Washington DC: Boatwrights in the District Day 1

 We have just returned from a week in Washington D.C. for family vacation! I have visited D.C. once really (two other times for work), and Zach went to a wedding there (more on that in a minute). I saw several sites on my one visit, and just knew it would be so fun to bring our kids once they were old enough to enjoy museums.

This year, with it being the 250th birthday of America, we thought it might be a good time to make the trip. We tried to avoid being there for the actual 4th of July--although lots of preparations were underway. The weather was so nice at the end of May/beginning of June, breezy and pleasant and only a little hot at the end of the trip.

We museumed our hearts out on this trip and saw a lot of wonderful sights. I thought I would blog about the trip and share the itinerary at the end. Part of the enjoyment for me as a journalist was documenting our trip with photos as it happened, journaling about it in a physical journal, and blogging is another way for me to remember all the adventures we had

DFW airport selfie!

Sunrise on the way to the airport

Our flight on Saturday morning was early--we got to DFW airport at 6:30 am! Luckily our miles credit card gets us into the Admiral's Club, which always has good food.

Admiral's Club breakfast

Crochet girl

Zach sat with Wilder and I sat with Felicity

Cold brew and cookie at Reagan Airport revived us!

We stayed with Zach's friend since college, Josh Patterson, and his wife Sara, and their 3-year-old son, Brady. Josh and Sara's wedding was the one Zach attended a few years ago. We stayed in their finished-out basement. It was so nice of them to open their home up, and we enjoyed visiting with them!

The Patterson's dog Jake

We had Persian food with the Pattersons and their neighbors on the patio, and then watched the final game of the Western Championship - the Spurs won!

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Next up: Day 2: Museum of Natural History and Monument Bike Tour.

Chicago Adventures

Zach and I took a quick trip to Chicago for our birthdays and to see Lewis Capaldi in concert! I’ve never been to Chicago, and we had so much fun exploring the city and spending time with friends.

Selfie on the plane

O'Hare airport

We stayed at the Hampton Inn Chicago Downtown/Magnificent Mile (Note--there are three Hampton Inn Downtown hotels. So if you go, make sure you end up at the right one!

He considered reenacting Buddy the Elf with the elevator buttons.

Our room

We flew in on my actual birthday, so we *had* to get a birthday coffee at a Starbucks!

Two things I love to do if possible when visiting a new place are: river boat tour and a view from up high. We got to do both on this short trip! We did a Chicago River Boat Architectural Tour the day we arrived, and it was marvelous. You know it's going to be good when the tour guide says "Let's go back to the 1600s."

Beautiful weather for a river cruise tour!

The tallest building designed by a female architect

Navy Pier. Chicago was home to the very first Ferris Wheel. I also knew this because I read Devil in the White City (a nonfiction Erik Larsson book about the World Trade Fair and a serial killer)

Complimentary drinks because it was my birthday!

We visited our friends Katya and Carlos this trip, and Katya had great ideas to help plan the visit! I spent a long time picking the hotel, and almost as long deliberating about where to eat on my birthday LOL. But we decided to go to Bar Mar, a Chef Jose Andres' restaurant. The restaurant served seafood tapas, and the interior had giant windows to make it feel like a patio. The food and drinks were so good, as was the company!

Fancy drinks! My salt foam margarita and Katya's Floral Cloud.

Neptune's Pillow.

Octopus!

Our group. Look at that giant octopus chandelier!

Y'all, I really love food. This was a deconstructed key lime pie and a flan. We shared amongst the table.

On Saturday, we had the day to explore before going to the Lewis Capaldi concert. So we walked around the Magnificent Mile.

Tiffany!

Our hotel was very close to a new Harry Potter store. It was very cool inside.

We planned to go to Hancock Tower, but wanted to wait for clouds to burn off, so we took the bus down to Millennium Park.

Mandatory pic with The Bean.

This art installation is interesting from every angle.

We decided to get pizza at Giordano's for lunch! First time to have Chicago deep dish; and I’m so glad we listened to our waiter to try it. This pizza was excellent (look at his cheese pull!) and I fear I’m ruined on deep dish pizza forever. Will have to come back

LOOK AT THAT PULL

We had a timed entry reservation for the 360 Chicago floor in the John Hancock Center. Unfortunately it was cloudy all day. :-/ No refunds! So we went anyway.

You can't see the top of the building!

View from the 94th floor. This is the place that has "Tilt" where you can lean out further than the wall. We only paid for the observation deck--good thing. You really couldn't see anything worth doing the Tilt for! Even so, just the observation floor is really cool.

Cocktails in the clouds

The clouds did blow away a bit.

Later that evening, we went over to Katya and Carlos' house, and had a yummy charcuterie board before the concert.

Sparkling rose from Angers, France, where I studied abroad!

Headed to the concert!

The concert was so good--I have loved Lewis Capaldi for years, and the first/only time he's gone to DFW, it was right after the Eras Tour in 2023 and I couldn't swing a ticket, even to a small venue. Later that year, he struggled with  Tourette's syndrome and had to stop touring altogether. It's been three years, and after finding the right therapy and treatment, he's back touring. He was only visiting a handful of cities, so we decided to go to Chicago to see him. New city to us, we have friends who live there, and it was my birthday weekend. It was a wonderful way to celebrate both Zach's and my birthdays!

Katya was both Wilder and Felicity's kindergarten teacher before she moved to Chicago. We love you Miss Sido! :-)

Sunday was our last day, and we packed up to visit Zach's college friend Eric before heading to the airport.

We rode the L there!

I did not get a photo of Eric! We went to brunch, and then the airport, and I only took a pic of his and Jackie's sweet cat. 

We had a wonderful time, and thought the whole time that we'd love to bring the kids. Chicago is a great city with a lot to do and see, and I am sure we'll be back.