Epic Road Trip Brew Tour Honeymoon 2012 - DC Tourists pt. 2

 After the Lincoln Memorial, M wanted to check out the Vietnam Memorial, so we wandered around and came across the Korean War Memorial along the way.

 We were both astonished by the number of names on the Vietnam Memorial.

 This photo would be much more pretty if there were cherry blossoms in it... ;)

 Walking from the Vietnam Memorial to the White House, we stumbled upon the ONLY cherry tree in all of DC that was still in bloom! A mini victory!

 We made it to the White House, and M was disappointed that they don't allow you to get any closer than across the street from it.

 But I was pretty psyched when we saw Bo and his secret service agents out for a stroll!

We don't have Pinkberry in upstate NY, so we had to try it before leaving DC. We both had the salted caramel yogurt and it was incredible. I now believe the hype!

Epic Road Trip Brew Tour Honeymoon 2012 - DC Tourists

 We started the day with breakfast at Urbana, which was connected to our hotel. M had some eggs, which he thought were pretty ok.

 I had the french toast, which I was disappointed with. Urbana's decor and mood is pretty swanky, so to be served diner grade french toast with a couple of strawberries scattered across the top...it just seemed like there was no effort put into it.

 After breakfast we headed to the Tidal Basin area because the entire reason for this stop in DC was to see the famous DC cherry blossoms. But thanks to mother nature and her crazy idea of seasons this year, there were no cherry blossoms to be seen. They had bloomed two weeks before we arrived and were 100% gone. But we made the best of it and took in the typical DC tourist sites, starting with the Washington Monument!

 The second disappointment came when we discovered that the reflecting pool was under construction and totally empty.

 So we headed to the Lincoln Memorial, which was pretty beautiful.

Epic Road Trip Brew Tour Honeymoon 2012 - Hello DC!

 Our hotel was in Dupont Circle. Neither of us had ever been to DC before, so we were kind of at a loss as to what we could go and do. We took a walk to the park in the middle of the circle, and then took a stroll down Connecticut Ave.

 I'm looking a little lost here, no?

 Our hotel room was super classy looking.

 We resisted the call of the Krispy Kreme sign because we knew we were about to have a great dinner.

 After a 45 minute wait, we were finally seated!

 Right down the block from our hotel, and recommended to us by Kate!

 The pizza was AMAZING, and M was really impressed with their beer list too.

Hometown Hearts: Washington, DC

Good morning, Internet! My name is Patchie, and I am a 24 year old who lives in the Washington, DC area. Besides three years in North Carolina to earn my degree in Stage Management and Directing, I have lived here my entire life. For the last two years I have worked with a sword fighting duo at the Maryland Renaissance Festival (only 45 minutes from DC!), and I hit as many faires and festivals as I can in between. I love the accessibility of not only DC but the cities surrounding it and how no matter what, you can always find an event going on. Here are 5 places worth noting!

The Tidal Basin
Everyone should walk The Tidal Basin once in their life. Along the path you’ll find The Jefferson Memorial, the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, and the George Mason Memorial along with excellent views of all the above mentioned and the Washington Monument. Because FDR and George Mason are only accessible by foot they can be found completely empty of tourists quite often.  This is also the prime location for the National Cherry Blossom Festival, which usually falls in the first two weeks of April.

Fado
This Irish Pub has a few locations in Maryland, but the DC one is located near the Verizon Center. Stop in for a Guinness and some amazing food (I recommend the fish & chips!), and if you’re lucky and plan ahead, you’ll catch one of the many great local bands they bring in.

The National Zoo
While this is a must see, I have a few bits of advice: don’t go on a super hot day (the animals will be really inactive and you’ll be miserable), if you get there via Metro hit Starbucks first for a drink (sadly the zoo is more expensive) and keep in mind that from that angle, the entire zoo is downhill. Which means you’ll have to walk uphill to exit. That being said, the zoo is free and has a wide variety of animals – see our famous pandas (every sign points you in the right direction), check out the houses where the birds can roam free, and don’t miss our seven new lion cubs!

Old Town Alexandria
While not technically in DC (it’s actually in Virginia), Old Town can be reached from DC by Metro (in fact, everything I’ve included can be). Walk King Street, visit the local shops and the Gap Outlet, and eat wherever looks interesting – I have literally never had a bad meal there, and I’m not sure I’ve ever eaten the same place twice. If you hit it on a weekend, visit the Torpedo Factory and watch all the street performers surrounding it. I’ve seen rescue parrot displays where you can actually hold them, magic shows for kids, and sometimes I’ve run into a Renaissance Festival performer or two!

Papa Razzi
Georgetown is gorgeous and while the hardest to get to of anything I listed, worth it. Make sure you explore alleys and little side streets, they lead the greatest treasures. Slightly off the beaten path we found this gem of an Italian restaurant. Not terribly priced and super generous portions, it is my favorite restaurant I’ve been to over there.

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Thank you so much Patchie for showing us what you love about DC!

If you would like to share your hometown with the world, please email us:

windshielddiaries at gmail dot com

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