Our last and final stop on our trip was Washington D.C., our nations capital! There are so many things to do here we could have spent a week just in the museums alone. We hit up all of the historic places and found a few good restaurants to eat. I didn’t feel the food choices were as immense as the other 2 cities, but still had some great meals. One meal that stood out was from Woodward Table and it was the Beet and Baked Chevre Salad.

History

We used the sightseeing tours bus Old Town Trolley Tours to give us information on the history and cool facts about the area. We also rented bikes and rode around the National Mall, which is a must do!

• Washington Monument This was the centerpiece of the national mall that includes all of the monuments. We didn’t actually go up to or inside the monument, but apparently there is a statue of George Washington inside and an elevator that can take you to the top. There is a limited amount of people who are allowed to ride the elevator and you need to get your free tickets in advance.
• Memorials: Lincoln, Jefferson, MLK, WWII and so many more. Thomas Jefferson’s memorial faces towards the White House, but some say he is looking further East at the monument of Hamilton (Jefferson’s rival who is looking right back at him!) at the US Treasury department. Also in between these monuments is a statue of Washington at the Washington Monument, who tried to bridge their differences. At the Lincoln memorial there are 36 columns, one for each of the states in the union at the time of his death as well as a frieze above the columns naming these states. They also have the names of the states above  that were in the union at the time of the memorials dedication.

  

• The White House Apparently to get a tour here you have to sign up 21 days in advance so we just got a look at the outside. They had an extra fence around it, because someone had tried to jump it a few weeks earlier. 

  

• Arlington Cemetery This place is so big and so beautiful. This holds the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which has a changing of the guard every half hour, the graves of the Kennedy’s and over 400,000 more brave soldiers that have fought for our freedom over the years.  They average 30 funerals a day here and some wait over 7 months to be buried here.

  

• The Smithsonian Museums We went to the American History and Natural History Museums, but there are so many more! They are all free to enter, but accept donations. We could have spent a whole day at each place to look at all of the neat information and exhibits!

  

• Places I wish I had time for: Ford’s theater, Georgetown shopping, National Zoo

Food & Drink

The hotel that we stayed in (Residence Inn Arlington Pentagon City) was in walking distance to the subway station and had free food and drinks on Monday-Wednesday nights, which was awesome! I think we were too hungry from walking around Washington D.C. to take the time to snap pictures of the food, because I can’t find any! We ate it before we had the energy to pull out the camera.

• Woodward Table I had the Heirloom Beet and Baked Chevre Salad with Salmon on top. It was so delicious and that is why I decided to recreate it for this post. Adam had the Super Greens Salad with Steak.
• Old Ebbitt Grille I had the lump crab cake sandwich and Adam had the jalapeño burger with a jalapeño bun, which he loved, because he loves jalapeños! 
• Epic Smokehouse near the Pentagon. This place was in walking distance from our hotel. They have amazing BBQ and creative cocktails! I had the Smokehouse chili with the Cucumber Crush cocktail (gin, cucumber, rosemary syrup and sour mix) and Adam had the Combo meal with ribs, brisket and sausage. They also serve cornbread free of charge with your meal.
• Capitol City Brewing Co. After eating the salad at Woodward Table we decided to try out the pretzels and beer at the Brewing Co. They serve the pretzels free of charge. We ordered the Southwest Keg rolls and I had the Prohibition Porter to drink. Their other signature brews include The Capitol Kölsch, Pale Rider Ale, and Amber Waves Ale.
• The Crab Cab Our hotel had this food truck come for dinner on our last night. They have a lot of great options even without crab in it (Adam is allergic). I had the Crab Cake Sandwich and Crab Bisque Soup and Adam had the Smoked Grilled Salmon Sandwich. 

  

• Places I wish I had time for: Apparently Georgetown has a lot of great places to eat and drink.

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When I ordered this salad at Woodward table I had no idea what baked chevre was. It turns out it is goat cheese with a crust of bread crumbs and seasonings.

It works so well with the beets, grapes and pistachios in this salad. There are a lot of steps involved in this recipe but I had fun making it.

I decided to make chicken marinated in the same dressing that is used on the salad. At the restaurant I had salmon with the salad, but the chicken worked well too!

The goat cheese pairs well with Sauvignon Blanc if you want to make a fancy dinner out of this amazing salad.