Washington DC is the perfect city to visit for a long weekend. You can expect a lot of museums, Monuments, walking, and great gardens. A lot of people are visiting the city using bikes or electric scooters, on our side, as always we prefer to walk.
Check the map at the bottom of the post for the hikes and the Booze sites.
Our Best “Hikes”
Monuments from the west
We wake up early, grab a coffee to go and a donut and start by the Thomas Jefferson memorial. Before 9 am only a few tourists are here and the light is great. We also see the Marine 1 helicopter and the Washington monument reflecting on the pond. We then head northwest around the pond to the Roosevelt memorial and to the Martin Luther King memorial. These sites are mostly empty if you arrive early. The next stop is the Lincoln Memorial around 9:45 am. This is too late to have a great reflection on the pool and to beat the crowd. For the end of the walk we go east to the World war 2 monument and the Washington Monument. This is a good morning tour to do before 10am and the opening of the museums.
Capitol hill to the arboretum
We start by walking around the Capitol. The east side of the building is nice with the morning light. We then head northeast on Maryland Avenue and take our breakfast at Jacob’s Coffee house (you may just stop the walk here and go back to the capitol). After a good coffee, we continue on Maryland Avenue. We appreciate this residential neighborhood. We then take Bladensurg rd to go to the Arboretum. This area is not as good as the first one and we would certainly avoid crossing it during the night. We finally arrive at the arboretum entry following a road that was more designed for cars than for pedestrians. We have a short tour of the arboretum where we enjoy the banzai area which is near the entrance. It contains a great variety of banzai and is very relaxing. The Arboretum is a nice surprise, but is maybe easier to visit with a car. It also has the advantage to be relatively close to the Other Half brewery (which unfortunately for us was closed for the oyster war).
South River Walk to Capitol
Full disclosure, we only tried a part of this hike. But looking back at the map it’s certainly a good one to try. Go south from the Warf to the Audi field by following the river. Then head to Solace brewery and take the Anacostia Riverwalk until the 11th Street Bridge. Then go north to Capitol Hill and the capitol.
Visit the Museums
All the Smithsonian museums are free and conveniently located. Visiting them is one of the top activities in Washington. We visited at least quickly the museums below. Overall they are interesting and it’s great to have all of them close together and free. We were sometimes surprised that information was missing from our point of view. (The Air and Space which is often the most recommended was unfortunately closed)
- National Museum of the American Indians: One of our favorite ones because it is quiet, the gift shop is great, and we liked the part about how American Indian names were used for commercial branding.
- National Museum of African Americans: We really liked the sports section and the music.
- National Museum of American History: We honestly found this one a little bit weak.
- National Museum of Natural history: Great stone, gem collection, and taxidermy animals. Some of the explanations are sometimes oversimplified on the evolution part which can lead to a difficult understanding.
- United States Botanic Garden: Great garden when you are tired of museums. Definitely worth at least a quick visit.
- Library of Congress: This quick visit is interesting
Be aware some of the sites need online free booking (African American museums and Library for us)
Our Best Booze
BlueJacket (UNTAPPD: 3.78)
BlueJacket is certainly one of the best breweries inside Washington DC. A great variety of beers is available to please everybody. We were positively surprised by the kitchen which offers classic brewery dishes and some more elaborate ones. As example the tots were nice home made tots instead of frozen ones.
Solace Outpost Navy Yard (UNTAPPD: 3.79)
Solace brewery at Outpost Navy Yard is a great location. They have nice beers, the food is good and the outside area well located. The site is very open, with views on the Anacostia River. We also like the presence of all the soccer fans. From the brewery you have access to a nice walk by following the Anacostia Riverwalk trail.
Thrasher’s Rum / Tiki TNT
This distillery is located south of the National Mall on the waterfront. It’s a great place to get a cocktail and watch the sunset. They offer affordable cocktails during the happy hours. This is perfect to relax after a long day of walking.
Other Half
Unfortunately for us the place was closed. But we know their beers are great and the location looks super recent. They are located outside of Washington, but close to the arboretum.
Our Best Food
Falafel Inc
Great Falafel and Mediterranean food to go. Good, affordable, and well located in the Warf. You can just order something to go and find a spot over the river to eat.
District Doughnut
Good Donuts and coffee to start your day. This is a perfect initial stop before going to the Jefferson Memorial. (the Coffee is done in advance)
Jacob’s Coffee House
Great small coffee behind the Capitol. We like the coffee and the neighborhood between the Capitol and the coffee.
Map
