My husband and I met while we were both college students in Washington, D.C., at The Catholic University of America and we absolutely love visiting that city. Not only is there so much to do in D.C., but it’s so romantic to visit the place where our love story started!
We decided to take a trip down a few weeks ago and this is what we did on our visit:
First Night in Town
We got to D.C. a bit late on Friday night and immediately checked into our room at the Hotel Lombardy in the Foggy Bottom district of town. This is one of my favorite hotels to visit because it is pretty centrally located to all hot spots and tourist destinations, and the service at the hotel is outstanding. The Hotel Lombardy also has one of my favorite breakfasts in the city and the coffee is amazing.
After checking in, we tried to find a place to grab a late dinner. It was about 9:30 at this point, and most of the restaurants and bars in D.C. close rather early since the pandemic began. Luckily, our hotel was not far from Founding Farmers so we stopped in for some cocktails and appetizers. I had a great mule made with their own house vodka, and the garlic black pepper wings were a hit.
After we finished at Founding Farmers, we rented electric scooters and zipped around the National Mall until midnight. Saturday, February 12th, was President Abraham Lincoln’s birthday and we rang in the celebration at the Lincoln Memorial at midnight! All of this probably sounds super touristy, but it was really a cool experience. Visiting the National Mall is great at any time, but there is something really amazing about seeing the memorials at night. They are so beautiful, and the moonlight shining into the Reflecting Pool is really amazing.
After we were finished at the National Mall, we zipped our scooters back to the hotel and rested.
*A note about the electric scooters:
Okay, I have to be honest: I hate coming across like a stereotypical tourist, especially in a town that I called home for a while. However, renting those electric scooters for the day really made the trip. Initially, our plan was to take the metro around the city like we always did, but the scooters gave us the ability to wander around the city quickly. We were able to see everything outside as opposed to being stuck underground on the metro, and they were so much fun! Not to mention, renting a scooter for the day was only $21 and they are everywhere in the city. We rented ours from Bird and the app was so easy to use. We are in the process of planning another upcoming trip and the city we are planning to visit also has the Bird scooters, which is a plus in our book!
Second Day in the District
We woke up pretty early to get a head start on the day. We got ready and headed downstairs to the Café Lombardy for breakfast. As I mentioned before, the Hotel Lombardy is home to one of my favorite breakfast spots in the District. No, the cafe does not have a wild and extensive menu. Rather, it’s a quaint little restaurant with great pancakes, omelettes, fresh-squeezed orange juice, and amazing coffee.
After breakfast we headed to Ford’s Theatre to visit the museum and tour the theatre. It was President Lincoln’s birthday that day, which was pretty cool, but kind of sad at the same time. My husband never actually visited Ford’s Theatre as a tourist and I was glad we got to experience this tour together. I was actually super shocked by how close one can get to the box where President Lincoln sat.
The cool thing about touring Ford’s Theatre (besides the historical aspects of the place) is how cheap it is to visit. If you order the tickets online, they are only $3 a piece. I always say this about Washington, D.C.: it’s really a place you can go to on a budget. All of the Smithsonian museums are free, and even visiting a place like Ford’s Theatre cost little to no money.
After the theatre we scooted on over to the National Gallery of Art, which is probably my favorite Smithsonian museum. I specifically love checking out the Italian Gothic exhibit which contains the most beautiful Byzantine-inspired icons and pieces I’ve seen in the United States. I was also very excited to see their new exhibit on Dutch and Flemish paintings. The exhibit is sadly leaving soon, but I love Rembrandt and they had many of his works on display. They also had these beautiful stormy seascape images, and that’s one of my favorite aesthetics/genres in art. (I think I’m going to make a whole post about our visit to this museum. It deserves its own space.)
After the National Gallery, we scooted over to Chinatown Express for lunch. This was one of our favorite restaurants while we were in college and being there brought back so many memories for us! The lo mein is fantastic, and the steamed pork buns are legendary.
After Chinatown Express, we scooted to the National Museum of American History. This is probably my second favorite Smithsonian museum because I really love American history and culture. We checked out the exhibits on American Democracy: A Great Leap of Faith, American Enterprise, and Pleibol!
After our time at the National Museum of American History, we visited the National Mall again and rode our scooters around. (Guys, I cannot stress how cool these scooters were!) it was a really beautiful day outside and we were lucky with the weather.
After the National Mall we went to the Old Ebbitt Grill for dinner. This is probably one of my favorite restaurants of all time and a D.C. staple. We enjoyed martinis and, of course, a walrus platter.
We grabbed an earlier dinner because we had tickets that night for the Wizards-Kings game at the Capital One Arena. My husband is a huge sports fan so it was great cheering for one of his favorite teams.
After the game we headed back to the hotel and turned in for the night.
Third Day in the District
This was our last day in D.C.! We were super sad to be leaving, but couldn’t wait to see our little boy at home.
We started the day again at the Café Lombardy where I had their signature breakfast and my husband enjoyed their pancakes. Our original plan was to visit the National Mall one last time before leaving if the weather was nice, but it was snowing so we enjoyed a slow morning. After breakfast we packed up, checked out of the hotel, and headed to Georgetown for some shopping.
We bopped around the shops for a while and also visited the famous steps from the 1973 horror film, The Exorcist. (There is this ongoing joke that whenever I visit Georgetown I have to visit those steps… and it’s true…)
After visiting the infamous steps, we shopped a bit more then headed to Martin’s Tavern for a quick lunch before heading home. Martin’s Tavern is another D.C. staple restaurant and definitely worth visiting!
After lunch we stopped by Georgetown Cupcake to pick up a special Valentine’s Day/Super Bowl order for my family to enjoy as a souvenir.
After all of that, we got into our car and headed home. We already miss Washington, D.C., so much and are already planning our next visit!