My sister and I had such a fun weekend together in D.C.! We planned it on a whim and I am so glad we did. I went to school at James Madison, which is located about an hour outside of D.C., so I have visited many times over the years. I always say this disclaimer because some people always get on me about not doing X, Y, and Z while visiting D.C.! Both my sister and I have done most of the museums and traditional tourist things, so we were looking to eat, drink, shop, and relax!
Some of you asked for our itinerary as you plan trips, so here it is!
Thursday
We checked into the Lyle, which is located in Dupont Circle. It's a newer, modern hotel that used to be a Kimpton. My sister selected the hotel, and we liked it. It was in a great location central to everything we wanted to do, had a great bar and restaurant in the lobby, luxurious bathroom products, lots of space, and the beds were very comfortable. I personally love a more traditional hotel, so I wouldn't necessarily stay here again, but it's not because I didn't like it; it just wasn't exactly to my taste. If I had to pick, I'd select the Hay Adams or Willard! We also just really wanted to stay somewhere we had never stayed before, and we have stayed at many DC hotels in past years.
We ordered takeout on our first night. My sister's flight was delayed, and I was surprised to see how many places close at 9pm on a Thursday, so we were slim pickings with options, but we ended up with Pizzeria Paradiso, which we have both had before and enjoyed. The food was just OK, but I think that is probably because we got takeout, and the food is just much fresher in the restaurant. I do normally enjoy the Georgetown location!
Friday
My sister had to work in the morning/early afternoon so I also worked. Our room had a great little table and chairs, so it was a nice setup for working! We ordered room service breakfast which was delicious!
It was sadly drizzling all day so we took a little rainy walk around Dupont and picked up some treats from Milk! I love their birthday truffles and cereal milk ice cream!
We chilled a bottle of champagne, showered, did sheet masks, and leisurely got ready for our evening! It was such a slow, nice, and relaxing day!
We headed to dinner at Le Diplomate, a French restaurant. It's *very* popular, so you have to make a reservation. I could not recommend this more. It's one of my favorites, and I can't imagine going to DC and not going to Le Dip (except that it's still hard to grab a res). The martinis were perfect, the steak frites fantastic, and the warm shrimp salad impeccable. The service is excellent, and the atmosphere is spectacular. It is a 10/10 place. No notes.
Afterward, we ran into Whole Foods down the street because Callie and I drink SO much water all day long, and we needed to stock our hotel room.
Saturday
We slept in, got ready, and had coffee in our room. We headed to Georgetown for a day of shopping. We started off at Call Your Mother for bagel sandwiches. We have a lack of good bagels here in Pittsburgh so if I can go anywhere and get a good one, I will. Callie is the same way. It's a very casual spot, and I recommend online ordering so you don't have to stand in line.
We walked down to M and started to pop in and out of stores like Sandro, Aesop, Club Monaco, Everlane, Artizia, Gorjana, and more. We made our way to Wisconsin and popped in and out of more stores like Tuckernuck, Veronica Beard, Cos, etc. We eventually tuckered ourselves out and tried to get into Martin's for a drink, but there was over an hour wait (even for a table outside), so we ducked into 1310 Kitchen and Bar, which is attached to the Georgetown Inn. I had never been in before. We refueled with diet cokes. We were still full from our bagel sandwiches in the morning, so we popped in and out of more stores before taking a cab over to City Center. City Center is where all of the high-end shopping is, with stores like Dior, Chanel, etc. We went into most of those stores and got hungry, so we ran into CVS for chips and gummy worms to bring back to our room while we got ready for dinner.
Before dinner, we went to our hotel's cute bar/restaurant, Lyle's, and had fabulous espresso martinis.
We headed to Union Market and had dinner at a great Mexican spot, El Presidente. It was SO good and the atmosphere was trendy, hip, and energetic. If you go, you have to get the crab guacamole. I am still thinking about it. I got the shrimp tacos, and while they didn't look photo-worthy, they were some of the best shrimp tacos I have ever had. The margaritas were also wonderful. They were tarte and not too sweet, just how I like them! I would also recommend a res for this! I had never been to Union Market before, so I will have to explore there the next time I visit.
Sunday
Callie had an early flight, so we walked to the Logan Circle Call Your Mother location for more bagel sandwiches. They're SO good. I brought bagels home with me, and I am kicking myself for not bringing back cream cheese, too! I dropped Callie off for her flight, and then I headed home. I drove as it is an easy 4-hour drive. Surprisingly, flights were less costly than the 3 nights of valet and gas, but I honestly prefer driving if the location is 4 hours or less.
All in all, it was such a fun trip! This is not the itinerary I recommend if this is your first or second time visiting D.C., but rather just a fun girl's weekend!
4 comments:
So fun! Sounds just like my mother/daughter trip I did in November. Bummer you couldn’t get into Martins! And isn’t the Tuckernuck so cute and cozy?! Wish I had tried those bagels now!
Love that you enjoyed your time in DC! :)
I love your weekend! Sounds so fun. I got engaged in front of the Dupont Circle fountain so that area always gives me such happy memories. Great area.
Sad Martin's didn't work out...such an institution -- highly rec doing early brunch there on your way out on a Sunday :)
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