Part 2 of our vacation – a quick trip to DC/Maryland.  We had to squeeze it in between St. Thomas and time in the city so our visit was short but sweet.  We were drove to the District Tuesday morning and left to visit family in MD on Wednesday afternoon, but we still managed to fit in two museums, a long walk around Georgetown, and a visit with friends.  Plus of course we found time to celebrate May 4th, aka May the Fourth be with you!

Our first sightseeing stop was the Museum of Natural History.  I love the human origins hall (did you know I strongly considered going back to school for anthropology instead of dietetics?) but the gems and minerals exhibit is always our favorite.  The stones all look like candy to me so I was very excited to buy some edible rock candy on our way out of the museum.

The next day we did the Renwick Gallery.  The Wonder exhibition was fantastic.  The instillations are stunning and incredibly moving.  My pictures can’t do it justice but artist Gabriel Dawe turned string into light!

My favorite was Maya Lin’s marble river.

It flowed around the room in a way that was just breathtaking.

I skipped taking photos of most of our eats so I only have the really exciting stuff {coffee and sugar!}  The Coffee Bar was our first stop after the drive in.

We went adventurous with an Americola – Americano with Mexican Coke – and the Honey Badger – cream, honey, and tons of espresso.

We also really enjoyed Compass Coffee.

I had a yummy mint cold brew and Adam’s cortado had some of the best espresso we’ve ever tasted.

Baked and Wired was an obvious stop in Georgetown, their funfetti cupcake is called the Uniporn.

We also tried the Texas Sheetcake, chocolate cinnamon cake with chocolate pecan frosting.

Dinner was one of the best parts of the trip.  One of my best friends (my maid of honor) lives in DC and travels a ton so it is always a big treat to get to spend time with her.  Her sister just opened a restaurant in Adams Morgan so we got to enjoy great food with our great company.  Real talk – Tail Up Goat easily makes the top three list for meals we’ve loved this year.

I started by asking for the Hibiscus Agua Fresca with vodka in it because I’m a genius.

This was the first of several rounds of drinks so please excuse the fact that my pictures are pretty rough.  I promise the food was actually as lovely as it was delicious.

There were four of us at the table and we ate family-style so we ended up getting to try a lot of the menu.  Crispy salt cod with smoked cauliflower and pickled red onion.  It was fun to try a different iteration so close on the heels of our salt fish patty back home.

Brown rice bread with roasted carrot, blood orange, and hazelnut picada.  This was a great blend of textures.

“Potato salad” with trout roe, spring onion, and dill.  I hate real potato salad but I would happily eat roasted potato with charred onion, pumpkin seeds, and pops of roe anytime.

Adam wanted to order the asparagus the minute we sat down. Served with almond skordalia, cured egg yolk, and pecorino.  He came very close to licking the plate.

I was more excited about the carrot ravioli with ramp greens, pistachio breadcrumbs, and apricots.  The pasta was perfect.

We tried two of the entrees.  A stunning whole stuffed porgy with sunchokes, black walnut, and ramps.

And smoked hen of the woods mushroom with burnt bread sauce and chicken crisps.

This was my favorite dish of the night!  I’ve now had hen of the woods smoked and fried and I am obsessed with them.  Between the mushrooms and the burnt bread sauce this plate was perfectly umami.

We weren’t too stuffed for dessert.

almond cake with mascarpone and rhubarb jam.  Fyi – tepache is a sweetened and fermented pineapple beverage and budino is a type of Italian pudding.

A fantastic meal all-around and it was really neat to get to see another high-school classmate rocking it in the culinary world.

I soaked up family time in Baltimore and didn’t take a single picture.  Coming up – the last leg of vacation is time off in NYC.