my trip to annapolis & d.c.

Last weekend, Jennifer and I went and visited one of our best friend's from college Lauren and her husband, Jeff.

They moved to Annapolis, MD recently. Jen and I had decided awhile back that we should go visit them. Neither of us had been to MD before and I had never been to D.C.! So, we got plane tickets and made the journey over my fall break.

 I'll begin by saying, I LOVE the east coast. Everyone (ok, Tim I mean) had said that it's impossible not to love the east coast. I always knew that I would be in LOVE with it if I ever had the chance to visit, and it did not fail me. There is something that changes inside you when you are walking in a town that is near or has water. It always makes me feel happier (even though I hate swimming in oceans or lakes) just looking at water. So relaxing...

 

 

 

The first night Lauren and Jeff took us downtown Annapolis to a Mexican restaurant called El Torro Bravo. Of course we had Mexican :) We had some awesome food and some pretty strong margaritas. Let's just say, their were a lot of laughs and even some happy tears haha

The next day Lauren had to work so Jeff took off work and showed us Annapolis. We went to the mall for a little shopping and then headed downtown. 

 

It was SO pretty. I loved the feel of Annapolis! It's the capitol city but it has a small town feel to it. Little shops everywhere, cute pubs and restaurants and great houses. It's also the home of the United States Naval Academy (Go Navy).

 

Jeff walked us all around the city, Jen and I bought a NAVY sweatshirt and then we headed back to meet Lauren. We took it easy Friday  night and had some wine, pizza, and watched Bridesmaids :)

Saturday, we went to DC! Of course, with my luck, it had to be raining (and later snowing) in Annapolis and DC that day. But, it was still such an AWESOME day. I never thought I would absolutely love DC because I am not much of a history nerd or honestly even interested in history. 

DC definitely changed my mind. I wanted to see everything, and read everything! DC brought history to life for me! It was all tangible and right there in front of me. My only wish was that it would have stopped raining, sleeting, icing... etc.

First we went into the Smithsonian (since it was raining and cold) and I was able to see the original Star Spangled Banner. It set the tone for the whole day!

 

(The real flag was inside, behind this lit up piece, you weren't 

allowed to take pictures). 

I was literally in awe of it. It was so old and all the history about it was very interesting. We also saw things like Julia Child's kitchen, Dorothy's ruby slippers and... Michael Jackson's hat. Jennifer had a moment :)

  

miss you Michael... haha

 

Jen and her umbrella! And notice all the Asian tourists. I can't escape China!

 

We also visited the World War II monument, Lincoln, Korean War, the new MLK Jr monument, walked by Washington many times and took a peak at the White House!

 

 

  

  That evening we went back to MD (in the snow) and has some AMAZING Maryland crab cakes.

 

"Crab cakes and football, that's what Maryland DOES!" -- Wedding Crashers reference, anyone?

Our last day we went to church with them, walked around Annapolis some more (PERFECT weather I might add, of course...), had a quick lunch and flew back. Typical travel-heading-home-last-day-of-vacay day. 

One day (maybe) I will be seeing the east coast in my future as a place to live :) And, in 16 days I will be heading back to the east coast (Connecticut and NYC) to see Tim for Thanksgiving and celebrate my birthday in style. Did I mention that Tim got us a hotel for Saturday night in the city to end my birthday celebration? :) He never stops amazing me.