Travel Series: Washington DC

Ah, Washington DC! Oh, what power you exude! It is literally the powerhouse of the country. A game-changing location where behind closed doors, the country is run. A vantage point where the powers that be oversee the gears that control the nation. In a nutshell, it’s one of the most formidable cities in the world!

As a die-hard fan of the Netflix show House of Cards, it was a surreal experience to personally witness all the monuments and majestic architecture depicted in the opening sequence of the show. Now, when we watch reruns, we can point out all the places we traversed and experienced first hand. Not to say that we had no previous knowledge of the magnificent Washington DC sights prior to House of Cards. Nothing could be further from the truth lol. After years of history and government classes, countless hours of immersing ourselves in books, and exposure to the media’s depiction of the nation’s capital, we were finally in its midst. Can you say life-changing experience!

We walked the halls of the Capitol Hill building. We explored the green lawns of the Supreme Court compound. We toured the Martin Luther King memorial, coming face to face with immortalized depictions of some of his famous speeches; quotes forever ingrained in concrete for the benefit of generations to come.  We paid our respects to all those lost in combat at the WWII and Korean war memorials. We went, we saw, we were inspired. We would never be the same again.

Given the fact that a picture is worth a thousand words, instead of bombarding you with a barrage of wording, we’ll let you experience DC vicariously through the photographs we took while there.  Disclaimer: Contrary to the photography overload,  we were only in DC for 3 days lol. Without much further ado, feast your eyes on the magnificence that is the great Washington DC!

The city is chock-full of stunning architectural masterpieces. The following are a few that we were able to photographically capture.

DC Tips Based on Our Experience

• Affordable parking spots are few and far between.  Plus the ‘meter police” will appear out of the woodwork when you least expect it. We got a ticket, while we were in the car waiting to get some change for the meter. *blank stare*  Also, DC is relatively small (well, in comparison to  Texas where we are from); therefore,  prepare for tightly squeezed parking spots. We quickly realized that Uber was a more convenient option.
• Go to Nandos Peri-Peri for at least one meal. Their food is out of this world! Can you say finger-licking good! We especially loved their Portuguese rice and spicy chicken.
• We also highly recommend Roti Modern Mediterranean. They hands down have the best salads we have had in a while.
• If you can, we recommend staying at the Kimpton Carlyle Dupont Circle. We had a phenomenal stay there, and previously wrote about our experience here.
• Do the City Bus Tours. Trust me, it will save you the time and hassle of trying to see all those sights separately. We totally enjoyed our hop-on, hop-off bus tour via DC Trails Tour. Our tour guide was beyond hilarious and absolutely knowledgeable about the history and current affairs of DC. For a two day pass, we got to see a host of monuments and tourist attractions that we wouldn’t otherwise have been able to see within our limited time frame. Note that our tickets also covered a twilight tour which entailed exploring the city’s sights by night. We highly recommend the experience.  Insider info: If you sign up for the Twilight Tour, be sure to line up at least an hour before the bus departs, if sitting on the top deck of the bus is your cup of tea. Those seats fill up pretty fast.
• If you choose to traverse the city sans the guided tours, The National Mall area (where majority of the monuments and memorials are located) would be a great place to start.