Things to Do in DC: Yards Park and Gravelly Point

I generally like living outside of Washington, D.C. Or DC/ the city as most of us suburbanites will call it. I've even grown out of my deep hatred of driving through the city. Mostly. Parking still sucks. Which is why I'm not sure I decided to drive to Nationals Park not once but TWICE in the same week. The first night the game took a major rain delay, so we left early as baby girl got tired. I picked a game later that week so that hubby could join us. The upside to the first game was I found parking  that was a reasonable walk away for less than $10. So when we went back that Thursday, I figured we'd park in the same lot. Apparently not. The attendant said we'd have to drive another block and change down and park in the event lot which was $20.

😒😒😒😒😒😒

We park, we see the game, Nats lose. Walking back to the car, I ask hubs if he wants to walk straight back, or take the scenic route along the river and make the most of our paid parking. He opted for the latter, so we headed towards Potomac Ave and the river path. The path ends at Yards Park, one of the nicer things to come from the gentrification of Southeast. I've passed through here several times, but I never took the time to experience it the way we did this particular day. It features several blocks of dining options, including the new District Winery, and a family favorite, Aqua 301. We stopped at the wading pool to see if Nugget would stick her feet in, but a little boy decided to start splashing and got water in baby girl's face. It definitely took some coaxing after that, but by the end we had to DRAG her out of the water.

The wading pool had the feel of that old school neighborhood pool (even though I'm sure that's not the intended purpose. Families of all ages and background were there with their kids, in floaties or fully dressed- to people on their breaks chilling poolside with a drink from the nearby cafe. Seeing that made me mention half jokingly to hubs that I could go for a nice cocktail.

Walking closer to the restaurants, we saw a sign for a Rosé Garden, part of the Whaley's restaurant, they didn't open till 5, so we hung out on the plaza until they allowed patrons in. The "garden" was a cute little pop up patio bar, with a wine list featuring about 14 different rosés (7 by the glass), 2 frozen cocktails, highballs, and small bites to snack on. I had Nasturtium tacos, which we affectionately called the "leaf tacos", but they were delicious and light. He had oysters, pretty sure. Nugget dined on cheerios, the finest breastmilk, and soft water. From there we decided to head back to the car, feeling we had parked long enough to warrant $20. Nugget was getting sleepy anyway, so it was perfect timing. As we walked, hubs noticed the planes flying overhead and mentioned he wouldn't mind seeing some take off. So I mentioned Gravelly Point in Alexandria, next to National/ Reagan airport. From Southeast its a fairly quick drive, just hop on 695/ 395 south to the GW Parkway, loop around the airport and its right there  (access is only via GW Pkwy north, if you're coming from Arlington or DC you have to loop around). Parking is free, and the park is open until 10 pm, so we stayed till the sun went down.

Baby girl was completely fascinated watching all the planes go overhead, which is funny since shes been on more than 10 in her short time on this Earth.

Days like this make me appreciate living near DC. We even discussed next time making a whole tourist day out of it- starting out with the Smithsonian's in the morning, cool down and cocktails at Navy Yard or the Wharf, heading down to Gravelly Point to plane spot, then finishing the night at National Harbor/ MGM for a late night dinner and drinks- maybe a spin on the Capital Wheel. There's so much to do in the DMV that I know in my 27 years I've only hit the tip an an iceberg. Have you been a tourist in your own backyard? Try it someday.

-xo

Yards Park official site
Gravelly Point Park