Just got back from D.C. It sure is EXPENSIVE up there!

[Shell Beau]

It broke me. A bottle of water for $5.00 and a can of coke for $2.75. That is highway robbery. My chef salad cost me $16.00. What the hell? I enjoyed my stay, but I am glad to be home to my normalcy in Mississippi!

[Ready4Change]

1. Mostly right, allthough

Things are about half that price in regular retail shops.

But, once on the grounds of festivals or carnivals around here, vendors know they've "got you." That you wont make the effort to go off ground to find cheaper fare. Up go the prices. And generally people in this area have deep pockets, so they pay up.

[Shell Beau]

3. We were walking around like most

tourists do. It was hot and we just filled our water bottles up with fountain water rather than pay the outrageous prices. I buy a 24 pack of water for $5 here, so it is hard to buy one bottle for that price. But for food and other stuff, we didn't have much choice!

[northzax]

2. where the hell were you eating?

16 bucks for a salad? no where I go.

[Shell Beau]

4. Well we didn't know the places to go. Everywhere we went, it

was those kind of prices. I thought it was absurd too! But that is probably what they count on, tourists like me who don't know the right spots to go!

[ElsewheresDaughter]

5. we wnet last May told cabbie "what i spent on a 4 night hotel bill......

equaled my entire living expences for a month (rent, electric, phone and food) $1,200 at the Four Season Sherton on K Street(2 blocks from the WH)...never mind what i spent on feeding 4 kids and the rest of our activites!

i asked the doorman James where i could feed a pascel of kids breakfastt without going broke" he laughed and sent me to the waffle House on 9th St...a bagle and coffee in the hotel resturant was $12..i shit you not!

[Shell Beau]

6. I believe you. The food in our

hotel restaurant was as expensive and it wasn't even good food. They served popcorn when you are seated. I thought that was strange. I am glad I went and saw all of the historical stuff, but I won't be going back anytime soon. People are always on the go. I am too laid back to live in such a fast paced city. There were lovely things to see though!

[Ready4Change]

7. Gotta find the "hole in the wall" type places.

Restaurants with bold street facings are all way overpriced in this area, no matter the quality of the food. To me, the better places are small deli's and such, often found in alleys or by a small sign pointing down a flight of stairs.

One place like that near where I used to work had THE BEST RUEBEN sandwiches I've ever had. Buttery, crispy, meaty, saucy, sloppy, but not so overfilled and sloppy that they were inedible. Ahhhh.

Was watching a news show about the food vendors at the Nationals baseball stadium. I was not surprised at both how poor the food was, and how over priced it was. The stadium manager used the typical Washington excuses about how hard it is to provide good food for so many people, while ignoring the fact that 20 miles north in Baltimore attendees at Orioles games in Camden Yards can get sushi, ribs, and more.

[Shell Beau]

9. We went to a Nationals game and everything was pricey.

I expected that there, but all of the rest, I was kind of surprised.

[hedda_foil]

8. You were in the wrong places!

DC prices for regular people are about the same as in any big city, which is to say you can get water at 24/$5 at CVS (all over town) and there are lots of inexpensive/family restaurants. The key is staying in a hotel in the $90-$130 price range, where they know where to stock up and where to eat without paying 4-Star prices. You guys stayed at high end hotels, which are godawful expensive and recommend comparably high-end restaurants etc. Next time you're thinking of going to DC, post what you're looking for and what you want to spend here and DUers will give you a list of hotels that are nice, convenient, and reasonably priced. You might even get info on where the nearby food and drugstores are! Many of the hotels in the category I'm talking have food storage and cooking facilities right in the room, which can save you hugely when you're travelling with kids.

Sorry you got caught in the tourist trap.

[Shell Beau]

10. We actually stayed at a fairly cheap hotel.

Hotel Harrington is one of the older hotels there and supposedly one of the cheaper ones.