Wshington, D.C. Day 4 White House & Washington Monument

We headed to the White House this morning.  It was easier to get the tickets back when I first visited the White House many years ago.  All we had to do was get there bright and early in the morning to line up to get the tour tickets.  Nowadays it requires few months in advance to request tickets.  Since we didn't have tickets this time, we just went around the front and back of the White House.

Front View

Back View

It so happenned that we got to see the beekeepers working in the front yard of White House.

Around the corner, there was a Japanese museum.  Although there was not much to see,  the weather was so hot that we went in there to take a break.  Here are some of the interesting thing we saw.

Gown made of glass

Beautiful design - Matrix Glass

Cute bird houses

We then headed to the National Portraits gallery where you got to see all the Presidents' portraits.

George Washington Portrait

There was an indoor cafe which had an outdoor garden setting where we could relax, escape the heat, and enjoy our coffee and snacks here.   I didn't realize the cheesecake brownie was so good until that day.  That was one delicious dessert my kids and I discovered in Washington, DC.

After we rested for a couple of hours, we made our way to the beautiful Washington monument.

Lincoln Memorial

It was dinner time again, and we did not know where to go.  As we were walking in the area of our hotel looking for a place to eat, the kids spotted this burger place called Five Guys.  They had heard on the news that President Obama ordered the lunch from there.  Of course, we immediately went in there and checked it out.

Five Guys

1400 I Street

Washington, DC 20005

(202) 450-3412

Employees making fresh burgers and french fries.

Bags of French fries were deliberately stacked up as decor.  Peanuts were free and self serve from the box.

You must be wondering if they were good.  Yes, the french fries not only were very fresh and crunchy, it was also a generous portion. It was filled in the cup and extra was deliberately poured into the brown bag.

The burger was big.  It came with two patties, fresh mushrooms, grilled onion and other vegetables.

Both the burger and French fries were very good and I was happy to find out that there is a Five Guys located in Fremont.   I am sure we will be going there for lunch pretty soon.   Click and see their menu and location near you.  This was our last night in Washington, DC. and we would be flying to New York early the next  morning. 

Washington, D.C. Day 3(b) Museum of Natural American History

I have to dedicate a single post to the Museum of Natural American History.   My favorite exhibit was the First Ladies Hall where it exhibited most of the First Ladies' Inaugural Ball Gowns and accessories.

The original sketches of the gowns

Our current First Lady,  Michelle Obama's Inaugural Ball gown which was designed by Jason Wu was set in the middle of the room.

Front view

Back

Accessories

Historial Inaugural ball accessories

In another hall of the museum, Abraham Lincoln's top hat was exhibited too.

Famous American chef  - Julia Child's Kitchen

When we finished with the museum, it was dinner time already.  We took the metro again and went to an busy area called the Adams Morgan where shops and restaurants were everywhere.   We stood in front of a cafe style restaurant called Bardia's New Orleans Cafe and were contemplating whether we should go in, when a couple came out told us the food was very good, and they originally were from Louisiana.  That immediately set our mind to go in right away.  The food indeed was very good.  We ordered the Bayou Po'Boy, which is a sandwich with spicy sausage and creole sauce.  We also ordered the seafood Creole, which is seafood in a spicy tomato, vegetable sauce over white rice and Andouille (sausage) Etouffee, which is canjun roux over white rice.  We learned that Jambalaya actually is sauce mixed with fried rice and not over white rice.  The Andouille Etouffee creole was so delicious that we had another one.  My husband and kids had never tried Beignets before, I ordered the beignets to go with the cafe au lait, and the beignets were freshly made.  This is one cafe we will be sure to visit again if we ever return to DC.

 

Bardia's New Orleans Cafe

2412 18th Street, NW

Washington, DC. 20009

(202)234-0420

It was late and dark after we finished the dinner,  We took the taxi back to the hotel since it was getting late and the walk to the metro station was a bit far to walk.  The fare was about $15 compared to the $9 for the four of us taking the metro.   Taxi was easy to find everywhere and sometimes worth to take it depends on the distance if you have a group of three or more people to share the ride with.

Washington, D.C. - Day 2 U.S. Capitol

We took the Metro to visit the U. S. Capitol.  It was raining when we arrived.  Food and drink were not allowed.  We finshed the bottled water before we got in line to get into the capitol.

U. S. Capitol

Old Supreme court chamber (1810-1860)

The clock in the supreme court chamber is still running accurately today.

Inside of the beautiful capitol dome

One of the historical portraits displayed: Marriage of Pocahonda and John Smith

Statuary Hall:  Only  marble and bronze statues were displayed in this room.

After the tour, we headed downstairs to have lunch at the cafeteria.  We then took the Metro again to get to the Pentagon.  Pentagon was heavily armed with military soldiers and guns.  Pictures were not allowed anywhere in the Pentagon vincity except White House press area that you always see on TV.

Everyone was very obedient while on the tour with all the military soldiers around.  When we were shown the 9/11 site, we were all sad and quiet at that moment.   It was an unusual tour and really worth the visit in my opinion.

After the tour, the rain had stopped.  We went  to a Chinese restaurant, Sichuan Pavillion which was closed to our hotel for dinner.  The food here was good.  We ordered these from the menu and they were all delicious except for the hot and sour soup.

   Crispy whole fish 脆皮全魚

Vegetable with garlic sauce

Crispy Duck 香酥鴨

Sichuan Pavillion 重慶樓

1914 K. Street, NW

Washington, DC 20006

(202)466-7790

Washington D. C. - Day 1 Birch & Barley Restaurant

We just came back from vacationing with the kids in Washington D.C. and New York.  I promised my older daughter a trip to New York when she graduated high school.  We also wanted to take the kids to visit  D.C. since they have already taken U.S. history classes in school.   We also asked her to plan a trip to Washington D.C. and New York  with her sister, so that they can both learn how to go about planning a trip.  After we set the dates and booked the flights, she and her little sister split up the work by googling and researching online to get all the neccessary tickets for all the tourist attracions.  They did a good job keeping us posted on their progress and telling us where and how we would go.

When we arrived in D.C., it was already late afternoon.  After checking into the Westin Washington, D.C. City Center, we headed to the lobby to drink some cold water that had fresh honeydew and watermelon in it.  We later found out they had them at the lobby everyday in the afternoon for the guests to enjoy since the weather in D.C. was very warm.

We found out from the concierge that it was Restaurant Week and a lot of restaurants were offering a 3 course meal for $35 per person.  We went on Yelp and found a three and half stars restaurant in the area, and while waiting for our table, we walked around the neighborhood.  These houses were more commonly seen in the east coast but not in California.

The restuarant we went to called Birch and Barley.  There wasn't room to wait in the restaurant.  There's another bar restaurant on the second floor where you could wait, but my kids are underage so we couldn't wait there and decided to walk around the neighborhood instead.  We waited for about an hour before our pager lit up. 

Birch & Barley

1337 14th St. NW

Washington D.C. 20005

(202)567-2576

The food and the service were excellent at this restuarant.  To compensate for the long wait, we got this small complimentary snack. 

Fried potatoes and Basil topping on baguettes.

This is their 3 course resturant week menu.  (click to see their menu online)

Instead of regular house bread, they served 3 different kinds of freshly baked dinner rolls.

Corn bread, Olive roll, Pretzel roll

For our first course, we chose these:

Vialone Nano Risotto, green summer squash, squash blossoms, romanesco

Yellow Garden Gazpacho, maryland blue crab, celery, green apple, almonds

House Formed Sweet Corn Tortellini, broccoli rabe, pinenuts

This is not included in the meal   I was willing to pay for the extra $8 just to try their foie gras.  It came with a warm brioche. This was just done perfectly.

Foie Gras Terrine

For our second course, we had these:

Spice Rubbed Pork Tenderloin, spaetzle, mustard greens, haricot verts

Cioppino of Halibut, seafood sausage, mussels & clams

Pan Seared Poussin, cornbread stuffing, confit thighs, potato rosti, swiss chard

Next we received another complimentary dish:

Rasperry and prosciuto pizza

By the time we finished the pizza, we were full.  We didn't realize we would get so much complimentary food, and the dinner just kept getting better and better.

For our third course, we had these:

Buttermilk Panna Cotta, passion fruit cream, apricot sorbet, graham cracker

Hostess Cupcake, PB Brownie S’more, Mint Ice Cream, Oatmeal Cream Pie

Chef’s Selection of Artisanal Cheeses with accoutrements

The total bill for the entire dinner was $150 including tips.  We were very happy with the experience and the food was delicately done and service was just phenomenal.  It's definitely a place we will remember for a long time.