I'm back from DC! Ok, that was a week and a half ago. I'm still recovering from the heat. 100 degree humid weather just sucks, especially when you're roaming through the city by foot. In two and a half days in DC and 1 in Baltimore, we managed to visit Union Station, the National Zoo, the National Cathedral, Georgetown, the Washington Monument, the Natural History Museum, the National Air & Space Museum, the Capitol, Arlington National Cemetery, Chinatown, the Lincoln Memorial, the World War II Memorial, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the White House, Camden Yards, and Lexington Market.

We stayed at the Hyatt Regency near the Capitol which on the inside looks pretty nice but when you walk outside, it's like a whole different world out there. A homeless shelter is nearby. The fire station is across the street. Not the first place I had in mind to stay at but when it's at a 75% discount from regular prices, you made do with what you have. Of course, this wasn't as bad as the streets of Baltimore, which looked a lot less inviting unless you are near the ballpark.

The tour of the Capitol was much better than the White House. It's guided first of all plus if you go through your representative in Congress, you get a little bit of a local tour as well. Much more history and you get to see where things get done. The White House is just a walking tour filled with a lot of pictures and, in our case, rooms closed due to renovation.

Sure the budget was limited, but we still made it to some great restaurants. It was Restaurant Week in DC, but we were only here on the first day of it, so we didn't take full advantage of the prix fixe menus. Straight from the airport and hotel, we headed to the Cap City Brewing Co, which had some pretty good beer. The next day featured Clyde's of Georgetown, visited by Rachael Ray in a $40 a day episode, and Old Ebbitt Grill, apparently a Washington institution. Then there was Fogo de Chao, the Brazilian steakhouse where they bring around 10-15 different meats continuously until you say stop. Even for lunch, this was really good. Chicken, lamb, beef, pork, and it really didn't stop until you turned your card over. Finally, there was Chinatown, which was smaller than I thought it would be. In Baltimore, I had a crabcake at Faidley's, which was much better than anything I've had on the West Coast.

All in all, a very nice trip with first class air travel to and from.