Washington DC this spring

Hi folks,

My wife’s birthday is coming up and we’re going to DC for the weekend. We have our hotel and dinner reservations for Friday and Saturday night at Annabelle and 2941. We enjoy museums but the Smithsonian is closed for COVID. We like gardens and so will check out their gardens which I saw are open. We like to walk more than hike so paved foot paths would be cool, unpaved trails not so much for this trip.

Please share recommendations on things to do, places to go during the day on Saturday and Sunday in DC.

Thanks!

Lonnie…The walk from the Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial and surrounding area is paved and will consume a couple hours if that is what you are looking for. We were just in DC for college visits. Another suggestion is to walk around Georgetown campus and then along Wisconsin. Beautiful campus. Also Arlington Cemetery.

Cool. Thanks

An incredibly wonderful garden - 53 acres - but hidden directly in Georgetown is Dumbarton Oaks. Check their bloom schedule - your timing possibly could be very good. Dumbarton Oaks is virtually unknown except to native Washingtonians and scholars (it houses a Harvard Institute), and is quite a place. I’m not sure if you can still picnic there - they have tightened the rules over the years - but if so, it is a great place to bring a great picnic w/ great wine kept on the down-low. They also have concerts in the main house, and various tours.

Another place, very different, but also in Georgetown (if you are there), tiny garden, but where you can have a picnic/your sandwiches + wine in the heart of the Georgetown w/ almost complete solitude is the Old Stone House on M Street - its the oldest structure still standing I believe in Washington DC (c. 1765), from back when there was no DC but only the tiny swamp-town of Georgetown. It’s run by the Park Service, and the history is really interesting. But the intact garden in the back is - or at least always used to be (I haven’t been there for 2 years) - a little jewel in Georgetown.

Not much further from DC than 2941 is Brookside Gardens in Wheaton. It is inspired by Longwood Gardens and is very nice, bigger than Dumbarton and the Smithsonian gardens and with more interesting plants.

Depending on when you are here the National Arboretum may have some nice blooms (dogwood area, azalea area, Asian garden area; cherries and magnolias are done, very cool banzai and penjing exhibit which may still be closed). From there it is easy to check out H Street, Capitol Hill, or the Union Market area, all of which have their attractions.

Take out pizza and small plates from 2 Amy’s and picnic on the National Cathedral grounds. Nice small garden and grounds there.

Dumbarton is still closed per their website.

Hillwood, the estate that belonged to Marjorie Post of cereal fame, is open. Beautiful landscape and a Faberge egg collection.
https://www.hillwoodmuseum.org/gardens

Thanks for the recommendations

Yeah I’d say definitely spend a half day or so walking the mall and the monuments/memorials (Lincoln, WW2, Vietnam, FDR, Jefferson, MLK, etc etc etc) - paved paths and plenty to see outdoors. Georgetown campus / neighborhood are also great to walk around (ok I might be a biased alum:).

In fact if you have a lot of steps in you, a nice way to spend a day is start around Georgetown campus or thereabouts, wander down towards Wisconsin Ave / M Street and explore those areas, get a good brunch/lunch (tons of options), then walk down to the waterfront (Georgetown Waterfront Park). Bunch of restaurants on the water as well but food probably isn’t special, just nice scenery so perfect for a drink or small bites sitting outside. Then, walk all the way along the Potomac to the Lincoln memorial (you’ll pass the Kennedy Center) - the whole path is paved, lots of runners and bikers. From the Lincoln memorial you can do the monuments / memorials in the afternoon heading towards the Capitol. Or, do the whole thing in reverse starting near the Capitol.

Dupont neighborhood is also nice to wander around and catch a meal, and Rock Creek Park if you’re looking for more outdoorsy walking / biking. I’ve heard the International Spy Museum is pretty cool but never been, looks like it’s open - near the mall. One more idea, the whole area down by the Navy Yard / Nationals baseball park has been redeveloped since I went to school down there, and now has a ton of restaurants bars etc on the waterfront that could be fun to walk around.

The International Spy Museum is open. Definitely recommend. I suggest signing up for an earlier arrival time. We signed up for the last slot of the day and ran out of time prior to close.

We had a wonderful trip. The highlights were our 2 dinners.

Friday night was 2941. My wife had the White Asparagus Velouté and the duck breast. I had yellow fin tuna tartare followed by a rib eye tournedo. Wine was a 2013 Dunn Napa Cabernet that was in a sweet spot.

Saturday night was Annabelle. We were surprised by a friend who lavished us with wonder. English pea risotto, fiddle head fern with mushrooms, tri tips and a big juicy pork chop. The wines included Billecart-Salmon brut followed by Billecart-Salmon rose and a delicious bottle of 2014 Jean-Louis Chave Saint Joseph.

The food, wine and service were excellent at both places. The evening at Annabelle was an emotional and culinary delight.

Glad you enjoyed Annabelle. The chef is a local legend!

Thanks for the update. 2941 is one of our favorites. Got there a couple times last year and other than a few logistical hiccups (forgivable for obvious reasons) they were still on their game. Our anniversary is close to Bastille day and they always do a nice special menu for that.

Glad you enjoyed your trip. I’ll have to put Annabelle on the list of places to try.

Apparently cooked for 3 presidents.

That sounds amazing! Ashamed as a local I’ve never been to either, but the area is definitely becoming a foodie hub. I’m wondering if they’ll let me bring my own Billecart :smiley:

We’re planning a very late May/early June trip to DC. Four adults and two 12 year olds. Anything new to recommend for that time period or has changed since last year? The kids will be with us for everything and are used to fine dining and are well behaved, so we don’t have real restrictions there.

Is corkage universally accepted in D.C. and the immediate area restaurants?

Corkage is broadly but not universally accepted.

My two favorite places are still Annabelle and 2 Amy’s but there are a bunch of new restaurants. IMO a lot of the new places in town lack soul.

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Thanks Doug! I have a list made from this thread that my wife is going through and pretty sure we’ll be making Annabelle reservations.

For our trip we have reservations at:

Rasika West
1789
Annabelle
Centrolina

We have room for two more dinners, but probably looking for something downscale with those four already on the books. Maybe an oyster or crab bar? Lunches are wide open and I guess we’ll play it by ear. If anyone has suggestions for those dinners or lunches, I would love to hear them. We’ll be using Uber/Lyft/cabs for transportation.

We had lunch at Blacksalt last week and it was really,really good.we went after a visit to the nearby Kreeger museum which was also really, really good.


http://www.blacksaltrestaurant.com/carry-out-menu