My Weekend in Washington

This weekend was amazing.  When I wrote about it on Friday I was afraid I hyped it up too much and it was going to be a let-down, boy was I wrong! My thirty-six hours in D.C. were non-stop and unbelievably fun.  Commence the photo dump of my weekend in Washington: 

My early morning Saturday Amtrak down to Washington was relaxing and wonderful, as always, and I arrived three minutes early and had an hour to explore before I met up with friends.  Even though I lived in D.C. for four years I still love doing touristy things so I took a swing by the Treasury, Lafayette Park, and the White House after checking into the hotel and before I headed off to brunch. 

After exploring I jumped on the subway Metro to head to U Street, an area of town I never went to while at Georgetown.  The afternoon get-together with the bride and groom from the Fake Wedding at Vinoteca Wine Bar and Bistro was great and unexpected friends joined the party. I had not seen Kathryn since we graduated college and it was great to catch up! 

Sometimes unplanned events are the best – after brunch we headed to a bar called Boadroom which, revolutionary I know, has board games.  With five people which became ten which became 12 the only suitable game was Cards Against Humanity.  The crude game reminded me just how much I loved the people I was with and why we were friends. 

After board games I was able to hurry back to the hotel to get ready for the bachelorette party.  I headed over to a hotel room at The Donovan House which was adorably decorated for the occasion. Unbeknownst to me one of the girls had picked up a pack of metallic temporary tattoos which I had actually written about two weeks ago here. My cup read “party girl” and while it wasn’t quite a fit for my personality I went with the flow and enjoyed the bubbly! 

The bachelorette group, eight of us including the bride, had dinner at El Centro in Georgetown. I had been to the restaurant when it turns into a bar in the evening but never for food and the Mexican was quite tasty.  A big shoutout to our friend Emma who was not able to join us but ordered the whole group shots of Don Julio all the way from San Francisco, thanks Emma! 

From dinner we headed to the rooftop of the new Graham hotel. The only downside of the next few hours were my heels sinking into the Georgetown cobblestones and absolutely chewing them up.  Oh well!  The view from the hotel was beautiful and we had a lot of fun with the Bachelorette Bar Challenge card game even if the bartender was not thrilled with our request to make five different shots including a Brain Hemorrhage which none of us had ever heard of.  

We then headed to a spot I had been to a few times while at Georgetown but was completely redone a few months ago – I knew it as George and it is now called Chinese Disco. The Maid of Honor pulled some strings and got us a great corner booth where we had fun dancing the hours away complete with bubbly and amazing melon flavored Moscow Mules.  We ended the night at the Tombs (mentioned in my Georgetown favorites post). Overall a completely amazing evening. 

The next day I had brunch with 15 people, including seven swammers and enjoyed delicious food after a long night.  I love that I only spent 36 hours yet my weekend in Washington included visits to restruants and entire neighboorhoods I had never been to.  For large groups, I highly recommend the unlimited brunch at Masa 14. 

Before my train back I decided to stop by the National Gallery of Art for the Degas exhibit which did not disappoint.  I love that the museum is free and I splurged on the $5 audio guide for the special exhibit.  As you know from my posts on The Frick and The Guggenheim I am a big fan of audio guides. As an added bonus I caught the tail end of another special exhibit Celebrating Vincent Van Gogh featuring his famous depiction of the postman, Portrait of Monsieur Roulin. 

After the museum I took a long detour to Georgetown taking a leisurely stroll up the National Mall, passing the Capital and the Washington Monument. The last item on the agenda?  An early dinner with Liz, who I spent Easter 2013 with in the District, and a trip to get Sweetflow at one of my favorite Georgetown spots, Sweetgreen – the perfect end to my weekend in Washington.  The train back to Nueva York was uneventful and seriously, the best way to travel! 

To all my friends, thanks for a great weekend!