DC WEEKEND: the rest of the story

we've made it - to the other half of our DC trip! the fun is only going to continue. so, let's go!

it is sunday funday morning. and we are just over the halfway point in our trip. it is easter and there is a bustle around the city of people in colorful dresses and well tailored suits. DC is known for brunching. and well, easter is the holiday for brunch. so eating breakfast at a brunch spot without a reservation was not an option. thus, we decided to start our morning together at le pain quotidien for breakfast. my aunt and uncle had eaten there the day before and enjoyed it, so we all went along for the adventure today. it was quite delicious. we ordered a breadbasket for the table to share, which came with countless jams and spreads. my favorites were apricot and the hazelnut spread. yummm. as we enjoyed our breakfast we planned out our morning together. we decided that we would head over to the tidal basin toward the thomas jefferson memorial. it was a beautiful walk right on the river. we took a few pictures of the remaining cherry blossoms. the memorial is also located along the river. it is quite a sight to see! 

after exploring the thomas jefferson memorial, my aunt, uncle, and cousin, decided that it was time for them to head home [very sad]. we hated to see them go, but were so glad we didn’t have to! after saying our sweet goodbyes, we headed over to the FDR memorial. this might have been one of my favorite spots. it is the absolute best tribute to FDR. It is a stone and water structure complete with iconic FDR quotes and statues. the entire memorial creates this appearance of unyielding strength, toughness, and unshakable firmness. 

*side note/rant: i was slightly disgruntled while we were at the FDR memorial. there were obviously a lot of tourists there, many of whom were of varying nationalities. but i was taken back by how many people were so disrespectful to the memorial. they jumped on statues as if they were meant for riding; they yelled and were loud instead of respectfully and quietly observing the memorial; and they interrupted/pushed in front of others who may have been looking at a particular statue or structure. it was as if they had no care for anyone at the memorial other than themselves. all the memorials in DC are just that, a place to honor and memorialize important figures or events in american history. so it saddened me to notice people who would walk through these memorials and not honor those who have done so much for this country. whether you are native to america [or not] or disagree with where this country is heading, our foundation has very profound roots that is worth celebrating, remembering, and honoring. and to do any of those things properly, we must offer respect. and if respect cannot be offered to these memorials, then perhaps they are not a place one should be.

*end side note/rant.

after our visit to the FDR memorial, we walked and walked and walked to the arlington national cemetery. i was really tired when we got there. i remember thinking “how the hell i am going to walk around this massive cemetery?” as soon as we entered the gates this lady walks up to us and informs us that she has two extra tram tickets that she did not use; and we were welcome to them. the tram is like a trolley that drives you around the cemetery, and stops at various locations within the cemetery. we kindly took her tickets and thanked her for saving our visit! being able to sit and enjoy the sights versus even attempting to walk the grounds, made the visit so much more enjoyable. the tram stopped at the JFK gravesite, the tomb of the unknown [where we got to see the changing of the guards], and the arlington house. the changing of the guards ceremony was very powerful and so intense. we are so glad we were able to watch it. i would recommend this to anyone to see at least once.

after the cemetery we needed some food [as always]. and after much debate, we headed back to capitol city brewing [CCB]. we just couldn’t resist the delicious food and beer. again, we sat and rested for a long while. relaxing, resting, and nourishment felt amazing. 

a spot i really wanted to check out was old ebbitt grill. it is the oldest saloon in DC. it dates back to 1856. we went there for a later dinner. it was very rustic and manly. there are green velvet coverings on the chairs, rich wood paneling throughout, and low lights. it reminded me of a cigar bar; a place where men would go to smoke cigars and sip on bourbon. the food was delicious! i had the easter dinner special [and why not?!], which was basically pasta and cheese with a few vegetables. it was so rich. keith had pork chops that were cooked just right. and, of course, we had dessert [creme brulee], which is my favorite!

after stuffing our faces full, we headed back to the hotel and called it a night. we were tired and very happy after yet another busy day in DC.

we awoke on monday, our final day in DC. we really only had one thing left that we wanted to do: the national zoo. why not check it out? it's free! so, we checked out of the hotel and grabbed a quick breakfast at pret again. then we were on our way. well, apparently up north "easter monday" is a thing. i am not really sure how easter can span the course of two days. but anyway, it's another excuse to have a holiday and day off work/school. so there were a lot of people at the zoo that day. we saw almost everything that we wanted to in the 2 hours that we had. my favorites: the bears, elephants, wolves, river otter, and BIG cats [lions and tigers]. it appeared that most animals lived with a "buddy", so they weren't alone, which to me, seems important. i couldn't imagine living in a cage alone with thousands of people looking and yelling at me all day. the BIG cats were the only ones whose living space didn't seem big enough for them. in my opinion, there was no real room for them to run around. i mean, i have two domesticated cats and they have times where they are definitely running around. even my caged beasts need room to run. those cats didn't seem like they had the space to do that. because i think about a lion in the sahara, i mean, he's going to have miles to run. these cats had [maybe?] 1/4 mile triangular shaped space. so, it kind of broke my heart a little bit. i want them to be safe, but free to be the BIG cats they are. to run, to be free. le sigh. 

so that got us discussing: how helpful/beneficial are zoos really? [just some food for thought.]

after our visit with every child and parent in the greater DC area, we headed back to the hotel to grab our bags, got a quick bite to eat, and then we were outta there.

just like that, our trip was over. 

it was such an awesomely busy trip it took us two days to fully rest and recover. it was worth every minute of exhaustion. we'd do it all over again.

in a heartbeat.

DC, you surprised us in many ways. we expected a great trip out of you, but we received an amazing and awe-inspiring one. we cannot wait to go back to visit more of the "tourist spots", but also to learn more about what the locals do, see, and eat.

DC, thank you again for a wonderful weekend with our wonderful family. we will see you soon!

xoxo,

ks

DC WEEKEND: let's get started!

hey there and happy wednesday! i hope everyone is doing great. the weather where i am is not so much. it really hasn't been that great for much of the southeastern US for most of this week. so, i hope you all are safe and continue to stay safe through the rest of these nasty storms.
soooo... i wanted to get this post out to you guys much sooner. however, i have been having major issues with my picture formatting app [picasa]. and since i am a perfectionist, not just any picture collage or setup would do. but in this battle of picasa vs. kendra, picasa won. i have only one awesome picture setup for you guys [insert huge sad face]. so that brings me to a very important question: does anyone use a really awesome/user friendly app on their computer to edit and compile pictures? oh, it also has to be free. any help would be much appreciated!

ok...onto the blog!

the vacation. we were so very excited to be on vacation. and in DC. so let's get started!!

after our very minor drama [see previous blog], we arrived to our hotel with relative ease. the washington metro is an absolute breeze to use. we checked-in and met up with the fam and quickly head out for some nourishment. we all were starving. unfortunately, i think everyone else in DC had the same idea. "it's good friday...we have the day off...let's go out day drinking and eat a late lunch/early dinner." we walked into founding farmers and had to wait 45min. during our wait we looked into other places, but the story was the same. so, we stuck it out. and ohmigosh, it was worth it. the food was so, so delicious. it is a farm-to-table restaurant. so everything is locally grown, organic, and natural. my kind of place! i would definitely go back.
after linner [see what i did there], we headed down to the national's ballpark for some baseball. and on our way there we stopped at a local brewery, blue jacket. it was mobbed! but it was really delicious and they had so many beers to choose from. any beer drinker would be able to find something they like there. i wish i had taken more pictures there because it was a neat space - very open and industrial.
now with good food and good beer in our bellies, we were off to the ball game! i do not have much for comparison, but the nationals park was beautiful. it is also the only green ballpark in MLB. the concourses were very open with lots of extra places to sit, eat, and relax. there were plenty of places to view the game. behind center field was pretty much all open. of course, there were plenty of food and beverage choices. and even a few cherry blossom trees! and this is where our night ended. after a long day of travel, we all were very tired. so after the ball game we headed back to the hotel, made plans for the next day, and called it a night.

best picture on the blog.

nationals game.

saturday started off with a quick breakfast at pret a manger, an organic coffee/lunch shop that we fell in love with. and then we were off to the races! we walked, walked, WALKED all the way to the national mall where all the smithsonians are located. on our walk we passed by the white house, the washington monument and other huge buildings that we enjoyed taking pictures of. we decided to split up and go to the museums we each wanted to and then meet up for our lunch reservation at 1:30pm. keith and i chose the national natural science museum. we thought we were going to be able to make it to another museum with the time we had. HAHAHAHA. nice joke.
we could have spent all day there. instead we only spent two hours. it probably felt like all day only because it was packed with every damn tourist that was in DC that day. we were shuttled around the museum like cattle. not being able to move around a museum how you'd like really takes the fun out of it.

by the time we meet up with the crew we were definitely ready to rest for a bit and, of course eat. on our way to oyamel we walked through the structure garden. it was beautiful.

oyamel is a mexican cantina. it is served as small plates so they encourage you to get several plates to share. we order some to share and some to not. it was delicious! and the margaritas were too! all very fresh. a few of us [i won't name names] ate grasshoppers and corn smut as part of our lunch. and there were no complaints.
after enjoying our bugs and fungus, we were off to check out some monuments and memorials. we walked back toward the national mall and over near the tidal basin. we visited the washington monument, the WWII memorial, the lincoln monument and reflecting pool, and the vietnam memorial.
whew. that is a lot of history to soak in.

my "sun in my eyes" face also looks like my "i am really pissed off at you" face.

WWII memorial.

reflecting pool and washington monument.

lincoln memorial.

at this point it was time for either rest or nourishment. keith and i chose nourishment. we walked a very long way over to capital city brewing for some more local brew and some food. the food was excellent. although, at this point in our day, mcdonalds would have been a delicacy. the beer was pretty good, some better than others. the dry stout was one of the better stouts i've ever had. it is full of flavor, yet light. so it doesn't make you full after only one. it's like a session stout [who knew!]. we sat at this place for a very long time. it was nice to sit and relax. i think our legs would have let us spend the night here.
once we finished up at CCB, it was almost 8pm. it was time to rejoin our crew. they wanted to head out for a nightcap and a snack. by the time we met up with them and they found a place it was 9pm or so. we met at a restaurant in dupont circle called circa. it was very cute. and i drank the first pilsner i have ever liked [write that down]. keith and i, of course, ordered more food. 

it was somewhere between CCB and circa that we decided to add another day to our trip. we just didn't think we could see all that we wanted to see if we left on sunday. so after much debate [yes, we went back and forth, back and forth, back and forth], we decided - what the hell, we only live once. LET'S DO IT! so we added an extra night.

excitement ensued [yay! yay! yay!]

goodnight DC, we will see you in the morning!!

stay tuned to hear about the rest of our trip [we still have 2 days left!!!!].

xoxo,

ks