Staycation – Washington Style

Have you ever tried a staycation? As a travel blogger I have learned to appreciate the word go as well as stay.  One of my favorite forms of a staycation is my day – I call it a “Jan Day.” So what does a “Jan Day” look like?

When I really feel the travel bug biting and I really want to go but I can’t go I have a Jan Day – It is all about me. Sometimes it is due to lack of vacation time off, wrong time of year, lack of funds or I am saving for a particular trip. Just recently I felt the need for some battery charging adventure but I only had the weekend off. Meanwhile I am saving for a trip to Hawaii. So what’s a girl to do?

Luck for me I live in Northern Virginia. Quick internet search tells me there is an exhibit at The National Gallery of Art in Washington DC of “The Dying Gaul.” It is a statue that had not left Italy since 1797. It is a beautiful work of art. The exhibit is through March 26, 2014, http://www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb/exhibitions/2013/dying-gaul.html

The next step on my Jan day was to have some food from a foreign country so that I could feel like I actually went somewhere even though I was never more than thirty minutes from home. For me that meant Ethiopian food. There is a great Ethiopian restaurant in Centreville, Virginia called Manna Bistro,http://mannabistro.com/ . I really found it very authentic. I lived in Ethiopia for many years as a child and have always loved the food.  I asked for my meal to be served in the traditional manner, which means on top of Injera, a flatbread that also serves as your utensils. Don’t worry they have utensils too. If you like spicy and want an adventure for your taste buds as for Dura Watt. It is a spicy chicken dish that will be served with a hardboiled egg in it, it is my favorite. All the vegetables are excellent as well.