Washington, D.C. / Alexandria, Virginia

I am a big fan of weekend getaways. This past weekend we visited our friends in Alexandria, VA. The location was perfect, it’s about 15 minutes from the monuments in DC.

Day 1

We spent most of Friday at our friend’s house catching up before heading out to dinner in Alexandria.

Alexandria Dinner

Fratelli: Our friends suggested an Italia restaurant called Fratelli, it was delicious. It is not a trendy spot by any means but that doesn’t matter when the food is tasty and authentic. These are some of my favorite places to go.

The menu has so many choices. My husband ordered the lobster ravioli which was amazing (I like to pick at his food). I got one of the specials, a lobster tail with shrimp, scallops and scampi sauce pasta, it was so satisfying. All of our entrees came with a salad. I recommend getting the house-made Italian dressing (yum). We had chocolate cake and tiramisu for dessert.

Living in New York there are so many good restaurants. A lot of them are well-oiled machines, what was refreshing about this place was that is was friendly and authentic. No fluff or gimmick, just good food.

Day 2

On Saturday we went to DC to explore the monuments. We got to see the State Capital, White House, Lincoln Memorial, and Washington Monument. It was a very cold so we will definitely be returning to enjoy DC when the weather is warmer to walk around.

Washington, D.C. Brunch

Farmers and Distillers: We got to enjoy Farmers and Distillers’ “Farmers Market Buffet Brunch.” It truly has something for everyone. You should come here on an empty stomach because there are so many options to choose from. You can choose from the classics like scrambled eggs, pork sausage, hash browns, chicken sausage just to name a few. Some not so breakfast classics like southern fried chicken, chinese fried chicken, cheese ravioli bolognese, lasagna, mac & cheese roasted carrots, and so on. My favorite of all was the french toast table which featured a banana foster topping. I dare you not to go back for seconds. Another favorite was their dessert table which has a huge assortment of treats like custom ice cream sundaes, carrot cake donuts, coffee cake donuts, seasonal fritters, cinnamon rools, cehesecake bars and seaonal trifle. I’m not saying the food wasn’t great but i’m just a sucker for sweet food.

Farmers and Distillers is very busy, there was an hour wait when we arrived. I was lucky enough to grab two spots at the bar that allow for a full menu. I highly recommend getting a reservation since this restaurant offers a very unique brunch experience. Bloody marys tent to be a hit or miss at most restaurants, I’m happy to report our bloody mary was tasty and seemed like the mix was made in house.

We also went to the National Gallery of Art. They feature a lot of cool contemporary art. If you want to view more it has an underground walkway that takes you to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.

Downtown Alexandria Dinner

This area was super cute. We were only here for a couple of hours. There are plenty of cute shops to check out, lots of restaurant options and for some reason there seemed to be a lot of icecream parlor.

Fish Market: We got the white wine mussels as an appetizer, I filled up on these since they were so good! As an entree my husband got lobster pasta which was absolutely amazing, I would have gotten it but I have been trying to restrict myself from eating dairy. I got a ‘healthier option,” The Admiral which comes with shrimp, scallops, salmon, and a crab imperial. It was good but I had major FOMO because I really wanted the lobster pasta.

The place was very friendly and accommodating considering we were bringing an infant with us to dinner. They stored our stroller in their closet and provided a sling for our car seat. This is unheard of courtesy in New York so we were very happy about that. The restaurant is also very large, it has different sets of dining rooms so it’s accommodating.

Sunday we went to Arlington National Cemetary. It was great to learn about the background of the cemetery and the brave men and women who served. We saw the ceremony of changing of the guard for the unknown soldier.

Overall, DC and Alexandria were an awesome way to spend President’s Day Weekend. We got to catch up with friends, explore the historical sights, and good food.

If you would like to check out other adventures click here. Happy travels!