We spent our first anniversary apart.  Charles was at “bar camp,” aka cramming to take the bar exam.  (But seriously, he lived on campus. It was like camp.) And I was trapped in the mountains with my family due to a flash flood.  Charles took the bar a couple of days after our anniversary, and we celebrated about a week later with a $5 Hot-N-Ready, our last bottle of red wine from the wedding, and our cake.  Needless to say, #2 needed to be a good one!

Charles has loved trains since he was little, and I’ve only taken one train in my life (the EuroStar), so we thought it would be fun to take the train up to Washington, DC for the weekend.  We were all set until we looked at the train prices early last week–they had gone up considerably, and our only time options were to get into DC at 5:00 pm on Friday and leave at 10:00 am on Sunday.  That didn’t leave us much city time, so we decided to put off our train excursion for a little longer and instead make it a road trip!

Lucky for us, DC is only about 4 hours away, which is actually less than the train ride. We booked our little Georgetown studio apartment on Airbnb weeks in advance.  This was our first experience with Airbnb and we could not have been happier! The place was just perfect, and right in the heart of Georgetown. If you’re planning a trip to DC, we totally recommend it!

Friday night we got all spiffed up and had cocktails at Off the Record, the swanky bar in the gorgeous Hay Adams Hotel.  To steal a line from our good friend who recommended the bar, it seems like the kind of place where politicians would meet for a drink, unless they’re doing sketchy stuff. Everything from the atmosphere, the appetizers, the drinks, and the decor was just perfect. We loved this place so much, we went back for dessert too!

We especially loved this Lincoln caricature, although I’m not sure why.

After a fancy cocktail or two, we headed around the block to Old Ebbitt Grill.  Founded in 1856, this is the oldest “saloon” in Washington and has had just about every politician between then and now stop in for a visit. The food was pretty good, if slightly under seasoned, but the place was just incredibly too crowded and too loud.  But still a good time, nonetheless.

Saturday was our day to be tourists! We met up with our good friend, Erin, who’s living in the city now and she gave us a little tour.  We walked around the capitol, toured the Library of Congress, and checked out a few museums. And of course we got a picture of Charles and Erin at the Supreme Court, since they met in law school.

If you couldn’t tell from the pictures, I was completely in love with the incredible architecture and details in the Library of Congress. I particularly loved the orange and purple corridor — it reminded me of our color choices for the dining room.

Thanks to several of your recommendations, we decided to check out the Spy Museum. It was the only museum we paid for ($22 each), but it was well worth it. So much fun!

But when all is said and done, nothing beats the historic little streets of Georgetown. I loved everything about it!

Overall it was a wonderful anniversary weekend! #2 beats #1 hands down!! :)

In case you’re wondering, here’s the deets on our stay…

Where we stayed: Georgetown condo

Where we ate & drank:

1. Off the Record (drinks, apps, and zerts)
2. Old Ebbitt Grill (dinner)
3. Mandarin Oriental Hotel (breakfast)
4. Gordon Biersch (lunch)
5. The Whiskey Room (dinner)
6. Jackson 20 in Old Town Alexandria (brunch)

Where we visited:

1. National Mall
2. Library of Congress
3. Supreme Court
4. National Museum of the American Indian
5. Spy Museum