Weekend Wanderings: Washington DC Guide

We spent a long 4th of July Holiday Weekend in Washington D.C. Not only is our nation's capital full of historical exhibits, museums and monuments, but Washington D.C. is a foodie's paradise with great restaurants and coffee shops. Here's our Weekend Wanderings, Washington DC Guide.

Where To Stay

Fairmont Georgetown: The Fairmont Georgetown Washington D.C. is located within close proximity to Georgetown, Dupont Circle and only about a ten block walk to The White House. And the luxury hotel is also located just a few blocks from the Foggy Bottom Metro station. It's great location and luxurious rooms make it a great choice for your Washington. D.C. trip.

Fairmont Washington D.C.

Where To Eat

Le Diplomate: We can't even begin to describe how great Le Diplomate is for any meal, but particularly brunch. The French brasserie is a must on your Washington DC Itinerary. Zagat described it as "Maybe the “hottest address in town – after 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue of course”. Do yourself a favor. Their french toast is incredible.

Founding Farmers: Founding Farmers is a Co-op-owned American eatery that dishes out classic comfort cuisine. This place transplants you to your grandmother's dining room with dishes like meatloaf, chicken pot pie and of course cornbread.

FireFly: FireFly is located in the Kimpton Madera Hotel near Dupont Circle. The restaurant is built around a large indoor tree, serving seasonal, local, New American comfort food. It's a place you'll find the locals in Washington D.C dining at. The steak, asparagus and truffle fries were very tasty. And the atmosphere is very quaint yet comfortable. Plus they serve up some delicious cocktails.

Where To Get Coffee

Bourbon Coffee: Bourbon Coffee offers direct-trade coffee from Rwanda. Their espresso featuring coffee blends from Rwanda is delicious. Plus you can grab a delicious sandwich or pastry. Bourbon Coffee has several hip and relaxed cafes across the Washington D.C. area.

La Colombe: No matter what city we are in, if there is a La Colombe, it's always on our list. They roast up some of the best coffee not to mention their draft lattes are incredible. With four locations in the District, it's pretty easy to sneak this place on to your list.

Where To Go For Dessert

Sprinkles Cupcakes: It's not a secret. We love Sprinkles Cupcakes. And they have a Cupcake Bakery in Georgetown. If you haven't already, do yourself a favor and try one. Don't worry about the calories, it's vacation!

Baked & Wired: Baked & Wired is a family owned coffee shop and bakery in Georgetown. This place is always packed. Don't worry, it's worth the wait. The coffee is incredible and the baked goods are made in small batches with the finest ingredients.

What To Do

When you visit Washington D.C., places like the Smithsonian, Lincoln Memorial, National Archives, etc. should already be on your list. Here are a few additions we suggest adding to your Washington. D.C. Itinerary.

Newseum: The Newseum is a dynamic, engaging and interactive museum of news. The museum allows visitors to experience the stories of yesterday and today through the eyes of the media. All this while celebrating the freedoms guaranteed to all Americans by the First Amendment.  The museum offers incredible exhibits including a powerful wall showing the front page of hundreds of newspapers on the day after 9/11.

Arlington National Cemetery: Arlington National Cemetery is the country’s largest military cemetery. It serves as the final resting place for more than 400,000 military veterans and their immediate family from the fronts of Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as World Wars I and II, the Korean conflict, Vietnam, the Cold War and America’s Civil War. The cemetery is open to the public 365 days a year with free admission for those who wish to tour the site and pay their respects.

Arlington Cemetery is also home to the Tomb of the Unknown Solider, which is a tribute to unidentified fallen soldiers who fought in World War I, World War II, Korea and Vietnam. The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is a large white sarcophagus that is guarded 24 hours a day, 365 days a year by Tomb Guard sentinels from the elite 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment.

Holocaust Museum: The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is another extremely powerful (and somber) place you should visit while in Washington D.C. The Museum is the United States' official memorial to the Holocaust. And the museum provides interactive exhibits showing how the Holocaust occurred, the lives it impacted and how the massacre finally ended.

Conclusion

Washington D.C. is not only our nation's capital, but it's a vibrant hub for culture, delicious food and of course great tasting coffee. If you haven't been to Washington D.C., it's a destination that should definitely be on your list. If you have any questions or need help making your Washington D.C. plans, be sure to let us know! Hopefully our Washington DC Guide helps!

Weekend Wanderings: Scottsdale, Arizona Guide

Scottsdale: A Luxe Oasis Surrounded by Dessert

We have been visiting Scottsdale, Arizona since we met. And it's one of our favorite places to spend a relaxing long weekend. Yes it's hot, but what better way to spend a weekend than laying by the pool with a cocktail in hand? Scottsdale is known as Arizona’s luxury watering hole. It's quickly become an oasis of Sonoran mountainside resorts offering, outdoor activities, lavish shopping and an incredible food scene. And Scottsdale has nearly 300 sunny days a year!

How to get there: Most airlines fly in to the Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport but low cost airline Allegiant does utilize the Mesa-Gateway Airport on the Southeast side of the Phoenix Metropolitan area. Scottsdale is spread out and about 10 miles from the Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport. While we normally take public transportation on our weekend trips, Scottsdale is the one exception and we recommend renting a car. Rental cars at the Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport are off site and you'll need to take a shuttle bus from the terminal to the rental car garage. We recommend giving SilverCar a try. What better way to visit luxe Scottsdale than driving around in an Audi A4?

Where to stay: Scottsdale is filled with amazing resorts. We've stayed at several resorts in the Scottsdale area and have enjoyed all of them. On our most recent stay, we stayed at the Andaz Scottsdale Resort & Spa. It was probably one of our favorite resorts we've been to thus far. When you check in to the Andaz Scottsdale you won't find a front desk. Guests check in via an iPad while relaxing on a couch in the lobby drinking a glass of complimentary wine or iced tea. You'll also find a complimentary minibar at the Andaz Scottsdale (soft drinks, water and snacks - alcohol is extra). The main pool (the Turquoise Pool) offers complimentary daily delighters (a spiked frozen treat or drink) each day at 11:45 AM. And if you don't want to drive into Old Town Scottsdale (about a 2 mile drive), the hotel has a chauffeured Tesla which will run you into town!

Another one of our favorite Scottsdale Resorts is the Omni Scottsdale Resort & Spa at Montelucia. Nestled at the base of breathtaking Camelback Mountain, in the exclusive enclave of Paradise Valley, Omni Scottsdale Resort & Spa at Montelucia is an intimate oasis inspired by the exotic locale of Spain's Andalusia region.

Where to get coffee: Scottsdale is no Seattle or Portland in terms of coffee, but there are still several great coffee shops where you can get a delicious iced latte to help you cool off on those hot summer days. Our three favorite coffee shops include Press Coffee Roasters, Altitude Coffee Lab and the Cartel Coffee Lab.

Press Coffee Roasters was rated the best coffee roaster in the Phoenix area by the Phoenix New Times in 2015 and 2016. They normally offer two different types of espresso and you can pick which espresso you want your drink made with. Definitely a great coffee experience, so we highly recommend making the drive up Scottsdale Road for a stop at Press Coffee Roasters. And while you are up there, be sure to take a lap around Scottsdale Quarter, a beautiful outdoor mall featuring dozens of shops and restaurants.

And if you make it to the Cartel Coffee Lab, while they doesn’t serve actual food, they do have delicious pastries and we might have indulged in a homemade poptart, and trust us, they are worth a cheat day! So delicious.

Where to eat: Scottsdale is a foodies paradise. There are so many delicious restaurants and gastropubs.

While we have our usual spots that we always visit each time we spend a weekend in Scottsdale, on this trip we added a new place to our favorite list. After a morning hike, we decided to stop by Farm & Craft for a healthy breakfast and it completely hit the spot. Farm & Craft is focused on healthy and sustainable food in a community-style atmosphere. Think modern farm with a contemporary twist. F&C boasts a seasonal “Wellness-Menu” featuring 4 paths to optimal health, including an ‘Anti-inflammatory diet’, ‘Increasing probiotic levels’, ‘Maintaining high level of anti-oxidants’ and ‘Reducing your overall stress’. Yes, the food was delicious (the breakfast burrito was to die for). And they scored a few extra points with us for having Kombucha on tap! Farm & Craft also had sandwiches, salads and wraps for lunch and dinner.

If you're looking for somewhere to grab a bite for lunch, we would definitely recommend Olive & Ivy. Olive & Ivy which has a location near the Scottsdale Fashion Square Mall is a restaurant & bar serving Californian-Mediterranean fare in a stylish, bustling quarters with a patio. Olive & Ivy offers small plates, flatbreads, bruschetta and pastas, alongside an extensive wine list and craft-cocktail menu.

For dinner, we really enjoy a visit to the Old Town Tortilla Factory in Old Town Scottsdale. With an incredible 1400 square foot patio, the food at Old Town Tortilla Factory is Southwestern with a Mexican twist. The restaurant has that intimate feel making it perfect for a date night!

If you want something quick, Scottsdale has two Shake Shack locations(one of our indulgences on our weekend trips since we don't have any in Idaho). Shack Shack has been serving up their delicious burgers and shakes since 2004. The fast food chain started in New York City and now has over 130 locations including the two in Scottsdale. You'll often find a line around the corner at Shake Shack, but don't worry. You can actually hop on their website to check the camera and see how long the line is.

Scottsdale also has a Hopdoddy Burger Bar. An Austin-born hamburger-and-beer chain, Hopdoddy has been featured on the Food Network. While Hopdoddy is known for their handcrafted beef hamburgers (a chuck and brisket blend), if you're not feeling beefy, the menu also includes bison, lamb, chicken, turkey and tuna burgers, as well as a vegetarian black bean and corn patty. We had an order of their truffle fries (large enough to share) and they were also quite tasty. And for dessert, be sure to try one of their adult only boozy milkshakes!

Where to get dessert: Portland has several great options for dessert. One of our favorite places that we've been stopping at since we originally started vacationing in Scottsdale is Shakes & Cones. Shakes & Cones located in Old Town Scottsdale, serves up their soft serve ice cream, which is made from scratch using their own exclusive recipe. It's gluten free and only made with organic, non-gmo ingredients! They of course are known for their soft serve shakes and cones.

Another place that we've often featured over the course of our travel and reviews is Sprinkles Cupcakes. And of course Sprinkles Cupcakes has a location right across from the Scottsdale Fashion Square Mall in Downtown Scottsdale. Sprinkles Cupcakes is a Beverly Hills, California-based cupcake bakery chain which first opened in 2005. It is considered one of the first cupcake bakeries. The Cupcake Bakery features numerous flavors of cupcakes (some of our favorites include the Black & White and Cinnamon). Be sure to see our entire write-up on the Sprinkles Cupcake Bakery & Cupcake ATM.

What to do: Yes, we won't sugar coat it. It's hot in Scottsdale during the summer. Most days see temperatures exceed that 100 degree mark. So we typically sleep in each morning, get up for brunch and then spend two to three hours sipping cocktails by or in the resort pools.

The heat of the afternoon makes for a perfect time do some shopping and Scottsdale has some terrific shopping. We recommend checking out the Fashion Square Mall in Downtown Scottsdale and the Scottsdale Quarter, an open air mall in Northern Scottsdale.

By the time we've shopped and grab a happy hour drink or early dinner, we typically return to laying by the pool for the evening.

Another great way to spend the early morning or late evenings (before or after the heat of the day) is taking a hike. Scottsdale has numerous hiking trails including the famous trail up Camelback Mountain.

The Bottom Line: Scottsdale is a great place for a weekend getaway anytime of the year. Summer is an extremely affordable time to visit as resorts deeply discount their room rates due to the hot temperatures. But the hot weather has never impeded our weekend getaways. We lay by the pool in the morning and early afternoon, have lunch, go shopping and then return to the pool in the evening. Scottsdale has great food, great shopping and an incredible nightlife. It's definitely worth a visit if you haven't been and if you have, well it's time to go back! Let us know if we can help!