The next stop on our East Coast trip was eight nights in Washington DC. We rented a one bedroom AirBnB in Dupont Circle so we could get some alone time and do some cooking a few nights. The apartment was on the ground floor of a brownstone, located on a quiet street (N between 21 and 22). There was one large room with a kitchen, living room and table and a decent size bedroom with a queen bed and a nice bathroom. The place was not the best for cooking (kitchen was limited) but great for size and location. While there we got a weekly pass at a nearby gym which was great - Balance Gym in Foggy Bottom. We went there each morning.
While here we did the following activities:
- Air and Space Museum (Udvar-Hazy Center near Dulles) - We stopped here on our way into town as we needed some time to kill before we could check into our AirBnB. This place was amazing. There are two very large hangars filled with all sorts of aircraft artifacts - most noteably, we saw a few Bell helicopters, the Enola Gay, a SR71 Blackhawk, the Spaceship Discovery and the Concorde. We didn't do any of the IMAX movies but they looked good.
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| Spaceship Discovery at Air and Space Museum |
- Stop Making Sense - We saw this Talking Heads movie which is a recorded concert they did 40 years ago. We went with Vivienne and Jamie - held at the Lincoln Theater. It was much better than we thought - we knew more of the songs than we had remembered and was interesting to watch the band jam. The audience danced in the aisles!
- Walked in Rock Creek Park - mostly follows the road so was noisy.
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| National Museum of African American History |
- Walk C&O Canal - We walked along the canal in MD with Betsy for about an 1.5 hours, seeing Great Falls. It was a beautiful walk with nice views of the river.
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| Walk C&O Canal with Betsy |
- DC at Dusk Monument Tour - We did a three hour tour at night of the monuments. Our bus only had 10 people and it was surrounded in glass from waist up so we had good views while driving. We stopped at about 8 places and got to see all of the major sights as they were lit up at night - really cool!
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| Dusk Monument Tour |
- Tour of US Capitol - Keith had pre-arranged this through one of our TX representatives (Beth Van Duyne). We first had to go to her office on the 7th floor of the Longworth House office building and then we were escorted by one of the interns to the tour. The tour lasted about an hour, seeing the main rotunda and a few other 'halls' with statues and portraits. We then got passes to see the House and Senate chambers but the Senate chamber was closed so we just went to the House - very cool to see (no photos allowed).
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| US Capitol |
- Supreme Court - We popped in and walked around a bit for a few minutes and then peaked into the court itself.
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| Supreme Court |
- Presidential motorcade - On our way back to our apartment, we saw the Presidential motorcade driving into the White House.
- Embassy Row Walking Tour - We did a two hour walking tour of Embassy Row in Dupont Circle, learning about the history of this neighborhood and of some of the houses that were owned by the elite in the late 1800s / early 1900s before they became Embassy offices. Tour guide was great!
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| Embassy Row Walking Tour |
- Georgetown - We walked around campus, stopping to see the places Shawna stayed during her sophomore, junior and senior years and to see the student center where she worked at the bookstore and at the credit union.
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| Georgetown |
- White House Tour - Keith had also pre-arranged a tour of the White House through our TX congress woman. We first went into the visitor center and then stood in line for the tour for about 30 minutes before we went through the multiple rounds of security. The tour itself was self-guided taking you through about six rooms, all really nicely decorated.
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| White House Tour |
- Club Corp - We walked by Keith's old job where he was a matre'd at this private dining club. Someone who used to work with, Ian, still worked there so we got a tour of the place. We then walked by Keith's old apartment that he had in Dupont.
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| Club Corp |
And ate at the following places:
- Abuare Bar & Restaurant - We went to dinner with Vivienne (Fuqua alum) and Jamie at this Ethiopian restaurant. It was Shawna's first try of the cuisine. We went early since we were doing the show later that evening. We shared a few samosa like appetizers and then a combo platter (various meets, lentils and veggies) with the traditional 'pancake' to scoop up the food. Food was tasty and not as spicy as we thought it would be.
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| Dinner at Abuare with Vivienne and Jamie |
- Our Mom Eugenia - Keith had lunch here in Arlington with Andy, a former colleague at Aimco. Keith had a greek salad with lamb - yummy!
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| Lunch with Andy |
- Tatte Bakery & Cafe - Beautiful, airy, large cafe near our AirBnB. Shawna had lunch here (while Keith was at lunch with his colleague). Great place with lots of yummy dishes. She had the lamb platter which was very tasty.
- Pisco y Nazca Ceviche Gastrobar - We had dinner with Jim (Fuqua alum) and Kerry. Fun, lively Peruvian restaurant. We shared a few apps for the table (ceviche and pork bau buns) and we shared a mixed meat/seafood sizzling platter for our entree. We then shared a few desserts (flan and thres leches) for the table. Everything was very tasty.
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| Dinner at Pisco with Jim and Kerry |
- O'Lardon's - We had early dinner with Cheryl and Irene (friends of Keith from when we lived in DC). We picked up Cheryl at her apartment and then drove 1.5 hours into MD to meet Irene here. It's a typical Irish pub - Keith had a lamb burger and Shawna had fish and chips - pretty tasty. We had a few beers and sat for a few hours while we caught up.
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| Dinner with Cheryl and Irene at O'Lardon's |
- Wild Tomato - We had lunch with Betsy (former colleague of Keith's from Aimco) before we walked along the canal with her in MD. Cute little cafe - we had the mussels and each a salad.
- The Tombs - We stopped here for lunch, one of Shawna's hangouts while she was at Georgetown. We had a beer, a bowl of chili and a salad. We were disappointed in everything but the salad!
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| Lunch at The Tombs |
- Mama Tigre - We had dinner with Manish (Fuqua alum) and Priti in VA. This is a Mexican restaurant that has some Indian slant to some of their dishes. We had chips and queso for the table and then we shared the chicken tikka fajitas. Food was yummy.
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| Dinner with Manish and Priti at Mama Tigre |
- Vue Rooftop - We had lunch here (rooftop restaurant at Hotel Washington) with nice views of the White House and south lawn. We shared a charcuterie board and tasty seabass for our entree with tres leches for dessert. Food was surprisingly good.
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| Lunch at the Vue |
Now on to NJ!
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