Washington, D.C., could also be greatest often called the nation’s capital metropolis, however past the breaking information and breakneck tempo of the political machine lies a nuanced metropolis brimming with artwork, historical past, culinary delights and cultural surprises. Now, there’s no higher time to go to, because of American Airways’ new direct flight from the Alamo Metropolis to Ronald Reagan Washington Nationwide Airport (DCA), positioned simply minutes from the Smithsonian Museums and different nationwide treasures. Observe the following pointers and spend a pleasant weekend within the nation’s buzzing capital.
FRIDAY
Rise and shine for the town’s sole direct flight into DCA, which leaves San Antonio at 6:35 a.m. Three hours later, when the wheels contact down in Washington, D.C., head straight to The St. Regis Lodge.
The property is a fast quarter-hour from the airport, simply steps from the White Home, and a brief stroll to the Nationwide Mall and its monuments. The historic lodge has been newly renovated, simply in time for its centennial anniversary.
With baggage dropped, take a brisk stroll to Petite Cerise for lunch. The comfortable neighborhood bistro, positioned in Shaw and the Mount Vernon Triangle, serves savory French onion soup, together with crepes, quiches and breakfast sandwiches on the weekends. Stunning wines, espresso and selfmade pastries make for a simple, all-day eating expertise.
After lunch, press on to the Nationwide Portrait Gallery and take within the spectacular artwork, together with the nation’s solely full assortment of presidential portraits exterior the White Home, earlier than making the quick trek again to the lodge. On route, stroll via CityCenterDC, a brand new, mixed-use outside improvement with full of life eating places, together with the Italian scorching spot Centrolina, together with luxurious outlets like Chanel and Hermes.
At 6 p.m. on the dot, The St. Regis workers showcases the artwork of Le Sabrage within the lodge’s spectacular foyer, with its gilded ceilings, crystal chandeliers and neo-Renaissance furnishings. Watch as bottles of Champagne are ceremoniously sabered for company to take pleasure in earlier than heading upstairs to clean up for a enjoyable and sensory evening in town.
Lovers of the theater, ballet and music ought to make plans to take pleasure in the rotating roster of performances on the Kennedy Middle and Ford’s Theater, the latter well-known as the positioning of President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination.
Certainly one of D.C.’s hottest eating venues sits a couple of blocks from The St. Regis at The Occidental, a 120-year-old restaurant inside the Willard InterContinental that’s been comprehensively reimagined because of James Beard Award-winning restaurateur Stephen Starr and designer Ken Fulk.
The landmark restaurant, which reopened in March, has welcomed world leaders and locals alike since 1906. Right now, captains sporting white tuxedos serve plates of caviar, pigs in a blanket and midcentury dishes similar to steak Diane and pheasant underneath glass to diners cozied up in mossy inexperienced velvet banquettes. On the partitions, portraits of presidents Dwight Eisenhower, Franklin D. Roosevelt and different politicos imbue the area with stately sophistication. In a single nook of the eating room, a plaque commemorating “the pork chop that saved the world” hangs over the desk the place a Soviet emissary and American correspondent famously dined in October 1962 in a historic assembly credited for quelling the Cuban missile disaster.
Cap off the evening with drinks at Off The Report within the luxe Hay-Adams Lodge, or enterprise to the Riggs’ subterranean bar, Silver Lyan, for a chilly dry martini that may linger in reminiscence lengthy after the final sip.
SATURDAY
The subsequent morning, drive west to Georgetown, with its historic row homes and tree-lined streets. The neighborhood favourite, Pâtisserie Poupon, serves recent French pastries and piping scorching espresso in an enthralling setting on Ebook Hill, surrounded by galleries, boutiques, cafes and vintage outlets. One block north, on the very best level in Georgetown, awaits the historic Dumbarton Oaks property. The venue was established in 1920 and lures guests with its historical Byzantine artwork and world-class backyard designed by panorama gardener Beatrix Farrand.
Afterward, head south on Wisconsin Avenue towards M Avenue, stopping into the bevvy of native outlets like Côté Jardin Antiques, with French furnishings and ornamental objets, and Manse, the place trendy residence items intermix with aromatic topiaries and British backyard wares. In the meantime, the D.C.-based trend model Tuckernuck welcomes followers from close to and much to its colourful flagship boutique.
A brief stroll from right here, you’ll discover Osteria Mozza, chef Nancy Silverton’s in style Los Angeles eatery, which celebrated its long-awaited East Coast debut final 12 months. The venue is an element market, half restaurant, and is at all times abuzz with locals saddling as much as the sweeping mozzarella bar or eating on blistered pizzas and selfmade pastas within the ethereal, elegant setting.
Drink down an espresso earlier than heading north for a day at Hillwood, the beloved home-turned-museum of artwork collector, businesswoman, social determine and philanthropist Marjorie Merriweather Submit. The property is a hidden treasure and residential to probably the most complete assortment of Russian imperial artwork exterior of Russia, to not point out a monumental 18th-century French ornamental artwork assortment, Japanese-style gardens, French parterres and an orchid-filled greenhouse. Marvel on the rooms glimmering with Fabergé eggs, Beauvais tapestries and Sèvres porcelain, and put together to be impressed.
Again in Georgetown, the neighborhood wine store Bacchus uncorks worldly conversations and spirits on the weekends, whereas a couple of blocks away, Apéro serves inspiring wines and cocktails alongside small plates like deviled eggs loaded with bacon, chives and dallops of sustainably farmed caviar. The venue additionally hosts a seasonal eating expertise upstairs at La Bohème themed round artists similar to Quentin Tarantino and JRR Tolkien. Its newest program, launching in Could, options the esteemed Japanese animator and filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki as its muse.
For one thing totally different, go to Dōgon within the newly opened Salamander Lodge. The venue is the brainchild of chef Kwame Onwuachi, whose sister restaurant, Tatiana in New York Metropolis, stays probably the most coveted reservations in all of Manhattan. Right here, Chef Kwame serves a tasty menu of Afro-Caribbean dishes, similar to Piri Piri salad, Hoe crab with plantain blinis, and rum cake with macerated gooseberries and whipped vanilla yogurt.
After dinner, head to The Jefferson’s Quill bar, the place each Thursday to Saturday the sounds of piano and night serenades complement the jewel-box environs, artistic cocktails and superb wines that stream late into the evening.
SUNDAY
The subsequent morning, the sounds of church bells sign the beginning of a brand new day and the approaching finish of the weekend. Head downstairs for a hearty Sunday brunch served within the lodge’s Alhambra Restaurant and sip on one in all The St. Regis’ Capital Mary cocktails impressed by the heritage of the close by Chesapeake Bay.
With a few of the nation’s most prestigious and well-respected museums at your fingertips, head out to see the websites as soon as extra. Entry to all Smithsonian museums — such because the Nationwide Museum of African American Historical past and Tradition, and the Nationwide Gallery of Artwork — is free.
Town is residence to a number of lesser-known treasures, too, such because the Folger Shakespeare Library on Capitol Hill, which holds the world’s largest assortment of printed works of William Shakespeare, the Woodrow Wilson Home and the Museum of the Bible. The latter just lately debuted an interesting exhibition on the lifetime of C.S. Lewis that’s on view till February.
The Phillips Assortment, positioned close to Dupont Circle, is one other worthy pit cease and has been often called America’s first museum of recent artwork because it was opened in 1921 by the collector and philanthropist Duncan Phillips.
After a couple of hours spent perusing the town’s museums, the Nationwide Mall and its storied monuments, take a break at Peacock Alley within the Waldorf Astoria, positioned immediately subsequent door to the Smithsonian’s Nationwide Museum of Pure Historical past. The lodge, previously the town’s Outdated Submit Workplace, serves a sensational, seasonally themed afternoon tea beneath its hovering glass atrium. The lodge can also be residence to the Clock Tower, providing the second-highest public commentary level within the metropolis, with 360-degree views of the capital.
Because the solar begins its western descent, head again to the lodge and take a look at earlier than returning to the airport for the 7:45 p.m. direct flight to San Antonio. Fortunately, native superstar chef and philanthropist José Andrés has dinner lined in Terminal 2, because of his first-ever airport lounge, which opened final 12 months. Feast on Spanish tapas and toast the weekend’s adventures with a glass of sangria earlier than saying goodbye to the wonders of Washington.
Staying awhile?
Right here’s the place to sleep and savor the Virginia countryside.
Middleburg: This charming city, about 50 miles west of D.C. within the coronary heart of the Virginia Hunt Nation is residence to quaint storybook streets, native outlets and historic establishments, together with the Nationwide Sporting Library & Museum and the Crimson Fox Inn & Tavern. The latter was established in 1728 and is one in all America’s oldest constantly working inns.
Keswick Corridor in Charlottesville: For greater than a century, Keswick Corridor, tucked amid the Blue Ridge Mountains, has been a fixture within the Outdated Dominion and was as soon as the house of designer Laura Ashley. The newly renovated property features a notable Jean-Georges restaurant known as Marigold and sits simply quarter-hour from Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, in addition to Virginia’s award-winning wine nation, orchards and breweries. keswick.com
The Inn at Little Washington: Few locations round america have a popularity for culinary excellence fairly like The Inn at Little Washington. The restaurant, helmed by proprietor and chef Patrick O’Connell, is the one three-star Michelin restaurant south of New York Metropolis. theinnatlittlewashington.com
Glenstone: Unbeknownst to many, the neighborhood of Potomac, Md., is residence to the biggest personal modern artwork museum within the nation. At Glenstone, artwork, structure and nature mix in a novel indoor gallery and outside sculpture backyard setting that’s residence to an beautiful assortment of post-World Conflict II artwork. glenstone.org
