Over Martin Luther King Day weekend, I went to Washington, D.C., for the first time. I took the train after work on Friday to meet my friend Renee, who flew in from California. We were both excited to explore Washington, D.C.

When I got there, we decided to go out to the bars. We found a little dive bar that was also a piano bar; it was nice inside and wasn’t too crowded. The piano player was taking requests, so we put in a couple and grabbed a drink. We hadn’t seen each other in a while, so we just took that time to catch up.

Once Saturday rolled around we were up and making our plan for the day. It was supposed to rain/snow, so we decided to do all the museums. I was most excited to see the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History; I’ve always wanted to go there and see the fossil room. It lived up to my expectations. The rain stopped for a bit, so we decided to visit the White House. It was the same day as the Women’s March, so there were barricades; we couldn’t get too close but it was still cool to see it. Another highlight was going to the National Archives Museum. My friend is obsessed with National Treasure and was excited to see the Declaration of Independence. We both really enjoyed the museum but were upset to find out you couldn’t take pictures inside.

On Sunday we went to a bottomless mimosas brunch. We ate at a place called Tyber Creek Wine Bar & Kitchen; I highly recommend it. Once we were done, we set off to explore. We stopped at the Capitol Building, Supreme Court, Washington Monument, WWII Memorial, Lincoln Memorial and ended the day at the Martin Luther King Memorial. I really thought the Washington Memorial and Lincoln Memorial were stunning; they were a lot bigger than I expected.

Once Monday rolled around, we were exhausted but sad to leave. I had a great time and am glad my first trip was a success. I can’t wait to go back and explore all the things we didn’t get a chance to see.

— Mary Melnick, social media and editorial coordinator