Last Saturday, my little family braved the heatwave and spent the day exploring new places in our city. We weren’t the only ones brave (or foolish?) enough to spend the day walking the molten lava streets of DC and as always, I’m glad we opted to get out of the house, despite conditions not being *perfect*!
One place we’ve been wanting to see is the US Botanic Garden, which we have walked past many times but always left for another day. Turns out this is a really quick visit that you could easily squeeze in between other stops. I think we spent about an hour and that’s with two very curious little ones, numerous photo stops, and sometimes crowded spaces.
However, we did not know that the gardens inside were heated to reflect the appropriate climates for the many different plants they house and therefore was a terrible choice on such a hot day!
We took our time, enjoying each room and the variety of plants despite the uncomfortable heat not being any reprieve from the 130+ degree temperatures outside. At the front desk, be sure to pick up a scavenger hunt booklet for kiddos as young as 6 (IMO) and wander about taking in the clean, refreshing air!
There is a “children’s garden” but of course it’s outside, which would be great any other day. It looked like a nice place to let the little ones burn off some energy as it had a water feature, small garden where kids can plant and a play set. Even though we couldn’t test out all the children’s garden features the girls still had fun wandering through the rest of the place and especially enjoyed the catwalk and water fountains!
Thoroughly heated and dripping with sweat, we decided it was time to replenish the 6,000 calories we’d lost just by being out on and about on the surface of the sun. So…
…Georgetown it was! My favorite DC neighborhood; complete with many of my favorite retail shopping spots, tasty treats, and historic buildings! Yay! We ate at a familiar place, Ri Ra, which I talked about here, then stopped by Laduree for some macarons – Lilly’s first, in fact!
Other Georgetown restaurants and bakeries on my list to try –
– Chaia DC
– La Chaumiere
– 1789
– Martin’s Tavern
Bakeries –
– Dog Tag Bakery
– Baked & Wired
– Sprinkles
Just as we were leaving Georgetown we remembered another site we had yet to see up close – the US Marine Corps War Memorial. Also known as the Iwo Jima memorial, this is an easy uncrowded stop to make on your way out of Georgetown, or as a stop on it’s own if you’re also planning to see Arlington Cemetery, which is within walking distance.
No, not that one…
…this one.
Are your trips just as spontaneous and random as ours? Ha!
Shop my outfit here!
xo, Mia
American Style + Rachel Parcell Collection
August 13, 2019 at 7:36 am[…] old) denim jacket on top, finished off with my favorite navy espadrilles, the best hat (seen here, here and here) and my “firecracker” earrings – don’t they look like […]