We recently took a family trip to Washington D.C. to attend our niece’s wedding. John and I hadn’t visited there since we were kids so we made a vacation of it. We had always talked about taking Ally before she graduated so this was the perfect reason to go. Washington D.C. in the spring, while the Cherry Blossoms were blooming was so pretty. Unfortunately, it was also very cold and windy. We even saw a few snowflakes one afternoon.
We were there for 5 nights and we ended up staying in 2 different hotels, mostly for price. The first hotel we stayed in was the Kimpton Topaz in Dupont Circle. We fell in love with that area! So many great restaurants within walking distance. It was a great location.
The Topaz is a small, boutique hotel. It has a bar in the lobby area, but no restaurant. There are plenty in walking distance though.
The day we arrived was mostly spent getting settled and checking out the hotel. We had plans that evening to eat at The Hamilton with our extended family, then meet up with the bride and more friends and family. I will admit I wasn’t sure the Hamilton was going to be worth the money, that it was just a touristy type restaurant.
I was so wrong.
It was amazing and the service was good! We had deviled eggs and cornbread grilled cheese for appetizers. I don’t eat deviled eggs but John, my brother, and his wife swear they were delicious! I have never had cornbread grilled cheese or even thought to eat it, but that was life-changing. They served it with apple butter, so very good. I can’t even explain it.
We ordered a pitcher of sangria, what can go wrong there?
For entrees, my brother and sister-in-law shared steak and potatoes. John ordered schnitzel and I ordered pasta. I haven’t had pasta since Christmas. I don’t eat it very often anymore but I do love it.
For some reason, we were too stuffed to order dessert! I almost talked everyone into going back a second time during our trip.
After dinner, we walked to the White House and took a few pictures then headed to meet up with family.
On our second day, John and I went to breakfast at this amazing little restaurant in a bookstore in DuPont Circle. It’s called Kramer Books & Afterwords Cafe. I found them online and promptly started following (stalking) them on Instagram prior to our trip. We were looking forward to trying this place. It did not disappoint. We ended up eating there four times in six days.
It was within walking distance from our hotel and right by the Dupont Circle metro stop.
We went to the Jefferson Memorial after breakfast while waiting for Ally’s flight to land. She needed to stay one more day in school so she flew in by herself. She loves to fly and has no problem flying alone.
You can probably tell by my hair how windy it was. It was miserably windy.
We walked around the memorial and I got some amazing shots of the cherry blossoms.
After we picked up Ally, we had to drop her luggage off at the hotel and then headed out for lunch. (She was so excited to see us!)
We walked over to another little restaurant I stalked on Instagram prior to our trip called Duke’s Grocery. I was there for the proper burger and mac n cheese. Ally and I split it, was definitely worth the trip!
We walked around Dupont for a little while and took some pictures. We were excited to find one of the Instagram photo spots we were looking for!
The rehearsal dinner was that night. Here we are with our niece and her husband-to-be.
After that, we headed out to explore the monuments at night. That’s a somber experience but so awesome to see at night. I highly recommend it. The tours were crowded, I recommend just heading over there yourself. We used Uber/Lyft a lot!
The next day was wedding day! We did our best to squeeze in a few things on our list before the wedding. We rode the metro like we were locals, right until we got on the train going the wrong direction. We quickly figured it out!
John, Ally and I headed to the National Air and Space Museum for a few hours.
The wedding was beautiful! I was so glad our family could make the trip. We ate good food, had some drinks, danced (i.e. embarrassed Ally) and had a good time!
And unfortunately, the next morning we had to be up really early for our White House tour. And we had to stand in the freezing cold one hour prior to said tour. I had never been in the White House, so it was pretty cool to be able to do that. Even if it was cold.
My brother, his wife, and their son.
I think the tulips were my favorite. I would have loved to be able to walk around the grounds and gardens. This photo was taken through a window.
After the White House tour, we hit the National Mall and a few more museums. It snowed a little. We Texans were not prepared for that. Luckily it was just a few flurries.
One of our favorite museums to visit was the Hirshhorn.
The last night we stayed in the Marriott Metro Center Station simply for the cost and the fact that we weren’t going to be in the room anyway. It was right next to the Metro Center station and within walking distance of quite a few shops and restaurants.
On our last day, we got up early and went to Georgetown. Ally wanted to visit Georgetown University and the city is a great place to walk around.
She’s so excited to have her photo taken. (again)
We climbed the “Exorcist stairs.”
The next day was our flight home. We had a wonderful trip and made lots of memories! We ate some really good food and I would definitely go back for it.
Have you been to Washington D.C? What’s your favorite thing to see there?
If you are interested in traveling to Washington DC, or any other options, I’d love to earn your business. You can reach me at Lake Pointe Travel at sarah@lakepointetravel.net or 469-698-4071. This is my personal lifestyle blog but I’m a travel agent by day.
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