by Jane on January 9, 2012
OK, so even though Oyster.com is a travel website and our main goal is to deliver the truth about hotels, we also secretly moonlight as a life coach. That’s right, we can dole out advice on waaaay more than just hotels; don’t forget — we helped you get over your ex, offered Lindsay Lohan some sound legal advice, and dissected the key moments in Kris and Kim’s “marriage” (if you can call it that) that lead to the split. So yeah, we’re basically the new-and-improved Dr. Phil with a ton of travel tips to boot. To help transform your lifestyle, we scoured the globe and found the destinations best suited for changing your life for the better. (We guess some people can handle the total transformation at home but a vacation is always nice, right?) So grab a friend who’s also in need of a little improvement and head to Oyster’s top five picks for transforming your life! Check ‘em out below or on Shape.com.
Sunday Farmers' Market; Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Ranked by PETA as one of the most veg (and vegan)-friendly cities in the country, Washington, D.C. is the perfect spot to transform your diet. Going vegetarian is all the rage (Meatless Monday, anyone?) — it’s been proven to be good for your heart, your skin, and your immune system – and D.C. has tons of vegetarian and vegan-friendly restaurants. But even if you’re just looking to increase your veggie intake without completely swearing off meat (I mean, have vegetarians never had a hamburger before? Hard to give up, don’t you think?), D.C. is a good place to be. With the First Lady’s “Let’s Move” nutrition initiative, the capital is all about you getting your three to four servings of fruits and veggies (each!) every day. Read More »
At Top Golf DC, each ball has a unique microchip that calculates the accuracy and distance of your shot
Days off school mean no homework. No bus pickups. No lunches to pack. In our household we bask in the glow of school holidays. We eat, play, shoot baskets, watch movies, and hang out. What’s not to love about this type of day? But five people in one house all vying for control of the remote or the game controller or a laptop makes for a crazy, noisy day. As a work-at-home-mom, my work day can become challenging with the kids and husband home from school. While it is tempting for us to stay home, every so often planning a trip on a day off school is a must. Some months ago we ventured out to a new type of high-tech driving range just outside Washington, D.C. While the kids finished up any lingering homework or played games with dad, I did my daily work tasks. Once I logged off, we set off for Top Golf.
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C&O Canal is a great place to enjoy the outdoors in D.C.
When I’m in Washington, D.C. and the lines are building around the all too familiar sights, including the monuments around the National Mall, I head to two of my two favorite museums, which see fewer crowds: the International Spy Museum — probably because, as a kid, I always wanted to be a spook — and the National Museum of the American Indian — because I studied Native American religions in college. At this latter museum, the landscaping is a vital part of the museum, which completely reflects Native American culture and beliefs.
But you may be aware that I prefer to spend most of my time outdoors, exploring the serene side of cities. So below are the highlights of green spaces in and around Washington, D.C. that I recommend to visitors.
1. Just minutes from the Metro, Theodore Roosevelt Island provides the opportunity to walk trails deep into a forest lush with hickory, oak and sycamore. Many hikers comment how this island feels like a vast wilderness, though it’s just stretches barely 90 acres.
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Curbside Cupcakes in Washington, D.C.
You have to be living under a rock to NOT know what Twitter is. This townhall meeting/news source/search engine serves up bite-size nuggets of information on just about everything — including your next meal. Want to know where to get lunch from your favorite D.C. food truck? Just go to twitter.
A year ago, after attending an event in Georgetown, I caught sight of a pink truck. A pink truck is not what you see everyday on the streets in D.C. It turned out to be Curbside Cupcakes, Washington, D.C.’s first mobile cupcake truck. Four days a week (Tuesday through Friday) two pink trucks cruise through the streets of D.C., and on Saturday, one truck runs the cupcake route. To find out when the Curbside Cupcakes truck will come to where you are in D.C., just follow @CurbsideCupcake! Helpful tweets pinpoint the location of Pinky #1 and Pinky #2 each day. Read More »
Tomato soup at Filomena's in Georgetown, Washington D.C.
For my husband’s birthday dinner, my parents offered to take our family out to Filomena, a Georgetown institution. We readily agreed. It’s funny how you can live in a city for years and think you know every landmark, museum, restaurant, or tourist spot. I was anxious to see what I had been missing all these years.
Filomena looks tiny from the outside. As we walked in to Filomena, I got that old country feel. I could see Tony Soprano and his crew heading there for a fancy dinner. Definitely the kind of place famous for Mama’s meatballs, I was certain.
As I peered through the window to see what the restaurant was like, I spotted a pair of ladies in white aprons hand rolling and cutting pasta. Wow. I was amazed at the trays and trays of gnocchi and tortellini. How did these ladies hand-make pasta that looked so much like store bought? Each piece was perfectly shaped by hand before being placed on a large tray. Filomena must go through trays and trays of pasta each day.
Once I descended the stairs I saw how large the restaurant really was. As a tuxedoed manager greeted us at the bottom of the stairs, I spotted the dessert counter to my right. Scrumptious! My children squealed when they saw the life-size Santa Claus in the downstairs lobby. It’s an understatement to say that Filomena decorates for the holidays. I spied more than a dozen Santas — vintage Saint Nick rather than the Santas of today — displayed on shelves in the main dining room. Numerous Christmas trees were dotted about the restaurant. Our kids were largely silent during the early part of the meal as they observed and then mentioned the different Christmas decorations they saw. Read More »
The Verizon Center in Washington, D.C.
The Verizon Center is host to a myriad of events from sold out concerts featuring the biggest names in music, family programming, and sporting events where local fans love to cheer on their hockey and basketball teams. Often, the ticket in your pocket can influence your choice of food to get you in the mood before the event and there’s no shortage of restaurants around the Verizon Center/Penn Quarter/Chinatown area. Read More »
Take a tour of the National Mall with City Segway Tours
A city rich with many museums and monuments like Washington DC will require a good deal of planning and time to explore. For the tourist on a time crunch, a guided tour of the city is a great way to maximize your time. Sure, you can use the tried and true “hop-on and hop-off” bus tour. But it’s way more fun to try one of the unconventional tours offered in the city.
City Segway Tours (meets at 624 9th Street, NW): If you want to blast through the city and enjoy all the must-see attractions while looking cool, take the National Mall Segway tour. You may even learn a few new facts to boost your water cooler knowledge. For even more fun, you can book the evening tour; there’s less traffic, and you can get an interesting view of the monuments after dark. You can stay at the Sofitel Lafayette Square and, from there, take a metro from McPherson Square to Gallery PI – Chinatown. Read More »
Paddle Boating in the Tidal Basin
The Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, D.C. is one of the best ways to spend Spring Break with your children. From March through April, this annual festival offers many great family-friendly activities to go along with the world-class selection of free museums; these are some of the best:
Tidal Basin Paddle Boats (1501 Maine Avenue, SW): From March 10 through April 11, you and your kids can enjoy the view of cherry blossoms along the Tidal Basin while riding a paddle boat ($10 per hour for a two-person boat, $18 per hour for a four-person boat). Read More »
Skeleton on display at the National Museum of Natural History in D.C.
As a follow-up to my previous post, here are three more free activities that both kids and adults might enjoy:
National Museum of Natural History (10th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW): This museum is a favorite for local elementary school field trips. It’s easy to see why, with such exhibits as “Dinosaurs and the Hall of Paleobiology” at which you can see fossils of dinosaurs, mammals, and fossilized plants. Kids will also like visiting the “Discovery Room,” where kids can interact with staffers and volunteers to learn about and examine specimens such as fossils, shells, and skulls. Adults might also like seeing The Hope Diamond. Read More »
The National Postal Museum in Washington, D.C.
1. National Air and Space Museum
While the entire family will enjoy viewing the largest collection of historic air and spacecraft in the world, many activities are geared to kids. Science demonstrations, for example, are offered throughout the day. Kids will also enjoy the gallery, “How Things Fly” which is devoted to explaining the scientific principles that enable aircraft to fly. It’s located at 6th Street and Independence Avenue, SW, near the Residence Inn Washington, D.C. Capitol and the Holiday Inn Washington Capitol (both very family friendly hotels).
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