Our Trip to Washington D.C.

Last week AJ and I got to embark on a trip of firsts! Our first time heading to Washington D.C. Our first time traveling with our bff Paige. (Aside from a quick beach road trip last summer!) And our first big ~wedding~ related shenanigan: having our engagement session!

We left early on Tuesday morning, and our flight was easy breezy! We got to fly out of the South Terminal at Austin Bergstrem airport. That was an interesting experience! The whole terminal is smaller than the Barton Creek mall!

AJ and I got to stretch out with a whole seat next in between us. Because distance makes the heart grow fonder.

Upon arrival, after a quick stop for lunch, Paige and I took our own advice and got blow outs! Officially the most glam way to start a mini vacation!

First Stop: Aaall the Museums!

The number one thing people suggested for us were to head to the museums! They’re free for everyone, every day which is awesome! Our first one was The Museum of Natural History!

This museum is definitely geared towards kids, but it’s fun! We saw the Hope Diamond which is pretty neat! The mammal exhibit was my favorite. So many cute little creatures from all over.

AJ loves dinosaurs. Dinosaurs and cars are two of his biggest loves, which officially makes him the cutest. There was a whole dinosaur exhibit that was a big hit! (But if I’m being honest, it was not as cool as the Houston Museum of Natural Science. Hot take, I know.)

We stepped outside and were immediately in the National Mall! It was such beautiful weather the whole time we were there. People were picnicking and strolling along. It was lovely!

You could see the Washington Monument across the water. It was absolutely gorgeous!

Next, because we were on vacation and it’s Paige, AJ and I, we hunted for happy hour! The top rated place to go near us was Old Ebbit Grill. It was just a few blocks down from the White House! This place was built all the way back in 1856! It reminded me of The Driskill, but minus cowboy aesthetic obviously.

There were a lot of important suits around. Paige got a drink called love potion #9 that changed colors!

They’re known for oysters but that’s not really our jam. The drinks were awesome though!

Now it was time for dinner, and we stumbled upon Zorba’s, an amazing Mediterranean place! We sat on the front patio beneath bistro lights. The weather was amazing. We stayed out there for so long, it was so nice!

Last stop of the day: drinks at The Brixton! One thing I noticed is everywhere had at least a second story! This place had a third story rooftop which was really breezy!

Day Two: Shooting Day!

Tuesday flew by, and before we knew it, it was 5:30am and we were waking up to get ready! There are a million and two logistics to doing a destination engagement session, and I promise I’ll get into them later.

I will say this: double check that wherever you’re going has a bathroom to change in that’s open. Learned that one the hard way.

We started at the Jefferson Memorial. The sunrise was gorgeous and it was pretty quiet save some runners! The tidal basin was so dreamy and there were geese roaming around.

So we did find cherry blossoms! Despite everyone saying we couldn’t. They were so beautiful. I love Texas but I would also love seeing blooms everywhere we go!!!

We went across the street and found a giant tulip magnolia tree that was GORGEOUS! It smelled like cinnamon sugar, I swear! A lot of the petals had fallen so it looked like a sea of petals. Standing underneath it with my best friend and SOON TO BE HUSBAND WHAT was perfect.

So because we don’t hate ourselves and have our priorities straight, we broke for breakfast. Though it might look it we’re not crazy, and can’t shoot for hours and hours on an empty stomach.

We went to Ted’s Bulletin and it was delicious! They gave us some homemade pop tarts when they found out what we were doing!

Then we headed to the Capitol which was SO COOL! Our Texas Capitol really is a little replica! But of course not beautiful marble!!!

We found some more tulips and and a pretty fountain! We walked around to see the front but it was packed with tourists and school groups (on a Wednesday morning!)

Next we went to the Supreme Court building which was equally gorgeous! The marble staircase practically sparkled! I loved it!! There we ended our session officially, and let the rest of our mini vacay commence!

We took a little break at our Air Bnb, because shooting can be exhausting on either side of the camera. AJ and I walked to a little coffee shop from our air bnb called The Wydown. Equally adorable and delicious!

Second museum of the trip

The Smithsonian Air and Space museum! This was the number one recommended of the Smithsonians. It was neat to see all the spacecrafts!

And the last museum of the trip: The Fords Theater! This place was super cool and very interesting! I learned a lot!

Like true Austinites, we spent the next hour and a half scooting all up and down downtown DC. Say what you will about scooters, but it was FUN. And we got to see so much more than if we lyfted!

You can probably guess what we hunted for next. We scooted all around trying to find a happy hour and ended up back at the Wydown! It was still so nice outside so we sat on the patio and cheersed to our successful day!

Finally, we had dinner at Lasagna, a super yummy Italian restaurant with gluten free handmade noodles, what what! They had lemoncello on the dessert menu, which is a specialty my mom makes back home in Texas. Even though we had been gone for like a day and a half, this homebody was ready to hop on that plane back.

Quick breakfast stop and we were headed out to the airport to see our sweet fur babies! Nothing beats seeing Turbo after a few days (or hours, he’s clingy)! He’s a little ball of happy wiggles!

So are you ready for a little treat?? All of our photos are up on Paige’s blog today!!! YOU DON’T HAVE TO WAIT! Paige did such an amazing job, they are just a dream!

Click here to head to Paige’s blog and see our session!