IMPORTANT LAST MINUTE DETAILS

THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE YOU COME TO DC

PLAN YOUR FRIDAY AND SATURDAY NIGHT DINNER BEFORE YOU ARRIVE

Skip Auld highly recommends that you make dinner reservations for Friday and Saturday. (Note: On Friday, we’ll have hors d’oeuvres at the Opening Reception with Joe Kennedy, from 5:00 to 8:00PM; there will be a cash bar with alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. On Saturday, there’s a reception sponsored by the Museum of the Peace Corps Experience, from 5:00 to 7:00PM.) Here are some restaurant choices.

Some of the following restaurant recommendations will be an Uber/Lyft ride from Grand Hyatt/MLK Library.

• Rumi’s Kitchen: the Essence of Persian Hospitality(a 15-minute walk or half-mile Uber/Lyft ride from the MLK Library & Grand Hyatt)

• Succotash(3-5 minute walk from the MLK Library & Grand Hyatt)

• Kramers(10-minute Uber/Lyft ride from MLK Library & Grand Hyatt), bookstore & restaurant a block from Dupont Circle

• Find D.C.’s Best Restaurants– includes “budget-friendly,” “affordable gourmet,” “breweries, distilleries, wineries,” etc.

• Neighborhood Dining Guides

• Downtown Restaurants

• Penn Quarter & Chinatown

• Dupont Circle

• Southwest & the Wharf

• Adams Morgan

• Capitol Hill

• Georgetown

• Foggy Bottom & the West End

Pre- and Post Conference Bonus Activities

Below are pre- and post-conference opportunities. If you’re interested in ANY of these opportunities, please let Skip Auld ([email protected] ) know and he will connect you with the right folks.

• Monday tour of the Peace Corps Community Archive with Leslie Nellis, Head Archivist for Special Collections/Digital Initiatives at American University.

• Monday Advocacy Day on the Hill – You’ll want to set up individual meetings with your Representatives and Senators. Paul Barker will provide an update for interested conference attendees. Contact him at [email protected] for more information.

• October 6,7 Iran Advocacy in Washington, D.C. If you are participating in the PCIA Conference in Washington D.C. October 3-5, you should seriously consider staying a couple more days to lobby your Senators and Members of Congress on two themes: 1) the importance of adequately funding and fully staffing Peace Corps globally and 2) the urgency of using diplomacy rather than war to influence Iranian policies and behavior. If you are interested, contact Paul Barker at [email protected], with a copy to Brad Hanson at [email protected].

Getting to Washington

From Skip Auld (Mahallat, 1973-74):

  By car: You can drive and park at the outer lot of the Metro system. There are three in northern Virginia and one in Maryland (where someone from NYC would park – I’ve done this myself). The way it works is to park at the lot (Greenbelt, MD), then take Metro Green Line to the Gallery Place Metro Station – then you can then either walk to Grand Hyatt or take Metro Red Line one stop over to Metro Center which is right at Grand Hyatt. (In Virginia, people can do the same thing from Huntington, Franconia-Springfield, and Wiehle-Reston East Metro Stations.)

  Also, you can park right at Grand Hyatt using an app called Spot Hero. I parked there for $78 for three nights which I thought was reasonable.

  By air: Attendees also have the option of three airports. National is closest to our venue. However, sometimes it’s less expensive and/or more convenient for departures or arrivals to fly into BWI or Dulles. There’s public transportation from all three airports.

MOBILITY SCOOTERS

The Grand Hyatt hotel informs us that a power mobility scooter is available for anyone wanting to rent during the conference.

Power Mobility Scooters – RENTAL (Zask Medical Supply, 703-354 1266.  – https://zaskmedical.com/index.php/rental/power-mobility-scooters.html 

 

Things to do in Washington DC

1          Admire the modern design of the East Wing of the National Gallery of Art and then explore the many wonderful exhibits in both wings connected by a moving light tunnel, https://npg.si.edu

• Smell what’s blooming at the National Botanical Garden, https://www.usbg.gov

• Ramble among the larger-than-life size statues memorializing FDR and his impact on American life, https://www.nps.gov/frde/index.htm

• Remember our war dead while reflecting yourself at the World War II, Korean War, and Viet Nam War Memorials on the Mall, https://www.nps.gov/wwii/index.htm, https://www.nps.gov/kowa/index.htm

• Discover the special and permanent exhibits, including pre-Islamic Iranian art, at the Smithsonian Museum of Asian Art, https://asia.si.edu

 

SPECIAL EXHIBIT HONORING THE PEACE CORPS

  Dr.Zack Klim, (Bangladesh, 2000-2001), is the Executive Director of the Museum of the Peace Corps Experience. In coordination with our conference, they will be installing a Peace Corps exhibit in the 5th floor pre-function space where we will be setting up registration.

  With Iran in the spotlight now, Dr. Klim wants to enhance the Peace Corps Iran elements of this exhibit.  He would like photos, maps, stories and any items that would provide the strongest content we have. Especially useful would be high-resolution images of volunteers interacting with Iranians from the days we were there.

  The exhibit will also include poetry and Dr. Klim would love to have poetry in the exhibit in both English and Farsi. He really would appreciate translators who could work with him on any Iranian poetry they put in this exhibit. [NOTE: the exhibit will cover ALL Peace Corps, not just Iran, but he wants to highlight Iran.] If you can help with artifacts and/or translations, please reach out to Zack Klim at – [email protected]

 

Peace Corps Community Archive Open House –

Monday October 6^th, 10 a.m.-12 p.m.

  Talk to Leslie Nellis, the archivist, and visit the facility that houses the Peace Corps Community Archive at American University–a collection of Returned Peace Corps Volunteer papers and photographs.

Learn about our collections, our collecting scope, and see some of our Peace Corps materials.

Learn more about the Peace Corps Community Archive here.