Beginner's Guide to Washington DC

Welcome to the Beginner's Guide to Washington DC. This was my first time going, so this post is coming from a tourist perspective. I am going to show you the highlights of our trip coupled with my original photography of the beautiful places we visited!

Where to stay

We stayed at the Grand Hyatt Washington. It seemed to be a great central location, there was even an entrance to the metro underneath the hotel, super convenient! We ate breakfast at the hotel every morning, there was always a fresh selection of food! We also ate dinner at the Cure restaurant inside the hotel one night!

Burger and mac and cheese, two of my favorites

Three language Cake with chocolate mousse and berry compote

Food

We got to eat lots of amazing food while in Washington!

Astros: this was a chicken and donut place! We tried the chicken tenders and a couple donuts!

Ted's bulletin: We enjoyed a nice dinner at Ted's Bulletin, a local favorite. Some of the dishes we tried were the fish and chips, shrimp and grits, jambalaya, and chicken fried chicken.

We the pizza: This was some of the best pizza I had ever eaten! I tied plain pepperoni and the flavor was so much better than other pizzas I have tried. This is a must stop place!

Ben's Chili Bowl: I tried the beef chili dog with cheese and it was so yummy! Plus the building was so cute!!

Bantam King: We tried a ramen noodle restaurant in Chinatown. I don't normally eat ramens, but these had a really good flavor! My mom tried the fried chicken and she said it was spicy and flavorful!

Baked and Wired: The yummiest selection of cupcakes in Georgetown!

Ice cream Jubilee: A scoop of chocolate chocolate chip, and fresh baked cookies and cream!

Milk Bar City Center: I got the birthday cake quake. It was soft serve mixed with cake batter balls, topped with sprinkles, YUM!

City Center

This was right in font of our hotel! It is a shopping and restaurant strip, and they always have cute, colorful objects decorating the area!

Chinatown

We just walked around Chinatown, saw the arch, and ate dinner. The restaurant Bantam King is where we ate, and there is also a lot of chain restaurants there too.

Ford's Theatre

They have the theater preserved, along with the balcony where the assassination occurred.

The Trump Clock Tower

This is said to be the best view of the city right now. The Washington Monument normally is , but is currently undergoing construction. The views from the clock tower were perfect, and the hotel was so gorgeous!

Vietnam Veteran Memorial Wall

Thousands of names were on this wall to memorialize those who served and lost their life in the war. My Grandpa served in the war, and my Dad was able to find several of the men who lost their life that served with him.

Close by the Vietnam Memorial, is the Lincoln memorial, overlooking the Reflection pool to the Washington Monument.

Arlington National Cemetery

This was a very humbling place to visit. There were thousands of graves, as well as the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier which is guarded at all times. We got to see the changing of the guard, and the respect that these men have for others is amazing!

Changing of the Guard at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Georgetown

Known for their charm, Georgetown was the cutest town!

Georgetown waterfront

Sculpture on the waterfront

Lunch at Nick's Riverside Grill

Patio area

Charming streets

Flowers by the waterfront

Colorful houses

Famous row houses and stores

Pretty landscaping

Georgetown buildings

Sprinkles Cupcakes

Patomic River Boat Fireworks Cruise

We took a cruise the night of the Fourth of July, that took us out to have an unobstructed view of the fireworks, it was amazing!!

Alexandria Riverside

Water taxi

View of the airport from river cruise

Fourth of July Parade

It was so amazing to experience so many people together celebrating the freedom of the United States!

A very patriotic guy, lol!

Men who performed for the Archives!

National Archives celebration!

Here comes the confetti canons!

A Capitol Fourth Concert

We went to the Capitol Fourth Concert on the lawn of the Capitol. It was extremely crowded and hot, but it was so neat to experience! John Stamos was the host, and we heard many performers such as Pentatonix, Lauren Alaina, The Temptations and many more!

Pretty fountain with the Capitol in the background on the walk to the concert.

Museum of Natural History

This museum was filled with lots of animals and natural artifacts.

View from the Museum

The Hope Diamond

Museum of American History

This museum had lots of artifacts from old tv shows, and products that have evolved in America over the years.

Bat Mobile

Julia Child's Kitchen

Subway

We used the subway at least once a day. Some of the places we went were miles away, and would be miserable to walk to in the heat. The metro took you almost anywhere you needed to go, thank goodness my dad understood the routes!

Air and Space Museum

This museum had models of planes, spacecraft, and the solar system!

Weren't the flight attendant's outfits so much cuter back then?

National Capitol Tour

You can get a free tour of the Capitol by contacting your state senator's office! It was such a gorgeous building inside and out!

Painting at the very top of the dome!

This is the literal center of Washington DC. Our guide told us everything was preplanned.

I love this shot, it was the view from the center of the building onto one of the wings.

Library of Congress

This building was so gorgeous! I have never been to Paris or Italy, but this is what i envision some places look there!

Evening Monuments Tour

We thought that going in the evening to view all of the monuments would be be cooler, but it was still very hot! A bus drove us to each monument and let us get out to explore before going to the next one!