New York-Washington DC

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The Chinese Musclepower!!! That would be the takeaway for me from the New York - Washington, DC trip... The famous American consumerism of "King Customers" can be seen replaced by the low cost Chinese economic model. "King Customers" as they spend like King and expect being treated like a King has a challenge now.
A chinese owned travel group 'eastern travels' was our obvious choice of travel as the fare $35 for return was almost 50% less than that of the nearest option. Greyhound was $80 and Amtrak was $67 one way. We booked the tickets on net much in advance as these cheap tickets exhaust really fast especially on weekends. (however, the tickets are available at bus stop also.) so the customers had a choice now not to be 'the king' in spending.
we had been appropriately briefed by earlier travellers to be at the bus stop at least an hour in advance. i was surprised because we had a reservation. however, in the chinese parlance reservation is no guarantee for a seat. it only means you have paid and now the onus is on you to grab the seat as most of these buses are overbooked. (going back to my textbook days, i figured that's the model to make money in low cost carrier. any cancellation or partial refund can get them in red).
so like an obedient customer (no more king customer) i reached FootAction, 34th Street, 7th Avenue, NY much in advance. for my 6:30 bus i was there at 5:30. i planned to report the Eastern Travel personnel (there were 2) standing there and then check out the place around. Macy's digital screen across the street telecasting fashion show was tempting enough to draw me inside the store. But Hey U King!!! reporting doesn't mean a seat. Please stand in the queue, the bus is overbooked (long weekend mister!), and then take a seat physically. So no 'checking out' for you 'King'. Stand in the queue for an hour (or half an hour depending on the rush), stare at the digital screen. One can change directions and window shop the shoes at FootAction. In case you manage to be get in queue early enough you can board the 5:30 or 6pm bus also. the timing on the printed ticket is the last time when you can board the bus. no refunds after that. so be in queue and enjoy taxi drivers being fined by NYPD till you board the bus.
Finally we left NY at around 6:15pm. The bus left early as all the seats got occupied before 6:30.

a 10 minute stopover after 2 hours of drive at a service area for gas refuelling that also had a Burger King and a restroom was a reprieve for many. the restroom at the back of the bus was strictly for no use. one could however take a risk at his/her own peril.
After a drop at Baltimore , (for which the bus take a slight detour) we left for Washington and reached Chinatown, Washington DC at 10:50pm. the Metro Station is right opposite the drop location and runs till late hours. however, its advisable to check the metro schedule and download a metro map for the first timers. there are 5 metro routes servicing the different areas of Virginia and DC.
As our trip happened to be in early April we managed to catch a glimpse of Cherry Blossom Festival. This festival is celebrated between March 31st- April 15th . The festival is an annual celebration of the blooming of the 3000 Cherry trees gifted by people of Tokyo to USA in the year 1912.
other monuments worth having a look are Jefferson monument, Korean War Veteran Memorial, Lincoln Memorial and others. details can be found out at http://www.thedistrict.com/placestogo/monumentsandmemorials.html . other places of interest can be the federal buildings (i didn't find anything great about them) and few famous museums.
Waterfront can also interest a few. other than steamers and boats, the waterfront also has a lot of old fashioned restaurants and bakeries. what impressed me most was a bakery that sold cookies only for pet dogs. i was and am still amused!!!
the eatery in washington,i will remember for sometime to come is IHOP. (International House of Pancakes). not a great Pancake fan, i loved the Omelette with spinach stuffings. Pancakes come complimentary with most of the orders and are worth trying.
End of sightseeing and time to head back to New York। Report and stand in queue an hour in advance at Chinatown।

The King is Dead. Long Live the King.

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