We got into Annapolis on Friday around dinner time. We ate at The Federal House and it was the most delicious meal of the entire weekend! We both had wine and shared a crab bruschetta appetizer. I had the crab cake special dinner. Both crab dishes were delicious! Peter had a pasta dinner that he didn't like as much as mine haha. Good thing I was full and shared half of my dinner with him. :)
The Federal House, where we ate:
Don't all of these apples look delicious?!
Saturday we headed into DC for the day. We got a later start than we originally planned. We were going to go to the Arboretum and then have lunch and head into the city. Poor planning on our part because there wasn't a whole lot around for dining choices. We lost another hour or so before settling on a small local cafe. The food was good and we weren't on a schedule so it was ok. :)
We ended up skipping the Arboretum and decided we would go at the end of the day if we wanted to. We figured since we were so close to DC, we should see some things we can't see at home. Arboretums are nice, but all over the place. Unlike the White House and national monuments. :)
I used a new iPhone app called "Best Parking" which helped us score a parking spot in a garage for $9 for the entire day. The garage was about 2 blocks or so from the White House too! Perfect!
We walked up to the back of the White House first. Peter was almost immediately enthralled by all of the security. I think he liked that better than seeing the White House! We started here and walked basically in a giant circle to see a bunch of the memorials and monuments.
Me and the hubs in DC! :)
Is it weird that I am bothered by my sweater caught on my purse in this picture? haha
Peter outside the Treasury Building:
Peter was watching these guards walk around with machine guns. He could't stop talking about them!
There were a bunch of protestors in this area, but we could't figure out what they were protesting for.
It's no wonder when you look at this guy's signs. Some were about Christians and Jews, one was about animals, others were about Harry (although he spelled it Hairy) Truman. What a quack!
The back of the White House. It looked so nice with the fountain and tulips. And if you look closely, you can see a sniper on the roof!
I have no idea if people live in these apartments, but I thought they were so cute. Maybe secret service live there? I can't imagine they let others live so close to the President? Who knows though.
This is the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. It was huge!
Secret service were everywhere obviously!
No cherry blossoms, but plenty of azaleas!
Loving the beautiful weather in DC :)
Us with the Washington Monument in the background.
Front view of the White House.
I've been to DC before, but this is the first time I've seen the White House.
Washington Monument from a distance:
At the WWII Memorial.
This is a cool shot of the Washington Monument from the WWII Memorial. The handsome man in it doesn't hurt either. :)
One star represents one life lost.
Still at the WWII Memorial with the Washington Monument in the background. A very nice lady offered to take our picture when she saw us struggling to do a self-take.
A very cool shot that Peter took:
This is the Korean War Veterans Memorial.
There were people carved into these walls.
The reflecting pool was under construction, as were a few other areas, which made it a bit more difficult to get around. It also took away from the sites a bit, but oh well. What can you do? I would've liked to see the reflecting pool, but it was totally emptied.
Onto the Lincoln Memorial!
This is from the viewpoint of the Lincoln Memorial. Pretty cool! Too bad the reflecting pool was empty!
Honest Abe:
Another cool shot that Peter took:
Peter at the Lincoln Memorial:
We sat at a bench at the Constitutional Pond for a bit.
The weather couldn't have been better for walking around to see the sites. :)
Peter wanted to swing by Obama's place one more time on the way out.
We decided to skip the Arboretum and head back to Annapolis for dinner. We ate at Buddy's and both had the buffet. It was quite yummy! I was a bit bummed, though, because I was going to get scallops after looking at their online menu and they no longer served them at all!
After dinner, we walked around downtown a bit again. It's just such a great area to be outside at.
The harbor at night is so pretty.
A view of the downtown area:
Not a great picture, but it was a great day/evening!
Another shot of the harbor:
We had a free movie rental in our hotel room as part of the Living Social deal so we rented a movie and lounged Saturday night.
On Sunday, we were stayed in Annapolis for the morning and early afternoon.
Here's part of the downtown area in the daytime:
Me and my hunny :)
More downtown Annapolis:
I loved this cute pottery shop that we parked by so had to run in real quick!
So pretty!
I loved all of the flower boxes at the windows.
Peter even got his car fix for a few minutes!
We met up with David and Amanda for a brief visit. We wished it could've been longer, but enjoyed seeing them! We hung out at the harbor for 45 minutes then had lunch at Buddy's. Peter had a chicken sandwich with a crab spread on it - same as when we visited Annapolis the first time with David and Amanda. I had the crab cake sandwich. That made crab for me on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday! Hey, we were in Maryland and I love crab. What did you expect? The only downer of lunch was that the waiter dropped the plates on Peter when he was clearing the table. :( Next time we hope to visit with David and Amanda longer!
We had planned to stop at Trader Joe's in DC on Saturday, but completely forgot until we were halfway back to the hotel. They don't sell wine in PA at Trader Joe's, but we wanted to get some. Peter was kind enough to agree to take a different way home, add 15 minutes to our trip, and stop at a Trader Joe's in Virginia. :) We had to drive by DC to get to Arlington.
These next few shots are a little blurry and weird because they are from the car.
We were able to pick up 6 bottle of wine at Trader Joe's for $25! I'm so glad we made the detour. :)
All in all, it was a great weekend. The weather was perfect, the traffic wasn't bad, and it was so nice to see friends even though it was brief. Peter and I are already looking into a trip back to Annapolis to just stay there without going into DC for a weekend this fall. Hopefully we can find another great hotel deal!
