Travel: A weekend in Washington DC

The first stop on our trip, after
we’d taken the
first class
flight of dreams
, was to Washington DC. I’ve covered before about why the
routes on this trip were not our first choice of holiday destinations – we
should have been in California snowboarding, in February – but chemo meant the
trip was changed. But anyway, it meant we flew into Washington, which is a
place neither of us had ever thought about visiting before.

When we booked
I wasn’t super excited for Washington, especially not with the current POTUS,
but everyone we spoke to said it was an awesome place to go and the more I
heard, the more excited I was about it. And I wasn’t let down by the city!

Our first night was spent at the
airport in a hotel, as we landed pretty late and we knew we’d be having a drink
or two on the plane. And it made it easier to pick up the car the next day. It
also meant that as my works HQ is just outside Washington we go to swing though
there and have lunch with one of my colleagues, which was fun.

Then we headed off
to find our Airbnb.  We’d booked one slightly out of town because whilst we flew first class, we’re not made
of money and also because we’ve found in the past that staying in neighbourhood
often turns up some fab places. It turned out to be a cool little neighbourhood
with a farmers market on one of the mornings we were there, a target close by and a craft beer shop within walking distance.

I’ll be honest, we maybe didn’t
make the most of Washington because Jim had picked up a bit of a bug from
somewhere and I was 24hrs out of radiotherapy when we landed, so we took it
super easy – no late nights, nothing too crazy. But we still had loads of fun!

Our first few days in Washington were drizzly and wet, somewhat British like, which is perfect sightseeing weather for me, and made for some lovely moody photos too! Then we got some blazing sunshine just in time for a day watching music.

We managed to take in most of the major visiting posts on our few days in Washington, The White House, the Lincoln Memorial, the State Capitol, National Mall, The National History Museum, the Air and Space Museum and the Jefferson Memorial. We also had a wander round Adams Morgan, ate some yummy BBQ, took a trip out to a brewery, found some super delicious beers and food and walked a LONG way. We even stumbled across old Trumpy giving a speech!

We’ve taken to finding gigs to go to on holidays, and this holiday’s didn’t disappoint. I’ve got a terrible history of not seeing the Kings of Leon when they play – my ex kept tickets to a show they did in Sheffield, and then Hurricane Beni meant they didn’t play when we went to Benicassim. But when Jim found out about a day festival, Kerfuffle 101, just outside of Washington with KoL, Weezer and Jimmy Eat World playing, we snapped up tickets! He’s a super Weezer fan too so I emailed the radio station and we got back stage to meet them too! There were no autographs or personal photos but we did get one their photographers took! 
In an attempt to not leave this holiday 100lbs heavier, we made a conscious effort to not eat as much as on previous trips, which first off meant less breakfasts out – so we bought cereal and milk. And we planned to walk more. We also made the decision to share meals so we got more tastes of food, with less eating. One of our favourite meals was at The Partisan – we got some awesome food and some fabulous beers after a day museum hopping.  We also stumbled across a perfect little BBQ – Federalist Pig – on our morning walk in Adams Morgan and bookmarked it for a visit later due to the cool front to the building. The queue we found on the way back made us realise we’d made a good choice and the food didn’t disappoint! 
I don’t ever think 3 days will be enough to see a city, especially not one this big with so many things to do, but we most certainly managed to cover a lot of it. 
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Travel Info – where we stayed, how we got about, that sort of stuff;

Accommodation – We stayed in Mount Pleasant in this cute little Airbnb. It’s not in the centre of Washington by any means but the area is lovely, full of tree lined streets and interesting little corners. There are busses into Washing from right outside and it’s a short walk to the trendy Adams Morgan. 
Getting there – We flew in to Dulles airport and rented a car to drive to Washington. There’s a driveway at the apartment we used.  
Getting about – We walked A LOT and took the bus as there was a stop right outside our apartment. I know there is a Metro, but we didn’t use it which is a shame as I hear some of the stations are beautiful!  

(Obligatory monument as a penis photo!) 
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