Smithsonian's National Zoo : DC

On Saturday, in the afternoon around 4:30pm after seeing most of the major sites in the morning. We headed to the Smithsonian National Zoological Park which was about 2 miles north of our hotel. We actually took Uber there which was our first time using it and totally worth the $6 dollars. The zoo was free as all Smithsonian's are in DC. Which is just great! So we strolled around and looked at all the animals. We both were very exciting about the pandas and the gorillas and they definitely lived up to the hype.

Anaconda! This is just like half of him.... he was huge. 

The zoo definitely isn’t a must see in DC because there are so many other things to do involving the history but since we had a good long 3 1/2 days we decided it was worth the short trip. And we went in the evening so all the animals were in there houses and they were so easy to see. Most of them were eating dinner or taking a nap but it was fun to see the animals up close.

 The best mini donut holes! Hot and fresh and rolled in cinnamon and sugar! Talk about major heart eyes. 

Another highlight of the zoo was there funnel cake stand. Clark loves funnel cakes and while I am not the biggest fan we stopped to get some when I realized that they had mini donuts and I was all about the mini donuts and they were SO GOOD. They were warm and rolled in cinnamon and sugar seriously one of the best things ever! I will just hype them up a little bit here on the blog!

Did you see the pic above of the panda sleeping? He is literally just laying in his own poop. It’s like he took a poop and was SOOOOOO tired that he couldn’t even move. He must have just rolled over and fell asleep. Clark and I were laughing so hard.

Also I might have stole this peony from the bushes along the walkway. I think it was okay though because I only took one and we saw a lady that took a whole bamboo stick and was using it at a walking stick. haha. Also it’s Friday, did this week fly by for anyone else?
love, Carlee

Romper & Bag: Target

Shoes: Toms.com

Washington DC: day two

So on the second day in DC which was Saturday and our first full day there we hopped on the Metro first thing in the morning and made our way to the Capitol. We thought this would be the way to do it because that way we could make our way back toward the rest of the Mall and also our hotel. So we got off at the Capitol South station and checked our the Library of Congress first. The Library of Congress is so gorgeous! It’s amazing and definitely worth seeing. They also have the first ever found map of the world which I believe it from 1500s along with other artifacts from that time. After the Library we made our way over to the Capitol were we just hung out a bit before moving on to our next stop. We didn’t take a tour of the Capitol although I read you could.

Then we made our way down the hill to the Smithsonian National Botanic Gardens. It was something that I wanted to see because it was a little different then the normal sites. We were not disappointed it was awesome. And Clark loved the gardens. I thought it was pretty funny because of all the things I expected him to be excited about the gardens were very low on the list. But he really did love the Botanic Gardens. They had plants from all over, Jungle, Desert, Hawaii, they had all different fruit trees and the carnivorous plants as well.

After that we made our way to a Capitol Bikeshare rack were we got some bikes and rode over to the Air and Space Musuem. Unfortunately the line was SO LONG. Probably because it was midday on Saturday so we decided to save the Air and Space Museum for Sunday. We went to get some food from the food trucks lined up along the National Mall. We had Greek Food and then made our way to the National Archives were we got to see the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States. Both awesome documents and totally worth the visit although you can’t take photos which I didn’t mind.

After that we really wanted to see the Thomas Jefferson Memorial so we grabbed some bikes and made our way that way. It was really a great memorial. Last time I went to DC, we didn’t go because we were all so tired of walking that it just seemed way to far. Seriously guys rent bikes it is so much easier and they are definitely worth the money. We walked about the memorial for a while, sat on the steps and then we continues around the lake while seeing the FDR Memorial and the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial. Then we were back at the National Mall. From there we headed back to our hotel to rest of feet for a few then off to other adventure (more to come on another post;)) 
love, Carlee

Shirt: Forever 21

Shorts: DIY

Bag: Target

Shoes: Nordstrom Rack

Sunglasses: TJ Maxx

Washington DC: the first day

We spent the long Memorial Day weekend in Washington DC. It is only a 4:30 hour drive from us so we knew it needed to be done while we were living in NC. I have been before a few years ago so I knew a little bit about what to definitely see and also things like - rent bikes so your feet don’t die from all the walking - haha. It was also the perfect weekend to go because Clark got Friday and Monday off of work because it was Memorial Day weekend. So we had a long 4 days to spend in DC. We left on Friday at 7am and got to DC around 1230-1. We decided to stop at Arlington on our way in because we knew it would be busy for the weekend and also because it was on our way into DC and we couldn’t check into our hotel until 3. I was glad we did it this way.

Arlington National Cemetery is a really great site to visit and see for yourself the sacrifice soldiers make for this great country. Wear comfy shoes though because there is a lot of walking if you want to see all the main points of interest like Kennedy’s Grave and the Tomb of the Unknown soldier and the Iwo Jima Memorial. It is totally worth it to see all of them! 

 Obligatory Washington Monument photos! 

After Arlington we checked into our hotel which is was in the Dupont Circle area about 1 mile from the National Mall (perfect distance for a casual bike ride) we stayed at the Best Western Georgetown. I recommend it, it was cheaper than other hotels in the area, the beds were comfy, they had free breakfast, and we got to use LA Fitness for free a couple blocks away through the hotel so that way cool.

Smithsonian American History Museum. 

 Capital Bikeshare so worth it. We did the 3 day bike rental and got so much use out of them. 

Around 3pm we rode bikes (from Capital Bike share) down to the Lincoln Memorial and then to the Washington Momument. We also went to the Smithsonian American History Museum and afterwards we rode bikes but up toward our hotel. We went right past the White House so we stopped to take some photos. Then we ended up at Shake Shack for dinner! It was the perfect first day in DC.

love, Carlee