Birthday Weekend... DC & Virginia

Good Afternoon!!

I don't know what my issue is and why I am in such a blogging slump lately, even when I have stuff to write about I just don't feel like coming here and writing about it and I just cant figure out why. For now I am going to get here when I feel like it and try not to fall behind on the good stuff going on and see where that gets me. I don't want to stop blogging by any means but again like I said last time I think it will just be a little more sporadic for right now.

I did want to stop by today and tell y'all about last weekend, my birthday was on Saturday and sadly Jason ended up working. Normally this wouldn't be a huge deal, not that it was this year but generally I expect Jason to be working so it is what it is but this year he hasn't worked a weekend on this job so far so we made plans for the day. Obviously that didn't work out as planned and he went from having to work a few hours in the morning to a full day, what can you do! We figured we would just move our plans to Sunday which was just fine with me.

Sunday morning we got up and were on the road early, I was really looking forward to getting out and enjoying the fall weather and the day! Our first stop was Einstein Bros for bagels and coffee, how could we not? I'm sure I've said it before but I'm really not much of a breakfast person so a bagel and cream cheese is perfect! After that we headed into DC, we haven't actually be into the city since we left Alaska, so a couple of years ago.. we tend to drive through it a lot but haven't stopped to explore in quite awhile. Jason planned to go there because for my birthday I had asked for a Gap giftcard and for some odd reason the Gap seems to be really hard to find here.. like there aren't any ANYWHERE! We got there about a half hour before it opened so we did a little exploring!

I tried to snap a few pictures while we toured around but we will be going back to DC over Halloween weekend and really exploring so I am planning to take my camera and get some good pictures. This is the house where President Lincoln died, right across the street from Ford's Theatre where he was shot. The line up to get in here was quite extensive. 

As you can see there was a line to get into Ford's Theatre as well. Jason and I actually just purchased tickets for a December show at Ford's Theatre, we will be seeing A Christmas Story and we are very excited about it! 

The Washington Monument, it really was a beautiful day! 

The White House, no Obama and no Olivia Pope! 

This is the National Christmas tree! Prior to going here on Sunday Jason and I entered the lottery to get tickets to the National Christmas Tree lighting, I'm not going to lie we were pretty disappointed when we got there on Sunday and saw that this was the tree. After spending a few Christmas's in NYC this tree doesn't even come close to comparing to the one they have in Rockefeller Center! 

We didn't hang around in DC for too long, after walking around a little we went back to the Gap. I was in the market for one item in particular and because I was lucky enough to receive two gift certificates for my birthday I was happy to spend the $90.00 the jacket cost.. WELL.. when we got to the cash it was on sale for $29.00!!!!!! WITH TAX! That basically made my day right there!! 

We left DC and headed towards Georgetown, DC, you can read about the history HERE and let me tell you it is worth reading. It is very quaint and cute, lots of history and tons of shops as well, and what do you know there was another Gap! 

We didn't do a ton of exploring here because we plan to go back and spend a full day, Jason planned to go there because he knew there was another Gap there and he is wonderful like that and we wanted to see what it was all about and if it was worth planning a whole day there. I will say if this is on your list of places to visit make sure to allot a good amount of time to find parking because it is not easy. 

While we were there we did manage to visit the Old Stone House which is the oldest unchanged building in Washington DC as well as Washington's last Pre-Revolutionary Colonial Building on its original foundation. Again click HERE to read more about it. Here are a few pictures! 

Inside the house is really neat, there are a lot of little plaques with information about the setups and history that surrounds the house. The tour is completely free and the gardens in the back are beautiful and worth checking out as well. 

We toured around a little more checking out the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal (The C & O Canal), The Canal was operated from 1831 to 1924 with the primary function of transporting coal from the Allegheny Mountains. You can read more about this beautiful and historic canal HERE.

We wanted to pass through Alexandria Virginia on the way back to the apartment and grab lunch so after touring around for awhile we headed out again. Truth be told we did so at a really great time because it started to rain a little and only lasted as long as our drive which was great. Alexandria is really cute, I honestly cant say we did too much exploring there because as in Georgetown it was really hard to find parking, but the time we did and visited yet another Gap (this one an outlet) we were starving and decided to grab lunch! 

We stopped in at a little Irish Pub called Murphy's because you can go wrong with a pub! Jason had fish and chips and I had the most amazing Shepherd's pie! The place was really quaint with a big wood fire place, I would definitely go back!! 

What are the odds that I sat right beside this! 

I'm still dreaming about this shepherd's pie.. SO GOOD! 

After eating it was getting late so we headed back to get some stuff done around the apartment and get ready for the Patriots game that night! All in all we had a super great day!! 

Where we are in Maryland we are lucky enough to be close to a lot of wonderful places to explore and we plan to take full advantage of that and I absolutely cant wait!

Thank you all for stopping by and visiting, I greatly appreciate it! I hope you are all extremely well and enjoying this beautiful season!!