So, I realize we went to Washington D.C. over a month ago, and I never bothered to update.  That’s my bad, and I apologize.  I’m sure you were all on pins and needles.

D.C. was, in a word, amazing.  We had a fabulous time!  The weather was perfect, we had a chance to meet up with old friends, and we explored the city (well…as much as we could in two days).  While I am not a big city girl, by any stretch of the imagination, I could totally pick up and move to D.C., in a heart beat.  There is something about that city that is so vibrant, so pulsating…it absolutely captivates me, in all the right ways.

So…I arrived in D.C. on Friday evening, in just enough time for Jamie to meet me at the airport, then whisk me off to have dinner with our old Dutch language teacher, from when we lived in the Netherlands.  Inge had taken a three-month trip to the US, met a man there, and fell in love…so after she moved back to the NL (after her 3 month visa expired in the US), they realized they couldn’t be apart and she moved back to the US to get married.  Very sweet story, and I really like her husband!  I was so excited that we got to have dinner together and that I could see her again…it had been a few years!

So…we met up at this awesome restaurant on the bay, and were able to sit right on the water.   I can’t, for the life of me, remember the name…but they did have really good crab cakes!  Jamie and I split a crab cake platter and each got soup…oh clam chowder, how I love thee!   It was basically my mission in life to eat as much seafood as possible in D.C., and I like to think I came close.

After dinner, we went back to our hotel.  We had booked a room at the Sofitel on Lafayette Square, which was incredibly nice.  We had a large room with a very comfortable bed…and boy did I need some sleep!  The next morning, we slept in.  And when I say “slept in”…I mean we woke up around noon!  Crazy!  We never sleep that late, but apparently we were both exhausted.

After getting up and getting ready, we headed out for lunch and to explore.  Jamie picked an AMAZING restaurant.  Zaytinya.  If you all are in D.C. and have a chance to check it out, you totally should!  Fabulous Turkish/Middle Eastern mezzas “small plate” food…everything was absolutely delicious!  I went nuts with the options!  I settled on their set menu…got hummus with fresh bread, fafalel (OMG…love me some fafalel), spanakopita, and greek yoghurt with apricots (for dessert).  It was absolutely DIVINE!  Plus, there was the added bonus of being full, but not being stuffed.  Definitely a place I’d recommend to anyone…seriously, go try it!

After that, we headed out for some sightseeing.  We went to the U.S. Botanical Gardens, which were absolutely gorgeous.  Tons of orchids, which are one of my favorite flowers, and just lots of rare plants that I’d never had an opportunity to see.  After that, we walked over to the Smithsonian Museum of U.S. History.  There were TONS of interesting things in that museum, but we didn’t have a chance to explore it all because they closed.  Whoops!  It had been a long day at that point, so we just headed back to the hotel for some room service and turned in.  But I still managed more seafood!  Got me some lobster macaroni and cheese…DELICIOUS!

Sunday was our day of departure, but we had a late flight, so we had time to explore a bit more in the morning and early afternoon.  We woke up early and headed off to breakfast at one of the restaurants we’d visited on previous trips to D.C., The Old Ebbitt Grill.  It has an old pub/bar feel about the place…lots of dark wood and lamps.  Very old money type of feel.  Great food, as well.  I made good on my promise and had more seafood…crab cakes eggs benedict…holy crap.  Something about fresh hollandaise and crab cakes…nothing in the world is better!   Oy, it was worth every single calorie in every single bite.  NOM!

After leaving the restaurant, we headed over to the Pentagon to view the 9/11 Pentagon Memorial.  We had considered also seeing the Holocaust Museum, but after visiting Aushwitz, we figured it really couldn’t get more “real” than that…and decided to do the 9/11 memorial instead.  Talk about a moving experience.  The audio tour is heart wrenching, and even after all these years, I still felt myself tearing up.  It’s a very peaceful place though, and even though it’s incredibly sad, I would definitely suggest people give it a visit, if possible. 

We spent quite a bit of time there, at the Pentagon, and after that it was time to head to the airport to catch our flight back home.  It was a really quick weekend trip, but it was perfect.  We were able to do the things we wanted, we had checked out some great sights and wonderful restaurants, and we were able to meet up with old friends.  Really, I couldn’t have asked for a better vacation!

Much love!
K.