3-Day Trip to Washington DC

We recently made a 3-day trip to the Washington DC and Virginia area to (1) visit my bestie and (2) attend a wedding! Now that we and almost all of our friends are vaccinated, we felt more comfortable traveling. Because the wedding was on a Friday, we decided to make a long weekend out of the trip. I hadn’t been to Washington DC since our last visit in 2015 so this trip was long overdue.

Travel Accommodations

Airfare: Round-trip, non-stop flight with Southwest Airlines from Houston Hobby (HOU) to Arlington Ronald Reagan (DCA)

Housing: We stayed with my bestie at her apartment in Virginia! (Thank you Errrrr) 🙂
Luckily all of the areas we wanted to visit weren’t far so staying in Virginia was very convenient. During our 2015 trip, we stayed at an Airbnb in the Brookland neighborhood in DC. That location was near the Metro but a little farther away from the monuments and museum so I wouldn’t recommend staying there if you want to visit the major sites in DC and want a shorter commute.

Transportation: Car, walking
We mainly drove around everywhere (thanks, again Errrrr)! There was usually street parking available but we parked in a garage in Georgetown because the nearby streets were 2-hour only spots. Once we parked we were able to walk around. We looked into taking Uber and/or Lyft to/from the airport but the rates were higher than what we were expecting. There are public transportation options (hello, Metro) but we didn’t end up using that because we had cars.

Packing List

I’m planning on writing a separate packing list similar to my Paris packing list. It rained on Friday but the weather was on the warmer side on Saturday and Sunday, so I had a mix of everything!

Day-by-Day Itinerary

Day 1

While our flight was set to arrive on “Thursday night”, we technically arrived at 12:30 am Friday morning. Drew and I both checked our bags because he packed an oversized suitcase (who knew he would have packed more than me; jk he had a suit) and I didn’t want to carry anything on the flight besides my purse (I “travel light now”). Ronald Reagan International Airport was fairly small and the baggage claim/check-in area was all in one section. We got our bags and my friend picked us up to head to her apartment.

The Warehouse

Drew had to work that day, so my bestie and I had a girls’ lunch at The Warehouse in Old Town Alexandria. This was the one rainy day of our trip so we suited up in rain jackets, toted an umbrella, and made the drive into town. The streets of Alexandria made for the most walkable area! I loved that the buildings had their original historical architecture but were still renovated on the inside. When you walked into The Warehouse, you could feel the historical elements immediately. We were seated by the window and were able to enjoy our lunch away from the rain. I ordered the grilled chicken caesar salad for me and one for Drew to go!

Birkby House

After lunch, we made our way back to the apartment to get ready for the wedding. The venue, Birkby House, was located in the historic downtown of Leesburg, Virginia. The estate was built in 1770 and had a Carriage House, gazebo, and gardens, to name a few features. Unfortunately, it was still raining (and rained throughout the evening) but the “plan B” setting was beautiful: a high-ceiling tent outside with chandeliers, dance floor, and bar. You honestly couldn’t tell it was an outdoor alternative to the courtyard. We enjoyed a beautiful ceremony (with a bridesman and flower man who *almost stole the show*), a delicious 3-course dinner with pre-dinner hors d’oeuvres, and an evening of dancing! Once 10 pm hit, we drove back to the apartment to get ready for a full day of sightseeing the next day.

Day 2

We slept in on the second day because we stayed up until 2:30 am the night before just chatting away…OOPS. I mean what do you expect when you haven’t seen your best friend in almost six months?! We got ready, had a quick breakfast at the apartment, and made our way to the National Mall to visit the national monuments.

National Mall and Monuments

Drew and I in front of the Smithsonian Castle. Drew forgot his sunglasses so he looks like this in almost all of the pictures from today.

After parking along the National Mall, we slowly made our way down the Mall toward the Washington Monument. There surprisingly weren’t many large crowds and were able to get photos that weren’t filled with people in the background. The rain had miraculously skipped town for our second day in Washington DC so we were able to walk in peace and without rain gear. The monument itself was closed due to COVID-19, so we weren’t able to go to the top but we walked around the base and took some photos. I even snuck a pic of me and Grandpa Joe’s house since you could see it from the Monument (I’m talking about the White House people!!!!!).

We then made our way toward the Lincoln Memorial, passing by the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. The walk was peaceful and again, not crowded! We did pass by many ducks who were casually wading in the water. I loved how dog-friendly the area was (and in Virginia and DC in general). There were a lot of non-tourists running and picnic-ing along our walk so I knew we visited on a good day. I only noticed tourists when we were inside the Lincoln Memorial and were trying to take pictures (including us). We walked around the outer rim of the Memorial to get a 360-view of the city. On our way out, I got a picture sitting on the steps!

We then stopped by the Korean War Veterans Memorial. It was being renovated but were still able to see the soldiers and Mural Wall that depicted the names and images of those who fought in the war. We then made our way toward the DC War Memorial, representing those who fought in World War I. There was only one other family there (the daughter was doing a video report, so cute!) so this was the calmest and most peaceful memorial we visited that day. It looked like someone was having a small wedding ceremony while we were visiting so we took a few pictures and left.

Finally, we walked through the World War II Memorial and stopped by the Texas pillar. Drew and I took a picture here the last time we visited in 2015 so we wanted to do the same for this trip. Understandably, this and the Lincoln Memorial were the busiest memorials. We even saw a young family take a picture with their infant baby from the state they were from (noting this for when we have kids). On our way to the car, we stopped by the Smithsonian Castle. The Castle itself was closed until July 30. We would have stopped by a few more museums but unfortunately the ones we wanted to visit, mainly the National Portrait Gallery (helloooooo Obamas), ran out of tickets so we weren’t able to go.

Viv Tip: Make sure to reserve tickets at least one month in advance for any national museums because they run out fast! I’m guessing this is due to capacity limits due to COVID-19 so this may not be a “forever” thing.

Exploring Georgetown + Snacks

After visiting the National Mall and memorials, we drove to the neighborhood of Georgetown, which was only a 15 minutes drive away. It is the perfect mix of modern shopping and historical charm. Once again, I loved that all of the buildings’ historic architecture was preserved and enhanced. The main street, M Street, was surrounded by townhomes on cozy streets (although I will say, they were cozy and cute but also extremelyyyyyy tight to navigate).

We ended up parking in a garage because we knew we were spending more than two hours in Georgetown and walked through the neighborhood toward Baked & Wired to pick up our mid-afternoon treat. We ordered the night before and did in-person pick-up, which I highly recommend because the line was a little crazy. I got the omg bar (think a caramel s’mores bar) and the Uniporn & Rainho cupcake while Drew got the Chocolate Doom cupcake. We found a cute bench alongside the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal to stop and chow down on our treats.

Tea Time at Ladurée

One of my “must-dos” for our trip was tea time at Ladurée (I mean, Ladurée is always a must – even in Paris)! I have always wanted to do afternoon tea and since Ladurée is one of my favorite (and one of the most iconic) macaron bakeries. We had a 2:30 pm appointment for late lunch and each got the mid-tier tea time menu which included: your own kettle of Ladurée tea (I got a Chinese jasmine tea), three meringues, three finger sandwiches, two financiers, one Ladurée pastry (I got the raspberry/passion tarte), and four macarons of your choice (I got vanilla, lemon, raspberry, and the Marie-Antoinette).

Viv Tip: Make a reservation online a few days or even weeks to make sure you get a spot! There were fully booked when we went and didn’t have any walk-in spots available.

They brought each of our tea time treats on a three-tiered serving platter. At first, I didn’t think it was going to be enough food but I was STUFFED by the end of the meal and even had to take most of it to go! While the macarons were delish, my favorite part of the meal was the finger sandwiches. Who knew that I would love cucumber sandwiches so much?! After our meal, we explored Georgetown a little more before making our way to Old Town Alexandria.

Old Town Alexandria

Since Drew hadn’t visited Old Town Alexandria yet and I didn’t get to walk around on Friday, we spent the rest of our afternoon exploring the 18th-century historic district that runs alongside the Potomac River. This district confirmed for me that I want to live in Washington DC at some point in my life. Historic 2-3 story townhomes lined every street. We walked by this one lot that had a public garden (so duh we had to take pictures). Many of the homes had historic markers on the front and I rarely saw any of the modern-day technologies (ie. security cameras and Ring doorbells), which was refreshing from how most Houston homes are.

One of the stops we wanted to make was Old Town Books. We saw it on our drive home from lunch on Friday and knew I wanted to stop by later. Unfortunately, there was no air conditioning and that coupled with my mask, my Texan self couldn’t handle too long in there. Drew browsed a little longer and bought a book about ghosts (are we surprised??).

Almost every corner we turned had a cute surprise, for example, this one store had a “Bone Box” filled with dog treats for your pup (again, SO DOG FRIENDLY)!! Another corner had a Free Little Library filled with books. This was just more reason for me to move here with Gordo (and Drew duh) and live our best life. My bestie and I were joking that we would buy a row of townhomes and have a common courtyard for our kids to play together while the parents relaxed. It’s a far-fetched dream, but maybe one day!

As we made our way toward the Potomac River, we stumbled upon a craft fair! There were many local vendors ranging from DIY crocheters to handmade cutting boards to organic honey. It was great seeing the community come together and support local small businesses. After an afternoon of walking around (we ended up walking over 18,000 steps this day!!!), we went back to the apartment to rest a bit and get ready for dinner.

Brasserie Liberté

I wanted to visit some of my bestie’s and her hubby’s favorite restaurants/places in town and Brasserie Liberté was on the list! We made our way back to Georgetown for a late-night dinner. Apparently, we were really on a French cuisine kick because this restaurant served classic French fare. The weather was nice enough so we chose to sit outside on the patio. We ordered macaroni au gratin, steak frites (filet mignon), and fettuccine bolognese. The portions were so big that I ended up taking my fettuccine to go. If you were hungry enough you could definitely finish but it would have been a good option to split as well. We spent the rest of the evening chatting over dinner and enjoying our last night in the city before making our way back to the apartment (we only stayed up until 2 am this night so yay)!

Day 3

On our final day in the northeast-ish, we packed up our things and grabbed some breakfast at a local neighborhood bagel joint before making our way out for the weekend.

Bagel Uprising

As I mentioned above, I wanted to try all of the local favorites. For our last breakfast in Virginia, we walked to Bagel Uprising. This was an outdoor-only food stand that had bagels and sandwiches. During our visit, they required you to pre-order online so we placed our order the night before to pick up in the morning. I ordered the egg and cheese breakfast bagel sandwich and Drew got the everything bagel toasted with cream cheese. It was one of the best breakfast sandwiches I had ever had; now I’m going to be on a hunt to find the best breakfast sandwich in Houston.

Mount Vernon

After breakfast, we walked back to the apartment, packed up our stuff (luggage, leftovers, souvenirs), and drove to Mount Vernon. The last time I visited (or at least last time I remember) was during our 5th grade trip to Washington DC so it was a nice refresher. The drive to Mount Vernon was beautiful! We even passed by the Pentagon and Arlington National Cemetery. There was lush greenery and luxury neighborhoods on the way (like Real Housewives level of homes).

We walked around the grounds, which included: the Slave Memorial & Cemetery, Washington Tomb, Upper Garden, 12-acre field, wharf, pioneer farm, and of course, Mansion Tour. We paid an extra $2 to go inside the Mansion which consisted of a 5-room tour. Some pieces were original to the home and some were historical replicas. However, the real showstopper was the view from the “backyard” overlooking the Potomac River. I could imagine the Washingtons spending their evenings out on the back porch admiring the River right behind their house.

Our last stop before heading to the airport was of course the gift shop! As you may know, Drew and I always try to get an ornament in every city we visit. We hadn’t found anything before visiting Mount Vernon, but luckily the gift shop had an entire Christmas section and we found the perfect ornament to remember our trip by.

Reservoir

We decided to go straight to the airport to have as much time to walk around Mount Vernon. My bestie dropped us off and we made our way into the airport. Our last meal was at Reservoir, which, you guessed it, was a French restaurant! We ordered calamari as an appetizer, Drew got a burger, and I ordered caesar salad.