Pictures from Our Tour of the US Capitol
Posted on April 21, 2015 by Ching under Things to Do, Travel.
These pictures just give you a hint of the architectural details and art that you can see at the Capitol. They don’t do justice to the real deal, though. You’ll just have to go check it out for yourself. Click here to arrange for a tour.
I recommend booking a tour in advance because the lines are really long. There’s also a “Public Walk-up” option but I wouldn’t advice it as there’s a chance you may not get a tour at all.
We got our tour through Congressman Huelskamp’s office. We were told that the Senators’ offices are way busier with their pages giving a couple of tours a week. If you go through the House of Representatives then it’s easier to get a tour scheduled because they only do about one or two a month. I’m not sure if this is the case in other states, but it’s true for Kansas.
You can book a tour here. If you’re not sure who your Representative is, you can find out here. If you’re not sure who your Senators are, click here.
Spring and summer are generally busy times for the US Capitol but, if you go, I recommend avoiding field trip season. Seriously. When we were there a couple of weeks ago, the Capitol was so crowded that you could barely move. There were several tours going on at the same time and we kept running into other tour groups.
It was still a great, educational experience overall but I think that it would have been way better if there were fewer people. I hope you all get a chance to visit and tour the US Capitol. Despite the crowds, it was pretty darn cool.
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District Kitchen
Posted on April 20, 2015 by Ching under Food and Drink, Travel.
District Kitchen is this really cool restaurant in Woodley Park just around the corner from our hotel. With its exposed brick walls and hip ambiance, the restaurant reminds me of 715 in Lawrence. Maybe it’s the lightbulbs.
It didn’t take long for the restaurant to get packed.
It was a busy evening so it took a while for our food to arrive. It was well worth the wait, though. Here are some pictures.
These brussel sprouts don’t look like much but they were quite popular. Everyone who tried a bite loved it, except for Ginger who found it too sweet. I didn’t try it myself though, so I wouldn’t know.
After dinner we got three of the desserts to share and sample.
This is the apple and fig bread pudding with vanilla ice cream.
This is the banana créme brûlée.
Brian didn’t have dinner because he already had dinner earlier that evening (the babe calzone from Open City, which was his favorite meal DC) but he did enjoy the triple chocolate brownie. It was quite decadent and super delicious. I know because I shared it with him. It’s definitely not to be missed.
Another thing that’s not to be missed is a trip to the restroom.
Theis is definitely one of the coolest restrooms I’ve ever used.
I also liked this sign on the wall which is a clever way of saying not to flush anything but toilet paper down the drain. It’s in keeping with the bathroom theme and decor.
I really liked District Kitchen. There are lots of neat little restaurants in Woodley Park and I think this is one of the better ones. Darcy did a great job in picking it out.
If you are ever in the area, District Kitchen is definitely worth checking out. And, the best part is that it’s only a metro stop away. (At least check out the restroom.)
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Favorite Pictures from the National Mall
Posted on April 18, 2015 by Ching under Travel.
Just wanted to share with you all my favorite pictures from the National Mall. There are no stores there, by the way.
Jokes aside, it was a beautiful day for a nice walk around the park.
These photos were taken at the Lincoln Memorial.
There were a ton of people there.
Getting a picture of Lincoln’s statue without any people in it was quite a feat.
This is a view of the Washington Monument from the Lincoln Memorial.
The reflection pool was empty, which was kind of a bummer. Anyway, here are some more pictures of the impressive Washington Monument.
Did I mention that there were a ton of people?
These photos were taken at the National World War II Memorial
Pictures from the Korean War Veterans Memorial.
These photos were taken at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
Brian got some amazing photos of the statues.
We walked along the Tidal Basin where they were celebrating the National Cherry Blossom Festival. We wanted to check out the cherry blossoms, which is a huge attraction in DC during this time of year. They hadn’t bloomed yet, though. I was kind of bummed about that also.
We did get a nice picture of the Jefferson Memorial in the background, though.
Anyway, you get the idea. There’s a ton more pictures on Flickr if you feel so inclined. Browse away.
P.S. We did get to see the cherry blossoms bloom on our last day, but they weren’t in their full glory until after we left.
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Getting Around in DC
Posted on April 18, 2015 by Ching under Travel.
We walked by this sushi place on our way to the metro station. I wanted to try the $1 sushi at happy hour but Brian was a party pooper and wouldn’t let me. I looked at the restaurant’s reviews online and they were all favorable. I think we really missed out.
We found a Dunkin’ Donuts right by the metro station which was fantastic because it ended up being Brian’s daily coffee stop.
I had to take a picture of the restroom at Dunkin’ because it had a keypad. You couldn’t use the restroom unless you had the code. Weirdest thing ever.
Descending down the metro station at Woodley Park was a trip. It was a long, long, long way down. Naturally, we had to take an obligatory escalator selfie to commemorate our very first time using the WMATA.
This super nice WMATA lady helped us figure out the best way to get around. SmartTrip cards are definitely the way to go because you save $1 on the cost of each fare on Metrorail, which comes out to $2 for each roundtrip far (compared to using a paper farecard). It cost us $10 each to get our SmarTrip cards but each card came with an $8 load, and they’re reloadable.
Speaking of fares, we also learned that fares during peak times (before 9:30 AM and between 3:00 PM and 7:00 PM) are more expensive than off-peak fares so, to save on fares, Brian usually didn’t leave the hotel to go on sightseeing adventures until after nine.
WMATA has quite an impressive rail system and it continues to improve. They’re in the middle of an expansion right now actually. Metrorail pretty much allows you to go anywhere you need to go. We got quite familiar with it during our stay. We’d just take the red line from Woodley Park, where our hotel is located, to Metro Center and we could hop on the silver, orange, or blue lines. It was amazing, and fast too! I can’t imagine driving.
If you ever find yourself in the Washington DC area, I highly recommend getting one of these SmarTrip cards. Trust me on this one!
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Dad’s 60th Birthday Dinner
Posted on April 17, 2015 by Ching under Family, Food and Drink.
And we take a break from all of the DC blog posts to show you pictures from dad’s 60th birthday dinner at Cy’s Hoof & Horn.
They say that it’s better to spend money on experiences rather than buying things so rather than buying a present for dad we opted buy dinner for the family instead.
For dad’s birthday Brian and I took mom, dad, and Jenni to our new favorite place to eat steak. Jenni got the filet mignon, which is what I had the last time. I thought it was good but I really, really liked Brian’s chicken fried steak so I ended up getting the chicken fried steak this time around.
Brian and dad both got chicken fried steak also.
I don’t know why we each had to get one, all three of us could have shared one piece. The chicken fried steak portions at Cy’s are enormous.
Mom got a steak salad. Only my mom would get a salad at a steak place. LOL. At least her salad was topped with slices of beef, I guess.
Brian and I can’t wait for his mom and dad to visit because we want to take them to Cy’s also. Now that we’ve discovered Cy’s we just want to bring everyone there.
Cy’s isn’t just a great place to eat steak, it’s a great place for a nice family dinner. I hope dad enjoyed his 60th birthday dinner just as much as we did.
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