Tag: local coffee shops

Weekend Vacation: Washington, D.C.

Lauren2 Comments

Washington, D.C. ♥

The most hot and humid weather I’ve ever experienced (and I’ve been to New Orleans in August!), but also The White House, city views from swanky rooftop bars, endless bowls of fresh pita, the monuments all lit up at night, an alleyway coffee shop, BOTTOMLESS BRUNCH (what?!), a museum tour that makes you thirsty for beer, a Bryce Harper home run, the Ginuwine Wikipedia page (don’t ask), walking past all the pretty row houses on your way to get coffee, “watching sport,” UNION MARKET (OMG, my favorite!), Union Station, a Sunday bike ride, seeing the Changing of the Guard, THE BEST dinner at Tail Up Goat and sad goodbyes at the end.

It is insane and beautiful and amazing that you can collect so many precious memories in such a short span of time.  Till next time, D.C.!

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Where We Ate/Drank:

Qualia Coffee // They roast their own coffee and there’s a secret back patio, but you didn’t hear it from me.

Capitol City Brewing Company // I had a really good Rye IPA and get this, they give out baskets of soft pretzels instead of baskets of bread! 

Zaytinya // What can I say except that everything is good and they give you a never ending supply of fresh pita to dip any and everything in.  My favorite was the roasted red pepper dip and the Brussel sprouts. 

Pintango Gelato // Totally recommended on a hot D.C. night when you’re walking to the Washington Monument.  Or just any time.

La Colombe Coffee  (Shaw location) // One look at this place and I was sold.  All the exposed brick your eyes can handle.  Plus I’d call the almond milk latte I ordered one of the best I’ve ever had. 

El Centro // You shoulda seen my eyes when I heard they do a $35 bottomless brunch, food AND drink included!  I only made it through round one but I’m pretty sure Joey ordered 50% of the menu.  Best chilaquiles ever though, furreal. 

Kapnos at the Park // I wouldn’t call the Greek Fried Potatoes I ate at Nationals Park the best thing I ate in D.C. but overall, the options were so much better than at Coors.  No fair.

Big Bear Café // We just grabbed coffee and a couple of (really good) pastries, but can I just say I’m a big fan of a coffee shop that’s got a good food menu and this place looked like it did.  Also, it was hoppin in there!

Union Market // An indoor food hall that made my heart so so happy.  I think I could’ve spent all day there but decided to order a shrimp bánh mì and a bao bun (that I saw a man walk by with and HAD to track down), then left feeling my happiest foodie self.

Tail Up Goat // Saved the best for last with this one!  What can I even say?  Everything — from the way they confirm your reservation with a goat emoji text, to the beautiful bar set up, to the watermelon-jalapeno cocktail to the best damn roasted chicken I ever did eat — was so incredible.  HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

FroZenYo // In true Lauren fashion, I put the smallest amount of gelato in my bowl then piled ALL THE THINGS on top.  Also, a good opportunity to experience the Columbia Heights neighborhood, where everyone and their mom seemed to be out and about. 

What We Did:

The White House // A nice lady walked by and took our picture for us.

The monuments at night // The Washington Monument, the World War II Memorial, past the Reflecting Pool and up to the Lincoln Monument, then to the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial.  It was so cool (and probably way less crowded) to see them all lit up at night. 

Heurich House Museum // We toured the home of a German brewer that was built in 1892 and it was so interesting.  Our house could totally use a balcony for live music too. 

Canteen Beer Garden // Beer, Jenga!, a live band with a singer who sounds like Adam Levine.  What more can you ask for?

Washington Nationals Game // Joey totally called that Bryce Harper homerun!  And we got free beer steins!

Union Station // Just a little bigger than Denver’s 🙂

Capital Bikeshare // We rented some bikes and biked up to the bridge into Arlington.

Arlington National Cemetery // Did you know Robert E. Lee lived there before the cemetary was established??  Seeing all those headstones is really incredible.  Definitely watch the Changing of the Guard ceremony.

HUGE shoutout to Fletcher for being the best host/tour guide ever!  He know what’s up when it comes to D.C. sightseeing, eating and Metro traveling.

Weekend Things

Lauren2 Comments

When it’s Friday and you meet Trevor Story or it’s Saturday and you have a pre-Shakespeare Festival picnic with you mom and sister or it’s Sunday and you brew beer before deciding to go to City Park Jazz then nothing is bad ever ♥

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We got invited to an “Exclusive Autograph Session” before the game on Friday and totally expected to meet a relief pitcher or maybe someone on the DL, so imagine our surprise when it turned out to be Trevor Story!  Guys, in person (and not on the field) he is HUGE!  I was gonna make a “you didn’t have to dress up just for us” joke because he was in a t-shirt with cutoff sleeves but then I got too nervous.

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Afterwards (and before the game started), we grabbed dinner up on the rooftop patio at Whiskey Foxtrot Tango.  The service was kind of slow and my tuna bánh mì was WAY TOO spicy but it was a perfect night for some rooftop sitting and also I didn’t care because: Trevor Story.  He went on to hit a homerun, Rockies went on to win the game and we had the best seats behind home plate.  Just an overall perfect night, even if we didn’t catch any Cracker Jacks during the 7th Inning Stretch.

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I’d been dying to try The White Whale Room for MONTHS and we finally made it there Saturday morning.  We were the only ones there (save for a friend of the barista’s, sitting at the bar) so that felt weird but the space is so funky-beautiful (that’s a term, right?), they serve drinks in Tiki mugs and that breakfast burrito is griddled and plated to straight perfection.

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The rest of the day involved complaining about how hot it was errand running, in preparation for a picnic I was having that night and picking up beer supplies for some Sunday homebrewing.  Cheese + Provisions opened up in our neighborhood a few months ago and I had been looking for a good excuse to go drop some money on fancy cheese, so a picnic seemed like the perfect opportunity.  Spoiler: I loved the shop!!!  Also, we walked through this new bridge tunnel to get to the liquor store and I’m frightened that this is what we consider excitement.

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The moment I look forward to all summer… SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL!  I know, I know but my nerdy English major heart just loves sitting outside in the Mary Rippon Theater with my two favorite people, listening to cryptic-Shakespearean language on a summer night.  Joey suggested we picnic before and when he heard the spread we had planned his response was “um, well I just meant something like sandwiches.”  It’s like he doesn’t even know us Dorseys at all.

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My mom claimed The Comedy of Errors “wasn’t her favorite,” and I’ll admit it was a little overdone but I still liked it and ended up loving that they switched out the four main male characters for females.  Girl power!  Haunted Mackey Auditorium was looking extra eerie as we walked back to the car afterwards.  My heart is always so full after attending the fest with my family and this year was no exception.  Is it too soon to start looking forward to next year??

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I dragged Joey on a run Sunday morning but then I made up for it with homemade Vietnamese Iced Coffee!  Turns out it’s totally easy to make yourself and it was a good way to use up some of the dark roast coffee I bought then decided I didn’t like on its own.  Sweetened condensed milk makes all things better, ya know?  We also jumped right into beer brewing and were done and cleaned up by noon?!  We’re never not doing it that way again.  Red ale comin at ya in 3-ish weeks.

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As we were outside pulling weeds from our garden, I lamented that “I don’t want to do any responsible adult things today!”  Not into it at all.  I bucked up and eventually dragged myself to the grocery store/prepped lunch for the week, but then we ditched dinner at home and decided to hit up City Park Jazz.  It was the second to last week AND we already had all the (leftover) makings of a picnic so it seemed like perfect timing.  It was SO NICE to just spend an evening outside on a blanket, eating cheese, listening to live music and taking advantage of as much weekend time as possible before Monday.

In other words: PERFECT WEEKEND.