June 27th, 2009 marked 7 years of marital bliss for Jim and I. But the anniversary celebration was a little delayed this year due to our amazing vacation to the Outer Banks with all our friends. Our anniversary fell on our last day in NC and we decided we wanted to spend as much time as possible with our friends, so we agreed to do something at a later date. That later date ended up being July 25th - 26th when we escaped to historic Georgetown in Washington DC for an overnight getaway. It was WELL worth the month long wait.
Jim had been in Baltimore, MD for work most of the week, so I drove down and picked him up as soon as he was done tearing down their booth on the last day of the trade show. We plugged our destination address into his iPhone and hit the open road. We made good time getting into DC and to the hotel. Even considering we drove past it once because the tiny placard that marked the hotel's location was a little unassuming from the main street. What hotel would have such a "marquee"? How about a classy little joint called the Ritz Carlton. We were able to book a 750 sq foot suite at the Ritz for our getaway. And, thanks to a huge amount of "points" Jim had been accumulating on his eBay credit card, it cost us next to nothing.
The room was what you'd expect of a suite at the Ritz: a long entry hallway leading into a lounge area with a couch, entertainment center, and desk; then french doors opening up into the bedroom with a king bed and the softest, plushest bedding imaginable; and finally, the luxurious and incredibly spacious bathroom. The bathroom was my favorite. If I could've taken the entire thing home with me, I would have.
After getting settled in our room and changing clothes, we headed out on foot (and me in Italian leather high heels) to find someplace to eat dinner. It was already after 7:00 and we quickly realized that the clouds looming overhead were likely to burst open at any moment. We had talked about doing Italian and after walking up and down a few streets, we felt pressured by the weather to settle on one called Paper Moon. We got a table and began looking over the menu. After a few minutes of silence Jim had the insight to ask me if anything even looked appetizing, because nothing was striking him on the menu and the atmosphere just wasn't what we had in mind when we set out in search of food. I was feeling more like I was about to have my palm read than eat a meal, so (for the first time in my life), we got up and left.
We stood outside the restaurant, as the clouds got darker overhead, and plugged some info into the Urban Spoon Application on Jim's iPhone. We said we wanted a steakhouse (Italian no longer seemed appetizing) in Georgetown. Ironically, the first restaurant to pop up was called Sea Catch and it was DIRECTLY across the street. We walked over and as we stood under the restaurant's awning to look at the menu, the heavens opened up and decided Sea Catch was where we would be eating dinner. it was not a steakhouse, but rather offered seafood and a raw bar, as it's name suggests. But that didn't matter. The atmosphere was inviting and comfortable. And the menu was full of mouthwatering dishes. And as soon as we sat down in a cozy booth in the corner, we were both instantly happy and knew we were where we wanted to be.
Dinner was fabulous and I even tried escargot for the first time. In fact it was such a great dinner that when we walked outside into the pouring rain to head back to our hotel, I simply slipped off my heels and we trotted hand in hand without caring about the rain at all. When we arrived back in our room the maid had already turned down the bed and left chocolates for us. That has to be one of my favorite things about staying in a nice hotel, the fact that they leave chocolate for you, giving you permission to indulge yourself right before bed.
The next morning, we took advantage of our childless situation as well as the hotel's noon checkout time, and slept in until 10:00. We then packed up and had the hotel hold our bags so we could walk around Georgetown, without getting drenched. We ate lunch at Johnny Rockets and then hit up a few stores, but the day passed all too quickly. We soon found ourselves taking the scenic route out of DC. From the hotel, I didn't realize how CLOSE we actually were to EVERYTHING. The Mall, the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, Smithsonians, etc. Our drive out was like being on a sightseeing tour. Then we were suddenly on the Parkway headed back home. And stuck in traffic. But even the traffic couldn't really ruin our amazing getaway.
The Ritz was fantastic. Dinner was perfect. But the best part of the trip was that I was there with my best friend. And even after 7 years of marriage, we're still having "firsts".
*Sorry, I didn't get pictures of the room before we settled into it, so I just didn't take any at all.
**A HUMONGOUS THANKS to Susan for taking care of our girls while we were gone.
