Friday, January 09, 2009

900 Minutes and Not a Thing to Do Contest!

I cashed in most of my miles to come to the States for Christmas, which was exciting given that tickets were about the price of a used car six months ago. Award travel allowed me to get international tickets for US $61.00 in taxes. Which made me very happy.

Note to self: look more closely at the itinerary next time. Somehow, I'd managed to miss this little detail: I have approximately a 15 hour layover in Washington's Dulles Airport on the way back. From about seven in the morning until ten in the evening.

Now, I've done 4 hour layovers and I once spent 8 hours in the Bogota, Colombia airport. But 15 hours is a bit beyond my imaginative powers right now. Short of watching a full season of the Office or the complete Star Wars movies, I can't think of how I could possibly spend those hours.

So this is a call for ideas. Suggestions for what to do for all that time, besides self-medicating with Tylenol PM and curling up in a corner. There are just a few limitations on your imaginative ideas:

1) Unless I do a spectacular job of packing those 70 pound suitcases, I'm going to have my two carry-on bags with me. They will be heavy and I have arthritis. Please send ideas with a frail, yet energetic, 83 year-old in mind!

2) I don't drive.

3) I don't have $500 for a trip to the spa, unfortunately. My expense budget is limited to $100!


This "contest" is open until Thursday night. I'll choose the best idea before I board my plane and test it out over those long, long hours. The winner will receive a little taste of Brazil in the mail a few weeks later; the rest of my readers will have to content themselves with a description of my experience that will be posted right here on the blog!

Let the brainstorming begin!

7 comments:

Ellen said...

Well- DC has easy access to Boston, and New York. Apparently, if you go over to the Reagan Airport you can hop shuttles that leave every hour or every half an hour and visit one of those places. Have any friends who live there?
Within DC itself-
I think you might like the Spy Museum (800 F St NW)
theres the Smithsonian
The National Museum of African Art (which is at the Smithsonian)
The Freer Art Gallery which is featuring the Iranian Film Festival as well as other Asian art
Or, go see West Side Story playing at the National Theatre- you could probably get at ticket for around $50 (i did look!) What day are you leaving? They have shows mid-week as well
Or, go to a movie. You won't feel lonely during the movie, and you wont have to share popcorn with anyone. However, you might feel kinda lonely afterwards because you wont have anyone to talk about the movie with.
You could treat yourself to a nice manicure or get your hair cut. but i think you'll enjoy the art museums more!

Эми said...

Find the airport Bath & Body Works and pretend like you're at a spa!

Anonymous said...

Do a whitslestop tour of Obama's Washington - the hotel they first stayed in, his kids school, the chilli place he just ate lunch ... etc.

Will be in his first 10 days won't it?

Stefanie (forgot my google log in)

Anonymous said...

You could always sit down behind random people and have outrageous fake cell conversations. Through in some things about rashes or being committed for the mandatory 72 hours, then see how long it takes them to move away from you.

But, I like Ellen's idea of hitting the museums. I'm sure you could wonder around the Smithsonian for several hours if you can find somewhere to stow the bags.

Julia

Anonymous said...

I must point out that I have a typo in the previous post since Jenna will notice immediately. I meant throw. I have no idea where through came from.

Julia

Anonymous said...

Jenna - try the museum at the airport. I'm not sure how to get there - but you can go in the airport tower" and watch the planes come in, see how the tower works. There is also an IMAX theator and lots of airplanes and their history! http://www.nasm.si.edu/museum/udvarhazy/

Connie

Anonymous said...

You could start your first novel, with the plot about air travel. I like Ellen's ideas, do some museums. Or you could do interviews of other travelers,any subject that amuses you. Grammy