24 Hours in Washington D.C.
Okay, so I need to preface this by saying that 24 hours is definitely NOT enough time to spend in DC. It is one of my absolute favorite cities to visit and I’ve been multiple times. We were lucky enough to live a little more than an hour’s drive away for a few years, so I went any chance I could convince Husband to go visit. There is so much to see and do, and a longer blog with more activities is coming soon!
For today, though, I’m just giving us 24 hours. Which, if you’re a teacher with limited PTO and within driving distance of the city is a great way to get a “staycation” in. Husband and I took a quick weekend trip for our anniversary this year, meaning it mostly consisted of staying in a fancy hotel and eating ALL the food. But, y’all know me, I’m just nerdy enough to demand that we spend at least a few hours at a museum, and the one we picked did not disappoint!
Here’s how it went.
Where we Stayed:
We used Hilton points to stay for two nights at The Morrow Hotel. It’s a beautiful hotel close to an REI, a brewery, La Colombe Coffee, and the metro station. The room had giant windows (that looked into the apartments across the way, which was really fun once we started waving at the neighbors) and nice amenities, including robes and slippers! And there was an espresso machine - a HUGE bonus over your typical hotel coffee setup. If you’re a walker like us though, and want to see a lot of the famous DC sights, it’s a little far away. It took us about 30 minutes to walk to the museums and an hour to walk to the National Mall. So, not terrible, but after walking around all day it was a bit of a sludge home. Sludge? Yeah, that’s the best word I have to describe it.
What we Ate:
Husband has diamond member status with Hilton, which means that we get a credit at the restaurants every day. We spent some time at the rooftop bar, cleverly named Upstairs Rooftop, which had a stunning view of the capitol building. We got appetizers and drinks here, but didn’t spend too much time because we wanted to see the city!
So, since we’re just doing 24 hours in DC, we’ll start with breakfast. We walked over to Union Station, believe it or not, because we heard that there was a delicious crepe place in the food court. Y’all. I was shocked. I LOVE crepes. They’re one of those foods that makes me feel like I’m on vacation, even if I’m close to home. And the crepes at Crepe Lena were so good! They had vegetarian options, perfect for me, and plenty of other choices, both sweet and savory. It’s a little funny to eat breakfast in a food court, but Union Station in itself is so beautifully built that I hardly noticed and actually enjoyed the early morning train station energy.
For lunch, we ate at Washington’s oldest saloon, Old Ebbitt Grill. It was founded as a boarding house in 1856 and eventually became known as Washington’s first known saloon. I ordered a butternut squash campanelli which was basically a fancy grown-up mac n cheese, in the best of ways. I also got a half order of the Autumn Market Salad mostly because it had Asian pears on it. Both dishes were incredible.
Okay, but dinner. Dinner was one of my top top restaurant meals. I can remember a handful of restaurants that I’ve visited where the meals have just stuck with me for a long time because they weren’t just well-cooked food, they were experiences. And dinner at L’Ardente was one of those experiences. L’Ardente was recommended to us by a friend (who owned a restaurant for almost 20 years, so I typically take her recommendations seriously). She said the food was amazing and the restaurant vibe was a little “hoity-toity”. I found both to be true, and I’m not ashamed to admit that I LOVE feeling fancy when I travel. While it was definitely upscale, the service was incredibly friendly, helpful, and kind.
Anyway, we didn’t make reservations. Whoops. We did, however, get VERY lucky and found two seats at the bar just as we were about to give up and go somewhere else. And I’m so glad we did. We started with drinks and opted to forego the appetizers because I knew I was going to want to eat dessert. We both ordered pasta dishes - I got a butternut squash ravioli and Husband got a baked ziti. But you have to understand - these were fancy ravioli and zitis. The kind of ravioli that just explodes with flavor from spices and well-cooked squash and not just oil. The kind of ziti that is seasoned with herbs and topped with cheese that doesn’t take over everything. I can’t. It was EVERYTHING.
For dessert, we ordered a cheesecake that was actually cake. It was a light, fluffy cake topped with sweet ricotta cheese, toasted almonds, some sweet sauce from heaven, and basil leaves. I can still taste it. I don’t think I’ll ever order a cheesecake the same. Yum. I drank a cappuccino and Husband ordered a limoncello to finish up. We left with wallets that were MUCH lighter (figuratively, of course, I’m all about those credit card points) and bellies that were so full and happy!
What we Did
With only a day to explore, we had to be very intentional about what we wanted to do with our time. I knew spoiling myself with fancy food was at the top of my list. To fill in the time in between meals, we picked two activities, The Spy Museum and the National Mall at night.
The Spy Museum has been on my list for a while now. Prior to this trip, we’ve stuck with free museums because there are so many of them and they’re all worth a visit. But I’ve been hearing about what an experience the Spy Museum was, so we decided to buy tickets this time. (Side note: There is a teacher/student discount if you can show an ID or some other proof of teaching. I, in typical Shannon fashion, did not do enough research to bring anything to tie me to my work and had to pay full price.) And it lived up to the hype! It was such a fun, interactive museum with so many interesting stories about spies over the years and around the world. There were activities to do in each part of the museum all connected to the identities we were given at the beginning as spies on top-secret missions.
My top recommendations after visiting the Spy Museum:
Get tickets ahead of time, and get your teacher discount!
Go EARLY. We got in without any issue because we were there right when it opened, but it got very busy very quickly.
If possible, go during the week to avoid the weekend crowds. It was a great time even with the crowds, but I would have loved to slow down even more and wander without being surrounded by lots of other tourists.
It’s for everyone! If you have kids, bring them, they’ll love it! If you don’t, you’ll still love it.
Eat before you go, and bring water. If you’re like us, we like to read everything and take our time through museums. Food isn’t allowed in the exhibit, so we ended up rushing through the end a little bit to avoid the hanger. And it’s always a good idea to stay hydrated!
After we ate the most amazing dinner on the planet, we walked over to the National Mall to see it all lit up at night. These monuments are all impressive no matter what time you go see them, but there’s something magical about them at night time. It’s quieter, so you don’t have to fight people for views or pictures or sitting space. It’s well-lit and is one of those places that doesn’t feel unsafe to be walking around after dark (but always be smart no matter where you are!). Plus, if you’ve seen the monuments during the day already, it’s just a neat way to see them differently.
Classroom Impact
My goodness. Washington DC makes me want to take a field trip. Or be a homeschool parent. There are so many lessons to be taught and learned and experienced within these city blocks.
One of the things that stood out to me on this trip in particular was the landscaping. Several of the museums used native plants in their landscaping to highlight how the plants create ecosystems, affect the environment, and have been used for centuries to feed, house, and clothe people. There was even a walk all about pollinators and how important they are not just for the plants, but for the wellbeing of the whole planet!
I’d love to take this experience and work with my students to create a class garden with plants and pollinators native to our area. So many social studies and science lessons can come from that! To work in ELA, we would research and write about how people in the past used native plants and how (if) we still incorporate them in our lives today. For math we could talk about the costs of the garden or get into some geometry with planning the garden beds/plots. I love that this would teach students to be lifelong learners, noticing aspects of our lives outside of the classroom walls that we can and should still be learning about!
What are your favorite places to visit (or eat!) in Washington DC? If you haven’t been yet, what would you like to experience most in our nation’s capital?
