Scenes from DC

Happy Monday, friends! I am still in NJ, finishing up my weekend with my family, and will be back in Boston in a little bit to get cracking on some new PR and Marketing projects. Yay for more work! I am excited to spend a few weekends in Boston without major plans. I love weekends away, but there is something so nice about spending aimless summer weekends at home.

Since I didn’t do much cooking or food photographing over the weekend, I thought I would wrap up my trip to Washington DC. I, like other bloggers I love, have been thinking about writing slightly less about food and more about general stuff, being out and about, and life.

After Eat, Write, Retreat was over we spent an entire day sightseeing. Eric had already done all of the museums possible, so we spent the day outside, soaking up the heat and humidity that DC has to offer in May.

Our first stop was Arlington National Cemetery. I have been before, but my husband hadn’t.

He wanted to see JFK’s grave, always a moving site.

My reason for going was to visit a fairly new grave, that of the late MA Senator, Ted Kennedy.  It made me cry. A lot.

Arlington takes your breath away. Rows after rows of graves make it solemn, and we spoke in whispers the whole time. Unfortunately, other people didn’t feel the need for the same. We saw a couple making out, parents letting their kids climb on grave stones. . . gotta love human beings.

We left Arlington and walked across the Potomac to the Lincoln Memorial, spotting the Korean War Memorial and Vietnam wall on the way. I had already been to both, and Eric had gone the day before, so we didn’t spend much time there. Instead we visited the Lincoln Monument and saw that the reflecting pool was empty and under construction.

We stopped to cool off and get out of the sudden rain at the Blue Duck Tavern, truly one of the most beautiful places I have ever eaten. We needed to fuel up before running up the Exorcist stairs, you know, the one that the priest falls down. You have seen The Exorcist, haven’t you? My friend Julie went to Georgetown, so I have been on these stairs before. They are great exorcise. . . muahahaha.

I tried to run up them like my 20 year old self was able. I made it, but there was lots of huffing and puffing.

We wandered around Georgetown for quite awhile, finding a bar with Happy Hour. . . something Massachusetts does not have, and eating a few half price appetizers and sipping on some great discounted beer samples. I didn’t even get the name, but it was a great place to relax and once again cool off.

Our day ended with about an hour and a half of more walking, including an attempt to stop by the White House. The President was leaving for Ireland though, and streets were blocked off for several blocks around his casa. We were not getting anywhere near him.

So we did the next best thing, visited the gorgeous lounge on the roof of the W Hotel.

From this spot, we watched the sun go down over the White House, the second building from front, in this photo. We reflected over our day and how patriotic we felt being in DC over a couple of peach bellinis.

Our nation’s capital is a beautiful city, laid out well for walkers but also offering great public transportation. And many things are free, making it a family-friendly place if you can find inexpensive accommodations.

We are looking forward to a return visit with a side trip to Virginia Wine Country!