Washington's Union Station...A day trip from Baltimore...Let's Meet!

Washington's Union Station..A day trip from Baltimore.. Let's Meet!

One of my favorite places to spend the day or a few hours before seeing a show in DC is the historic, beautifully restored Union Station. With over 100 places to eat, drink and shop, this is a destination not to be missed. A couple of years ago I photographed the Baltimore Train station and New York's Penn station, but I have to say that Union Station is grander than either of them.

Completed in 1908, it is a beautiful example of the Beaux-Arts style of architecture. When it was built, Union Station covered more ground than any other building in the United States and was the largest train station in the world. It was a city within a city where some 5,000 people worked and the services included butcher, baker, bowling alley, mortuary, hotel, Turkish baths, police station, and a Presidential Suite used by Presidents to welcome visiting royalty.

Union Station served Washington as a major center of transportation for many years, but the advent of air travel led to a decline in railroad passengers. Union Station began to fall into disuse, and it was eventually closed in 1981. After Congress debated whether to save the station or bulldoze it, they passed the Union Station Redevelopment Act with the goal of making it financially self-sufficient. A public/private partnership was formed to faithfully restore the building to its original state and create a mixed use transportation center. While visiting a few weeks ago, I could not stop shooting photos. Every time I turned, there was an "Oh, look at that!" moment. It is a magnificent building!

Today, more than 32 million people visit Union Station every year to see the building, visit the shops, dine in the restaurants, and ride Amtrak and the Washington Metro. There are world-class exhibitions and international cultural here throughout the year, and private special events such as the Presidential Inaugural Ball and citywide galas fill the grand halls. In fact, I think this would be a wonderful place for a large Active Rain gathering, or just a get a way to meet and have a vacation day close to home!