April in DC: Day 2 and 3

Day two began bright and early for the March for Science! We took the metro (Navy Yard to Smithsonian) and walked to the Washington Monument where they had set up a stage for speakers, etc. The day before, we saw the stage being set up and certain lawns around the monument had been blocked off as well which made us really excited! We waited in a LONG line to get into the stage area for around 2 hours (in the rain) but it was son fun to see so many people with creative signs and costumes. We met people from all over the country and everyone was SO NICE. I guess that's the biggest perk of going to a march made up "science nerds" lol!

By the time we got into the event, there were only a few speakers left but we did get to hear Bill Nye which was fun! By then, the event was packed and we were wet and freezing from the rain so we took a few photos and headed somewhere dry for lunch.

    

We ended up at Chop't Salads in the Navy Memorial Square across from the National Archives. We all had different salads which were delicious and I had the vegetarian chili which warmed me right up and had great spicy flavor. Side note, the flowers all over DC at that time of year were so vibrant and beautiful! I wish I had taken better pictures, but these colorful pansies were my favorite.

One of my roommates from college, Claire, lives in Maryland and I was so happy she was able to meet us after lunch to explore the National Archives and the more of the Smithsonian museums. The Archives were so cool and I had chills in the rotunda where they keep the Declaration of Independence and Constitution. After the Archives, we headed to the National Gallery of Art. Claire was an Art History Major at Miami and worked at the National Gallery in High School and College so we were so thankful to have her as our tour guide! I really never thought I would enjoy the National Gallery as much as I did, but we all agreed it was our favorite part of the trip second to the segways. I mean how many times in your life do you see paintings in real life that you've seen a million times in history books? Here's a few of my favorite pieces: 

After we finished up at the National Gallery, Claire caught a train back to Maryland and we headed back to our hotel via metro. We relaxed for a bit and had dinner at Gordon Biersch because we just wanted something casual and close to the hotel. After dinner, we decided to go on a little adventure and got back on the metro walk around some of the monuments at night. It was so weird seeing no one with selfie sticks crowded around and I loved it! The capitol building was beautiful despite how terrible this photo is haha.

Sunday morning, we took the metro to Metro Center to walk around the White House for a bit. We came at quite an exciting time because while were there, secret service actually started moving everyone away from the gate in front of the house and back into the park across the street. We had to catch our brunch reservation, so we couldn't stay to see everything but during brunch we saw the motorcade go by so pretty sure it was the President or some member of his family leaving the White House! We had brunch at Old Ebbitt Grill which we had been recommended to us by multiple people. The Old Ebbitt Grill is right across from the White House so it has some interesting history and the food was delicious so I would definitely recommend this place as well! I had the crab cakes benedict and my sister had the bacon wrapped french toast.

While planning our trip, the Renwick Gallery was at the top of my list of things to see. We headed there after brunch since it's close to the White House too. We really enjoyed it and it's such a small museum, it was so easy to make it a quick stop on our short trip. 

And our last stop before flying back home was the Smithsonian Museum of American History. My favorite exhibits were the First Lady dresses and the lunch counter from the Greensboro sit-ins during the civil rights movement. This museum has a lot of new exhibits that are under construction, so it felt a little small but we enjoyed it.

     

And that's all from our short little weekend in DC! We had so much fun and I know I'll be back to see more. Hope you enjoyed my little recap and the photo overload! I'd love to know if any of you have been to DC and if so, what was your favorite part?