Upon arrival at Washington Dulles International Airport, I could not resist some Dunkin'. We just got them in California finally, but I think the East Coast locations are much better!
SuperShuttle whisked me away to the Kimpton Mason & Rook Hotel in Washington, DC after I landed at IAD.
We enjoyed dinner at the famous Old Ebbitt Grill on the first night after I got in. The place was packed!
I started off with a salad of mixed greens with roasted beets and fried goat cheese! It was yummy!
I had their homemade pasta with mussells for my main entree. In addition, I enjoyed a Kentucky 75 cocktail which featured I.W. Harper's Whiskey.
After dinner, Joy and I went to the rooftop lounge at the W Hotel called POV. The White House is behind us in this photo.
I had a great view of the White House from POV.
My Basil Haydens with the White House in the background. It is keeping watch over what I hope will be back in the control of GOP hands in 2017!
We went to a concert also that night at POV. There was a cool view of the Washington Monument from there.
I started my tour the next day at Capitol Hill.
My next stop was the Library of Congress.
The inside of the Library of Congress was amazing! It looked like stuff I saw in Europe.
The Supreme Court is next to Capitol Hill.
The changing of the guard ceremony at the Tomb Of the Unknown Solider in Arlington National Cemetary is a must see. I paid tribute to the brave men and women who served our nation to protect our way of life.
The Lincoln Memorial was my next stop after Arlington. I had to pay tribute to our nation's first REPUBLICAN President!
Joy and I took a cruise on the Potomac River from Washington Harbor in Georgetown.
The Lincoln Memorial is in the background along with some crew team.
This is the Jefferson Memorial.
This is the Kennedy Center. Watergate can be seen in the distance too.
We walked over the National Mall after our cruise to see the first Presidential car. This steam car belonged to President Taft.
Joy and I had dinner at one of the top restaurants in the country. The chef at Rasika won the James Beard Award also. This is the lobster hot pot!
Rasika is called "Modern Indian." Here is a fusion take on an old Indian favorite dessert. The cardimon ice cream complemented this apple fritter very well.
We went to the National Zoo, and we saw the pandas!
For lunch, we went to Nando's Peri Peri! I have not been to Nando's since I was in London.
Here is the place where President Lincoln was shot.
President Lincoln died across the street from Ford's Theatre at Petersen House.
The National Archives houses our nation's most important documents including the Constitution.
Joy had to go to Washington
DC for training in April of 2016. I decided at the last minute to
cash in some United Mileage Plus miles and go visit her for a few days
too. So, I flew out to see her midweek during her training.
My flight was from Sacramento to LAX before I connected to a non stop
flight into Washington Dulles International Airport. I love
flying to the East Coast since it reminds me of my childhood. I
grew up in Ohio and Pennsylvania before moving to Texas so I love the
large homes on huge plots of land with no fences seperating one from
one's neighbors. The East Coast people are friendlier than
California folks too in general. In addition, I like the culture
of the East Coast too. People know how to dress and behave
properly. California people are just way too laid back.
After ariving into
Dulles, I took SuperShuttle into Washington, DC. I was very
impressed with the SuperShuttle service at IAD. Upon landing, I
got a text that said the system located that I had arrived and asked if
I wanted to check in online. Within a few minutes, I was assigned
a van and ready to go. The assholes at SuperShuttle in Sacramento
sometimes take upto an hour to find a van to take me home. The
sad thing is that I only live like ten minutes from the airport.
Sacramento just sucks! On the way to DC, I saw a motorcade that
had Capitol Park Police escorting it. I wondered if that was
Speaker Ryan's convoy.
The shuttle took me to
the Mason & Rook Hotel in Washington DC. This was the newest
Kimpton Hotel in DC. The Kimpton Hotel chains are boutique hotels
that offer excellent services like evening social hour with wine
tasting and morning pastry and coffee service. Joy got back to
her room from her training before I arrived at the hotel. I had a
nice glass of Chilean wine downstairs at the social hour before we took
Uber to the Old Ebbitt Grill for our 6:30 dinner reservations. We
had some time to walk around before dinner so we took in the views of
the Capitol and Washington Monument. Luckily, I made reservations
for the Old Ebbitt Grill. It was really busy! They are the
oldest saloon in DC. I started off with one of the better
cocktails that I have had in a long time. This drink was called
the Kentucky 75, and it featured I.W. Harper Kentucky Whiskey.
The dinner was amazing! Joy and I both agreed that Sacramento is
the arm pit of the civilization! We have no fine dining
establishments that can compete generally. We went to POV after
dinner. It is the rooftop bar at the W Hotel which was right next
door. I booked two tickets for us for a concert at the
venue. From POV, we had amazing views of Washington DC. One
can see Lincoln Memorial, White House, and Washington Monument. I
enjoyed my Basil Hayden's as I took in views of the White House being
lit up at night. The concert was decent too.
Joy had training the
next day too. So, I took a Hop On, Hop Off bus tour of Washington
DC. My first stop was Capitol Hill. After seeing the
Capitol, I toured the Library of Congress. Then, I saw the US
Supreme Court. Afterwards, I got back on the bus, and we went
past the Jefferson Memorial on the way to the Lincoln Memorial.
From the Lincoln Memorial, I took their shuttle over the old Memorial
Bridge into Arlington to visit Arlington National Cemetary.
Arlington National Cemetary was once Robert E. Lee's home. I met
an old friend from my College Republican days for lunch over
there. Afterwards, I toured Arlington National Cemetary, and I
saw the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
After I got back to
Washington DC, I saw the Lincoln Memorial before taking an Uber back to
the Mason & Rook Hotel. Joy was waiting for me so we could go
to Washington Harbor for our cruise on the Potomac River. The
fifty minute cruise took us past Watergate, the Kennedy Center, Lincoln
Memorial, and Jefferson Memorial. It was pretty cool. Once
we got back to the harbor, we took an Uber to Rasika, which is one of
the top restaurants in the nation! Our reservations were not
until 9:45 so we walked to the National Mall to see the first
Presidential car. President's Taft's car was displayed there in a
glass case. We hung out at a sports bar and watched some of the
Rangers and O's game before dinner. Once we arrived at Rasika, we
were offered complimentary drinks from the bar since our table was not
ready yet. The food and service at Rasika was amazing!
Rasika is "modern Indian." The menu is a blend of East and
West. Joy and I again agreed how Sacramento sucked! People
actually dress well and like to dress up for dinner in DC. The
chef at Rasika won the Jame's Beard Award as well. If you watch
that show Designated Survivor
on ABC, they mentioned Rasika on the show.
The next day, Joy did
not have training so we went to the National Zoo to see the
pandas. Afterwards, we had lunch at Nando's Peri Peri.
Nando's is a Portuguese restaurant that uses a South African peri peri
sauce in their food. It is amazing! My brother and I tried
it in London. We got a few bottles of their sauce so we could
recreate the taste at home. Afterwards, Joy took off for the
airport, and I went back to siteseeing since my flight was much
later. I went to Ford's Theatre and the Petersen House where
Lincoln was shot and died. Afterwards, I went to the National
Archives Building. I got an email that my flight from Denver to
Sacramento was cancelled however so I had to rush back to the hotel to
see if the airline could reroute me through somewhere else. I was
fortunate enough to get a flight from Reagan National to Sacramento via
Houston Bush Intercontinental Airport. This flight got me into
Sacramento sooner too! So, I departed for Reagan National, and I
was off in the air after getting some Dunkin Donuts. In Houston,
I got some Pappasito's Mexican food before leaving for home.