We usually travel to New York City around our anniversary to celebrate (read shop) and to have incredible food, but this year we decided to cross off another bucket list destination and go to Washington DC instead. I’ve always wanted to see the wonderful monuments, the Smithsonian Museums, Capital Hill and The White House and we did all that and more! We were lucky with the weather because it wasn’t raining but it was unbelievably hot and humid — we were told it was more like summer weather. But we donned our sunscreen, hats, comfy shoes (yes, you read that right) and left our hotel at 9am to return hot, tired (and did I say hot?) around 5pm just in time for wine and cheese in the lobby.
We stayed at the Kimpton Madera in Dupont Circle, a very good location which is close to Georgetown and the subway. We’ve stayed in several Kimpton hotels over the years and have always had exceptional experiences and this property was no different. My friend Karen from Back Road Journal made a great suggestion to join the Kimpton’s Loyalty Program and we did, and it has worked out very well for us, thank you Karen. Because we are InTouch members we received a voucher to raid the mini-bar (or one free cocktail in the bar — guess which one we did?), free WIFI in our room and a lovely room upgrade to one of their superior King rooms! Aron at the front desk and Fernando at the front door were incredibly helpful and friendly. Aron found out that we were celebrating our anniversary so he comped us breakfast every day, how nice is that? I consider breakfast an easy meal to really control calories while traveling, so the free continental breakfast with whole grain toast and fruit was perfect for us.
We ate at wonderful restaurants (reviews to come) and had some fantastic times with new friends — JT and I were very fortunate to meet up with fellow blogger Jed Gray and his beautiful wife Liz of the infamous Sports-Glutton blog. I started following Jed a couple of years ago and haven’t looked back. When I emailed Jed that we were thinking of coming down to DC, he and Liz very generously spent an incredible amount of time writing up recommendations for areas to stay in and provided some excellent restaurant recommendations and they were spot on. We met for dinner on our last night and as you can imagine we got on as if we were long-time friends. The lively non-stop conversation was richly dotted with good bouts of laughter. Thank you so much Jed and Liz it was such a pleasure to meet you both and JT and I sincerely hope that we will be able to repay your hospitality in Toronto very soon.
DC, what can I say? Go big or go home would sum it up. The city itself is only about 176 square kilometres or 68 square miles, so it’s not enormous, but because DC has so much to see and do, you really should plan on 4-5 days, sadly we were only there just under three days so it was a bit rushed but that just means we will need to go back sometime soon. We arrived on Thursday around 11:30 and took a stroll through Georgetown which was a 20 minute walk from our hotel. It was very hot and humid. We decided to have lunch at a Peruvian restaurant which worked out very well and then we walked around some more. Our hotel serves up wine and cheese from 5-6pm every day and we like to go because it gives us an opportunity to chat with the other guests. There weren’t other guests having the wine and cheese but we were able to chat with Aron at the front desk and he made some lovely recommendations about DC.
There is a lot to see and do in DC, so it’s best to have a game plan; figure out what is most important to you and then plan your stay according to that. We wanted to see a few of the Smithsonians (which by the way are totally FREE!): The Air and Space Museum, the Smithsonian Castle, the National Gallery. And we wanted to spend some time walking around the monuments near the Tidal Basin. We did the Hop on Hop off bus tour, but we made the mistake of hopping on and off, so we ended up wasting A LOT of time waiting to hop back on. The bus we got on later in the afternoon was so incredibly slow it was painful. We should have cut our losses but we persevered, and therefore missed seeing a few of the things we wanted to see — so there will be a next time. Due to an earthquake in 2011, the Washington Monument was damaged and therefore closed for repairs and will not open until 2015…so that’s a great excuse to return.
We met Jed and Liz at 5:30 on Saturday night in Georgetown, a short cab ride from our hotel and their apartment. Jed suggested we meet at the Four Seasons bar called Bourbon Steak (well you just know the night is off to a great start!). In true gluttonous form Jed selected this classy establishment because of the variety of unusual cocktails served; we all know JT and I do cocktails, and Jed’s Thirsty Thursdays lead me to believe that they do too! The next course was dinner, we had a short walk (yes, I was wearing inappropriate shoes which made walking on the cobblestone in combination with the extreme heat very difficult!) to a very nice Mexican Restaurant called Bandolero. We started with more drinks and some very tasty treats. I loved this place because it was tapas style so we each got to enjoy every flavour and not have to commit to one dish. Conversation with either Jed or Liz was easy and JT and I flipped back and forth with the two. Our first course was La Muestra, which was guacamole, masa crisps, chicarrones, and three salsas, very flavourful salsas and the guacamole was delicious! Then, each of us selected one item to share; it was very tasty and four items seemed to hit the spot with all of us. In chatting with Liz I wondered if there were any cool jazz bars in DC and she lit up knowing just the one so our next stop was Blues Alley but we were only able to get tickets for the 10pm show, so without hesitation we went to a J-Paul’s saloon for, you guessed it, more drinks and conversation until it was time for the show. We heard the exceptional John Pizzarelli (who concidentally sometimes plays with Diana Krall – a fellow Canadian!)
Sadly we cut the night short as we were flying home the next day — we usually stay up much later, really we do! We really enjoyed our time with Jed and Liz (you guys really made our little DC vacation!)
I encourage you to visit Washington DC, it’s really much more than I expected and I was expecting a lot!
This sounds like a great mini-getaway Eva! I haven’t been to DC in years. So much has changed since I’ve been out there. Not to mention it predates when I was able to imbibe. 🙂 Looking forward to getting out there one of these days with the kids.
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Thanks Kristy, it was a lovely trip that I hope to do again, for sure.
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Go BIG or Go Home indeed!! Liz and I had such a great time with you and JT…though I never had a doubt. 😉 Absolutely love that you two kept us on our toes and kept the evening going. Live jazz to end any night is a good night. We truly can’t wait to make it up to Toronto to visit and continue the good times. Perhaps we’ll even remember to take a picture too.
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Thanks so much, Jed — we enjoyed your company very much as well. It surely was an action-packed evening with good friends, good food and lots of libations!
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My family and I can never have enough of Washington DC. We have been there so many times, and every time it has been a different but satisfying experience. We have stayed all over the place – and twice we stayed for over 8 days. Once, my husband was at a conference near Pentagon and we tagged along – my kids were really young so could take off from school – and I packed a backpack in the morning and took the train to DC. We did that for 5 straight days, and by the end of the week I knew all the stations and all the trains, lol! It was fabulous. Great post Eva, thanks so much for sharing.
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Thanks for the comment Minnie, it sure was a great trip and I can see why you would take the kids, there are so many activities for them to do. Tagging along on a business trip is the absolute best!
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Wow, you guys covered a lot of territory in DC judging from your great slideshow, Eva! The Air and Space Museum and the National Gallery are a must, in addition to Georgetown and the government buildings. Impossible to see it all in one trip, for sure. So happy you connected with Jed and Liz, too, that must have been a blast. Thanks for sharing your trip…it does look pretty hot, though! 😉
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Thanks Betsy, Jed and Liz were fantastic, as was the city. Wish we had more time there for sure, but that just means we’ll have to return someday.
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I feel like a traveling loser when i read your posts! Do you know I have never been to DC before? Always wanted to but never had the time. one day I will though- until then I travel through your pics:)
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thank you for your comment Jessica, I can’t believe you haven’t been to DC before; your babies are still young but soon they will be old enough that you will be able to enjoy it and they will too — lots to see and do with the kids. Hope you go someday, but I’m really glad you can enjoy it through my pics!
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Great trip my friend,
we should remember our roots,
God blessed their soul!
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Thanks
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Sounds like a fun-filled few days, Eva. I wore comfortable shoes on my last trip to DC, too 🙂 But I was with 75 8th graders! Even though we barely slept, we got into the White House, saw Congress in session, went to Arlington Cemetery, etc. I love that you met Jed and Liz…which reminds me, I’m LONG overdue to pop over to his blog and say hello.
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Wow Liz that sounds like a great trip; perhaps the school made special arrangements to do all that, although I do know we could have had a tour of Capital Hill, but in March they literally stopped the White House tours due to budget cuts.
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Sounds like you had a lovely time Eva, though I chuckled at your opinion of “breakfast”.
“I consider breakfast an easy meal to really control calories while traveling, so the free continental breakfast with whole grain toast and fruit was perfect for us.”
I think I’m the exact opposite… I was unable to control myself at the breakfast buffet when we were in Stockholm, and the nation is obsessed with health. The food was healthy, and good. But there was just so much variety… and I had to try it all 😦
Glad you got to meet another blogger too!
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Hi Charles, it’s a balancing act at my age, like having a budget and deciding if I want the nice vacation in Spain or the new living room furniture!
I just find breakfast an easy one to really control the calories, and that not to say we don’t splurge; on our last day we had Eggs Benny in our hotel but then we didn’t have lunch because breakfast was enough to tie us over to dinner.
It was quite fun to meet another blogger!
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I’d love to visit here one day! There’s so much going on the the US that I think a trip is long overdue! 😀
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Ah yes, I think you would like DC very much, it is such a richly packed city. We met a couple of Australians on our tour bus, such a long way to come — but I think when they travel they spend weeks and weeks here.
I’m going to be selfish, but I think Toronto is long overdue for you!
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Eva, but what about shopping??? I’m joking, but it’s the first thing I think of when I visit any place (not that I am planning to visit Washington soon…). After that comes of course food! Your stay seems a huge success and you have managed even to meet Jed and his wife!
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Hi Sissi! I can honestly say that this is one city where I was not able to get my vibe with the shopping — but then again I wasn’t really concentrating on it either (even though I would have LOVED to!). I did manage an hour or so at Nordstrom’s Rack which is Nordstom’s discount store (very high end chain the US). I only bought one patterned pair of jeans, at a very good price. The irony is that we bought one checked luggage ($25 each way!) and I had about 5kg of empty space each way! Such a waste! I also bought a cute little hat to shield my dark hair and skull from the relentless sunshine.
We’re the same with the food, we had our restaurants booked weeks in advance! You can’t really go to DC without seeing the museums, they are all mostly very manageable, 2-3 hours unlike some in Europe where you can spend days!
It was grand to meet Jed and Liz, they are such a lovely couple and we had a blast spending the evening with them.
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I think it’s good when a city always leaves you wanting more! I’ve never been there so I appreciate your recommendations, Eva. I also think it’s great you got to meet Jed and his wife!! How fun was that?! xx
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Hi Barbara, it’s always a blast to meet fellow bloggers…there are more surprises to come!
It’s a very interesting city richly dotted with amazing museums and galleries, I would definitely reco, but maybe not in May!
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Wow, Eva, go big or go home is right, you sure know how to make the best of your time! Good for you guys. I loved viewing the slideshow and now I feel like I’ve visited too ;-). My sister was in DC around the same time as you – not sure but she seems to have gotten closer to the White House (maybe through that special application process we briefly chatted about) – I’ll have to ask her – she even got a picture of Michelle Obama’s garden! So fun – will have to share with you via email. Amazing images Eva – really enjoyed.
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Hi Kelly, it was a action packed holiday for sure. When I read that they weren’t doing White House tours I just gave up, but I did hear you could get closer with special clearance from Ottawa. Next time, I guess. I’d love to see her photos though.
It’s a trip worth taking particularly if you are interested in the museums and such…and it’s economical with a family. I would definitely recommend it for you and the boys!
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Sounds like you both had a wonderful holiday, Eva, with getting to meet Jed & Liz icing on the cake. I’ve a feeling that even if you’d had 5 days, it would not have been enough time. When you visit some cities — New York, London. Paris, Toronto, DC — there’s never enough time to see everything. Isn’t that the best, though? I enjoy that feeling of having to come back to see more.
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Yes indeed we did have a lovely little sojourn, and it was a blast to meet them, they were so lovely. You’re likely right about filling in the time when in a city so full of things to do. And yes, we’ve been to NYC and Paris a few times and we still find new things to do. We have to get back to London, one of these days when the currency isn’t quite as expensive!
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We grew up outside DC. Love the museums. We hate paying to go to other museums. They kind of spoiled us. Glad you had a good time and met Jed!
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It was a really cool trip, what a great city to live in Greg.
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Glad you had a grand time in DC. Yes it was HOT during the period you were there, we were in the 90’s, so I imagine it was hotter in DC.
How cool it that to be able to meet up with fellow bloggers. Great photos.
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Thank you so much Norma, it was a great place for sure!
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You sure had a great time in DC. I love the photo of you on the bus tour.
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Thanks Angie, it was a great trip that’s for sure.
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It looks like you had an incredible time and how lovely to be upgraded and have complimentary breakfast at the hotel. My BIL lived for a few years in DC and he and his wife (who is from Vancouver) continually asked us to come over and visit them but we just never got there before they were posted elsewhere. Another time! xx
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That’s too bad, Charlie, you would have loved DC — I would suggest it’s even worth the trip without your family being there. In fact, we met an Australian couple on the bus tour.
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I love the Dupont Circle area. That’s where we stayed last time we were there. DC is great value for a holiday. I enjoy visiting with John and showing off my heritage. He’s done it here for me for years. 🙂
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It sure is a wonderful city, full of things to see and do. I’m really glad I finally got there for sure.
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A great city to visit but it can really be hot and humid this time of the year…happy that you had a good time. Thanks for the shout out…glad you have been enjoying the loyalty program of Kimpton hotels.
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Thank you Karen, it sure was fun and we really enjoy the Kimpton Hotels.
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