The Ritz Carlton, Tysons, VA
Spring and tennis games blossom in Washington, DC
Dates visited: April 7-9, 2017
Washington, DC with a newbie (my Californian husband) was a treat. We had two days to explore DC and a half a day to relax. Although there were many places to stay in Washington DC, we chose to stay in Tysons Corner, VA. It was only a 25 minute train ride to DC. We stayed at the Ritz Carlton, Tysons Corner, Virginia. The great thing about Tysons Corner was that it was so close to DC. Tysons Corner is a shopper’s paradise. There were many stores from American Girl to Louis Vuitton. Conveniently, The Ritz Carlton had an entrance directly to the Galleria Mall from the hotel. From museums, to shopping, to tennis in a weekend, a recipe for a successful balanced weekend.
Day 1:
DC Trails, Hop on Hop off bus (guide on bus gives you a live narrative of all the important DC monuments, buildings and facts). Choose to get off or on at any of the stops.
Day 2:
USA Guided Tours, Highlights Tour. A way to see all the major memorials in one day. (Washington Memorial was closed). We had a guide who gave us the history of each stop, and then would join us as we checked out each of the following:
Capitol building
Korean memorial
Jefferson Memorial
Roosevelt Memorial
Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial
Vietnam Memorial
Lincoln Memorial
White House
Tennis:
As we drove near the Potomac River on our Highlights tour, we discovered a tennis facility near the Jefferson Memorial. While staying in DC, call to reserve court time at the East Potomac Tennis facility (Membership not required).
On our last day, we couldn’t wait to unwind from site seeing and shopping, to play tennis. The concierge team, at the Ritz Carlton, Tysons Corner, set up our tennis reservation, in advance, at McLean Sports and Health. We were welcomed warmly into the club. McLean Sports and Health is a beautiful club which had several tennis courts, swimming, different types of exercise programs and a cafe. Non-members may reserve a court the day of play, if there are courts available! An associate accompanied us to the well maintained, har tru tennis courts of the impressive sports club. The courts were covered by a bubble (we played in the morning, it was 40 degrees out, so we welcomed the indoor courts), and well prepared for our singles tennis match. A great ending to our weekend.
Interesting fact about McLean Sports and Health Club: While we were at the facility, we asked about the Prince’s Court, which was shown on their website. An associate from the facility shared with us that the Prince’s Court used to be called Royal tennis. The game of tennis we play today was derived from Royal Tennis. There are only 11 Prince’s Courts in the United States.