DC in DC - A Delicious Vacation

Airport food, 5 hour plane rides, and being forced to sleep with my seat un-reclined never seemed so appealing until my recent trip to Washington, D.C. Last week, after a long awaited 8 weeks following graduation, I was finally jumping on a plane to the East Coast to visit my girlfriend who was interning at the EPA only a few miles from the White House. No big deal. The trip was just what I needed - a vacation from myself coupled with some new scenery, great company, and of course AWESOME FOOD.

The EPA office building. If you think it looks pretty epic, you're damn right. 

First thing's first. Washington D.C. is HOT. But, after getting used to the humidity and sucking it up, the weather turned out to be very accommodating for all of the things, monuments, and activities that I got to do throughout both the day and evening. Also, watching business men walk around in full length pants and suit coats also made me realize I'd have to stop being such a spoiled Californian, at least for a week.

I made the best out of my week on the East Coast, doing more stuff and walking more miles than I have in the past 2 months combined, easily. Accompanied by my lovely tour guide Lily, I got to see all of the monuments along the National Mall, I checked out all kinds of museums from National Geographic to the Smithsonian Air and Space, and the Museum of Natural History. That barely touches the tip of the "things we did" iceberg. The White House, National Congress Building, and Washington Monument were all checked off the list as well. Here's just a few pictures:

The Capitol.

Library of Congress: Jefferson Building. Amazing architecture, bright lights, marble floors. Sort of Parisian, no?

Same guy different state. At the World War II Memorial with the Washington Monument in the background.

Smithsonian National Gallery of Art. Shot taken from the Smithsonian Architecture Garden at dusk.

The Washington Monument. Extremely large, extremely humbling, extremely epic. Although I learned the Titanic was actually bigger (longer) than this; thats nuts. 

Flying into the Reagan National Airport, I was able to see all of these monuments from the sky as well. Truly an amazing experience. Looking down onto the D.C. expanse in the evening rivaled the extraordinary view of seeing the San Francisco Bay Area at night time (although nothing beats that). Throughout my trip I was able to see Washington D.C. from the air, land, and water. Before getting to the airport for my flight out at 5:40PM on Monday, Lily and I got to do the two things we enjoy most. We spent carefree time together while seeing the National Mall from the water as we paddle boated the Potomac River, and ate great food at Del Frisco's Grille. Those were undoubtedly the themes of my trip.

Paddle Boating the Potomac. Jefferson Memorial in the background.Tired legs right in front of you.

We ate such great food that all of the grub deserves its own blog post. I will do it all justice in my next post!