Tuesday Top 5 | The DC Edition

AJ and I made it safely to the Nation's Capitol on Friday and we have been having a pretty good time. Except that's its CRAZY hot here. Like heat that melts you within 60 seconds. Which isn't so good when you wanna walk around and see the sights. Thank goodness for air conditioned FREE museums. The other thing that's been bugging me here is all the tourists & crowds. YES, I am a tourist too. But I like to see myself as a classy traveler, not a tourist. ;) I just don't like crowds, nay mobs, of people around me. Makes me claustrophobic! My last little gripe would be the ESCALATOR OF DOOM at the metro stop by our hotel! Folks, this is the largest steepest escalator I have ever seen. I have seen & ridden plenty of escalators in my life. But this one is like no other. I'm not even normally afraid of escalators. But as I ride this one I can't help imagining that my legs buckle beneath me & I plummet to my demise. Okay now you know how secretly neurotic I am. And that I am the world's biggest whiner.BUT I really am having a great time in DC! Honest! Here's some highlights in my Tuesday Top 5:1. Anniversary Dinner at Cafe Atlantico. GUYS, Saturday was my ONE YEAR WEDDING ANNIVERSARY. And I wanted to blog about it and brag all over the interwebs, but I was too busy seeing DC. We spent the day being awesome, and I got so tuckered out from the fun (and the jet lag) that I forgot to brag! Anyways, I will start now. By bragging about our AMAZING anniversary dinner at Cafe Atlantico by Jose Andres. I've been a little obsessed with Chef Andres since I ate at Bazaar in LA. Cafe Atlantico is great. The hubby enjoyed everything he ate (such as Organized Cesar Salad with Quail & a Brazilian Pork Chop) and I enjoyed everything as well! I ordered 3 appetizers, instead of 1 app & 1 entree. I enjoyed seared scallops, tuna ceviche and some local soft shell crab! HEAVEN.2. The National Gallery of Art. I was a major art-history nerd in high school & college. Lately I've been spending more time checking out weddings than the truly great artistes of the world. And though weddings do rock, it was great to get back to my roots and check out some of the art-history-homies. Picasso, Matisse, Van Gogh, Lautrec, Lichtenstein, Goya, El Greco, Cezanne, Monet, Rothko, Dali....how I love you all. So much. I felt totally inspired by all the art & know I am going to rock Justin & Pam's wedding this Thursday in a whole new way! Awesome!!!3. The Smithsonian Museum of American History. Okay it was crowded like whoa....but it was worth it. I have actually been before. But long ago. When the museum was housed in another building, when the star spangled banner hung in the entry way and when there was also a pendulum hanging somewhere. Since then the museum has been given a face lift, and some new hot additions like Julia Child's kitchen, but its still as fun as I remembered. I LOVED seeing the first ladies' gowns!!! I want to steal and then wear Maime Eisenhower's inaugural gown! Its soooo me! It was also really cool to see Michelle Obama's gown and accessories up close & in person! I love Michelle O & that dress was really pretty in person! I can see why she chose it!4. Blue Buck Pancakes at Market Lunch. We heard via Yelp about how Market Lunch, a little stand in Eastern Market (kinda like a mini version of Farmer's Market in LA) serves up these awesome Blueberry Buckwheat Pancakes only on Saturdays. They are apparently famous & locals wait in line for an hour to get them. So on Saturday we woke up early and rushed to get in a looooooong line. For pancakes. But it was SOOOO worth it. The pancakes were delish and the experience was quite fun too! And afterward we checked out the farmer's market & flea market across the street! Fun fun!5. Legal's Seafoods. This is kinda lame of me. I ADMIT IT. It's not really even very DC at all. Legal's originated in Boston but has several locations on the east coast. I was OBSESSED with Legal's when we lived in Boston. Every time a little extra money came my way I went to Legal's for chowda and lobster. Cause that's how I roll. Honestly, one of the worst things about LA is no Legal's! So when I heard Legal was in the Nation's Capitol, I HAD to go. And after a horrible mishap (we took a cab to go eat at Granvile Moore's made famous by Food Network only to find they closed today only because their a/c broke...so we had to walk through the crazzzy heat over a mile to the metro), I decided tonight was the night. Grumpy Ashleigh was instantly fixed with some chowda & lobsta. Just like old times! Love it!Okay so that's the scoop. Today we are out to see more museums, trying take 2 on Granville Moore's and maybe see the Lincoln Memorial! Yay!Below are some pics taken with the point n shoot! I am LAME. It's been way too hot to lug my pro camera around. So point n shoot will do!