Short DC Trip

We had a chance recently to return to Washington DC for a short trip. We were there back in February and, like then, we had the opportunity because Holly had to go to a conference.

I really enjoy DC so I took a couple of days off to go with her. Despite the brevity of the trip, I was able to make good use of the time.

For the February visit, I brought two of my film cameras, my Canon Rebel EOS 2000 and my Diana F+. This time, I decided to go digital and brought my Canon EOS 5D Mark IV with my EF 50mm f/1.8 lens. I chose that lens for portability and because I assumed I would be taking a lot of pictures in somewhat dark conditions (e.g. museums, winter). All the pictures below were taken with that except anything food related which I took with my Samsung S9+.

We arrived on a Sunday afternoon and left on Tuesday. We took the train down from Philadelphia which is super easy and relaxing. We were staying at the same hotel, Omni Shoreham, we stayed in back in February so we were familiar with where we were going and what Metro to take. The entire journey felt relatively effortless.

After we arrived at our hotel, we just hung out in our room for a couple of hours. Holly was presenting at the conference and needed to get some work done.

Last time we were in DC, I had researched some restaurants and was intrigued by Tail Up Goat. Unfortunately, it is one of those restaurants where you need reservations ahead of time so we were unable to go. Once we found out we were going back to DC, we made reservations as soon as we could. Our dining experience was all I hoped it would be, but the restaurant was too dark for pictures other than of the menu to remind us of what they offered that night.

We wanted to go back to The Gin Joint which is practically across the street from the hotel. We had enjoyed last time, but it was not open on Sundays. Instead, we had a cocktail each at the hotel bar.

The next day, while Holly was at the conference, I went to the Newseum for the first time. I had heard good things and was not disappointed. A couple of highlights were being able to see a portion of the Berlin Wall and remnants of the 9/11 tragedy.

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After lunch at Momofuku, I walked around taking some Christmas photos before going to the National Gallery of Art to see their photography exhibit: Gordon Parks: The New Tide, Early Work 1940–1950. It was a rather extensive collection of his works from this early period of his career featuring some of his work with the Farm Security Administration, Office of War Information, and Standard Oil (New Jersey).

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I also wandered the standing collection for a while although the collection in the West building does not cover the types of art I’m more interested in. I much prefer the modern collections in the East building.

I took a walk over to the Capitol to take some pictures of the Christmas tree there.

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That night, I met up with Holly after her conference and we had a nice dinner at Mama Ayesha’s. We then walked over to the Smithsonian National Zoological Park to see their annual Zoolights exhibit.

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After Zoolights, we did get our opportunity to go back to The Gin Joint. We enjoyed what we had but missed the friendly and super-knowledgeable bartender who was there during our last visit.

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Our train home on Tuesday did not leave until around 6pm so I had time to do some more sightseeing.

I went to the United States Botanic Gardens to see their Christmas and train display.

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While waiting for Holly back at the hotel, I took some pictures of our hotel decorated for Christmas. It was fun being in DC near the holidays. In addition to taking some pictures of the various decorations, I took a walk through their Christmas Village which was nice but not nearly as festive as the one in Philadelphia.

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We don’t have any definite plans to go back to DC, but there is another library conference there in the summer which I may be going to. If that is the case, then Holly will finally get some time to do some sightseeing while I am in a conference.