Washington D.C.

Updated: Sep 15, 2023

Our itinerary

Day 1:

Alec and I flew from DFW to Washington Dulles international airport Friday evening after a full day of work. So when we landed we hoped in a quick Uber to our airbnb which only took about 30 minutes. Not going to lie, when our driver dropped us off at first it was so dark we couldn’t find the correct door & I had a minor panic attack. Once we finally got inside & checked out our cute little home for the weekend, we went to bed quickly knowing we had a very busy 3 days ahead of us.

Day 2:

On Saturday morning we got up bright & early to grab a quick bite to eat before heading to explore the city. We walked .1 miles to a bakery called Patisserie Poupon and ate a delicious quiche & drank a cup of coffee (of course) before hitting the road. Once we finished up we hopped in an Uber and headed for the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History which is open from 10am to 5:30pm most days. One of the best things about dc is that almost all of the museums are free!! I def recommend allotting a good chunk of time for the museums because they are full of so much info, art, & things to see. We spent all of the morning here walking up & down every hallway & staircase to make sure we saw it all. When I was a kid I visited DC with my family & remember how much I loved our trip. The Natural History Museum was a fam fave so it was fun to show Alec all the things I remembered and create new family memories with him.

Once we finished walking around the museum we were so hungry! We ended up

walking .7 miles to the BEST brunch place I have ever been, Proper 21. We both ordered bottomless mimosas to start with and were able to get refills for 90 minutes (which was plenty lol). When it comes to breakfast food we are both all about the savory. He ordered Proper burger and I got the best fried chicken & waffles I’ve ever had. After we finished our last final mimosa we walked .4 miles to the White House to snap a quick pic. Then we walked over to the World War II memorial which is in-between the National Monument & the Lincoln Memorial. It was about .8 miles to walk but the weather was beautiful and the route was very scenic so I would def recommend walking as much as possible. After paying our respects we then walked beside the reflecting pool & up to the Lincoln Memorial. The view from the Lincoln Memorial is breathtaking!! I recommend walking all the way up to the top of the stairs without turning around until you reach the top for a more dramatic affect. Once you turn around you can see the reflecting pool, WWII Memorial, and the Washington National Monument. At this point we were exhausted, so we took a second to enjoy the view and sat on the memorial steps to do one of Alec’s favorite things…people watch. Once he had his fixed we walked over to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. This is by far one of the coolest memorials I’ve ever seen. It is a black marble wall that gets taller as you walk alongside it with everyone’s name engraved on it.

After viewing the names, we got in an Uber and headed back to our airbnb for a quick nap & to get ready for dinner. Once I was finally ready we decided to walk to dinner and eat at Al Tiramisu. We had to wait for about 15 minutes before our table was ready but we just sat at the bar by the entrance and grabbed a quick drink. Then as our waiter walked us back to our table Alec about freaked because the U.S. Men’s soccer team was eating in the back corner after winning a huge game (talk about fangirling). Dinner was to die for too! I got … and Alec got ...The walk to the restaurant wasn’t bad at all, but after our busy day we were exhausted so we decided to treat ourselves to an Uber back to our airbnb.

Day 3:

Sunday was another bright & early start to the day for us (if you cant tell we are clearly earlybirds!). We werent able to buy tickets ahead of time to go up in the Washington Monument so we heard if you get there early enough you can wait in line to get some the morning of for sometime during that day. Def not the best way to do it but worth a shot if it’s something you really want to do. We took an uber from our airbnb to the National Mall and got in line around 7 am and sadly by 8 am the tickets were sold out for the day. So after freezing our butties off waiting in the line (it was also a super overcast, windy day) we decided to walk to Starbucks. I got my first PSL (pumpkin spice latte) of the season then we headed to the Smithsonian

National Museum of American History which is open from 10am to 5:30 almost everyday of the year.

I think this museum was by far Alec’s favorite. It shows all the different eras and how much our world has changed & evolved in regards to technology & motor vehicles. At the front of the museum is a movie theatre where you can watch a short film of a couple different movies. About an hour & a half in we decided to give our feet a break and watch a short film on WWII. It was only about 15-20 minutes long but very informative. After we walked through half the building which took us about 2-3 hours, we realized we were starved. Since most of the museums don't allow food or drinks in (besides water) we walked out to the Food Truck Row right outside the building & grabbed a quick bite to eat. Luckily the weather was gorgeous, so we just sat by the fountain right out front of the museum and then got back in line and finished exploring the second half of the building.

After we finished viewing as much as we could at the American History museum, we walked .7 miles to the National Air & Space Museum which is also open from 10am to 5:30 pm most days. Unfortunately when we visited they were working on expanding the museum so a small part of it was under construction. This museum is full of replicas of airplanes and spaceships and so much more. Def another one of Alec’s faves and a much more kid friendly museum too. There are so many hands on activities and even a whole “kids section” (so many adults, including us, were taking part in the fun too) about the science of space, gravity, and etc. This museum isn’t nearly as big as the others so we were probably in and out in about an hour and a half which was plenty of time to see & do all the things.

Afterwards we called another Uber and headed back to our airbnb to nap and get ready for dinner. Alec found this cool rooftop bar for us to get drinks at called The Graham Georgetown, which was walking distance from our Airbnb. It is actually a cute boutique hotel with this bar at the top and a beautiful view of DC. We took this secret elevator up to the top and enjoyed a delicious drink before heading to dinner. We were winging it at this point and stumbled across Flavio DC. It was the cutest restaurant bar with a completely open entryway which made for the perfect breeze inside the restaurant. We enjoyed another round of drinks and a yummy app for dinner then Ubered back to our Airbnb.

Day 4:

Our last day FLEW by!! Before heading to our first stop of the day, we went to Boulangerie Christophe for some much needed coffee and small breakfast treats. We then Ubered over to the International Spy Museum, which does cost $22 per person however, it is so worth it. This was another fam fave and I loved it just as

much as an adult. I would def recommend purchasing ahead of time online, it is typically a couple bucks cheaper & ensures you get the time you want. I def recommend picking one of the earliest times you can because you can seriously spend ALL day in this place. It is open from 9am to 5pm most days but we purchased our tickets for 10am. We spent almost 4 hours in the museum and could have spent even more. There are lots of different levels & rooms with so many things to see and do. One of our favorite parts was the room

where you can see if you’re tough enough to become a spy. You have to hang straight from a bar for a solid minute and if you know us at all, we can’t

say no to a little competition. Alec goes first and makes it about 45 seconds. Then I go and use all my prior gymnastics strength to grip the bar for the full minute and soak in all the glory of beating my husband! Once we realize the time and that we have more we want to see before heading for the airport, we quickly wrap up our time at the Spy Museum and head for the U.S. Capitol.

The Spy Museum isn’t on the National Mall strip like most of the other museums so we have to take an Uber back to that area. We grab a quick bite to eat from the Food Truck Row again but this time trying a new truck. The weather was so beautiful, so we got to eat a little picnic on the National Mall lawn & of course couldn't resist the ice cream truck this time! After indulging ourselves we walked straight towards the Capitol building and snapped a few pics outside.

Super last minute we decided we wanted to go inside the U.S. Capitol building. So we fast walked over to the Library of Congress building which was only .3 miles away (this is how you get inside the Capitol building). You have to go through security which didn’t take long at all then you enter into the main area. From here you can get free tickets to then take a tour of the Capitol building, we highly recommend doing this. We def wish we had allotted more time so we could have stayed for the whole part of the tour. Once you get tickets you get in line, watch a short film, then the tour begins. First they pass out a headset to everyone so you can hear your tour guide better because there are some pany groups touring at once. Unfortunately the tour was going to be way longer than what we had time for so all we got to see was the inside of the dome of the Capitol building, which was beautiful. We quickly returned our headsets and started back for the Library of Congress to catch our Uber. As we were rushing out we did get to see the actual Library of Congress room which was so surreal, it made us feel like we were in National Treasure. We then hopped in our Uber, picked up our luggage from the Airbnb, and headed for the Baltimore Washington International Thurgood Marshall airport which was about 45 minutes away.

We had such a good time learning more about our history and seeing some of the coolest museums in the world!

Where to stay

Alec and I stayed in the cutest little one bedroom airbnb in the heart of Georgetown. We absolutely loved staying here and enjoyed its central location so we were able to walk almost everywhere we went!