We didn’t expect to land in Washington, DC for 24 hours. We’d flown to the Poconos in Pennsylvania from our sunny Florida home to watch our friend get married. I got to show Adriano where I grew up and some of my favorite places around my hometown. I haven’t posted about that trip yet but maybe during this 30-day blogging challenge, I will!

We usually prefer one-way flights, but since we were heading to the Poconos, the best flight plan had one stop in Washington, DC. On our way back, our first flight got delayed because of an issue with the plane and we ended up missing our connecting flight.

We got hit with a double-whammy trying to reschedule, because Florida was also getting slammed with rain from a hurricane and a lot of flights had been delayed. So our DC flight back to Florida got delayed by two days, which meant a *bonus* 24-hour adventure in DC for us!

Even though we had so much to do when we got back home, we took advantage of the extra time to explore. It was Adriano’s first time in DC, so it was exciting for me to watch him get to see the Capitol for the first time!

TBH, I loved the excitement of a last-minute unplanned trip and figuring out where to stay and what places we’d try to see while we could! We had to be pretty strategic since we only had 24 hours, so we found a hotel a few blocks away from the White House so that we wouldn’t have long travel times to get to the must-see places.

We either did a lot of walking, rode the rental bikes, or took an Uber. Lucky for us, the heat index broke 100 degrees (it was early August), so we had to be extra careful not to overheat ourselves and stop for a lot of breaks and water, especially since I was 5 months pregnant with our first baby.

Adriano teases me because I’m constantly taking a BUNCH of photos when we travel, eat, find a cool spot, whatever it is but I *love* saving our memories. Saving memories one of the reasons why I love being a photographer!

The red circle below is where we wanted to explore! We tried to see as many of these landmarks as possible while also just taking our time to enjoy where we were. And yes, my phone is in Spanish, so we went to see La Casa Blanca. Still working on my Spanish fluency. 😉

Our hotel was right across from Franklin Park and below was our view! If you look closely, you can see the very top of the Washington Monument. Uff, looking at this photo again reminds me of the hustle and bustle and the sweet sounds of the city traffic. 😌

Just a few blocks from our hotel, we stumbled across Tatte Bakery & Cafe. We had no idea this was a pretty famous spot, and also located in Boston! We fell in *love* and spent our breakfasts there. We even made one last stop to grab airplane snacks before we left. It was *that* good. And super cute on the inside!

We found our way to The White House! We were both surprised how small it looks in person, standing outside the fence. It seems so much bigger in TV shows and movies.

Just photos to prove we were there! 😉 And an appearance from my five-month baby bump. By the time we got to the Lincoln Memorial, we were both exhausted. We rode e-bike and scooter rentals from the Washington Monument past through the park to the Lincoln Memorial. After this, we rode the rentals back to the hotel. I’m really glad we decided to ride bikes instead of taking an Uber because it was a cool way to explore the city. And I thought it was kind of romantic to ride bikes through the city with my husband. 🥰

We’re BIG FANS of Thai food in our house, so we *had* to find a highly recommended Thai spot for dinner. Baan Siam hit the spot after a looooong day of exploring downtown DC in the summer heat.

On our last day, we only had a few hours before we had to head to the airport so we decided a chill day after all our walking from the day before. We both love learning and exploring museums, so we ended up at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. There was SO much to see there! I think looking through the gems and where they came from was my favorite.

Washington, DC has some stunning architecture. Seeing the art and detail of different buildings is one of my favorite things to do when we explore. Did you know that when I was a freshman in high school, I originally wanted to go to college for Architecture and Interior Design? I’ve had a fascination with buildings for a long time!

That’s it! Washington, DC, you were good to us! We hope that if you ever happen to get stuck in an unexpected long layover like we did, you’ll find the adventure and make amazing memories!

We definitely want to go back for a longer trip, so if you have any recommendations for what to do when we head back, let me know in the comments below. Talk soon!

xoxo,

Cindi