great falls national park

Great Falls Hike

~ Stephanie Shaul ~ Leave a comment

Before winter sets in (and now that the humidity of summer has passed!), I love bring able to take advantage of the outdoors as much as possible. Great Falls National Park is quite close to home, and it always amazes me that such a scenic, beautiful national park is only minutes from Washington, DC. My friends and I love hiking at Great Falls every fall, and you know how much I love a good tradition. It also blows my mind that this is my sixth Fall living in DC, so I suppose we do have some really great traditions going on by now.

There’s not much better than bringing a picnic, taking in the scenery, getting fresh air in your longs, and going on a hike with dear friends. We didn’t hike very much on this trip, but that’s okay. I love that we were able to sit atop a rock on the cliff overlooking the waterfalls and just catch up on life and enjoy the view in front of us. It was a restful afternoon, and I so enjoyed the company of my friends and the absolute beauty of nature. Though we intended to get a good hike in, sometimes just “being” is more important, and it’s okay to rest and think and talk, especially when surrounded by such stunning scenery. When and where did you hike last? I love to find good local hikes to conquer!

Weekend Recap: 1

~ Stephanie Shaul ~ 1 Comment

After traveling several of the last weekends, it was refreshing to stay put in DC and enjoy all that Fall has to offer.

One of my favorite perks of my job is our 3:00pm departure time every Friday afternoon. Seriously, I could go on and on about how precious these extra 2.5 hours of freedom are to me! Allie, one of my dearest friends here in DC (and since my freshman year of college!), is moving back to North Carolina in December (don’t even get me started…), so we are attempting to cross some final DC bucket list items off of her to-do list.

We kicked off the weekend with fancy drinks at the historic and oh so beautiful Tabard Inn in Dupont Circle. You can read more about Tabard Inn’s long and fascinating history here. We wandered around the eclectic, cozy, and ornate inn, poking our heads into the several dining areas. Allie and I settled on some Victorian couches in one of the bar areas & ordered some fun drinks. She got the Ziggy Ziggy Ziggy Zig and I got the Second to Last Word – delicious! We then headed to one of our favorite dinner spots in Georgetown, Old Glory, for some cornbread, BBQ, and pumpkin beer!

I started off Saturday morning playing tennis with Alyss… so fun! We’ve played a couple times this Fall, and it’s wonderful being back on the courts again. I could get used to this, for sure.

Allison & Lindsey then ventured out to the ‘burbs of Northern Virginia! The three of us have been friends since the very beginning of freshman year, and we all lived in the same suite our sophomore year at UNC. We’re all originally from Charlotte… then Chapel Hill… then moved to DC! We headed out to Great Falls National Park (which thankfully reopened this past week!) for an afternoon of hiking. It was a pretty cloudy day, but it was so nice to get out in the fresh, cool air and stretch our legs. I never get tired of seeing the beautiful falls, watching kayakers try to navigate the falls, and observing the leaves changing colors. Plus, it’s always fun to spend time with these two!

We headed to Trader Joe’s after our hike to pick up ingredients for a little chili & cornbread dinner party feast! I venture to TJ’s every week, since it’s right around the corner from my house, but it’s a rare occurrence for Allison & LIndsey to go… I think they had fun! We had a delicious cheese, crackers, & mulled red wine appetizer while prepping for chili and broccoli cheese cornbread. I love having intimate dinner parties with friends, and this one was so perfect and Fall-inspired.

I met up with my beautiful pregnant friend, Megan, for lunch on Sunday – she is constantly craving Mexican food, so we catered to that craving! I think Baby Gianna was happy, too. It’s so fun to watch your friends grow throughout the weeks right in front of you, and I absolutely cannot wait to meet Baby Gianna next month!

Allie and I met back up with our friends Mallory and Brett for a day in Old Town Alexandria and charming Del Ray. We started off at another DC bucket list item: the George Washington Masonic National Memorial. I’ve driven by this masonic temple dozens of times, but I’d always been so curious to go inside and see what it was really like. It’s also a central location in one of my favorite books, Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol! It’s such a beautiful, iconic masonic temple, and I love that tours ($8) are open to the public, too. There is gorgeous artwork throughout, lots of statutes, a few museums, and lots of historic artifacts. The informational tour also takes you out to the high observation desk. This outdoor observation deck provides stunning panoramic views of Northern Virginia, Old Town Alexandria, the National Harbour in Maryland, and even of downtown Washington, DC + the monuments and the Capitol. It’s so pretty, and I love being on the highest structure around!

We then headed over to another Old Town favorite, Port City Brewery. Unfortunately, they are already sold out of their amazing Octoberfest beer, but I settled for their dark Porter (which I think would be so excellent poured over coffee ice cream, too!). The four of us then ventured over to Del Ray, a small suburb close to Old Town Alexandria. I had only ever heard of Del Ray, and I mistakenly thought there wasn’t much to it. Boy, was I wrong! It’s the cutest, most quaint town with a great main street. I can’t wait to check it out again! We went to the highly-recommended Taqueria Poblano for an a-ma-zing dinner. I love little authentic Mexican places, and you could just tell this is a local favorite. We all loved every dish we ordered, and I definitely would go back- yum! It was such a fun day with these friends, and I love packed days full of adventures like this.

After such a jam-packed and fun weekend, I ended it curled up on the couch (for the first time in weeks!) with a warm mug of apple cider + The Amazing Race – a great end to a fabulous weekend!

Life in DC: Great Falls National Park

~ Stephanie Shaul ~ 2 Comments

Great Falls National Park is one of my favorite ‘getaways’ from urban Washington, DC, and it’s only about twenty minutes away! I always find it a little hard to believe that this much nature exists just a few miles from our nation’s capital.

You can access the beautiful Great Falls from both Maryland and Virginia – each state is on each side of the river and falls. I love exploring all of the hiking trails, as there are all levels/lengths of hikes throughout the park. One of my favorite things to do is take a picnic and then go on a hike, following the river southward. The falls itself are so grand, and it’s fun to spot advanced kayakers trying to make their way down the falls.

It’s a great outdoor activity with friends, and it’s especially beautiful in the Fall when all of the leaves are turning. I’ve gone about a dozen times throughout the years, and I always feel refreshed and invigorated.