Snapshots of Washington DC

I knew that the list of things I wanted to see and do in Washington DC was long. But if I am being truthful, we planned our visit to the United States capital mostly because we wanted to check it off our travel bucket list. Neither one of us imagined we would fall in love with DC, but that’s exactly what happened.

The trip was a bit of an adventure. And that’s probably part of what made it so memorable. We flew into Baltimore early on Friday morning. The descent was bumping but uneventful, and we didn’t think much of the wind outside the airport. When the shuttle to the MARC train station didn’t arrive, we simply hopped in a cab… It wasn’t until we actually arrived at the station that we discovered the rail lines were down. The length of police tape wrapped around the entrance and the crowd of stranded riders should have been our two first clues. We had no cell service to call anyone. But, unwilling to miss a second of holiday time, we took a very expensive cab ride to Washington DC with a charming man of African extraction; his fascination with Canada gave us a lot to talk about on the hour-long trip!

Nor’Easters battered cities further north for most of our stay, which meant cold and windy days. But the sun was out. High winds enough to deter us from seeing the sites. (That said, on our last day in the city, I sat down next to a heater and realised I’d been cold for a week straight.)

We changed hotels three times, partly because we wanted to and partly because I can’t count. Two out of three hotels were lovely. The third defies conventional description. I have never seen a building so utterly worn and broken, despite what appeared to be very regular maintenance. We’ll remember our stay at The District for years to come, although not for any good reasons. It’s safe to say we’ll remember our time at The Fairmont, too – one our second day there, a car crashed through the front window into the lobby just moments after we came in. Like I said, it was an adventure.

It went by too quickly. All of the monuments were more imposing, more breathtaking than we imagined. The museums were bigger than we expected and full of more artefacts than we could properly take in. We walked and walked and walked. We still didn’t come close to seeing it all. It surprises me to say it, but we even drank less wine than usual – we were too busy gallivanting all over the city to stop for drinks!

Washington DC sat on my travel bucket list for a long time. Many cities do – there is so much world and never enough time. I don’t wish we visited sooner. Not really, anyway. Washington DC proved absolutely worth the wait. I will always remember it as a wonderfully pleasant surprise. Truthfully, I’m not sure when we’ll go back. There is still so much world and so little time to see it all. But we loved our time there. The food, the art, the architecture, the shopping – everything we love was at our fingertips. And that made the adventures, which, in the moment, were frustrations, easy to live with. A beautiful city trumps a crappy hotel anytime – and the proof is in Washington DC.

Have you ever visited Washington DC? My full guide to the city is coming soon. I’ll round up all my favourites, from restaurants to attractions. But it won’t be easy. I loved it all. In the meantime, I’d love to hear your impressions of the US capital. Please share!