Washington DC Food Trippin’ with Dexter

I have more than once talked about my favorite cousin, Dexter.  He came back to Toronto once again this past week and we are having a whirlwind of food trips.  This time around we expanded our horizons and started last weekend with a very long drive to Washington DC.  Renting a van, my sister, her two kids, Dexter and I drove 11 hours to Washington DC. We chose the interstate highways to cut down on the time.

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Here are some of our Washington DC highlights:

• Have you ever tried a pretzel baked with pepperoni or tiny pillows of pretzels stuffed with hotdogs?  I wish Auntie Anne’s here in Canada have the same thing.  I loved the savory salty taste rather than the sweet versions.  We found it at one of the service stations at I70/76 close to Bedford Pennsylvania.
• Another good discovery is that in all highway pitstops we found free WiFi.  It was helpful to check up on directions and points of interests along the way.
• If you have a big party, it is better to move around Washington DC on a taxi or by subway.  Washington DC is a walking town but it does wear you out as each memorial is such a wide expanse.  Purchase a pass and each way cost $1.70 on off-peak hours. Parking is free on the sidestreets on Sundays.
• Best to see Lincoln early as there were not a lot of tourists to compete with you on site.  We have good share of pictures without the crowds.
• We had a treat of seeing countless vintage firetrucks getting ready for St. Paddy’s parade!  If we had a lot of time, I would have gone crazy taking detail images of each one!
• The Smithsonian Air and Space museum have space food on display!  Check out the space chocolate-coated candies!
• Crossing the street from the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, we found ourselves at the National Art Gallery and had a treat seeing a Da Vinci, Degas, El Greco and Van Gogh on display.
• Our last stop was to go up the old Post Office Tower.  It was said it was a free high vantage point to see the cityscape of Washington DC.  Very picturesque and very much worth the stop seeing the impressive United States Congress on the horizon.
• Dinner at Piola Pizzeria for wood-fired oven pizzas and filling pastas.  It was a good choice as everyone found a good meal to end the day’s walkathon.  I also found out that there is a Piola Pizzeria in Toronto.  Have to locate it though as I really enjoyed their potato pizza <3
• It would be good to note that it is not possible to drive by the front of the White House.  We attempted it but they restrict the cars from passing.  It can only be viewed on the side street by pedestrians.

Such a whirlwind of things that we have done over a span of three days.   I think I would like a longer time at Washington DC at a slower pace.  Maybe next time, I would save time and fly.