Category: Washington DC

Destinations, United States, Washington DC

Sign Me Up: Where to Work Out During a Trip to the Fittest City in the US

Washington, DC, a top destination for foreign and domestic visitors alike, is consistently at the top of listings of the fittest cities in the US. While sticking to a workout plan while traveling can be tough, the proliferation of gyms and boutique fitness studios in the city can be can be an opportunity to try something new or attend a destination class.

The keywords to describe health in northwest DC are luxury, boutique, and niche. In addition to local, multilocation gyms like Balance and Vida, group fitness classes are the name of the game. From Zumba and cycling to Piloxing and Pound, DC has it all. For travelers, the great thing about these classes is you can often take a free first class or week, or buy just a single class or a small class package if you’re staying longer, instead of subscribing to a monthly membership.   Continue reading “Sign Me Up: Where to Work Out During a Trip to the Fittest City in the US” →

Destinations, Washington DC

DC Summer Series: Paddleboating & Brunch

Washington, DC has a very particular energy during the summer season. The universities are on summer term, those fortunate enough to have vacation days head out of the city, and even the most driven professionals feel the urge to sneak out a few minutes early. The interns take over the metro and bars, everyone sweats in their suits, summer Fridays are pervasive, business booms for restaurants with patios (and the servers hate the patio section), a Friday at Jazz in the Garden is a must, a couple rooftop happy hours are equally as essential, and suddenly Virginia and Maryland are more enticing for a visit. 

As a DC resident of five years, I have passed by the Tidal Basin and seen people floating along on the paddle boats that are available for hire during the summer and into the fall and frequently thought, “oh, I should do that some day!” on numerous occasions. My coworkers and friends had similar thoughts- “oh, I’ve always meant to do that but never have.” Well, yesterday became that day for me. Continue reading “DC Summer Series: Paddleboating & Brunch” →

Destinations, Washington DC

DC Summer Series: A Guide to Tubing at Harper’s Ferry

Washington, DC has a very particular energy during the summer season. The universities are on summer term, those fortunate enough to have vacation days head out of the city, and even the most driven professionals feel the urge to sneak out a few minutes early. The interns take over the metro and bars, everyone sweats in their suits, summer Fridays are pervasive, business booms for restaurants with patios (and the servers hate the patio section), a Friday at Jazz in the Garden is a must, a couple rooftop happy hours are equally as essential, and suddenly Virginia and Maryland are more enticing for a visit. 

Recently, I went on a daytrip with a group of 18 people to go tubing at Harper’s Ferry. I had never been tubing before, and it was ridiculously fun as well as a learning experience in the art of young professionals getting together in a mix of carefree floating and some serious responsibility. Here is everything you need to know for planning a DC summer tubing trip: Continue reading “DC Summer Series: A Guide to Tubing at Harper’s Ferry” →

Destinations, Washington DC

DC Summer Series: The Dulles Air & Space Museum

Washington, DC has a very particular energy during the summer season. The universities are on summer term, those fortunate enough to have vacation days head out of the city, and even the most driven professionals feel the urge to sneak out a few minutes early. The interns take over the metro and bars, everyone sweats in their suits, summer Fridays are pervasive, business booms for restaurants with patios (and the servers hate the patio section), a Friday at Jazz in the Garden is a must, a couple rooftop happy hours are equally as essential, and suddenly Virginia and Maryland are more enticing for a visit. 

If you’re working through the DC summer, or just want to mix up the weekends you do spend in the city, daytrips and other roadtrips are a  great way to get out while staying put. Today I visited the second Air & Space museum (the Dulles Airport sister of the original DC museum), named the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, for a fantastic mini-adventure.

The museum consists of one main, massive hangar filled with planes, a second, space-themed hangar attached perpendicularly to the main hangar, a restoration hangar that you can observe, and a control tower.

If you have any interest in planes or flight at all, this museum is amazing. I arrived right at 10am, when they open, and had several areas of the museum to myself or just with another group nearby. By the time I left in the afternoon, the place starting to fill up- if you have any interest in using the flight simulator, heading up to the control tower, taking a tour, or seeing a movie, I suggest getting there as soon as it opens for no wait times. Continue reading “DC Summer Series: The Dulles Air & Space Museum” →

Washington DC

A Very District Holiday

The holiday season is well underway in Washington, DC and there’s been quite a few events and occasions to see or do already. Here’s a bit of what you can expect in the District during December:

The under-construction Capitol after the tree lighting.
The under-construction Capitol after the tree lighting.

Each year, Christmas trees spread throughout the city and light up the streets and parks. The two main trees in central DC are the Capital tree and the National tree. Both have lighting ceremonies, both typically in the first week of December, but do note that the National lighting requires a ticket and involves a concert while the Capital lighting is a much smaller affair. The tree is lovely, however.

DC is also a major university town and young professional hotspot. If you are interested, alumni events are just as prevalent as office parties. Personally, I attended the DC Hoyas Holiday party for a lovely evening at F. Scott’s followed by Tombs after. Continue reading “A Very District Holiday” →

Destinations, Washington DC

An Evening at the Embassy of Estonia

Last Wednesday I had the opportunity to visit Estonia, or at least the Estonian embassy in the U.S., to learn more about the Baltic country’s past, present, and future.

The embassy is centrally located in Dupont Circle at the southern end of Embassy Row, and is housed in a beautiful, large townhouse. The evening featured a welcome and presentation by the ambassador, His Excellency Eerik Marmei, followed by a reception of Estonian cuisine.

As a Swede/Finn, I’ve always been curious about and interested in visiting Estonia. Ferries such as Silja Line (now Estonian-owned by Tallink) cruise regularly between Tallinn, Helsinki, and Stockholm. Estonia’s dramatic, forward-thinking development in cohesion with is historic cities makes it the top Baltic state on my list of places to visit. Continue reading “An Evening at the Embassy of Estonia” →

Destinations, Washington DC

DC Destinations: Jazz in the Garden

A DC summer can have some miserable moments, especially when all the important people doing important things have to face the heat and humidity in their important clothes. Whew! DC went directly from polar vortex to summer sweat, but everyone is still pretty happy that they are not wearing their parkas.

As one of my coworkers said to me today, as soon as it is warm out, regardless if the weather is heat stroke worthy and “10,000% humidity”, Washingtonians love to crowd together outside and drink. One such event happens every Friday evening on government property: Jazz in the Garden at the National Gallery of Art. Continue reading “DC Destinations: Jazz in the Garden” →