Spring Break Escape: A Trip to The Nation's Capital

Well, yes it has been quite a long time since I've written a blog post, and my only excuse is that, well, I haven't really been traveling much. Despite my jaunts from the village to midtown, uptown and occasionally downtown or Brooklyn, my busy lifestyle is restricted to Manhattan (not that I'm complaining...).
However, on Saturday I decided spur of the moment that I would take a trip down to Washington DC to visit my grandma's cousin John since this week is my spring break.
So Sunday off I went, after a busy weekend working and filming a short film, on a Peter Pan Bus to DC.

I got to Union Station an hour late, but was picked up promptly by cousin John, and we went in search of an open restaurant who would still serve us dinner.
On Monday, I made my way downtown, touring the Capitol building after mistakenly following a group of people who were on their way to the visitors center.

Afterwards, I walked over to the Library of Congress, and similarly found myself accidentally taking a tour. I immediately fell in love with the building and after hearing about everything they have archived there I began mentally makings lists of all the research projects and papers I need to do, just so I can get my hands on some of those manuscripts and books. The architecture and artistry is also stunning, and right along my nerdy, classical architectural style, so I felt at home.

Following the tours, I headed down to the Mall, and went to the National Galleries


Saw the first signs of spring

And tried to pay the Obama's a bit of a visit

They weren't available to see me, so I headed home. It was starting to rain anyways.










Once John got off work, he picked me up and we drove to Georgetown, where we had dinner at a local tavern called Martin's Tavern. We were sat in the "Proposal Booth", where Jackie Kennedy was asked for her hand in marriage.

Tuesday arrived with completely opposite weather, and I started my day at the Lincoln Memorial, making my way to the war memorials and down the Mall again, this time, holding my jacket, rather than huddling under it from the rain.

I took a tour of the Holocaust Museum, which turned out to be one of the most  moving exhibits I've been to in my life (I highly recommend it to anyone).
Once I was done crying, sniffling, contemplating and debating with whatever set me off inside that self guided tour, I walked to the FCC where John works, and the two of us took a cab to the Wilson Hotel, to have a very nice lunch among men and women in tailored business suits.

I spent the afternoon covering more museum ground, going to the Museum of African Art, the exhibits of Asian art (both at the Smithsonian), the Museum of Women in Art and the Eastern Market. It was such a nice day that I couldn't resist staying in the sun as long as possible, so I walked around the residential neighborhoods where I gawked and awed over all the cute townhouses with perfect little lawns and price ranges that would make me sob.

That night for dinner, John took me to a great Belgian restaurant that he frequently goes to called "Belga Cafe". We had "crab stuffed waffles with saffron sauce" as an appetizer, slow cooked rabbit with veggies and mussels with fries for our main courses with caramelized endives on the side, and finally, topped off the meal with  a  sampling dessert, that served a honey/goat cheese, a hazelnut and a vanilla foam creme brulee.

Everything was amazing, and I would go back to DC just to have dinner there again (something I might just do at some point soon...)

This morning I took a Bolt Bus back to New York City, and am back again in the hustle and bustle of my busy lifestyle. Even though it was short, the last two days made for the perfect get away, with a great host and tour guide, and enough history and culture to last me a while.
I should really do this more often. Yay for traveling!