Visiting Melissa

This past weekend, Warren and I made the trip down to Washington, D.C. to visit Melissa in her new apartment. She now lives in Dupont Circle, which is an even prettier, livelier and friendlier neighborhood than her prior residence. D.C. is so full of flowers, pretty architecture, fun fountains, cool restaurants and most importantly, lots of dogs. :)
We drove down early on Saturday morning and the first thing Melissa wanted to show us was a very lovely park up the street from her apartment building. It had a really cool tiered waterfall and lots of shady spots to sit in. In the fall or spring it would be a great place to read a book with a cup of tea. After taking some photos there we visited the neighborhood dog park to watch the doggies romp and to pet some of them. Their owners or dog sitters were very friendly and willing to chat and let their dogs socialize with new people. My favorites were a puppy Beagle mix, a pair of friendly Scotties and a dog that looked like a yellow Lab but with a longer, almost white coat. After making friends with the doggies, we stopped for lunch at Firehook Bakery in Dupont Circle, where we had yummy sandwiches, salads and a giant smoothie which we shared 3 ways. I forgot how delicious smoothies are- and it was a welcome treat on a very hot day.
We then took the Metro to the Mall and enjoyed walking around seeing some sights that I hadn't seen last time; the Vietnam and Korean war memorials in particular. I was a huge fan of the little fountains spaced along the Mall that you could cool your feet in. In my humble opinion, every city should have numerous foot fountains! Then we walked to the Tidal Basin where we rented a paddleboat and were able to get up pretty close to the Jefferson Memorial. After that we were ready to go take a cool shower and get ready for dinner. I had been greatly anticipating my return to Bangkok Joe's on the Georgetown waterfront! It was as tasty as expected and after dinner we walked along the water and enjoyed the sights. On the way home we stopped at Baked & Wired to pick up a few cupcakes for the next day. It's a new bakery in D.C. that is even more popular now than the bakery from the show DC Cupcakes...I forget what that one is called though. Anyway, I tried the Elvis cupcake- banana cake with peanut butter frosting and a drizzle of chocolate. Yum.
All told we walked 5 miles or more on Saturday and I was about ready to die! On Sunday morning I went for another short walk with Melissa before it was time to head out. We had a blast and can't wait to go back and see some of the Smithsonian museums. There's always something else to go back for!