a 48 hour guide to washington d.c.

Happy almost August!! If you missed my last post, then you wouldn’t know that I’ve been busy traveling part of the US for the past few weeks (or 21 days, 4500 miles to be exact). One of the stops on our trip was to none other than Washington DC to visit my little brother!

Another fun fact about this long trip – I’m doing it solo, in a sense. I’ve traveled from Austin to Charleston, then on to Hilton Head, then to Indiana, and also to Washington DC! In each of these cities, I have been staying with and visiting friends & family (and also missing my husband and pup like crazy!!).

After staying in Indiana for a few days (more on that coming soon!), I geared up for the next leg of my trip…driving from Indiana to DC with my parents! We packed up the mini-van & trekked to The Capitol. Along the way, we made stops in Cleveland, Morgantown, Pittsburgh, and more!

On the drive out, we spent a few hours in Morgantown, and stopped at Cooper’s Rock Overlook (shout out to our friend Kirsten for the recommendation – so worth it!).

After that, we finally made it to Washington DC. Take a gander below to see all of the places we ate & shopped & visited in our short weekend trip:

What We Ate

Post Coffee @ Tyson’s Corner – We stopped here in the morning, as it was right near our hotel (we stayed in Mclean, VA, just outside of DC). I ordered the vanilla latte, split a turkey & cheese croissant with my mom, and my dad ordered the acai bowl (it was huge – totally splittable!).

Earl’s Kitchen + Bar – We ate here for dinner, and it was SO delicious! For apps, we ordered the truffle fries & queso fundido dip. I didn’t love the queso because it had chorizo in it, which I am not a fan of. But the truffle fries were TO DIE for. All of the entrees were delicious. I would personally recommend the Quinoa and Avocado Powerbowl and add shrimp (so worth it).

Jackson’s Mighty Find Food & Lucky Lounge – I have mixed feelings about our meal here. Our service was absolutely outstanding, but I wasn’t in love with my meal (though everyone else was!). I ordered the Shrimp & Grit Cakes, and my shrimp was overcooked. I told my waiter, and immediately (like within seconds), the manager came over, apologized, brought fresh shrimp, and comped my meal. Everyone else was satisfied with their steaks & fish though, so I would absolutely go back and give it a second chance. Pro tip: if you’re going to go on a Friday or Saturday, push your reservation to 8:30-9:00 PM. It will be a late meal, but your service will be so fast!

Food Trucks – Let’s talk food trucks for a second. Obviously, the food truck scene in Austin is pretty competitive. I am spoiled when it comes to food trucks. I was shocked at how many there were around The National Monument/Mall area in DC! Truly shocked. I couldn’t even tell you which one I ordered from, but the chicken quesadilla I had was divine. One thing I noticed is that when police showed up or even were spotted in the area for whatever reason, ALL food trucks closed their doors. It was the craziest and weirdest thing I have ever seen! My little brother (who is spending his summer in DC for an internship), thinks it has to do something with permits!

Where/how we explored

  1. Parking Garage – We found a parking garage downtown (Corner of 6th St SW & C Street SW) that charged about $15 for the entire day (cheaper than an Uber!). 
  2. Walk Walk Walk – we walked everywhere! I should have worn more comfortable shoes, because I severely underestimated how huge the touristy area was! We ended up doing about 6 miles of walking on our one day of exploring.
  3. East to West – we started at The Capitol and walked our way down to The Lincoln Memorial. This led us past The Smithsonian, the Washington Monument, a view of TWH, the WWII Monument, and the reflecting pool.
  4. Arlington Cemetery – need a whole day. This place was HUGE. I could spend hours walking around to the different memorials. Definitely would recommend watching the changing of the guards, which happens every 30 minutes.
  5. City Bus – we used the DC Circulator to take us from The Lincoln Memorial all the way back towards The Capitol! I would totally recommend utilizing the bus more to explore – only $1 per ride. So worth it at the end of the day when you’re exhausted!