DC

Warning up front: This post contains a lot of red, white, and blue.

Our latest vacation fulfilled a lifelong dream of mine: visiting Washington DC. My degree was in History and I have been fascinated by museums and national culture for as long as I can remember. 

We traveled by train from New York on July 3rd. Our first view of the city was Union Station which is pretty impressive. I got chills walking toward a giant American flag and seeing the Capitol building in the distance.

From the second we stepped on the national mall, I just felt at home. While NYC was a technicolor, in-your-face experience, DC seemed to invite us in with open arms and sweet tea. The city is saturated with history (both bygone and in the making), but it retains a friendly sort of charm.

We stayed in Georgetown at the Four Seasons. It was really an incredible stay. But not just because it was a nice hotel. Mostly we loved being in Georgetown.

The 4th of July is kind of a big deal in DC. Actually it may be the busiest time of the year. Jordan fought through the crowd to get us a shady seat on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, I almost got locked out of the celebration by police, and we made a new friend from the West Indies (see above)! He shared our shade and told us all about his life.

Sam's favorite memorial was the Jefferson Memorial. I'm assuming most people who have been there have bad memories of walking all the way to the Memorial (it's not on the mall with the others and is quite a trek). We were fortunate enough to have rented bikes the day we went so my memory of the journey to the memorial is a great one. 

My very favorite memorial was the Lincoln Memorial. Partially because that's where we watched the fireworks but mostly because of all the history surrounding it. My favorite part of American History is the Civil Rights Movement and I loved standing in the same place as the incredible men and women of that time. 

One of the best parts of the trip was seeing the Library of Congress. Y'all, that is the biggest library in the world. This is just one room out of hundreds. I've been daydreaming about doing important research that would require me to spend some time in this place.

I coerced the fam to take me to a baseball game. That's Bryce Harper in the background, I assume. The stadium is really unobtrusive from the outside, and, like its city, has a welcoming, homey atmosphere. It seemed everyone in our section knew each other, and it was clear that the fans knew their stuff (the 6 year old next to us was shouting out the batting order before it was announced). If you get a chance to go, make the most of it. You won't be disappointed. But bring lots of water. Or ice cubes. It was hot.

One of the very last things we did in DC was go to Georgetown Cupcake. These were the best cupcakes I have ever eaten in my life. And everything in the store was pink which made it even better!

DC is now at the top of our favorite places list. I cannot wait to go back.