City Adventures

Hey guys!

I hope you've been enjoying my guest bloggers over the last week! In case you missed them, you can check out Rachel's delicious Nutella Sandwich Cookies, Allison's take on Multi-Vitamins, and Susan's love for the Black Bean.

Today I bring you a little mini recap of my Saturday in the city with the boy. He had never been so I was really excited to take him in and show him around. Everytime I come here I'm reminded just how much I love it here. It really is my favorite city.

Our goal was to get up early and come in, but a little extra sleep won out. Sometimes that happens. We took the Metro in to Foggy Bottom to start our little tour at the Lincoln Memorial.

We actually happened to visit the memorial on Lincoln's birthday and were a half hour away from a ceremony in his honor. We opted to not stick around for it as it was really crowded in there and we got a late start. From the Lincoln Memorial, we walked to the Vietnam Memorial and then onto the Declaration of Independence Island (not the technical name for it, but close enough) which is a cool little island between the Vietnam and World War II memorials. It has plaques of all the signatures on the Declaration.

From there we headed to one of my favorites, the World War II Memorial. One of the most impressive features of the memorial is actually the fountains, which were empty due to the time of year unfortunately, but I plan on taking the boy back next month when he comes down to visit for the weekend. Each state and US Territory has a stone tower devoted to it. Of course I took a picture of New Hampshire :)

From there we headed over to the Washington Monument.

From the monument, we headed over to the National Mall to vist the Museum of American History and the Museum of Natural History.

Both museums were extremely crowded and by that time, the boy and I needed a break and some food. I was hoping to stumble across a new restaurant to try, but we were so hungry that we walked into the first restaurant we came upon, which happened to be Elephant & Castle, which we have at home in Boston...so minus points for trying new things but I happen to love Elephant & Castle so it worked out well.

After our late lunch, we headed over to the National Archives to get a peak of our nation's founding documents. This brings back special memories for me. By special, I mean, I almost got escorted out of the archives for accidentally taking a flash picture while inside the rotunda (where they keep all the really important stuff). At the time, back in 2008, photography was allowed if there was no flash. Well now they don't allow any photography. I think it's because of me. Whoops.

We were actually in the Archives for a while because of an extremely annoying father of 3 who was giving his kids a FULL history lesson while looking at the Constitution. Clearly it's a busy place and there is a line forming behind this guy and his three kids. I would say the kids were between 6 and 10. You know as well as I do that those kids could not have given a damn what he was teaching them. They just wanted to get to the gift shop at the Museum of American History to get some space ice cream. (Yes, it's where my mind was while he was talking too). Finally he finished his hour long speech and moved aside. Which was fortunate for him because I was practically murderous at this point. Patience is not my strong suit.

By the time we got out of the Archives, it was actually almost 5, and since everything closes at 5:30pm, we decided to see if we could try to catch a movie and grab some dinner in Bethesda, Maryland. While leaving the Archives, we made a little friend :)

This little guy came up right next to us. Initially, I was a little afraid he was going to bite me, but I really think he was just looking for a snack. I felt bad I didn't have any nuts in my pocket for him. The boy was really excited about him and did a little photoshoot of the squirrel. By photoshoot, I mean he took about 20 pictures of the squirrel. Boys are so funny.

We got to Bethesda and there were no good movies playing at a convenient time, so we opted to grab a couple of drinks before dinner. After reading the menu and creepily peeking in the windows of every restaurant in downtown Bethesda, we finally settled on a steak house for dinner and a dive bar called The Barking Dog for some pre-dinner drinks. I ordered the Kona Longboard on draft and it was delicious. This is actually a fairly common beer I think so if you get the chance, try it out. It has a slightly sweet, fruity taste to it. Excellent.

We headed over to dinner after a few drinks only to discover there was an hour wait for a table and not even standing room at the bar, so we abandoned our plan and just headed over to a local pizza place called Vapiano. Apparently it's an international chain and there is one in Boston, so I'm 0 for 2 in trying local restaurants. The boy and I decided to order the Roasted Tomato & Garlic pizza with mozzarella and goat cheese.

The pizzas are a medium sized, a little bit too big for one, a little bit too small for two. The boy and I had a late lunch so we weren't all that hungry, so one was just enough for us. This pizza was amazing. If you ever stumble in here, order this pizza. There is no sauce, but the mozzarella and goat cheese together is divine and the roasted tomatoes amp up the flavor that much more. The best pizza I've had in a while. I will be craving this in the future, I can feel it. In hindsight, I'm glad there is one in Boston so I don't have to live my life without this pizza.

All in all, it was a long full day, and there was so much we didn't get to see (thankfully I am practically living in DC the rest of the year so we will be going back) but we had a great time and the weather was beautiful.

What is your favorite city or place to visit? Would you ever move for a job?