Apologies to all for the lack of blog updates recently, I can assure you all that I have a great excuse. This weekend I was out of town visiting friends in the Washington DC metro area when it hit me, “Why not make up for slacking on the blog with a post about what people from the Lehigh Valley can do in DC?”…which brings us to the article you’re currently reading.

Our DC adventures started Saturday morning with a trip to Bagel Buddies in Fairfax, a Virginia suburb just outside DC and home base for my weekend activities. Huge thanks to my good friend Lauren for putting us up this weekend! But back to the bagels. Bagel Buddies makes fresh, NYC style bagels and they make em right. I had the Supremo bagel (their take on the classic Everything bagel), toasted with cream cheese and loved every bite of it. And judging by the crowd of people there and the line, I think it’s safe to say everyone in the Fairfax area loves Bagel Buddies too. I’d highly recommend the delicious bagels at Bagel Buddies, but unless you are already in Fairfax it may not be worth the trip.

After our mid-morning refreshment, it was off to the closest DC Metro Park and Ride to hop on the Orange line for our trip downtown. I’m pleased to report that the DC Metro is both clean and convenient and made navigating the city, even for non-locals such as myself, a breeze. At no point did I feel overwhelmed when trying to figure out how to get where we needed to go. But it did help that our second stop made it easy for us and told us on their website what stop we needed to get off.

Our second destination was the legendary Ben’s Chili Bowl, a DC institution and home of the best chili dogs, sausages, and burgers this side of the Potomac. They’re so good even President Obama has paid them a visit. Ben’s is famous for their chili half-smokes, a delicious sausage link made with a combination of pork and beef topped with yellow mustard, diced onions, and Ben’s famous chili sauce. If you go to Ben’s you’re probably going to have to wait in a line, but I’ll tell you right now it’s totally worth it.

Now I may be starting an argument here and I’m certainly risking offending all Yocco’s devotees, but I’m going to say that if your only experience with a chili topped hot dog is a Yocco’s dog with everything, you need to get to Ben’s to try a chili half smoke. The chili was better and the dog(or sausage in this case) was better too. It all added up to a much more enjoyable hot dog experience. The only downside to the Ben’s experience is because it’s such a popular place you may have a hard time finding a seat. We got lucky and found a booth that had cleared up shortly after we got our food.

After Ben’s, our roamings took us to Capitol Hill where a friend of mine works for a U.S. Representative from NY. In DC, and anywhere else, it’s all about who you know. If you’re planning on taking a trip to DC and would like to include a guided tour of the Capitol building my recommendation is call your congressman…for most of you in the LV that’s Charlie Dent.  A free private tour can be arranged in advance with a member of your Representative’s staff which will save you some green and make room in your wallet for more chili half-smokes. Now you may not necessarily know Charlie Dent personally, but as a taxpayer you pay his and his staff’s salary, why not make the most of that?

Dinner and drinks Saturday night were in the up and coming H Street district of downtown DC at the H Street Country Club. Offering old school Mexican food with a new school twist, the Country Club served up the best food we had all weekend (Sorry, Ben!). At our table we had the lamb enchiladas and the steak tampiqueño. The flank steak was tender, cooked perfectly and excellently seasoned. Not to be outdone, the lamb enchiladas set new standards for the traditional Mexican dish.

If you’re looking for a quickie weekend getaway or even a day trip that has plenty to offer, look no further than Washington DC. With a total drive time of only three hours, maybe three and a half with traffic, Washington DC is the perfect place to expand your weekend horizons and enjoy some great food and drink while you’re at it.