How Much Did It Cost?: Washington, D.C. / Philadelphia Trip
In this week's edition of "How Much Did It Cost?", I will breakdown my expenses from my trip to Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia in September 2016. As usual, I will breakdown my expenses into five categories: Transportation, Lodging, Entertainment, Food, and Miscellaneous. All prices are in US Dollars.
TRANSPORTATION: $222.08
Southwest Airlines: $113.58 ($68.98, $39.00, $5.60)
Uber: $46.97
SEPTA Fare: $2.25
Washington Metro SmarTrip: $20
Greyhound, DC to Philadelphia Round Trip: $39.28
LODGING: $63
Airbnb in Philadelphia: $63
ENTERTAINMENT: $7.00
Liberty Bell: Free
Independence Hall: Free
Rocky Steps: Free
Rodin Museum: $5.00
US Mint: Free
Christ Church Burial Ground: $2.00
Penn's Landing: Free
National Museum of African American History and Culture: Free
FOOD: $140.19
Ben's Chili Bowl: $14.45
Pitango (Gelato): $14.20
Sbarro: $8.12
McDonald's: $14.91
Olde City Pizza: $8.63
Olde Creamery: $2.00
Independence Café: $5.50
Logan Square Café: $4.05
Maui Wowi Hawaiian: $10.00
Geno's Steaks: $12.00
Pat's King of Steaks: $12.50
Tidal Basin Food: $7.35
Burger King: $7.77
Hudson Street Union Station: $3.29
Canteen Vending: $7.50
Coca-Cola Vending: $2.00
Wendy's: $5.92
MISCELLANEOUS: $57.73
Washington Sports Club: $15.86
Verizon Wireless: $21.14
Hudson Street Union Station: $20.73
ESTIMATED COST OF TRIP: $490.00
I got hungry typing all of the food that I ate during this trip. Now let's put all of the numbers in to context. When I originally planned this trip, I intended to just visit Washington, D.C. for the opening of the National Museum of African American History and Culture. I wanted to get tickets for Saturday but ended up getting tickets for Sunday. I called an audible and decided to the city of Brotherly Love for two days.
For Transportation, my Southwest Airlines was $113.58 due to a change of plans. Originally, I had a round trip flight to Reagan National Airport from Columbus for $74.58. I used Southwest Rapid Rewards Points for the flight to DC which was essentially free (I had to pay $5.60 September 11th Security Fee) and the flight back was $68.98. I changed my flight going to back to Columbus to leave out of Baltimore/Washington International which gave me two extra hours at the NMAAHC. I had to pay the difference in price of my flight change which was $39.00.
For Lodging, I actually stayed in Union Station for most of the night before my bus left to Philadelphia. It left DC at 3:30 am and I didn't want to spend money on Airbnb for only a few hours.
For Entertainment, $7.00 is pretty damn good for all of the places I visited. The Rodin Museum and Christ Church Burial Ground are the only two places I spent money to visit. I learned that Auguste Rodin made a lot more lesser know sculptures and they were pretty cool to see. I only knew about him because of his sculpture, The Thinker. Christ Church Burial Ground is the resting place of Benjamin Franklin and many other prominent Philadelphians. The National Museum of African American History and Culture is MASSIVE and I didn't get to see the entire museum. I'll have to go back sometime in the future to the portions that the I didn't see. It's a great museum and I highly recommend it.
For Food, I ATE A LOT OF FOOD DURING THIS TRIP. I ate half-smokes, ice cream, fast food, ice cream, cheesesteaks, candy, ice cream, funnel cake, pizza, and more ice cream. I got to visit Pat's and Geno's while I was in Philly and I must say that their cheesesteaks were pretty good. If you do plan on visiting either Pat's or Geno's, make sure you have cash and know what you want before you the you get to the window.
I had a great time during this trip and can't wait until the next time I visit Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. Thanks for reading my post and always remember, WHEN THE GLASSES ARE ON, THERE'S SOME TRAVELING GOIN' ON!