Sweet Southern Pursuits: Anniversary Weekend

We went to DC this past weekend for our anniversary. It was Memorial Day weekend, so there were many presentations, performances, and other events that occurred throughout the few days we were there. We have both been to DC numerous times, but it had been a while since I visited the downtown Mall area. We made a list and planned to hit most of the highlights without overloading ourselves with information and museums.

It was pretty late when we arrived in Vienna on Friday, so we decided to grab dinner, head back to the hotel, and call it a night so we'd be refreshed and ready to go the next morning. Our plans for a quick meal from some fast food joint completely flipped upside down when we drove past a Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. I'd never eaten at one of these restaurants before, but Derek raved about it after visiting one in Nashville. I'm also not a fan of steak; I would go for a chicken breast or hamburger over steak any day. Upon viewing the menu, realizing they essentially only serve steak (yes, I know it's a steakhouse), and seeing the astronomical prices, I decided that I would learn to like steak.


I know it's really blurry, but this is the only one I managed to get from Ruth's Chris.

At Ruth's Chris, side dishes are served family-style, meaning an order of sweet potato casserole is enough for 2-3 people at your table. We ordered our steaks, decided upon mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli as our sides, and waited to see what would be laid in front of us. Probably 15 minutes later, our food was delivered. Now although I wasn't a steak fan upon entering Ruth's Chris, I definitely left as one. This was the most delicious, tender, melt-in-your-mouth meat that I have ever eaten. I strongly recommend trying Ruth's Chris (unless you are on a tight budget).

The rest of the weekend was mostly spent exploring downtown. On Saturday we toured the Library of Congress, Natural History Museum, and had dinner at Union Station. We spent the day doing some shopping, visiting Georgetown Cupcakes in Bethesda, and touring Arlington on Sunday. Monday consisted of visiting the Archives where we saw the Constitution, Declaration of Independence, and Bill of Rights. We also walked to the Capitol, Washington Monument, WWII Memorial, & saw the Lincoln Memorial before heading home. Overall it was a really nice weekend. I wish we would've been able to visit the Holocaust Museum and American History Museum, but I suppose those will be saved for future trips.

Here are some pictures we captured throughout the weekend.