Surprise Weekend in DC

4:30 Friday afternoon, I walk into the bedroom and ask Mike what he's doing. "We have to get moving! Are you packed yet? You need to start packing!" "Uhhh, what are you talking about???" "We leave at 6. The high of the weekend will be 86 degrees and low is 67. You have to fit everything in one backpack." I panicked for about 30 seconds then threw everything I could think of on the bed. I didn't know how we were traveling, where we were going, or what we were doing there. Mike had mentioned doing something fun for my birthday earlier in the week but after a drunk friend slipped something at the bar the night before about seeing him out that weekend, I figured something a little more local was in the works. Apparently my drunk friend even knew the plan, and that was the beginning of the deception - haha.

Friday afternoon, Mike asked me over and over if I could guess where we were going, and with each guess I made, he'd add something else to his packed bag that I reminded him to get...more deception. When I guessed the NASCAR race in Charlotte, he got his binoculars, we packed all our toiletries in bags for a flight, and before we got in the Jeep, he made coffee for the road. Needless to say, I was confused. Well, we drove onto the highway, and at the last second, Mike got into the lane for the airport. At this point, I honestly expected him to drive all the way around the airport just to get back onto the highway. But he confirmed it, we did have plane tickets.

He said we were taking 2 flights and even the TSA agent was cool and handed Mike back my boarding pass folded when he told the agent I didn't know my surprise location yet. I made it until about 5 minutes before boarding when our layover in DC was spoiled by an announcement.

The flight was great, and we got off the plane to look for our connector. We started walking and talking, and before I knew it, we were headed for the Metro. Apparently we were there! Mike asked if I knew why we were there, and it took me a while but realized my Cubs were in town for the NLDS. Omg playoff baseball! I guess my summer of baseball wasn't destined to be over yet!

We got in at 9:30 or so Friday night, and after checking into our hotel, a Club Quarters around the corner from the White House, we took a night walk all around the monuments and memorials around the reflecting pool. Saturday was museum day (Air & Space and American History) before heading to the game. Sunday we visited the zoo and old town Alexandria. In between, we ate awesome food (which I'll link to below!) and walked basically every street we could! Thank you so much, Mike, for an awesome birthday surprise!

Friday night walk around the monuments...

Saturday morning doughnuts and coffee at Sugar Shack

Jumps at the Watermelon House

Smithsonians

Nationals Park for the NLDS

Sunday morning with doughnuts and fried chicken at Astros

National Zoo

Old Town Alexandria (and the best cupcake)