Weekend Adventures in DC

As a result of winning this contest, my travel, hotel accommodations, and race bib were sponsored by Cabot Creamery Cooperative this past weekend.

Hi friends!  It’s been a busy week since I got back from DC Sunday evening.  While I re-caped my race related adventures in Monday’s post, I thought I’d share some food and fitness related adventures too!  This trip marked almost a full year from the last time I was in DC and a lot has changed in my life since then.  For starters, I no longer blog on Quick, Healthy, Delicious (reason described here).  I am no longer a dietetic intern and am instead working as a dietitian.  Between these changes and moving twice, a lot certainly has changed, making it even more fun to be back in our Nation’s capitol.  Sorry, enough reminiscing, let’s talk food; I’m hungry!

Cabot flew myself and a friend out early Friday so we had almost the entire day to explore.  First stop was lunch, obviously 🙂 .  We hit up the food trucks on Franklin Square which happened to be right by our hotel.  It was also fun because I ate lunch on the Franklin Square benches almost every day during my short internship at Food Directions.  I got a falafel platter.  Totally delicious.

  
It was such a nice day outside, we decided to wander DC for a bit and walked the little over a mile to the race expo.  We stopped for some obligatory White House photos along the way.  Had to take advantage of that 80 F sunshine 🙂

  
Next stop was Capitol City Brewing.  This was a spot on my list of places to visit in DC that I never made it to last year.  Good thing we were walking by it on the way back to the hotel.  Had to try a seasonal cherry wheat beer.  So refreshing!  It definitely hit the spot.

   
 
After changing at the hotel, it was off to dinner.  We had plans to meet some family members of mine for a meal at Duke’s Grocery.  I had read great reviews about Duke’s and clearly the crowd of people at the restaurant agreed.  Their menu changes daily and uses fresh ingredients.  Love this concept!  We enjoyed a great meal sampling delicious food and drinks.  Mary and I split the Cuban and the short rib sandwich.  Both were absolutely delicious.  Thanks again for treating to dinner Lynn!  It was so nice to see you and Gary.

   
     

Saturday was just as jam packed with adventures.  First on the agenda, a pre-race yoga session.  Mary and I decided to check out Core Power Yoga in Dupont due to their “first week is free” deal.  I highly recommend.  The instructor was encouraging and definitely pushed me to try some new poses I had never seen before.  Perfect stretch session before a long day of walking and Sunday’s 10 mile race!  

After yoga, we had to hit up Founding Farmers.  They are known for their brunch and are very locally minded.  The menu isn’t incredibly fancy, but the food was well executed.  Mary and I again decided to split two dishes because obviously tasting two meals is better than one!  We tried the banana foster waffle (AMAZING) and the sausage mushroom and spinach scramble.  And of course we had bloody marys.  It was brunch after all.

   
   
Next stop, the capitol!  Mary scored us a tour.  It’s always nice to do something educational and informative.  Plus it got us out of the rain.

  
Next stop on the agenda, Eastern Market!  I wanted to go back to this area because it’s where I lived last May when I was interning in DC and Mary wanted to check out this cupcake place.  Check and check!  We also took a detour and strolled through the outdoor flea market set up as well.  The sun was coming out and the weather was perfect for some outdoor shopping.

   
 We finished off our afternoon with a stroll through the national mall.  Before we knew it, with all the ground we covered, we had walked almost 9 miles.  Maybe not the best idea before a race.  Oh well!  We walked through a kite festival at the Washington Monument.

  
Visited Ohio.

  
Witnessed an engagement by Lincoln.

  

And walked through a giant pillow fight by the tidal basin.

  
After the race on Sunday, Mary and I obviously had find some local donuts.  After hearing about Church Key‘s donut holes, we had our restaurant.  My favorite donut was the lemon poppy seed donut.  I loved the glaze so much I am going to try and re-create it on a blueberry muffin.  We also split a plate of scrambled eggs and chicken and waffles.  The food was good, but quite frankly, I was not pleased with the service.  But the donuts were heavenly so all was good.

   
 
Our last adventure before heading out was finding some old college friends who were also in town.  Mary and I worked with Mel and Maggie at Harris Dining Hall when we were students at Miami University.  It’s crazy to think how long ago that was.  Mel is engaged and Maggie is done with law school now.  Time certainly flies!  Great seeing you ladies 🙂

  
After enjoying a delicious falafel bowl at CAVA Mezze Grill, it was time to fly home.

  
Till next time DC!