Welcome to DC

 After a nice chilled out day on Thursday, the day we had been waiting for had finally arrived!

Got up at 8am and went through the whole ritual of making sure everything was packed in the cases, then checking it all again!

Started the day with a lovely breakfast which included a traditional full English, I was good though and had fruit as well.

That set us up nicely, the next thing to do was to check out of the Sofitel which was amazing it has to be said, the service was second to none. There was a very generous free mini bar in the room as well!

So from there we had 2 trips with the cases from the rooms down to the lobby where we were just a short walk through a corridor into terminal 5.

The staff were amazing at the BA check in desk with all our luggage and Sam’s things.

We were then fast tracked through security, this time I got through the scanner without needing to be frisked and it was all straightforward. 

After a quick stop in WHsmith to buy some essentials it was straight to our gate via a subway train where we pretty much boarded straight away. I think it’s the quickest I’ve ever been through an airport.

We were first on the plane as Sam was helped into his seat  and we got everything else sorted.

The premium economy seats were fantastic, more space and legroom, a welcome drink….and proper cutlery to eat dinner with! The flight itself was 7hrs 45mins but with the choice of tv shows and films to watch that just seemed to fly by (if you excuse the pun) pretty quickly. 

The food was good as well, had chicken breast with carrots and mash as well as a chocolate mousse dessert which had a mini egg on top! Shortly before landing we had a chicken and veg pastry. Hardly any turbulence all flight either so it was all very smooth.

We were last off the plane so that Sam could get off more easily. The staff were great with him and we were chatting with them about our plans for the trip. One of them was very envious that we are going to Wrestlemania.

US customs was easy as we were again fast tracked through. I managed to get through without any issues this time and no further questioning much to my relief!

We then had to board a shuttle bus to get us to the main terminal. This resembled something out of thunderbirds and was a big coach sat about 20 feet off the ground on tractor tyres, which enabled it to dock with the terminal building. This was called a mobile lounge, or so we were told by the captain of our aircraft who was also on this vehicle along with the rest of the cabin crew.

As soon as we got the bags it was a short walk to the rental car which is amazing, feels more like a spaceship. Once Jill and I had played Tetris trying to get all the suitcases in the car around Sam we were ready to go and find our hotel, the Embassy suites about 20mins from the airport and city centre. Jill drove and I navigated as Sam sat in the back and was mesmerised by everything, even a set of roadworks!

Found the hotel with ease and checked in, before heading down to the restaurant for a quick snack (shrimp with nachos and sauce) as well as a refreshing cocktail.

After that we were all very shattered as it had been a long day but were now ready to kick things off and hit the capital!