Stuff I Like: Just two rubes in DC

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Just two rubes in DC

Jason suggested the title for this blog post as we tromped around DC in our tennis shoes, holding our paper map. It seemed appropriate. We hit as many sights as we could in two days, walked until our legs hurt, and barely even scratched the surface of everything there is to see and do in our nation's capital.

So what'd we do in DC? On the first day, we focused on monuments and memorials. It was a gorgeous day, so we wanted to do everything we could outside. Starting at the White House, we ventured south, passing by the WWII Memorial, the Reflecting Pool (under construction), the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, the Korean War Veterans Memorial, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial, the Franklin Roosevelt Memorial, and then finishing the day at the Washington Monument. I would be hard pressed to pick a favorite.

On the second day, we started out by visiting the Jefferson Memorial, which my friend Manu who lives in DC teased us about. Apparently an early Simpsons episode makes fun of it for being unpopular, at least in comparison to the Lincoln Memorial. Only Lisa wants to go there because, of course, she's a nerd. Touche.

After saying "hi" to Jefferson, we hit up the National Mall, thinking it would be a day of museums. First on the list was the Air & Space Museum, but when we finally got there, we were joined by about 15 tour buses and a million teens in matching sweatshirts lined up to get in. No thanks! Again, in the spirit of Lisa Simpson, we chose a less popular option, the American Indian Museum, which was interesting, but not exactly impressive. We decided it would be our first and last museum of the day.

Next up was the Capitol Building and then lunch at Old Ebbitt Grill, one of the oldest bars in DC. It was packed, but worth the wait for some of the best crab cakes we've ever had.

That night, we met up with Manu and his girlfriend Jen for dinner and drinks in Dupont Circle, where we got to experience DC with locals. All in all, it was a fantastic trip. We definitely want to go back and see more -- Arlington, Georgetown, the Air & Space Museum -- a weekend was not nearly long enough. But with Steve and Marsha only 5 hours away and always willing to babysit, I have a feeling this will just be the first of many trips to DC!