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24 Hours in Washington, D.C., if You Can Stand the Company

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Okay so I actually only had 20 hours in D.C. recently but ’24 hours in x place’ is like a thing so we’re going with that for the title. As an east coaster by birth, I’ve been to D.C. several times, but not for several years and never with such a prime opportunity for a trendy-sounding blog post. 24-ish hours in this vibrant city* full of incredible museums, even better hotels (that’s clearly a biased opinion from someone who values sleep above all), great vegan food, and people actively destroying our lives and our planet? SIGN ME UP.

WHAT’S ALL THIS THEN

*Washington, D.C. is a big city but it is also, as you know, a federal district that’s the capital of the USA (USA! USA! no not really) and is also treated as a state and a county for census purposes so it’s just like this fun lil enigmatic city-state-county-district-capital-effervescence jawn that had its street layout designed by a goddamn psychopath who enjoyed everyone getting the wrong mail and getting lost while he stroked a white cat and went ‘wheeee this is fun I’m having fun! four of you will have the same address!’

If you aren’t a fellow east-coast American, you probably haven’t been to DC for a school trip when you were a yoot and so you’ll need to see all the required aspects of a true DC tour when you first go: the U.S. Capital building, the National Mall, the Monuments Washington & Lincoln, the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian (the one with Dorothy’s ruby slippers, the best one), things like that. If this is true for you, you will need mmm more than 20 hours in DC. But that’s cool, because then that means you could have more than one night in the bed that’s now on my Top 5 Beds of All Time list! I KNOW! (More on that later.)

If you are like me and all been there, done that about a governmental system that you thought was secure but haha isn’t, and you have one night and barely a day to see something interesting, then this is the post for you, friendo. We have time to do one interesting thing, eat two meals, and have an amazing night’s sleep. I know you’re like “this is what former prime minister Neville Chamberlain called ‘barely a travel guide'” (comment if you get the reference) but it’s a nice (and rare) departure from our full-on travelogues that take you days to read, isn’t it?

the view from our incred hotel room READ ON

DO

There’s a newish (in the scheme of things) museum in DC, and it’s such a must-see that it’s your only-see if you only have a day. The National Museum of African American History and Culture, a Smithsonian museum, is absolutely your activity for the day if you haven’t been yet. Although it opened a few years ago (you didn’t think it opened under this regime, right), it’s still talked about like it’s DC’s hottest club (‘it has everything’) because it’s so hard to get into. It’s free, like all Smithsonian museums in DC, but you have to book tickets in advance, and those tickets get snatched in a hot second. We looked so far in advance but they were gone, gone, gone. Luckily, a friend alerted us to their walk-up system. Trying to find accurate information was confusing – is it just on Wednesdays? just Wednesdays of certain months? is it all weekdays after 1pm? We found websites that supported each of these ideas. To be safe, we went on a Wednesday AND after 1pm, and we got in! Now the website is clearer: during peak season (spring and summer), walk-ups are allowed weekdays after 1pm (for off-peak (fall and winter), it’s after 10am). There was actually no line, which was a surprise, but there were literally thousands of school kids on class trips. Hooray for learning and noise!

IT’S SO GINORMOUS

The museum, called the African American museum for shorthand since the acronym NMOAAHAC or whatever it is isn’t the most convenient, is astounding. If you follow me on the soshes (that’s cool speak for social media, links on this page), you know I complain sometimes about how much time we spend in museums. It’s a lot, I get tired. But this one, this one is different. It is altogether fascinating, depressing, infuriating, and riveting. The collection spans in great detail the entire African American experience from the start of slavery, through the civil war and segregation and the fight for civil rights, to LGBTQ issues and the Obama administration. There’s a special section dedicated just to Emmett Till (one of the saddest rooms you’ll ever be in, just absolutely heartbreaking so prepare for that), including the casket originally used. There are clothes worn by Rosa Parks, James Brown, and Muhammed Ali. Chuck Berry’s red Cadillac is on display, along with a bible owned by Nat Turner and the handcuffs used to arrest Henry Louis Gates, Jr. in 2009.

The experience, which I’m sure you understand by now is super heavy, begins way below ground level, as you learn about the slave trade’s beginnings while trapped in dark underground rooms. On display are maps showing all the various routes for slave ships, information about life on the plantations, and all kinds of torture and control devices used on slaves. You can spend hours in these early sections, and we did. As history progresses through the various wars and movements, your tour moves upstairs to more seemingly endless halls of incredible displays. There are five stories below ground and five above, and you need to devote time to all of it.

If it sounds like an untenable amount of historical and cultural artifacts trying to explain hundreds of years of an entire culture, it’s because it is, except the museum is designed so extraordinarily (except for bathrooms, where are they) that it all moves smoothly. You just need to devote a least an entire day to it. We had about 4 hours, and we barely started the above-ground floors. Some people have recommended several days. I don’t know if I would be able to handle that, but if you can, by all means, plan for it. You won’t be disappointed (but you will be absolutely devastated afterwards).

EAT

After the harrowing museum experience, you deserve a treat, so let’s talk about food! We were in town for one dinner and one brunch, so we went with a new trendy restaurant for one and a tried-and-true fave for the other. For dinner, we met DC friends at hotspot Indian restaurant Pappe, by Logan Circle at 1317 14th Street NW. Pappe had a well-marked menu – every dish says if it has gluten or dairy or nuts – and the server helped us choose some great vegan dishes. Living in east London, we get our share of amazing Indian food on a regular basis, but Pappe impressed. Unfortunately, their dals have ghee in them (you know me and beans), but there were plenty of delicious vegetable dishes that were gheeless. I’m looking at the Pappe menu and honestly cannot remember what we ordered but I’m going to go with what makes sense and say we shared the Baingan Bartha (open-fire grilled eggplant, tomato, onion, garlic), which was…bangin’ (I had to); the Bhindi Jaipuri (crispy fried okra (the best), mango powder, cumin, coriander); and I want to say the vegetable korma that they were able to make without ghee? I forgot to take notes but it was all good! Add in tons of rice and breads (the roti is marked with dairy but they just left it off) and we were gold. It’s definitely a nice option if you are meeting omnivores in Logan Circle.

yes this is a weird picture but we were WITH PEOPLE I can’t do a whole photo shoot when we are WITH PEOPLE I’m not a monster also I was trying to not capture a meat dish

As for my brunch/lunch, there was only one place in DC I wanted to go: my old fave Busboys & Poets. I know, you’re like ‘ya basic’ and you know, this time I’m okay with it. If loving Busboys & Poets makes me basic then throw a pumpkin spice latte at my face and call me Becky (please don’t really throw anything at my face though). B&P is the ubiquitous DC chain that has such a great menu for literally everyone, and has some great vegan options. It was really hard to order and as usual I ordered half-wrong because of pressure, but also half-right so it’s a good day.

I started with like fried vegan chicken bites? Which is VERY out of character for me but I was like ‘I should break out of my ordering patterns and not get something I always just make for myself’ but you know what, patterns can be nice. These were just like, chewy chicken bites with way too much sticky Korean barbecue sauce and that’s not my kind of thing! Other vegan starters on the menu include tofu bites, hummus, and mac & cheese, but I was like “I eat those things almost every day wah wah wah do something different they say” and it bit me in the ass. Never do anything different! I’ve learned that now.

But luckily I was smart with my entree, because when there is a tempeh panini on a menu, I will be GETTING IT. My obsesh with tempeh sandwiches is rivaled only by the obsesh with banh mi and reubens (not-fun fact, the B&P menu had a reuben and I am so spoiled with vegan options that I assumed for a second that it was vegan! it was not!).

yassss

THIS WAS SO GOOD! And it came with a side salad! That’s my perfect accompaniment to anything! Even a choral concert I’d be like ditch the piano my preferred accompaniment is a side salad.

SLEEP

Ah, we’ve gotten to the most important part, the part I know you’ve been waiting for. We stayed our one night in DC this summer at the Hamilton Hotel, at 1001 14th Street NW. There are lots of good hotels in DC, but none of them, NONE OF THEM, have a room like the one we stayed in at the Hamilton.

“no he gets a suite/a two-room executive suite/an executive city-view suite with a second TV and 400 threadcount sheets”

That’s because none of them have a VEEP SUITE!

That’s right, we stayed in the Veep Suite at the Hamilton and it was SPECTACULAR! I’m assuming you’ve watched Veep, because if you read this site you have to know pop culture, and if you know pop culture at all you know that the best, funniest g-d show probably in the history of television is Veep. And the best, funniest g-d hotel suite is this one. We were cracking up at every little detail: Selina’s books, her diplomas, hilarious photos from so many scenes, family photos with her daughter, campaign signs in the bathrooms? It was so well done, so fun, and so amazing. I believe that some of the furniture was designed from or came directly from actual set pieces.

I’ve put a video tour in my instagram stories (link at the top), which will stay in my DC highlights tab forever (FOREVER) so take a look when you can for a fun Blair-Witch-style video!

The only downside of the room was, they had all the DVDs of every season of the series in the living room…but no DVD player. We were so excited to stay up late watching a few episodes, but the front desk confirmed that there were no DVD players in the whole place. Quit playing games with my heart!

No but really, the real downside was that we only had one night here. It was such a blast to explore all the details. And the best was that, above all the cheeky references and funny pictures, the bed was actually incredible. It’s in my list of TOP 5 BEDS ever! (Yes, one day soon we will do a whole post about them.) Ugh it was incredible. I loved that aside from all the hilarity, it was still an ace hotel room in an amazing suite.

IT GETS BETTER! Outside the room, by our floor’s elevator bank, there was a whole Oval Office set up! We got to take pictures at the faux-resolute desk and pretend we were going to save the country. Oh it’s fun to dream.

ugh I wish

SO MUCH FUN! What a great experience. I love nothing more than when all my interests collide, so combining traveling with some beloved television and a sick bed (not to be confused with a sickbed, not my fave thing) is a surefire way to make me happy.

To top it off (and to continue my every-hotel-gym reviews), the Hamilton had a very decent gym onsite.

I took one ridiculous photo because I didn’t want to get anyone else in it, but I wanted to remember how pleased I was that they actually had space on the floor! My home gym barely has any space! I need space! I jump all over! There was also a little corner with big balls, small balls, yoga mats, and water, everything you’d need. Huzzah!

So, it was a short but memorable trip to DC this go-round. Eat some good vegan food, visit an incredible museum, and stay in the best hotel suite in America if you are going anytime soon. And then there’s only one important thing left to do (in caption).

go here and give what is sadly now an undeniable symbol of hate and everyone inside the finger (finger not pictured).
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