Not Quite London., but was once ruled by England…a trip report UPDATED 7/26
It began long, long ago on a safari far, far away. We had just escaped a harrowing encounter with a lion when our safari guide ditched us along side a road. We had no idea where we were, but could see a mountain off in the distance. As we walked toward the mountain on a well-beaten path, I turned around to find my husband was no longer walking with me. I panicked as I back-tracked through the throngs of animals to find my husband had become side-tracked by a man selling villas found in the surrounding villages. I became very frightened by this scene as I never thought I would live to see this day.
In reality, the year was 2006 and the place was Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Being the mature person I am, I picked WDW as the place to celebrate my 40th birthday. If I would have ever gotten around to finishing that trip report, you all would have discovered that Greg frightened me when he stopped at the DVC booth as we walked from the Kilimanjaro Safaris to Everest. For so long I had been taking about looking into the DVC, but each time I was met with an eye roll. I about passed out when Greg signed us up for a DVC tour for the next day.
I was going to tell you about this in my trip report, but I kind of got side-tracked by my addiction for a game called VMK. So, I never finished that report.
We didn’t buy into the DVC that day. Instead, while the DVC salesman left the room, we called my sister who had purchased the Marriott Vacation Club a few years ago. My heart sank as Greg and I both decided that the Marriott VC had more to offer us than the DVC, and at a way better price. So, when we got home from our WDW trip, we joined the Marriott VC.
Our first Marriott VC experience was last year as we used points to visit Hawaii for our 10th Anniversary. We stayed at the beautiful Waikiki Marriott on Oahu and the out-of-this world Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort & Spa on the Big Island.
I would have written a trip report about this vacation as well, but VMK got in the way of that report as well.
(Oh, VMK also prevented me from telling you about my semi-solo trip to WDW last summer as well. I went to watch my niece, Kada (aka Stinky) in her last national dance championship in Daytona Beach. I also spent a week at WDW all by myself. If I would have finished that report, you would have learned that Kada took first over-all for her jazz solo, making her the National Champion. But, since VMK was over-powering my mind, I didn't write that report either.)
On our way back from Hawaii, we talked about our options for this year’s vacation. We both decided it would be London. So, as soon as our booking window opened, we asked to be put on the list for the London Marriott site. Then we waited.
And we waited.
And we waited even more.
As we waited even more for that phone call to tell us we had gotten our week in London, Marriott kept sending us emails for other locations we could use our week. I really liked the looks of the Williamsburg VA Marriott time share so we discussed that as being a back-up if London didn’t become available. Then, one day in February as we drove to work, we heard on the news that the exchange rate for the American dollar to the U.K. pound was now 2-1. Ouch! We looked at each other and both said, “Williamsburg it is!”
So, that night we called our MVC rep and asked if we could change our request to Williamsburg. Or I should say, Greg called our rep because I hate the phone. We were immediately given a date for June 27-July 4 for a two-bedroom suite. Sweet! Greg also asked if my mom might want to go, so we called her. She said she would think about it and get back to us. She was afraid that her dogs would be upset if she left them with my step-dad. (I inherited this from my mom – I totally panic about having to leave my pets.)
While we waited for my mom to decide, we looked into air fare. Scary! Both Greg and I had enough miles for United, so we looked at those flights. We couldn’t get seats on flights to Norfolk or Richmond, but we could get seats on flights into Dulles. Hmmm….our minds reeled as we thought about our options:
A: Spend at least $550 on flights into Norfolk for our dates on SW, or
B. Spend $5 on a flight into Dulles using miles on United.
Tough decision it wasn’t.
Before booking the flights, we played around on the Marriott site, looking to see if we could use points for a hotel in D.C. or the surrounding area. While we were looking, my mom called. As soon as we told her that we were looking into adding a few days in D.C., she asked if the invitation was still open to join us. Silly mom, of course it was!
So, I booked a one bedroom suite at the Marriott Residence Inn in Rosslyn for half the points all the other D.C Marriotts were asking.
I began to worry, why was this Marriott so much cheaper than the others? Was it horrible? Did they have bed bugs or even worse, spiders? I looked on Trip Advisor for comments from people who had stayed here. Almost all of the comments said that the hotel was outstanding and wonderful. So why was it so cheap, I wondered? I discovered that it was so much cheaper because it wasn’t actually in D.C., but in Rosslyn.
Well, were in the heck is Rosslyn, VA and how far would we have to go before we actually got into D.C.? I discover Rosslyn is a blip in Arlington and the Metro subway station is a block away from our hotel.
I begin to worry more about why our hotel is so much cheaper than the others as we continue to plan our vacation. Greg and my mom would roll their eyes at me every time I mention this. They both start making up stories, like, “I read today that this Marriott had an infestation of spiders last year.” They also would tell me the reason the ratings were so good is because management got onto Trip Advisor and did their own reviews.
Meanies.
As our trip grew nearer and we did more research, we discovered that we could possibly get a White House tour and a Capitol tour if we contacted our congressman. I made Greg do that because of my hate for the phone. We were told that we would find out about our requests about two weeks before our vacation dates. None of us had any hopes of getting the tours because you are supposed to put the requests in 3 months in advance. We didn’t put the request in until 6 weeks before the trip. However, a week before our trip we learned that we had all passed the security back-ground checks and we were going to tour both the White House and the Capitol. Score!
As I end this incredibly windy pre-trip report, I promise you that I will finish this trip report. Disney decided to close the virtual doors of VMK, so I actually have time on my hands this summer. Ok, I had the time to write and finish the other trip reports, but my VMK addiction wouldn’t allow it.
Up next:
Stuck in an elevator with no food.