A few weeks ago I planned a last minute trip to visit my friend and her family in Baltimore/Washington, DC. I literally bought the plane ticket a few days before my departure. She lives on the East coast so it's nice to find time to visit one another. This trip was undoubtedly needed and gave me a much required mental boost.
I traveled to Baltimore first and then we went to Washington, DC. I had never visited either city so it was nice to be in a new location. We spent majority of our time in Washington, DC on Saturday with her family. It was lovely seeing the arts and experiencing the culture of the city. The trip summed up into three words would be, Food, Art, and Fun
Food
My favorite part of traveling is definitely trying out new and different food. I didn't eat much in Baltimore since we mainly spent time in Washington, DC. The food in Washington, DC did not disappoint! We went to a local market called Union Market. It was a large market place with many different food/retail vendor shops. It has been in existence for over 200 years! There was a vast amount of different cultural options to choose from and enjoy. I was almost overwhelmed with the variety that it took me an hour to finally select a lunch option. We spent half our day at that market browsing the different merchants and over-indulging in food. I ate way too much but all of the food was so delicious!
I should have been done eating for the remainder of the trip from the amount I ate during the day, but, nope! We went to an amazing restaurant downtown called, The Hamilton
This eclectic and ginormous restaurant was amazing! The inside is huge and has four different rooms decorated each in their own way. The atmosphere was electric and diverse. This place offered multiple sit-down space for dining and separate bar areas. It was sophisticated yet didn't come off as "saddity." They also house live music. We only enjoyed their private dining section but many locals recommended this place to enjoy live music as well. If you are ever in Washington, DC I definitely recommend stopping by The Hamilton to enjoy a fun-filled experience!
Art
Washington, DC is known for all of the interesting museums and extensive amount of art in the city. We were on bit of a time crunch but we were able to visit the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery. There was so much more I wanted to do while in Washington, DC but visiting the gallery was high on my priority list. I wanted to view Michelle and Barack Obama's infamous portraits. The museum was packed which included a long but well worth it wait for an up-close view of the Obama portraits.
The remainder of our art adventure included driving around the city to view the monuments and the important buildings from the car. Again, we were short on time but being near the presence of so much culture definitely made me amped for my next trip to Washington, DC. It will definitely be longer to give me chance to experience more of the amazing sights.
Fun
Fun was the nature of the entire trip but especially on my final day. Sunday we traveled back to Baltimore to go to the Bengals vs. Ravens NFL football game. I am a Bengals fan and the game was not the best for us but I did have a great time! I have worked for the Cincinnati Bengals for the past 5 seasons for home game days. So I don't get to enjoy the fan version of the game often. It was nice to experience the game as just a fan while in Baltimore. The atmosphere was electric as expected and we were seated next to Bengals fan which made it even better. Sadly, we did not win, but it was a win for me on attending my first away Bengals game.
If you are looking for a quick getaway vacation I highly recommend planning a trip to Washington, DC. I only spent about 24 hours there and immensely fell in love with the city. There is so much to do and many of the sights are free.
Let me know in the comments your suggestions for quick getaway vacation trips!
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