Last Wednesday was my 7 year anniversary! SEVEN! Every year we try to take a vacation. Just us, no kids allowed! It’s a great way for us to reconnect, and we look forward to it every year. In the past, we’ve visited the Smoky Mountains, one year we did a cruise, and this year we decided to fly to Washington DC.
This was the first time I’ve been on a plane since our honeymoon. We had a rough start the day we left, but luckily the rest of the trip ran smoothly. I accidentally set my alarm to PM instead of AM, airport security took for-freakin-ever to get through, and then I locked us out of our apartment after we arrived in DC. Good times.
The studio apartment we rented was small but perfect for the two of us. It was in a nice area with a little circular park area dedicated to a woman named Anna Julia Haywood Cooper, who lived in the house pictured below in 1916. Born into slavery, Cooper became the principal at the nation’s FIRST high school for African Americans.
That’s one of the things I love about DC, all the history. Every where you go there is something historic to see, or ride, or eat!
We used Uber when we needed a car to get around, but we walked most of the time. There are a ton of museums in a row at the National Mall so it’s easy to walk to each of them.
Smithsonian Air & Space Museum
The Smithsonian Air & Space Museum was the first place we visited.
The City Segway Tour was rated highly on Trip Advisor, and it was one of the best things we did our entire trip. It’s a 3 hour tour around the city of the museums and monuments. It was freezing but still so much fun!
Washington Monument
It’s the world’s tallest free-standing masonry structure. The Monument’s marble blocks are held together by just gravity and friction, no mortar was used in the process.
Lincoln Memorial
It was built to honor the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. It is located on the western end of the National Mall, across from the Washington Monument.
White House
It has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800.
The National Archives Building
This building displays the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the Declaration of Independence.
I only have pictures of the outside because photography is not allowed anywhere inside this building.
U.S. Capitol Building
The capitol was under construction while we were there so a lot of the outside and some of the inside was covered in scaffolding.
My husband works for a state senator that was able to get us a private tour of the capitol! We got to ride the underground railcar,
and we even got to sneak out on the Speakers Balcony for a photo!
The picture below is the old subway monorail car that ran from 1915-1961.
Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
The museum’s collections total over 126 million specimens of plants, animals, fossils, minerals, rocks, meteorites, and human cultural artifacts. With 8 million yearly visitors, it is the MOST visited of all of the Smithsonian museums.
Smithsonian National Museum of American History
This museum collects, preserves and displays the heritage of the United States in the areas of social, political, cultural, scientific and military history. Among the items on display are the original Star-Spangled Banner and Archie Bunker’s chair.
Georgetown – Farmers Fishers Bakers
We were in DC for six days. On November 11, our anniversary, we took Uber to see the Georgetown Waterfront, and we had dinner at Farmers Fishers Bakers, which was recommend to us by multiple people.
The food was great! They make everything from scratch there at the restaurant. I had a Grilled Cheese Bacon Burger, which is a bacon cheeseburger between TWO grilled cheese sandwiches!
We were in DC almost a full week and there just wasn’t enough time to see every museum or monument. I would love to go back again and take the girls once they are a little older.
I love DC. We were there in April and I think we’re going back in July. We have family there, so we can go anytime 🙂
What an amazing trip. You saw and did so much!!
DC is such an amazing place to visit. There is so much history there!
DC is such a beautiful place. My family has been there few times, and we never saw the same thing twice.
I would love to have a couples vacation to DC. I have always wanted to visit there!
There’s so much to see and do in DC. Your trip looked like so much fun. That museum is probably one of my favorites.
Excellent and thorough post about D.C. ! I love all your pictures.
And it is such a great idea to go on a trip without the kids each year in order to reconnect with your significant other.
Lucky you to be able to get away each year without kids. We tried this year for our anniversary but couldn’t find anyone willing to stay with the kids. I was bummed… but that’s life. Looks like you saw some great things though!
wow what a wonderful trip and tradition. My husband and I will celebrate out 7 year anniversary in March and we are planning on a trip without the kids to. We’ve NEVER been able to take a trip together though so I’m definitely excited for it
It looks like you had a great anniversary trip. Washington D.C. looks like a great place to visit.
We used to live about 20 minutes from the National Mall and I loved it. There was always so much to do and we had great walking loops to take family and friends when they would visit. Glad you had such a full time!
DC is an amazing city. Every tie I visit I see more of the attractions. S
I would love to go to Washington DC. It is on my list of places to visit soon. I would love to see the White House and other government monuments.
Looks like a great time. I want to bisit the newish Martin Luther King Monument. Happy Anniversary.
We just went there recently as well! I love the history mixed with the beautiful architecture