This week my travels took me to our nations capital, Washington DC! This truly is an amazing city and wish I would have had more time to explore. This wasn't your normal touristy trip because I had the opportunity to visit two of the most secure buildings in the US, The Pentagon and the State Department! Unless you have a government job or work in one of the many shops and stores inside these "little cities" the chances of gaining access is slim. Although, I think you can schedule a group tour at the Pentagon but I'm not sure its easy.
The security at these buildings was just incredible! I saw guards with automatic weapons, big German Shepard, and I had to be escorted everywhere...even to the restroom! In the entrance to the Pentagon was a giant flag on the wall with photos which honored all the Pentagon employees who lost their lives on September 11th. Viewing this flag reminded me how all of this security is incredibly necessary. After two security gates, two Id checks, and social security number check, I was finally on my way into the Pentagon with my escort. The amazing thing about the Pentagon is that it is its own city. They employ over 23,000 people so they need to have amenities since the employees stay in the building all day. They have banks, hair salons, dry cleaners, jewelry stores, Best Buy, CVS, and even a RedBox. Most any errand you need to run you can do it without leaving the building. They even had a full service restaurant as well as a food court with Subway, Popeye's Chicken and many more. The State Department was very similar but on a much smaller scale. The opportunity to visit both these buildings was an honor and something I will never forget.
I did get to have some fun and sight see a bit. Here are some of the must see spots I visited. The first spot I visited was.....The White House. Even though it is large, it looked much smaller than I imagined. It was absolutely beautiful. The day I was there the presidential helicopter landed on the white house lawn! It was exciting to see! I didn't see the president but I know he was in there :)
My next stop was at the famous Ben's Chili Bowl on U Street. I have been wanting to go here for ages as I have seen it mentioned on the Food Network and Travel Channel so many times. As some of you know, I stay away from red meat but.... I did make an exception for the Famous Ben's Chili Half Smoke Dog. This is the Hot Dog that has drawn Presidents and Famous Actors to hot spot for years. It was smoky and spicy and had that perfect hot dog snap when I took a bite. It was really delicious! 
Georgetown was my next stop and I was so sad because I didn't realize how cute and historic it would be and it was my last day in DC. I tried to soak up as much of the historic street as I could in the few hours I had left. The two places I visited .... Georgetown Cupcake and the Exorcist Stairs. Georgetown Cupcake is the cupcake bakery featured on the TV show, DC Cupcakes. They have an absolutely beautiful shop! They have so many cupcake flavors to choose from and they were absolutely PERFECT looking cupcakes. I had the Key Lime cupcake which had a delicious key lime frosting and key lime cake The key lime flavor came through more in the frosting than the cake but you could see the lime zest throughout both. It was the most scrumptious...cupcake...ever!
Lastly,
Some of you may be wondering why I would take a picture like this but if you have ever watch the famous movie The Exorcist you will understand. These are the stairs featured in the movie which are located near the corner of 33rd St NW and M St NW in Georgetown. They are some of the steepest stairs I have ever climbed and was completely out of breath when I reached the top. If you look up Exorcist Stairs on Yelp you will see many pictures people have uploaded where they are posed just like this on the ground playing dead. This is a reenactment of one of the scenes from the movie. I thought it would be fun and make a cool memory at the same time. As I was laying on the ground pretending to be dead I kept thinking , I hope nobody is watching :)
Over all Washington DC is a really cool city! It reminded me of a small New York City on some levels. The overall feeling of this city is very patriotic and political. How can you not be aware when it's everywhere you go?
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Annie xo
* I am not sponsored or affiliated with any of the companies mentioned.
