An Afternoon in Georgetown:)

An Afternoon in Georgetown can be a great way to spend the day with yourself or friends! This historic Port town located on the Potomac River has been offering up bustling city streets filled with great eats and shops since good ole 1751:) Downtown monuments are just minutes away after you've taken in the lovely sights of this old, american, charming neighborhood!

Tea and dumplings at Ching Ching Cha at Wisconsin Ave. and M. Street is a great way to start out the afternoon. As you enter this Chinese Tea House your greeted by the smell of jasmine, green and rose teas. In your sights are Antique, hand carved wooden doors and barrels and shelves filled with teas to take home! The sun will still warm your skin on the inside of the tea house, as it fills the interior from the huge sky lights in the ceiling. You may take off your shoes and sit on the wooden floors on pillows at the low tea tables for a tea ceremony, or take in lunch at one of the many tables dressed with Chinese chairs and teapots filled with heated water ready for any tea you desire!

Just next store, be sure to stop into The Tea and Spice Exchange for wonderful spice blends to liven up any meal at home, the walls of this beautiful little shop are filled with apothecary jars filled with tea blends, salts, and sugars for you to open and smell. You can buy samples, to try varieties and find your favorites to keep you coming back again and again! I just picked up some Coconut sugar and harvest crumb cake tea for myself:)

Dean and DeLuca, haven for great wines and delectable foods is a little further down M.Street and just across M.Street you'll find the original Georgetown Cupcake, where you're sure to find something sweet for ANY palette, my personal favorites include: Key Lime, Peanut Butter Fudge, Lava Fudge and Chocolate Hazelnut:)
Other Amazing Eats include: Cafe Bonaparte, Clyde's, Bangkok Joe's, Sequoia, Pizzeria Paradisio, Martin's Tavern and the 1789.

The Shops of Georgetown, just across Wisconsin Ave. are home to Anthropologie, J.Crew, Banana Republic, H&M and many others. Other great shops to visit along Wisconsin Ave. and M.Street include Urban Outfitters, Wink, Steve Madden, Levi, Madewell, ZARA, and my personal favorite for South American clothes and home decor is The Phoenix!!!

If shopping is not your forte, you can be sure are are some lovely historic sights to visit. North of M.Street nestled in the trees of the residential neighborhoods are two hidden gems.

Dumbarton Oaks, the historic residence of Robert and Mildred Bliss in 1920, went through many phases of construction even into their retirement in 1933 when they began laying the foundation of what they saw becoming a research institute.
In 1940, after making additions to the property to house art collections and a library, the couple gave Dumbarton Oaks to Harvard University for research in Byzantine and Pre-Columbian Art as well as Garden and Landscape Design.
The beautiful gardens around the research institute known as Dumbarton Oaks Park are part of the National Park Service and the Art Galleries and Gardens are open to the public, I highly recommend them:) The fountain terrace is a great spot for a romantic stroll! Be sure to walk through the many rose gardens and check out the Orangery!!!

My Husband in one of the many rose gardens at Dumbarton Oaks.

Tudor Place, the historic home of Thomas and Martha Parke Custis Peter, George Washington's step granddaughter, was purchased with the money George Washington left her in his will in 1805. Starting with the property itself and then building upon it, the lovely home that would sit perched on a hill to overlook the land and Potomac River below. Dr. William Throton, who also designed The United States Capital was contracted to design Tudor Place.

Open to the public for tours you can walk through this lovely federalist style home, visit the living, dining and sleeping quarters where the Peters lived once upon a time. At special times of year, Tudor Place will also hold Afternoon Tea, I've taken my Mother-in-Law and family to a Tea once and while sipping tea and snacking on beautifully made scones and cakes, you hear stories from your hostesses about what Tea's would be like in the Victorian Era, what the custom's were and how the ladies would dress and what they would discuss:)

Tudor Place also offers a beautiful garden to walk through before or after your tour, don't forget to take lots of pictures!!!