Road Trip to NYC Day 12 & 13...FINALLY

So yes, I know it has been like 2 weeks since I updated and I haven't even finished the road trip portion of this blog. I know. I suck. But, on the bright side, I haven't updated cause I am having fun in NY. This will be the last post about the road trip. Then I will do my best to try and put my NYC experiences from the last month into one big post (not gonna happen). We woke up early in DC to go be tourists for the day. I had been to DC once before back on the good ol East Coast Trip of 8th grade. We went to Arlington National Cemetery then and I promised myself I would go back some day. And I am so glad I got to this time. 

JFK's and Jacqueline Kennedys graves. 

I think one of the great things about this place is how beautiful it is. There are so many trees everywhere and with the leaves falling, I don't think such a somber place could be more beautiful. 

One of the most interesting things about this whole place is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. It is quite the spectacle to see the Changing of the Guard every half hour.

After we left the Cemetery, we decided to try and do the National Mall. We started at the Lincoln Memorial which in most cases, you get one of the most iconic views of the Washington Monument. Not this time. They had drained the Reflecting Pool to do maintenance. Sigh....

But we did get to see this guy.

 My favorite monuments in DC by far is the Korean War Veterans Memorial. It is by far the most creative memorial I have seen, and really portrays a lot of emotion.

The brand new Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial is also a sight to see.

We were gonna walk over to the Jefferson Memorial but realized what time it was and we had dinner reservations, so we decided to skip it, but the view from across the Tidal Basin is definitely a good one.

The WWII Memorial is another one of my favorites. 

We finished up the National Mall with the Washington Memorial. We went back to the hotel to rest up before heading out to drinks and dinner.

Our reservation time got changed so we went to a hotel called the Tabard Inn, where we heard they had great holiday cocktails. And that they did. Mal got a Cuzco Mass which was Macchu Piso, Apple Cider, Cranberry/Cardamom Syrup, Allspice Dram (which is her new favorite thing), and a dehydrated apple. It was pretty darn good.

I started off with the Night Flight which has Jamaican rum, maple syrup, Angostura bitters, fresh lime and grated nutmeg.

I then got their Mulled Cider (which they only serve in temperatures below 55 degrees. Luckily it was 52 outside). It had spiced rum, hot cider, cinnamon, cardamom, clove studded orange & nutmeg. Delicious.

We made reservations at a place called Founding Farmers. And I have to say, was the best meal we had on this whole road trip. Everything was soooo good. Starting with the drink I had, Grandma's Blackberry Sour. Rittenhouse 100, Grand Marnier, lemon juice, blackberries, and an egg white. So flippin good.

We started off with there cornbread. Which could literally be a meal in itself.

Mal got the Southern Pan Fried Chicken. Insanely good. Came with white gravy, waffles, mac ‘n’ cheese, and mashed potatoes.

And I got what was one of the best tasting chickens I have ever had. It was a rotisserie chicken with Lemon-Herb Jus, Pan Drip Potatoes, and a side salad.

We were pretty much in a food coma after that and wanted to get to NY earlier than later so we decided to head home and rest up for our final drive into the city. Let me just preface by saying that the New Jersey Turnpike sucks. So frustrating. And expensive. 

We started seeing the signs for home. Still weird to say that by the way. 

And then finally. There it was. New York City. We didn't actually arrive in the city till about an hour and a half after this photo was taken. Welcome to NYC I suppose.

I hope these updates were somewhat entertaining. It is draining driving across the country. I don't think I need to do it for a while. So let's hope we last a little longer. At the end of the day, I really don't think I could have done this drive with anyone else besides Mallory. It has brought us closer than I could have ever imagined. I know I am getting all sappy, but it's true. New York City is a big new place. And I don't think I could have done it with anyone but this girl.

Look for a big update in the next day or so when I try and recap the places we have been, eaten at, or run away from. 

Happy Holidays.

ROAD TRIP TO NYC - DAY 11

So this 11th day was definitely one of our favorites. We had been told by a friend to drive the Blue Ridge Parkway. It is a drive through the Appalachian Mountains that goes from the southwest corner of North Carolina up to the top of Virginia. We realized that we weren't going to be able to do the whole thing, so we decided to do a portion called Skyline Drive. It is a stretch through the Shenandoah Forrest that is just over 100 miles long. Tons of wildlife throughout (which you will see) and TONS of overlook points which we stopped at every one and took amazing pictures at everyone. I debated uploading a picture from every spot, but then I thought, why not? You might as well see what we did. So prepare yourself for a shit ton of pictures. I am gonna post a picture or two from every overlook. And like I said, their are a lot.


These are all in the order in which we saw them. Also, if it is a panoramic shot, I recommend clicking on it so you can get a bigger view.


McCormick Gap Overlook.

Mobile Gap Overlook

Calf Mountain Overlook

Sawmill Run Overlook (2 Pictures)

Turk Mountain Overlook

Crimora Lake Overlook

Moorman's River Overlook (One of my favorites)

Riprap Overlook

Horse Head Overlook

Trayfoot Mountain Overlook

Dundo Overlook

Doyles River Overlook

Big Run Overlook

Rockytop Overlook

Ivy Creek Overlook

Brown Mountain Overlook

Two Mile Run Overlook

Loft Mountain Overlook

Beldore Hollow Overlook

Rocky Mountain Overlook

Eaton Hollow Overlook

Bacon (mmmmmm) Hollow Overlook

Sandy Bottom Overlook

Swift Run Overlook

Hensley Hollow Overlook

South River Overlook

Baldface Mountain Overlook

The Oaks Overlook (another favorite)

The Point Overlook

Hazeltop Ridge Overlook

Naked Creek Overlook

Tanner's Ridge Overlook

Fisher's Gap Overlook

Franklin Cliffs Overlook

Spitler Knoll Overlook

Old Rag Overlook

Crescent Rock Overlook

Timber Hollow Overlook (2 pictures)

Thorofare Mountain Overlook (definitely one of the best)

 Hemlock Springs Overlook

Stony Man Overlook

Jewell Hollow Overlook

Pinnacles Overlook (another one of the best)

Hazel Mountain Overlook

Buck Hollow Overlook

Tunnel Parking Overlook (creative, I know)

Pass Mountain Overlook

Thorton Hollow Overlook

Jeremy's Run Overlook

Rattlesnake Point Overlook

Hogback Overlook (This was my favorite spot. The pictures turned out amazing)

Little Devil's Stairs Overlook

Little Hogback Overlook

Mount Marshall Overlook (complete with burn pile)

Gimlet Ridge Overlook (One of the better non pano pictures)

Range View Overlook (2 of my favorites)

Browntown Overlook (best overlook name by far)

Hogwallow Flats Overlook

Jenkins Gap Overlook

Indian Run Overlook

Gooney Manor Overlook

Gooney Run Overlook (the colors in both these pictures are insane)

Signal Knob Overlook

Shenandoah Valley Overlook (the last overlook)

Some pretty amazing sights. Not only did we get to see all of that, we also took some other pictures at random spots and of some animals and stuff. 

Some really good pictures from driving in between the overlooks.

Had some fun with some leaves.

We hiked up to one of the highest points on the whole drive called Bearfence Mountain. Unfortunately I slipped and hit my knee while climbing up a rock face and I am still hurting from it. Almost 3 weeks later. Yes, I am a big baby.

We saw a ton of deer as well.

Including this guy who seemed to think the camera was a delicious feast.

We also came across two different black bears. Both were cubs. And I didn't turn either of them into a rug.

And that ended our time on Skyline Drive. Seriously one of the prettiest things I have ever seen. So many different views and so many different perspectives. After about 6 hours of that, we were on our way to DC. Our last stop before we were arriving in NYC. We got into our hotel and wanted to go walk around the city a little bit so we went to an area by George Washington University to get some food. Ended up at a salad bar (per se) called Sweetgreen. Really good food. And even better lemonade.

We walked around a ton after figuring out what bus we needed to get on. We were told to go up to the top of the W Hotel to get a drink and a great view of the White House. We went up, but did not drink. Way too expensive for pretty normal drinks. Did some research and we decided to go to a place called the Passenger, with the anticipation of going into their secret bar called, The Columbia Room. Well we realized once we got there that it 65 dollars to get into the Columbia Room, and it was a set menu of three drinks. So we decided to stay in the Passenger and I am so glad we did. Basically there is no menu. You tell the bartender what you are in the mood for, and he makes you something. I got some sort of New Orleans drink which was a variation of a Sazerac called a Vieux Carre. So good.

Mal's drink was insane. She literally said, "I want something with vodka, citrusy, and spicy." And that is exactly what she got.

We called it a night, but not before hearing all over twitter that there was a shooting near the White House. Which was about 3 blocks away from us. Nothing really came of it, but it was still pretty insane how EVERYTHING was just shut down immediately. Next day we did a TON, so expect a pretty decent update soon. I know this one was long and I know we have been living in New York for two weeks, but wifi isn't the most solid where we are, and well, it's New York. So sitting around of the computer isn't high priority. SO BACK OFF.