travel nostalgic

Earlier this year, my husband and I had some airline credits expiring from a cancelled trip to New York, so we pivoted and headed to the United States’ capitol: Washington, DC. It was his first time “in the district” and my first visit in nearly 18 years, so we were basically exploring with fresh eyes and excited hearts.

Here is our itinerary with commentary:

Wednesday, February 14: A very romantic and late Valentine’s day, our redeye to Philadelphia took off at 12:35am (technically on the 15th). We used our expiring credits to splurge and spread out a bit on American Airline’s domestic first class offering (no lie flats, but drinks available upon boarding, nice wide seats, and extra leg room). We both were able to sleep for most of the flight, landing in Philly ready to go.

Thursday, February 15: Why Philly? We could fly directly from SFO to PHI, and hop the $20 Amtrak straight from downtown Philadelphia to Union Station in DC. It was a comfy, chill ride, and definitely reminded me a lot of Noah Kahan’s “season of the sticks” as all the trees were mostly dead during the journey south. (I obviously had to listen to his album on the train ride).

We hopped in a cab at Union Station and headed to our hotel, Sofitel Lafayette Square, a few blocks from the White House. While my dream had been to stay at the Hay Adams, that was a little outside of our budget this time around, and the Sofitel offered similar amenities (with less history, perhaps), but for a much more affordable rate. I booked very early through my Fora Advisor program, and we enjoyed free breakfast every day, $100 in food/beverage credit, and waived resort fees. If you are heading to DC, I highly recommend the Sofitel. The staff were great, the room spacious and beautifully decorated, and the breakfast delicious. The location was excellent-we could walk to the White House (and if we were more ambitious or if it had been a little warmer, all the way to the National Mall [only 0.8 miles]). The main buses to all the tourist attractions had a stop half a block from the hotel as well, so it was easy to use public transport to get anywhere. There was even a metro stop one block away that went straight to Reagan Airport (DCA) for our departure.

After resting and refreshing, we headed out to find some lunch and ended up at Tatte, a Boston-Israeli chain that served incredible food, drinks, and dessert. When I say I will dream about this grilled cheese and tomato soup forever, that is not hyperbole.

Spoiler alert: we even went back on our last day so I could have the grilled cheese again, and this time, made the mistake of trying their halva brownie… we split one and then another, because it was divine.

After our first proper meal in almost 24 hours, we walked through downtown towards the Capitol. I was aiming for the National Archives (our main destinations were heavily influenced by National Treasure). Unfortunately, the Founding Documents rotunda was closed that day, so we decided to come back later in the trip and continued to stroll the Mall and ultimately walked back to our hotel.

12,000 steps later, it was time for some fondue! We visited Stable DC on a recommendation of a friend, and were not disappointed. It was authentic Swiss food, with amazing garlic and black pepper fondue, a delightful mix of winter vegetables, and lots of Swiss bread (both to snack on and to dip). We also tried their house style Chicken wings, which were tasty (and not spicy, but very flavorful). We ran out of room for dessert though! The service was also warm and excellent.

After fondue, we were more than ready to head back to our cozy hotel room and crash. We had a great night of sleep (easy to do after sleeping on an airplane!) and woke up ready for a full, fun day in DC.

Friday, February 16: After a delicious breakfast at our hotel, it was time to head to the White House. We requested tickets 3 months earlier from our congressperson, and were told two weeks ahead of time that we had gotten them. It’s free; you just have to ask ahead of time! To learn more about this process for your next visit to DC, visit this website. It was a long wait with multiple security checkpoints, but getting to go inside the White House, where so much of American and world history happened, was an honor.

Each room was beautifully decorated and the staff onsite well-educated in their significance. My favorites were the East Room and the State Dining Room.

We followed the hype and recommendations of friends to have lunch at the nearby Old Ebbitt Grill, the oldest saloon in DC (although it has only been operating in its current location for the last 40 years). We tried their oysters, calamari, crab cakes, and salad. They were the usual stylings and servings, though a bit pricy given the history and location. It was not our favorite meal of the weekend but the decor was fun.

We then retreated to the hotel to warm up for a while before catching the bus to the Library of Congress, another National Treasure inspired destination. It’s free to visit, but you have to have a timed ticket ahead of time, so be sure to book that here.

The Main Reading Room, where all the action from National Treasure takes place, is available to view every Tuesday – Friday, 10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Visitors are also welcome to view the space on Thursday evenings from 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. So we made sure to book our timed tickets for 1:30pm so we could see the Reading Room. You only get a few minutes inside, but it was very cool to experience it.

There are also lots of other unique exhibits in the Library of Congress, including a reinterpretation of Thomas Jefferson’ library (complete with many original books from the 1700s) and as of February 2024, an incredible exposition of documentary photography in America and its role in telling the story of Americans.

Although this was my fourth visit to DC, it was my first time visiting the Library of Congress. It is a beautiful building full of fascinating documents and manuscripts, so I highly recommend taking an hour or two of your time and checking it out.

After a quick stop to the delightful Georgetown Cupcakes, we headed out to the suburbs next, to visit one of Solomon’s oldest friends. We had a lovely evening with them, which ended too shortly as we raced the snowstorm back to DC (which ended up not being as bad as they predicted… per usual…).

Saturday, February 17:

Saturday was another busy, full day in DC! We enjoyed another great breakfast at our hotel, and then headed out to the Smithsonian’s Museum of Natural History. Seeing as it was President’s Weekend, things were quite busy but we got in and saw the highlights, like dinosaur skeletons, mummies, and the Hope Diamond. The Smithsonian Museums are free (though some require booking ahead). so they are a great national treasure!

Then it was onto our Capitol tour. Accessing the tour through the (new to me) visitor’s center, we saw a film about the history and significance of the Capitol before being taken on a short tour. The whole thing was less than an hour, and also free. They do offer day of tickets, but we had gone ahead and arranged through our congressman (you can use this website to find out more and book your own tour. Please don’t pay for one!).

The tour includes visiting the crypt, the Rotunda, and the National Statuary Hall. It does NOT offer access to either the Senate or Representative chambers (so you’ll have to check out CSPAN or be a VIP to see those!).

After all our walking, we were exhausted, but wanted to make the most of our trip, so we took a cab to Georgetown and enjoyed dinner at Brasserie Liberte, which featured French food and delightful mock and cocktails. This was another recommendation from a friend who’s been in DC for over a decade, and she did NOT miss with her suggestions. My husband enjoyed the steak tartare and I enjoyed their house burger and frites. The creme brulee was definitely the star of the show though! (and the seasonal tart was tasty too).

Sunday, February 18:

We enjoyed another breakfast at our hotel and took the bus to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. This is one of the most popular Smithsonians, so be sure to book your free ticket ahead of time here.

The museum traces the history of flight, from the early efforts of the Wright Brothers all the way to the current space race and everything in between. The original capsule from Apollo 11 that brought the first men back from the moon is on display, as well as amazing technologies from the last hundred plus years.

My husband absolutely loved this museum and probably could’ve spent all day there, but I was eager to check out the new-ish National Museum of the American Indian, so I left him with the rockets and walked the couple of blocks down the street. There wasn’t as much on display as I expected, but the architecture is very cool and they have a unique cafe serving a variety of Native foods.

In our quest to find a taxi, I led us to the National Gallery. While my husband warmed up and rested his feet, I raced to check out the Impressionists–someday I will find Starry Starry Night in person (right now it’s in the MoMA)–but I enjoyed seeing the beautiful rotunda and a Van Gogh self-portrait.

Then we headed to the Washington National Cathedral, where I grabbed a hot chocolate with my old college friend whose recommendations had not steered us wrong, while my husband went inside to check it out. The church was beautiful though in the process of being retrofitted, with hellebores blooming in the garden.

After a rest in our hotel, we headed out to dinner at the Compass Rose, a delightfully eclectic smorgasbord of food from all over the world. We tried Khachapuri (a Georgian cheesy bread boat), Chinese Five Spice Chicken and Potatoes in a bag (called a Spice Bag, an Irish dish), Szechuan Green Beans, Kofta (meatballs), and Berbere Spiced Yams served over lentils. Everything was delicious, but m favorites were the Khachapuri and the green beans (they were just spicy enough). They had delightful cocktails and mocktails–I especially loved my zero proof margarita. Though we were stuffed, we finished off with Coconut Mahalabia, a kind of coconut pudding, and Tres Leches. The coconut pudding was my favorite of the two. The menu changes somewhat, but many of these are still on it as of this writing (December 2024).

Overall, I found the Compass Rose to be one of the most inclusive places we ate, between the extensive mocktail offerings, vegetarian options, and accommodations (we needed our khachapuri egg-free, and they had no problem with that). We had booked a table indoors but it was not ready for us. It was super loud inside though, and we ended up in their cozy “train car” outside, which was plenty warm despite the cold outdoors, and much quieter. It was less of a sensory overload and more enjoyable, so I was grateful in the end for the swap. They even gave us a free round of drinks because of the inconvenience.

Monday, February 19:

Our last day in DC before catching our early evening flight! We enjoyed one last breakfast at the hotel before packing up and dropping our luggage at reception. Then we took the bus back to the National Archives, and though we had to wait in line, this time we got to see the Founding Documents (the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights). I had seen them before, but it was such a beautiful scene to watch hundreds of Americans and visitors from all over the world marvel at these rebellious documents.

Then we found the bus that takes you on the circle route to see the monuments, because even though we’d been in DC for four days, we still hadn’t visited these iconic buildings.

First up was a driveby of the Washington Monument before heading to the Jefferson Memorial.

We walked the long way around from Jefferson to Lincoln, wandering along the Tidal Basin through FDR’s memorial, the Korean War Memorial, and finally the reflecting pool. At this point, I was hungry and exhausted (and 11 weeks pregnant), so I opted to let Solomon climb the stairs of Lincoln and instead sat and pondered our trip at the reflecting pool.

Then it was a taxi to the Tatte closest to our hotel, a quick, delicious meal, and a metro ride straight to DCA. We got on our flight and headed home, after an amazing 5 days/4 nights in our nation’s capital. Most of our attractions were free, though we definitely splurged on our hotel and some of our meals. It was a great trip and I can’t wait to take our son there someday.

Want to plan your own trip to DC? Feel free to leave a comment or send me an email-I’d love to help you craft a great itinerary. We barely scratched the surface of all the city has to offer!