Julia has invited me to visit her in DC several times, but we never made conclusive plans. One summer day, she drove up from DC to Philly to run some errands, and I offered her my apartment to stay overnight. Then we got the brilliant idea that this would be the perfect opportunity to take her up on her offer to visit DC, so the next morning, I hopped in her car and hitched a ride back with her from Philly to DC.
12:00PM // We picked up a snack on our way into DC at Teas’n You, snacking a bit in store before taking the rest with us and finishing it in the car. My matcha milk bubble tea was delicious, but the Taiwanese popcorn chicken was truly satisfying! It’s not just any place you can find good Taiwanese popcorn chicken!
1:00PM // Our first stop in DC was Georgetown. I could totally imagine Georgetown University students taking leisurely weekend strolls around town just to get out; it’s so close to campus and there are so many stores! It was a bit of a pain for us with a car on a summer weekend, but once we had it parked and were free to walk about, the crowd wasn’t too hard to bear. We popped into Paul for a raspberry macaron and Baked & Wired for lemon raspberry and pistachio cardamom cupcakes. Georgetown Cupcake and Sprinkles Cupcakes are also in Georgetown, but Baked & Wired is Julia’s favourite. Regardless, all three stores had queues running along the blocks! We carried out our pastries and headed to the Waterfront to enjoy them. But having stuffed ourselves with Taiwanese popcorn chicken previously, we were each only able to take one bite out of each cupcake before we packed them up and headed to our next destination. But also, as great as pastries on the Waterfront was, we just wanted to get out of the heat!
2:00PM // The best thing to do on a hot day? Keep cool inside a museum! There are several free museums on the National Mall, but we chose the Hirshhorn Museum, Julia’s favourite!
3:30PM // Whilst on the National Mall, we peeked down to the Capitol Building and Washington Monument.
3:45PM // Before leaving National Mall, we spied the Enid A. Haupt Garden. We didn’t expect too much from it, but we had an awkward amount of time to fill — enough time to pop by somewhere, but not enough time for a whole nother activity — so why not check it out? In the garden, we found this beautiful nook and had ourselves a little photoshoot. I even pulled out my book as a prop and tucked my bag behind a plant, hidden from the camera. Will definitely be using a shot from that photoshoot for a future book roundup on the blog ;P
4:15PM // We started feeling a little peckish, so we darted into Nando’s — my second Nando’s experience ever! (My first was during my Cambridge visit.) We scarfed down a shared plate of 1/4 chicken with a side of fries before Julia had to send me off to catch my bus back to Philly.
All in all, I think we had a very productive five hours in DC, covering Georgetown, the National Mall, and Chinatown (that’s where Nando’s is). A huge thank you to Julia for driving me down and showing me around!
What are your DC must sees?
PS: 12 hours in nyc (harry potter and the cursed child), another 12 hours in nyc (dear evan hansen)