel -- all within walking distance of the white house/capitol.
I saw an eighteenth century city, which was nice, surrounded by some of the grimiest ghettoes I've ever seen, and served by the most professional kinds of servants I've ever been served by, many of them black.
I did not find the city very interesting as a city. It's more a bureaucratic than a cultural center.
I will say that the National Gallery has one of the finest collections in the world, and it's free. Also, if you're into that kind of thing, they have a Textile Museum that, for me, would be reason enough to move there.
Joanna