Mt. Vernon Splendor

I thought I would throw in a nice historical park that has it's own dining facilities on premises. Mt. Vernon, George Washington's home, is beautiful and sprawling. The estate and presidential library as well as it's gardens and trails are enough to keep you there all day. Smart of them to have some options where we could refuel without have to set one foot off the park!

If you choose to have a fine dining experience or hold a special event on the estate, The Mount Vernon Inn is the right place. The quaint and cozy colonial like restaurant serves lunch and dinner daily while servers dress in costumes of Washington's time. The menu, much like the ambiance, is hearty colonial however, I was able to mess with the ingredients of the salads and charm the chef into creating a modern, less rich and more healthy meal, for me ; )

If you don't have the time or the coin to sit down at the inn, the food court had 4 places to choose from. The Federal City Deli offered up a veggie wrap and the Red Devon Grill had a juicy black bean burger on their menu. I was a happy camper when it came time to grab a quick snack as I knew leaving the park and hunting for a place to nosh would cut into our valuable sight seeing time.

Mt. Vernon is a must if you visit the D.C. area and you can plan your visit by logging on to their website.

D.C. Times 2!

There were so many great choices for a gal like me to eat at in D.C. and I'm sure I didn't even scratch the surface. However, I did find enough to bring this part two of D.C. to you!!

We stayed at a pretty swanky hotel and to my surprise, the neighborhood was chock full'o killer restaurants. On P St and 14th there was a beautiful Whole Foods and a bunch of eateries and coffee shops that were 2 blocks from our place. I was in love ;)

1 of the yummy P street places was Logan Tavern. It was a great place complete with bar and 2 dining areas with a rustic but classy vibe. They had a great beer and wine selection as well as excellent selections on the menu for peeps like me ; ) I ordered a tofu and veggie stir fry and eyeballed the veggie burrito for next time. See there yummy menu at Logan Tavern. Be sure to check out their other location, Logan at The Heights.

Just a few doors down on good old P street was Merkado Kitchen. This spicy Latin eatery was a great mix of Carribean, Mexican and South American food which was a welcomed style of menu for me since I was homesick for my native Miami that I had left about a week prior ; ) Everything was fresh as well as healthy and their veggie options were the bomb! The veggie enchilada, hold the cheese, was mouthwatering as were their salads. This establishment was great for me and my picky guy and I loved how many dishes I could choose from.

Finally, for my travel troop, it would have been a sin to them to not have fresh Atlantic seafood on their trip. Being a non-animal eater, I wondered if a seafood spot like Grillfish, would have anything for me but I was wrong! While everyone else munched on their favorite marine meal, I have a really good grilled portabella sandwich as well as an apple salad. They also offer vegetarian menus upon request. I was stuffed and I sacrificed no taste ; )

I'm hoping to get back here soon as I'm sure I missed some good feastin'!

Was up Washington??!!

What a year to be in the nation's capital. Mighty and awe inspiring by it's own right, being there during an election year was even more incredible. And with all of this history and power in one place, you can imagine it has to offer some killer dining to impress the world's dignitaries. Beyond the great sights, I was even more overcome by the great places to fill my tummy in D.C.! So much that next week's blog will also cover D.C. ; )

Since we walked most of the time while we were in town, I got to see so many cute cafes and places that I wanted to try. However, since we were only in town for a few days, time was of the essence so our meals during the day were pretty quick. Pizzeria Paradiso was just the place. This pizza hot spot has two locations and they are always packed. As so they should be since the food looked, smelled and tasted so good. They are famous for the gourmet, true to the motherland pizza pies and the Healthy Voyager was able to enjoy every bit of that as they offered a tasty Soy Mozzarella. I topped with a ton of fresh veggies like artichokes, spinach, basil and more. I was a happy camper taking my food to go and eating my yumminess on the run. Find out more at Pizzeria Paradiso.


Later that evening we joined up with some friends for cocktails and tapas. We strolled along U street and stumbled upon Tabaq Bistro. And what a happy accident it was! The atmosphere was insane as they had rooftop dining with full views of D.C. It was hazy and cold but the buildings and neighborhood looked great from up there. The food and drinks also matched the wonderful look and vibe of the place as well. The menu was Mediterranean tapas and small entrees. There was entire veggie menu for me to choose from as well as many other dishes for my buddies. I ordered from the small dish menu, the dolmas and 1 of their 3 hummus selections. I absolutely recommend anyone stop in to Tabaq no matter who they are with ; )


Now I will share with you my D.C. addiction ; ) Sticky Fingers Bakery was such a good time for me. So much so that I visited them and went out of my way to buy something from this cafe every day that I spent in town. The spot is a cool wi-fi cafe with a ton of great vegan baked goods from cupcakes to cinnamon rolls and more. They have soft serve vegan ice cream, a build your own vegan hot dog stand as well as a freezer case with savory sandwiches, small plates and other side dishes to go. I had a vegan sausage, egg and cheese mcmuffin every morning. They do mail order as well so if you don't get to d.c., they can come to you!

Lastly, but not leastly, we had a date night at Vegetate. This place was so hipster and chic and had a good thing going as they had a bar upstairs that offered vegetarian bar food during happy hour along with a cool dj spinning tunes. The dining area downstairs is a bit more reserved but nice nonetheless. The menu changes every day and is very nontraditional, gourmet and artistically presented. We enjoyed what we ordered but I did leave hungry. However, I wish I could have gone back for the veggie bar food at happy hour and I suggest you give it a try too. Peruse their site at Vegetate.

See you next week with some more D.C. dining!