Restaurants
Miss Saigon (3057 M St NW, Georgetown) - This Vietnamese restaurant is nestled among a few others like it - but none quite as good - right as you enter Georgetown. Look around the menu and you can find a filling portion of meat, veggies and rice for between $10 and $12. Our favorite is the Caramel Chicken with Ginger in a Clay Pot, but if you want to peruse the entire menu, you can check it out here thanks to DC Menus!
Drink Specials
Rock Bottom (4238 Wilson Blvd, Ballston Mall, Arlington) - Sure it’s a chain, but their selection of microbrews and nightly specials make it quite the local hangout. Get there early on Wednesday nights to take advantage of $1 pints! But be prepared, because by 6pm, the bar will be packed. Four “usuals” and four specials provide enough selection for everyone’s palate, from the light to dark drinkers and all those in between. And odd as it may seem to drink at the mall, we can’t complain - it just makes it that much easier to get to! You can park in the Ballston Mall garage or take the metro to Ballston exit, which leads you directly into the mall.
Activities
National Zoo (3001 Connecticut Ave NW, Woodley Park) - Home to DC’s famed giant pandas and a host of other exotic creatures, a trip to the National Zoo promises some adventure and exercise without costing you a dime. Admission to the zoo is free (or at least already paid for through your federal taxes) and parking is $4 for the first hour, $12 for two to three hours, and $16 for more than three hours. You can also take the metro: use the Cleveland Park Metro stop on your way there and Woodley Park stop when you leave so that you never have to walk uphill! April through October, the buildings are open from 10am to 6pm; November through March, they close at 430pm. The Zoo is an excellent place to enjoy the great outdoors and get a break from the hectic pace of DC.