Weekend Getaway: Washington, D.C.

As the nation’s capital, I’ve visited Washington, D.C. plenty of times. A quick trip from New York City (four hours by train) it’s relatively simple to decide, on a whim, that you’d like to take a trip. Bonus points if you have a place to stay - and voilá, you’ve got yourself the first trip of 2022. Read on for what we did, where we ate, and what we saw!

WHAT WE DID

We arrived on a Friday evening and went to dinner for restaurant week (more on that below). Saturday was going to be a big day, and it did not disappoint. We were able to get tickets at the National Museum of African American History & Culture the morning of (they’re normally completely sold out). We followed this up with the Hirshhorn Museum and a walk on the National Mall, after which I took a visit to the National Portrait Gallery solo. Sunday was spent venturing around Georgetown and the waterfront, grabbing brunch and cupcakes at Georgetown Cupcakes, and a short trip on the metro, before catching our train back at Union Station.

National Museum of African American History & Culture - a must visit. As part of the Smithsonian, the museum is free, engaging, and incredibly designed. The content is well researched and displayed in a variety of mediums, making it easier to digest. Many of the visitors were young black families with children - something I don’t see often enough at museums in the city. With architecture by David Adjaye and exhibition design by Ralph Applebaum, I highly suggest a visit if you have a full day to spare. We spent four hours here and got through just a small chunk of the museum.

The Hirshhorn - while we didn’t have a chance to visit the exhibits due to time, we were curious to stop by because of the architecture. The building is known for a sculpture garden and inner courtyard that wraps the museum - while it was under construction, we were able to see a bit of it and are planning to visit the next time.

National Portrait Gallery courtyard at night.

National Portrait Gallery - This wasn’t on my radar, but I had time to kill and it was late (most museums close at 5pm, while the Portrait Gallery was open until 7pm on a Saturday. It reminded me of wandering museums in Europe right before closing, where other visitors are scarce. I didn’t stop by anything particularly noteworthy - but I did enjoy spending time in the enclosed courtyard, which I’m sure is even better during the day.

WHAT WE ATE

Zaytinya was our first stop for D.C. restaurant week. Owned by Chef Jose Andres, the Mediterranean menu featured five courses that were perfect for a group of four. We snacked on airy, hot pita with tahini, baba ghanoush and roasted hummus, followed by fava beans and the creamiest roasted brussel sprouts. The rest of the courses were equally as good, wrapping up with an olive oil cake. Highly recommend!

Hill Country Barbecue was insanely good. It’s marketplace style - meaning you grab your own food - and the moist brisket and mac n’ cheese were just the perfect thing for 20 degree weather. It was happy hour so we grabbed a pitcher of margaritas and stayed for a few hours.

Izakaya Daiku Ramen - we went for dinner on Saturday night and really enjoyed the atmosphere and design. The individual booths were separated by roped enclosure, with antiqued lighting accented the mood. Being restaurant week, they were not serving ramen, which was a big disappointment. The food was enjoyable nonetheless, but I cannot comment on the ramen!

In between museums and food, we walked the city and enjoyed a quick getaway from our normal weekend routine. Here’s to more in 2022!

Travel Narrative