DC has some fantastic restaurants! When I travel. part of the fun is trying new restaurants or local foods. I enjoy trying new foods or the same old, same old prepared differently.

Think the Library of Congress is for bookworms only? Think again, my friends! I took a short trek to Washington, D.C. last May and this is what I discovered on my very first visit.

If you’re anything like me, you don’t particularly love the month of January in the Midwest. Some folks get Seasonal Affective Disorder (S.A.D.) and tire of the gray clouds, lack of sunshine and monotony of being indoors. I don’t tend to notice that much in myself, but I do crave beautiful green plants and colorful, blooming flowers this time of year.

I was looking for a little excitement by going on my road trip and it turned out I got a little more excitement than I bargained for.

Another little secret about me is that I am a Dale Chihuly glass artist nut. Consequently, I was dying to see his temporary exhibition at the St. Louis Botanical Garden.

Sometimes you just want to “get out of Dodge!” (American idiom for leave town). And that’s what I have done.