Vacation Recap-The Reviews

Alright-here we go..my brutally honest reviews.

I will link corresponding websites to the hotels/restaurants/attractions if you want to check them out.

LODGING

Ramada Inn Ocean Front, Virginia Beach

First of all, the room was so small. So so small. We kept things in our suitcase all the time because there was literally no room to put anything.

My biggest complaint-there was no mini fridge. NO MINI FRIDGE. How in the world are we supposed to keep our drinks cold?? If your answer is keep going to the ice machine and filling your cooler-you're correct. And it was a pain in the butt. OR you could pay $10/day for a mini fridge, which they were out of when we got there. SERIOUSLY.

The front desk people were cordial, but that was about it. They really weren't too helpful and honestly acted like they hated their jobs. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the housekeepers were AWESOME!! They were always humming and making small talk when they would see you. It was so nice!

What this whole thing boils down to--would I stay there again? If I had a choice-no. If it was the only hotel available-yes, but I would do so with a scowl. 

Springhill Suites, Old Town Alexandria, Virginia

Well..this was a suite so obviously it was bigger then the Ramada. Plus #1.

The hotel was nicer and more up to date. There was a damn fridge! Super nice bathroom, comfy bed, and awesome little couch in the room.

There was also a really good breakfast every morning!

Oh and Jon says, "Make sure you put that they have HD and the Ramada didn't! Guys want to know that!" So..there's that. Because, you know SO many guys read my blog, husband.

And on a final note, they offer a free shuttle to the Metro. If you don't want to take their shuttle, you can drive there and it takes all of about 2 minutes.

DINING

Cancun Fiesta, Virginia Beach

Chips & Salsa were delicious. The food was pretty good, but I prefer our Mexican restaurant here in town so much more. Honestly, it probably would have helped if we had made it to the hotel on time and not been eating dinner at 9:30 at night.

Sunrise Cafe, Virginia Beach (No website)

I had the apple cinnamon Belgian waffle. Jon had the chocolate and peanut butter pancakes. We were STUFFED after this. It was so good though! Oh and they had mimosas for $3. WINNING.

Dough Boy's Pizza, Virginia Beach

Do yourself a favor and just go here. You're welcome.

Dog Street Pub, Downtown Williamsburg, Virginia

I'm going to preface this review with-one of my Nestie Besties told me not to go here, but Jon was all "Let's just tryyy it!". NBs haven't steered me wrong yet...

To start, they give you room temperature water. It only gets better.

I asked for the ham and cheese sandwich without tomato. I was told that they couldn't do that because their chef was picky. Excuse me? Who's paying for this damn sandwich? Me or your chef? Okay. Then the server proceeds to give me this awesome piece of information- "Well, ma'am, we actually make all of our sandwiches ahead of time so it's already made back there..but the rest of the stuff on the menu we make fresh."

UM...WHAT.

Yep. So I ordered the fish & chips and Jon ordered the burger and fries. They were fine but we were already pissed off.

Listen to my Nestie Bestie who told me so I'm telling you....just don't.

Abbey Road and Pub, Virginia Beach, VA

My chef salad was so so so good!! I don't really remember what Jon got, but he really liked it. The drinks were out of this world! They have 101 beers! And like 25-ish mixed drinks. I got the Skittle the first night, then we went for drinks the next night and I got the coconut cream pie. I liked them both, but the Skittle was my most favorite. Plus they have live music...so there's another reason to go!

Pocahontas Pancake House, Virginia Beach, VA

Jon got the pecan pancakes and I had the bacon and cheese omelet. Both were good, but we really liked the Sunrise Cafe better.

Chix, Virginia Beach, VA

Jon and I have totally different opinions on this. I got 1/2 lb of crab legs for $9 and I devoured it like it was my last meal.  They were DELICIOUS! Jon got chicken fingers and fries and he didn't like them. He said the meat was "too thick". Welcome to my world. ;)

Refreshment Stand, DC

Um...we were so hungry that we honestly didn't care what we ate. We both got hot dogs, chips, & a drink for $6. We scarfed them down, so I'm sure they were fine.

Applebee's, Alexandria, VA

Jon and I rarely do chain restaurants on vacation. (Unless it's Bojangles...I will eat at one of those every single time.) But we had a gift card for Applebee's so we used it. It was Applebee's. It was okay. Our  food was good, but the service was a little slow.

Stars & Stripes Cafe, American History Museum, DC (No website)

It's a huge cafeteria where you have all kinds of options. I hit up the salad bar and Jon hit up the pizza stand. We loved it! It was so good. My salad was fresh and perfect for what I was craving. Jon said the pizza dough was amazing.

Ruby Tuesday, Alexandria, VA

We opted for this because it was across the street from the Metro and it was 8:30 and we hadn't eaten since lunch at noon. I got a steak and Jon ordered a pretzel burger. My steak was really good, but Jon's order came out wrong-he got a regular burger instead of a pretzel burger. We didn't have a chance to say anything because we didn't see our server again until Jon was 90% done. Other than that, it was okay.

ATTRACTIONS

Cape Henry Lighthouse, Virginia Beach, VA

Very cool! Costs $8 to go, but so worth it. Just be prepared if you go-you will need to bring your license, registration, and proof of insurance. Otherwise, they will make you turn around. And it all has to be current. We saw them turn someone around because their papers weren't up to date. Also-your car will get thoroughly searched prior to entering.

 

Colonial Williamsburg, Williamsburg, VA

Definitely cool! We could have spent another day there and went to Yorktown and Jamestown. So much to learn and I found it so interesting.

Virginia Aquarium, Virginia Beach, VA

This aquarium is bigger than any we have been to (and we've been to quite a few). It has two buildings with a nature walk between the two buildings. The nature walk takes about 10 minutes, or you can drive your car from building to building. The first building was awesome! The second building was a little lack luster.

Big Bus Tours, Washington, DC

We did the 48 hour tour which came with a river cruise down the Potomac (didn't get to use), several walking tours (didn't get to do those either), and tickets to Madame Tussaud's wax museum, and the Crime and Punishment Museum.

Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum, Washington, DC

It was okay. I liked the wax museum in Gatlinburg better, but I did like that there was a President exhibit. So cool!

Crime and Punishement Museum, Washington, DC

I feel as though I would have like this a million times better if there wouldn't have been a million kids running around and we could actually see everything. They had some pretty cool stuff in there and we both learned a lot!

American History Museum, Washington, DC

Half of it was closed so we got through it pretty quickly, but what was open was awesome!

Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC

AWESOME!! My favorite museum! I have so many pictures from there!

Holocaust Museum, Washington, DC

Talk about a humbling and mind blowing experience. Walking through the museum and reading the stories was such a somber thing. They had an exhibit called Daniel's Story that took you from Daniel's happy childhood living in his nice home, to a ghetto, and into a concentration camp. So sad. I totally got teary eyed at the end of it. I would recommend this for anyone making the trip to DC.

That wraps up my reviews for our trip!

To wrap it all up, I'll stop by tomorrow with some hints for anyone thinking of doing a similar trip-especially to DC!