The time I didn't have my kids: Solo trip to DC, Sept 27-29

I did something really bold a month or so ago. I went on a plane and traveled all the way to DC to visit some very lovely friends. And I didn't even bring my husband or my kids. Now, I've done this before--when I went to see my parents during & after my dad's big stint in the hospital--but this was my first trip for "pleasure." And it was so lovely, the weather just right, the conversation just delightful and the time away absolutely reinvigorating.

On Friday night, after a small holdup at the baggage carousel, Amy took us out to a lovely dinner at Busboys & Poets. 

Anne & I out to dinner with Amers

A photo of all three of us

 Anne & I stayed in a hotel that was barely a block from Amy's house. After a good night's sleep, I went out to breakfast with my friend Jessica (no photos! Darn!), and Anne walked over to Amy & Omar's place. When I returned from my morning out, I got to see little Tony and Elena, Amy & Omar's dear sweet little ones.

 After another cup of coffee, a plan was enacted and we went out an about into the beautiful city of Washington, DC. I was able to help contribute to this fun time out by helping Amy parallel park the car--woohoo, she also has a prius with a back-up camera!

There are lots of tour groups floating around DC

This tour group is called "Segs in the City"

Loved seeing this older couple sitting on the banks of the Potomac (at least, I think it's the Potomac??)

Amy & Elena & Anne (and Tony, but you can't really see him)

One of the various quotes outside of the MLK memorial

 The MLK memorial has been around for over two years, but this was my first time ever seeing it. It's very remarkable, and I found the memorial very striking.

 As with a lot of landmarks in DC, the next stop was walking distance--we went to see the FDR Memorial.

The beautiful family--Omar, Amy, Elena & Tony

The Washington memorial still has scaffolding all over it from the earthquake a while ago

 

We didn't get out to check it out, but I snapped a few photos while we were driving around

Omar & Tony at our lunch spot

 After we left our lunch at Teaism, Amy drove around to find a particular bread shop. As luck would have it, we could have actually walked to it from Teaism, but we didn't know it at the time. Bonus though: we got to drive around and see the Capitol! Also, a bigger bonus, was seeing Elena sing along to a very sweet song--check out the video here and here.

 Once we got back to the condo, Amy cooked a delicious dinner. We chilled out and had some beers and chit-chatted. It was lovely. I also had fun showing Elena my zoom option on the camera.

It's so hard to be steady with the zoom

Tony is looking kinda sleepy

The next day, we had breakfast over at Amy's, and then headed to the airport. After a lovely time reconnecting with old friends, we had to say goodbye to sweet Anne and send her back to Boston.  Afterwards, Amy & I milled around Eastern Market and later we met up with Omar and the kids and had some delicious lunch. We walked around a little by the National's baseball stadium and we could see the Navy Yard from where we were.

It was such a fun weekend, and I'd like to do it again (and again!). I think we'll take a family trip to DC one of these years, so that the kids can see the landmarks and we can explore the nation's capital together. But, having the time to just visit with friends was absolutely lovely. I totally appreciated the time away!