Fall Fun and Festivals in Washington DC

Fall is one of our favorite times in Washington DC. The heat and the crowds are gone, so you can enjoy the best of the city. Here are a few of our favorite things to do in October.  

Fall Foliage

Enjoy the fall foliage along the C&O Canal National Historic Park starting in Georgetown and stretching for 13 miles to Great Falls Park in Northern Virginia.

Explore Rock Creek Park – a park in the middle of the city offering walking, jogging and bike trails – even a stable.

Visit the US National Arboretum  and enjoy the Orchid show and sale or just take a walk around the grounds and enjoy the fall foliage and the seasonal blooming plants including hibiscus, autumn crocuses, water lilies, camellias, chrysanthemums, boxwood and more.

Take a walk at the National Zoo in the crisp fall weather (and maybe even smaller crowds).

Halloween

Enjoy the Halloween Film Festival at American Film Institute in Silver Spring. This year includes a special tribute to Vincent Price, plus the annual showing of the silent Nosferatu accompanied by live music. Halloween night brings a live interactive show of “The Tingler.”

Visit the National Zoo the evening of October 21, 22 or 23 with Boo at the Zoo and get treats and see the animals at night.

Take a walking tour and visit Washington’s most haunted houses including the Octagon House.

Oktoberfest

Looking to celebrate Oktoberfest? The Post’s Going Out Guru’s recommend the best in DC including Beirgarten Haus.

For German culture, including film, games and yes, Oktoberfest, visit the Goethe Institute.

Check out our specials and make your reservations now.

MLK Foundation Announces Changes to the Dedication Weekend Plans

We’ve had an exciting week in Washington DC – experiencing our first earthquake in over 100 years and awaiting the arrival of Hurricane Irene.

With all this in mind, the MLK Foundation along with the National Park Service, FEMA, and the DC mayor’s office have arrived at the very difficult conclusion that the weather conditions for the MLK Dedication weekend could pose a severe threat to the safety of the general public. Mr. Harry Johnson, Sr. President and CEO of the Foundation announced that “it is with a heavy heart and enormous disappointment that we announce that, in the interest of public safety, we are forced to change our plans.”

All scheduled events for Friday will continue as planned including the Partners In the Dream MLK Store and the Women Who Dare to Dream Luncheon, both being held at the Washington Convention Center. The last official event of the Dedication Week will be the National Prayer Service that will be held on Saturday at the Basilica on the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Please note that the Prayer Service was moved to the National Shrine from the National Cathedral.

The National Park Service will open the Memorial to the public on Saturday from 7:00 am until 12:00 noon, weather permitting.

The official dedication that was to be held on Sunday will be postponed to a later date in the fall.  An official announcement will be made by the MLK Foundation once a date has been confirmed. For more information, please visit www.dedicatethedream.org.

Thanks to Our Friends & Neighbors

We’re so often focused on telling everyone why they should visit Washington, DC, we feel like we don’t pay enough attention (at least in this space) to our wonderful neighbors who live and work here all year. We have a great neighborhood – full of people who come to 14K Restaurant for lunch, happy hour and dinner, who book their meetings with us, and who recommend us to friends and colleagues coming from out of town.

And now we’d like to say thanks. Thanks for supporting us. Thanks for being great neighbors.

We’re looking forward to seeing you at your holiday parties this year. If you haven’t already booked, call us now – our space is booking up quickly. Plus, if you reserve your holiday party now, you’ll receive a complimentary weekend getaway for two (including a 2 night, weekend stay at the Hamilton Crowne Plaza Hotel, with dinner for 2 at 14K Restaurant & Lounge each night).

We also offer discounted group rates for your staff to stay after the party, so they can relax and enjoy the evening, and later take the elevator home without worrying about driving home.

The fine print:  Eligibility for the complimentary two-night weekend stay at the Hamilton Crowne Plaza Hotel is based upon a minimum purchase of $2500, and must be booked on or before November 30, 2010. This offer is inclusive of Room & Tax for two adults with Friday check-in and based upon availability. Certain black-out dates may apply. Dinner for two at 14K Restaurant is inclusive of appetizer, dinner, dessert & tax for two adults. Alcohol and gratuities are not included.

**Take the Elevator Home group rate discount is based upon a minimum booking of 10 rooms per night, and based upon availability.

 

 

Help us celebrate Earth Day – April 19, 2009

Washington, DC is a wonderful place to celebrate Earth Day whether you’ll be taking part in the events on the Mall or want to help with the cleanup at the National Zoo.  The Zoo will also be collecting cell phones and rechargeable batteries that you don’t use anymore so they don’t end up in landfills.

Over the past year at the Hamilton Crowne Plaza, we’ve taken several steps to make our staff and guests more environmentally aware and reduce our energy usage.

Let there be light

Since our hallway lights have to be on all the time, we’ve replaced those with more energy efficient bulbs. This helps in several ways:

• The new bulbs take less energy to light the hallways,
• They emit less heat, meaning there’s less impact on the environmental systems,
• And since the new bulbs last longer, they have to be changed less frequently which means less waste in landfills.

Water, water everywhere

Because of all the towels, sheets, napkins, and linens used in hotel rooms, room service, etc., the average hotel uses about 150 gallons of water (and usually hot water) per room per day. To help reduce that, we’ve instituted a linen re-use program for guests who would prefer that we not change their sheets or replace clean towels every day.

Waste not!

In our restaurants and offices we’ve instituted a recycling program for paper, glass and cans. If you’re hosting a meeting at the Hamilton Crowne Plaza and would like us to provide paper recycling containers for meeting materials, we are happy to do so.

We’re not done

We’re always evaluating what we can do to make our hotel more green. Right now we’re looking at our appliances, fixtures, HVAC systems and evaluating what we can do to be more energy efficient. If you see anything that will help, leave us a comment here or on a comment card at the hotel.