After working super late last night, I was not up quite as early as I had originally planned, so we didn’t hit the road until almost 8am – whoops! No regrets though – I desperately needed the sleep. Casey was a total champ and drove most of the way there so that I could sleep and recover. The car ride went by really quickly, since we were so excited to get to DC!
In weird late night post-work delirium, I stopped at a Harris Teeter last night to get a few things to snack on in case we needed them on our trip. I grabbed a few Clif Bars and a bag of red delicious apples – what? Lunch was a Clif…
Thank god I ended up getting these – even though they were very random – because as we drove I double checked my email to see which house showing appointments we had finalized. Turns out that the Sunday appointment I thought we had was actually for Saturday – uh oh. We high tailed it to DC, and pushed back our appt one hour, but that meant absolutely ZERO stops for the bathroom or food. We had to survive off of two Clif bars and a bag of apples for the entire day – horrible!
We raced to DC and got stuck in a million hours of traffic, causing a lot of anxiety and a possible blow out of our car’s air conditioning. Ugh.
But we DID finally make it, and then we could relax and enjoy ourselves. We took a tour of house #1, which was nice and big, but perhaps not in such a nice area of town? As we drove around DC scoping out neighborhoods and streets, I was reminded of why I want to move here –this city is so beautiful! Lots of GREEN everywhere!
We drove through some of the areas we are interested in – Dupont Circle and Logan Circle…
This city just has such a great urban feel! I know some people love the suburbs, and I totally respect that, but they are definitely not for us. I loved driving through and seeing bikers and runners and dogs everywhere!
Looking forward to doing my long run on the National Mall tomorrow – green paths everywhere, and lots of water fountains – be still my heart!
I have never lived in a tourist city before. A friend of mine said she thought living in a tourist city would be annoying because they will be slow and obnoxious and not know where they are going. But as I pointed out, that is what I will be doing for the first few months too!
We drove straight through the Mall area on our way to Capitol Hill. DC is definitely a walking city – driving was not so fun. We are selling at least one of our cars when we move here.
Hello, Mr. Jefferson! So good to see you again! :)
Home sweet home? I hope so!
We made our way over to Capitol Hill to explore a bit more – I just love passing these huge landmarks as you make your way around the city.
Capitol Hill is another very runner/dog friendly neighborhood with pretty tree lined streets.
And adorable row homes – I want one of these!
Lots and lots of parks and wide open green space…
And views like this at the end of the streets – amazing.
After our driving tour of DC, we decided it was time to head to our hotel and finally get out and stretch our legs. Our hotel room is really nice and modern.
Big flat screen TV with a nice blogging desk to the side…
And this swanky couch by the window!
We showered and got ready to head out for a fun dinner out in Virginia.
We were picked up by fabulous blog reader Ashley and her husband, who offered to be our dinner dates for the evening! She is a vegetarian too, and took us to what is most likely my new favorite restaurant – Busboys and Poets.
I about cried when I opened the menu – sooooo many vegetarian and vegan options! I am so used to being forced into the ONE lonely vegetarian pasta dish or salad when we go out. This was a welcomed change!
I ordered the Spinach and Wheat Berry Salad – with baby spinach, blueberries, mango, roasted almonds and caramelized onions tossed in a ginger sesame vinaigrette and garnished with crispy Asian noodles. I took the option to get a tofu cake on top – fun!
I wasn’t sure what a tofu cake was, but I was intrigued. It turned out to be a baked (I think?) cake with a scrambled tofu type filling – absolutely delicious!
This salad was awesome! After only eating two Clif bars and two apples for the entire day, we were both absolutely ravenous. Casey actually ordered two entrees! :)
I also ordered a delicious Yellow Gazpacho Soup – garnished with basil oil and guacamole. Yuuuuuuum.
Many many thanks to Ashley for a wonderful night out, and a great restaurant suggestion! One of the main things I will miss in Charlotte is the great group of friends we have found, but it is very reassuring to think that we might be able to make some friends here in DC too. So far the DC blogging and Twitter community has been such a great resource, and we are already feeling very welcomed. :)
Tomorrow’s plan is a 12 mile run on the National Mall, followed by two house appointments, and lunch at the much suggested Cafe Green (vegan cafe!). The rest of the day is wide open for playing – so exciting!
And with that – I’m off to bed before another long day of exploring…
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Are you staying at the Grand Hyatt?? Well, the rooms looks very similar because I stayed in DC this May for a nursing conference. Id you’re at the Hyatt, holy crap the lobby.
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Nicole of Raspberry Stethoscope Reply:
July 10th, 2010 at 10:49 pm
iF*
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Emily @ The Front Burner Blog Reply:
July 10th, 2010 at 10:50 pm
Yes totally! Haha that is funny. :) The room is really nice!
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Nicole of Raspberry Stethoscope Reply:
July 10th, 2010 at 10:52 pm
Totally! It was even nicer because it was free to me (my work paid for it all), so when we walked into the hotel and saw the amazing lobby, we almost died. You can tell we don’t get out much, haha.
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Where are you looking to live in DC? I went to school there- it’s a fun city!
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Emily @ The Front Burner Blog Reply:
July 10th, 2010 at 10:51 pm
Hopefully somewhere IN the city that is safe, and dog/running friendly. Top contenders are Dupont, Logan, and Capitol Hill!
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How exciting to see you’re visiting “my” city! :) I’m an avid reader and hope we can meet once you and Casey move up and get settled in! Busboys and Poets is one of my favorite DC restaurants, too – I love the one on U Street. Next time you go, you have to get the sweet potato fries – yum! It sounds like you’re super busy tomorrow, but if you’ve got time around 1 or 2, Anne of fANNEtastic foods is hosting a boxing get together at LA Boxing tomorrow in VA and we’re planning on getting Red Mango fro yo afterwards, it’d be fun to meet you! Speaking of froyo, if you’re craving some in our good city, try Mr. Yogato (near Logan Circle) or FroZenYo (at F and 12th). Oh, and if you want pizza, I highly recommend Pete’s – they have a gluten free option! (http://www.petesapizza.com/apizza.html) or 2Amy’s. (http://www.2amyspizza.com/). I’m rambling… we’ll have to go out to eat when you get here!
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Emily @ The Front Burner Blog Reply:
July 14th, 2010 at 11:46 am
Oh man for some reason this ended up in my spam comments and I’m just now seeing it! Thanks for all the suggestions – we will definitely meet up when I am there for good! :)
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Yay DC! I’m from MA but I go to American University in DC. Hope you guys end up liking it!
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So glad to hear you’re loving DC! I’ve lived here since May 2008 (plus 3 summers before that). I have lived in both the Dupont Circle and Logan Circle areas, so let me know if you have any questons.
And yesss, Busboys and Poets is amazing. There’s one near our condo, which we go to at least once a week. (the tempeh sandwich is awesome!)
So glad you’re enjoying my city :)
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Looks fun! Virginia is so green isnt it?! First thing I thought when we got here and because I watch way too much Criminal Minds thought all the woody areas a bit erie! lol. Are you planning on staying in the city or going out to maybe Alexandria, etc.? I’ve heard its ridiculously expensive in the city itself. Did you know Jen is actually there this weekend also house hunting?
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Emily @ The Front Burner Blog Reply:
July 10th, 2010 at 11:20 pm
Haha I love Criminal Minds, but it freaks me out too. Jen and I are having lunch tomorrow!!
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Ginna Reply:
July 11th, 2010 at 11:46 am
Fun stuff! We just realized on our last outing what great shopping buddies we are and now she is leaving. I am soo sad!
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I’ll be your DC friend!!! So excited you’re moving here! I’ve lived here all my life so I never see DC as somewhere fun and exciting…just my own backyard. It was nice to see DC from an outsider’s perspective.
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Emily @ The Front Burner Blog Reply:
July 14th, 2010 at 9:59 am
YESSSS! Awesome. :)
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my friend isaac works at busboys!
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I love DC!!! My future brother in law works there, but lives in Baltimore. I have only been to DC twice, but it seems like there is always something going on there! The last time I stayed in DC, there was a fire in my hotel. No joke, the alarms went off at about 5:30 in the morning and we all had to run outside in our pajamas in the middle of the street.
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D.C. really is more of a walking city and they have awesome public transport you should take advantage of! :)
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Try to take photos of the houses you tour!!!!!
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Such a great post! You’re going to love D.C. :)
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You are so right to want to live in the city!! My husband works in DC and we live out in the suburbs and we regret it so much. Every weekend we usually go to DC because there is so much to do and see!
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DC is so beautiful! I love running on the National Mall and I’m sure you will too!
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Love all the sites – what a great city to live in!
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I went to Busboys and Poets last night too! But the one on U st. I actually thought of you and your trip to DC while there and thought you would love the place. I’m a vegetarian too. There us a great hot yoga place in glover park! http://Www.hotyogausa.com that I have been going to recently, you should check it out if you move here!
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Ugh BusBoys and Poets is the best! It’s such a cute little restaurant and the food is amazing. My sister and my uncles live in D.C so I’m there all of the time. You will find that a lot of the more modern restaurants can easily accommodate you and veganize their dishes. A lot of the restaurants have Vegan options on the menu already! Its a really forward thinking city.
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I hope you have fun house-hunting and exploring the city! That tofu cake you had looks nice and I’m so impressed at how many vegan options were on the menu!
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you’re letting me reminisce. i used to live in DC and miss it like crazy sometimes. i never owned a car when i was there and it is by far, a walking city. do you guys know where you are planning to live? some other great areas… cleveland park, woodley park, adams morgan, columbia heights.
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I went to school in DC, and absolutly love the city. You should make your way over to Georgetown, too, great restaurants and amazing shopping!
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I love DC! I am actually not such a city person, but DC is one of those cities that I feel like I could be happy in. Such a great place with so much history. Good luck on your house hunt!
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I like cities too. We would love to live in DC actually. I’m reading a book and a line totally sticks out to me: “I want to open my door and BE somewhere.” You don’t exactly walk out of your door in suburbia and feel like you are somewhere! I need to move! :)
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Emily @ The Front Burner Blog Reply:
July 14th, 2010 at 9:58 am
EXACTLY!
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So… I’m totally biased but buy a home on the Hill! It’s such a great place to live and to grow, it’s one of the few DC neighborhoods that truly gives you everything- small town feel where you know everyone and have random, weeknight get-togethers in your community garden but killer restaurants and run-ins with Senators. It’s the kind of place that you can be single and 20-something (like me) or married with kids and 50-something and still have an awesome community. Other neighborhoods like Dupont and Brookland are great, but having lived in many different neighborhoods, including those you mentioned, have a more detached feel… For example, Friday night the boy and I were walking on Barracks Row and ran into tons of ppl we know, then we walked into a restaurant with a long wait only to see the families of some of my students who insisted we eat with them. It was fab… and never would have happened elsewhere…
OK… sorry for the hard sell, like I said, I’m biased and also house-shopping my way around the city.
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Emily @ The Front Burner Blog Reply:
July 14th, 2010 at 9:57 am
We really like Capitol Hill too. My number one priority is just feeling SAFE! :)
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Rebeca Reply:
July 14th, 2010 at 6:14 pm
Well.. feel free to email about specific neighborhoods… the Hill is hit or miss a lot of times, but I’ve lived/worked on the hill since ’08 so I know which areas are ones to avoid if you know what I mean :)
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I lived RIGHT by Busboys and Poets, but never made it there during my short stint in DC…had a picky roommate who would only eat at certain places. But I heard awesome stuff about it. Hope your trip went well and you found a place to live!
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I’m a lurker, but also a DC area resident (I live in Old Town Alexandria) anyway I thought I’d throw my two cents in… We moved here from a walking city (NY) and I would sincerely suggest you not get rid of the cars, especially if you’re looking at areas like Capitol Hill and Logan Circle (not metro accessible at all really) The metro is good for getting you into the center of DC and back out, getting around DC is a bit of a pain and on weekends you can wait for the metro for up to 30min, I prefer the bus as it’s a bit more frequent and will get you more places. I would also check out Columbia Heights which like Logan Circle is still undergoing gentrification, but manages to still be affordable.
And I know it’s cool to knock the suburbs but we really like Old Town, there’s just as many bars/restaurants/museumy stuff and summer activities here then any DC neighborhood. It’s just as accessible by public transport (we’ve got two metro stops!) and the Mount Vernon Trail runs through the town which is a 18 mile paved trail (with mile markers) that runs along the Potomac. We do our runs and bike rides there and lots of running/tri/cycling clubs meet along the trail. It also connects to a bunch of other trails throughout the virginia/dc area like the w&o trail, c&o towpath. One thing I will say is nova/dc is definitely a running town. Check out http://www.potomacrunners.org
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