Friday, July 11, 2014

Dear DC Tourists

Dear DC Tourists,

Tourist season is in full swing here in DC, and will be for many months to come. So I thought I'd do a post for the tourists visiting the area, sharing some tips on how to visit this great city and not annoy the locals.
This is my first time living in a city that is a tourist attraction so I noticed some things are a little different here, and I noticed how easy it is to get annoyed at the hordes of people that have descended upon DC.
1. DO NOT stand on the left side of the escalator. Left side = you walk up the escalator. I can't tell you how many times I see people doing this, and locals getting annoyed by this. Stand on the right, walk on the left.
2. DO NOT buy paper metro fare cards. They are the worst. The metro paper tickets cost an extra $1 each time you use them. Whereas the re-loadable metro card only costs $2 to buy, so if you're going even round trip, it's worth it to get a metro card. The machines that look a little like ATMs and are next to all of the huge fare card machines are where you buy metro cards. $10 gets you a metro card and $8 loaded on it. I avoid getting in line behind people using paper fare cards because they take longer and people often have problems with them.
3. Please, I urge you Please, do not all walk holding hands in a single row down the street. This is my biggest pet peeve. We all walk a lot in DC, it's a walking city, and I hate when a family or group is literally taking up the entire sidewalk because they're all walking in row. Chances are, locals want to walk faster than you, so please, for the love of pete, at least walk in two rows or something and leave room for others to walk around you.
4. Please don't stop in the middle of the sidewalk because you are lost. If you stop in the middle of walking down the sidewalk, you just might have someone run into you. If you realize you're lost or need to stop and look at a map, please move to the side of the sidewalk before you stop.
5. When the Metro conductor says move into the middle of the train car, please do. I see this every single day on the metro. Tourists crowd around the poles closest to the doors. This makes it really hard for people to get in and out of the metro car. And, if you move into the middle of the train car, you're more likely to get a seat as you'll be standing next to someone when they get up.
6. Don't be afraid to ask someone for directions, or if you're on the right side of the metro platform. I get asked all the time, and really I have no problem helping someone get to the right place.

Please don't let this discourage you from coming to visit. Do come visit. This is a fabulous city and we love living here and even sometimes playing tourists ourselves. Hopefully this will you be a cool in the know tourist.

4 comments:

Selma @ Crazy Little World Of Mine said...

Gosh, I miss living in a big city. Tourists are the worsts...hahaha. However, the standing next to the door thing also often happens with locals. I guess it's a security thing for some. I think it's annoying, just move to the middle, give space and once your turn comes to get off you can walk the extra four steps; it won't hurt. :)

Happy Weekend.
Loved this post.

Crazy Shenanigans-JMO said...

I miss visiting D.C! Whenever you post about the city it makes me miss it!

Susannah said...

I'm happy to say that after reading this list I know Nate and I were good DC tourists! :-)

Ashley said...

Welcome to living in a Tourist City! haha :) I've been dealing with that all my life in San Diego...

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