So Ryan and I had been planning on taking a trip during March for some time. We were originally thinking somewhere warm and tropical. However after finding little Holland would be joining us soon we decided our ‘babymoon” plans were going to be a little different. Ryan had not been to Washington DC since he was a kid and since we could fly there straight from DFW with our ticket vouchers we had earned, it was decided that that was the place to visit. As a side note, I knew it would be YEARS before we could take a small child somewhere like that for a vacation so I knew we better jump on the opportunity! Our trip began with flying into DC, riding in this cool car to our hotel, and going to Chinatown for dinner at a well-known pizzeria. Anyone who knows me knows I love pizza- it was awesome! It was in a very crazy part of town and there were so many people milling around. As we were leaving the pizza place it was freezing cold and snowing, and I have to admit I wondered for a few minutes as we walked to the subway with the snow blowing on our faces if we had lost our minds in deciding to come there. Now that I am a deep southern girl I am just not made for wind and snow! The next day it was decided to satisfy our inner geekness and go to the Smithsonian museums. I admit I LOVE history. Ryan will admit that he LOVES science. So of course I chose the museum of American history and Ryan wanted to go see the dinosaurs etc. at a different museum. Ryan was very patient with me as I would have been happy to have read every single poster and watch every video about the history of our country. I tried to be patient with all of his stuff but I admit he was the better person in this situation. We also squeezed in an IMAX movie at the museum which gave us a much needed sit down break. That night we went out to dinner at a steakhouse at the W Hotel. It was right downtown and very cool. As a side note I was paranoid about being cold after our first day experience that I ended up wearing so many layers that I was hot the rest of the trip! The next morning we got up really early because my wonderful friend Ashley had gotten us tickets to go in the White House. I had never done this before so I was pumped about it. She had warned us that the tour would be really quick and would only last a few minutes. After going through security we were walking to the house’s entrance when I noticed the famous first dog, Bo. He was just running around on the south lawn with no one around. We made it into the house and started our tour. However instead of the ten or fifteen minute tour we expected, we ended up being trapped in the white house for over an hour because some lady had passed out in front of us! So Ryan and I hung out with the secret service guys while the ambulance, etc. showed up. Quickly after that we went next door to Old Ebbit Grill for brunch. The restaurant is right beside the White House and presidents as far back as Teddy Roosevelt have eaten there. After brunch we made our rounds to all of the big monuments, etc. I was especially excited to go to the World War II memorial since it wasn’t there the last time I went. My feet were about ready to fall off by the end of the day. Before we knew it, it was time to eat again. This night we ventured into Georgetown to eat at Filomenia. This was one of the neatest places I have ever been to eat. It was an authentic Italian restaurant. When you first walked in you saw an old lady hand rolling all of the pasta that they were serving. When we sat down the front and back of the menu was covered with names of famous people that had eaten there. I saw everyone’s names from presidents to Julia Roberts to Eric Clapton. The food was amazing! We started off with fried rice balls that had been featured in The Godfather movie and then I ordered the seafood cannelloni. The funniest thing about it was that the pasta was black…a little different looking but delicious! We then proceeded to talk about how weren’t hungry but we still ordered the Oreo cheesecake and ate the whole thing! Overall one of the best dinners ever! The next day was Saturday and our last full day in DC. We decided to hit up a couple more museums (Holocaust and Air and Space) and walk around the town a little. Ryan also had to find his important souvenir- space ice cream. For some reason he loves that stuff so we had to make a stop at the Air and Space museum gift shop. The highlight of the day was getting a chili dog from a vendor on the street. I had never had a hotdog with chili and it was great! Yum! Finally we decided to finish off our babymoon with a relaxing dinner in the hotel- I got Subway and Ryan got Chipotle. As I write this I realize that it sounds like all we did was eat. At least we did a bunch of walking to burn it off! All in all it was a great trip and a wonderful break for both of us from the stresses of school/work. Can’t wait to one day go back with baby Holland!
