How to maximize your 3 day visit to our nation's great Capital. A review of where we stayed, where we ate, and places we visited during our trip.
Spencer and I keep a running list of cities we want to explore together so that anytime an opportunity for a trip arises we can look at our list and pick out the next place. The last time I visited Washington D.C. I was four years old, so needless to say I really dont't remember much about the trip except that my mom fainted in the White House (a story for another time)! So this time exploring D.C. was like experiencing it for the first time.
Where We Stayed
One of my favorite parts of trip planning is picking out the hotel. Every new city offers so many unique properties to chose from. Spencer and I like to book our hotels based on the following motto: Book the cheapest room in a nicer hotel versus the nicest room in a cheaper hotel. We are never in the room much during our vacations so we would rather be at a property with better service and amenities than a huge room that we are only going to sleep in.
When researching properties I came across The Mandarin Oriental, Washington D.C.. This exquisite 5 star property was running a special on their rooms that was comparable in pricing to the current rates at other 3 star properties in the area. I quickly booked our room before the special pricing was gone.
Upon entering our room, you felt as if you had been transported into a spa like setting. It felt luxurious, calming, and welcoming . We stayed in the deluxe water view room that overlooked the Washington Marina. The marbled tiling in the spacious bathroom was the literal definition of #bathroomgoals . I also appreciated the fact there was a separate stand alone glass shower and bathtub. Sidenote - shower/tub combos in hotels with shower curtains freak me out (so many germs on that shower curtain!)
With never having been to D.C. in my adult life I did not know the layout of the city very well and there is only so much you can gleam about actual distances from a map. The location of this hotel would be the only negative about our experience. It is just slightly inconveniently located away from all of the main sites and restaurants we wanted to visit. We are always game with walking on our trips but after a full day of exploring and walking 10+ miles we would have to Uber back to the hotel since it was further away.
Where We Ate
While D.C. is our nation's capital, it could also be dubbed our nation's food capital. You can find superb international cuisine in almost every neighborhood. It was actually named Restaurant City of the Year in 2016 by Bon Appetit! With the explosive growth in the restaurant scene, I highly recommend getting reservations when you can! While we only sampled a small percentage of D.C.'s food scene, these are the ones we selected for our visit:
Succotash // We came for brunch on our first morning in D.C. The building used to be a bank and the restaurant carried over the old bank feel to the interior atmosphere. It resulted in interior design heaven! It has a Southern flair to the menu and all the dishes we tried were fantastic!
Grilled Cheese D.C. // Featured on the Travel Channel and The Food Network this was a fun little shop to grab a quick lunch or dinner. You must order a side of tots to go with your sandwich!
Ted Bulletin's // A Washington D.C. classic with 2 locations to chose from. We visited for brunch and were surrounded by locals and their families, which is always a good sign! You must try their homemade pop tarts and the Cinnamon Roll As Big As Ya Head (FYI 6 people could easily split this as an appetizer, it is that big!)
Founding Farmers // One of the most recommended restaurants in D.C. and after dining there we understood why! The restaurant is owned by more than 47,000 family farmers and was created with the idea of bringing fresh products directly to consumers.
Farmers & Distillers // This restaurant is part of the Founding Farmers restaurant group and we came for our last breakfast in D.C. It was good but nothing stood out as amazing so I would recommend trying somewhere else over this one.
Rasika // Some of the best Indian food we have had in the States! This restaurant is so popular we could only get a reservation for lunch on our last day. The chicken tikka masala and the garlic naan were to die for! Also we ordered the palak chaat to split as an appetizer and it was heavenly!
Denson Liquor Bar // We wanted to grab a drink somewhere and searched around on Yelp and came across Denson's. It was a little tricky to find but worth the hunt! Located down a set of stairs underneath a pizza place is this intimate speakeasy vibe cocktail bar. Would highly recommend grabbing a drink here!
POV // Located on the rooftop of the W Hotel, this bar offers picturesque views of iconic D.C. spots. Our favorite part was that you could see the snipers on the White House roof. I think the best time to visit this bar would be the spring or fall. Since we were there in early March it was cold and they had the plastic sides rolled down which made the view less attractive.
What We Did
One of the best surprises of our trip was discovering that almost all of the museum admissions were free, which was great since most cities charge for entrance into attractions. D.C. has so many places to visit and things to do that we only began to scratch the surface of what the city had to offer! Here are a few in particular that we enjoyed during our visit:
White House Tour // You have to request a tour through your state's member of Congress in either the House or the Senate. Requests can be submitted up to 3 months in advance and a minimum of 21 days in advance of your visit. The requesting process was easy enough to do and worth the experience of walking the halls of our previous Presidents!
Ford's Theater // A museum that takes you through the life of President Lincoln and ends in the theater where he was assassinated. Across the street is the Peterson house (where Lincoln actually passed away) but it was closed for restoration while we were there. Also across the street is the second part of the museum that takes you through the hunt for John Wilkes Booth after the assassination.
Newseum // Our favorite museum out of all that we visited! We were there for 3 hours and could have stayed several more! This interactive museum has everything from a section of the Berlin Wall to an FBI exhibit to a 9/11 memorial. It also has an awesome balcony with a picturesque backdrop of The Capitol. You absolutely must visit while in D.C. (Tip- If you have a Bank of America card you get 1 free general admission ticket the first weekend of every month)
National Archives Museum // Home to the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. The best time to visit is about 30 minutes before the museum closes as the crowds have thinned out and you can see the documents without the hundreds of people crowding you.
National Museum of American History // The museum of the heritage of the United States. Our favorite pieces of history that were displayed there were the Star-Spangled Banner (the flag that inspired the national anthem), Lincoln's top hat from the day he was assassinated, Apolo Ohno's speed skates from 2002 Olympics, and The First Ladies dress exhibit.
Holocaust Memorial Museum // The most sobering museum we have visited to date but would highly recommend. This takes you through all stages of The Holocaust and what was occurring in the world at that time. When you enter, you are given a little booklet of a real life Holocaust victim and at the end you see if that individual survived or not. It is so important for people to understand the gravity of the Holocaust so that we can ensure it never happens again. (Tip- You must reserve your admission tickets in advance even though the tickets are free)
Lincoln Memorial // We personally think it is best to visit at night! There is just something regal about walking up to the memorial in darkness and it being the only thing lit up in the area. Also fun fact- Lincoln's hands are formed with him signing the letters A & L in American Sign Language.
National Air and Space Museum // This was our least favorite of all of the museums we visited strictly due to the fact all the exhibits were geared mostly to kids. So if you have kids, they would probably enjoy it!
Museum of The Bible // The most architecturally beautiful museum we have ever seen! It is worth visiting for that reason alone. This museum was so much larger than we imagined it would be and we were only able to quickly go through before we had to catch our flight home. One of the floors transported you to Jerusalem back in the day and had real life actors throughout it teaching about life during that time.
There were so many places that we wanted to visit and restaurants to try. Let us know if there are places that we have to try during the next time we go!
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