Have you ever felt cooped up in the house, and just feel the need to hit reset? Shadi and I have recently been itching to go to the beach, but we have been unsuccessful putting a date on the calendar. We’ll look into traveling to a new city, but won’t have the time or budget for it, and get discouraged.

Last Wednesday I decided to cash in on one of Shadi’s Christmas presents I had gotten for him – a two hour lunch cruise along the Potomac. We had already planned on taking engagement photos in Old Town Alexandria on Friday night, so on a whim we decided to make a weekend out of it! I always love the cobblestone streets of Old Town, and it looks even better in the spring! If you’ve never explored it, we stumbled upon two buildings George Washington either lived in or owned during Stan and Kate’s engagement session! (Aren’t they the cutest?)

We used our travel points to stay at the beautiful Alexandrian on King Street, woke up and ate breakfast at La Madeleine, strolled around the historic cobblestone streets, and then hopped on our lunch cruise. Let’s just say, my breakfast included an americano and a freshly made croissant, reminiscent of all the breakfasts I had when I studied abroad in Italy, so I was a happy camper.

Our whole weekend trip ended up costing less than $90, and we only had to drive 45 minutes from home! We realized that taking a vacation and pressing reset didn’t have to be super extravagant or far away to  be joyful and relaxing. If you’re needing a vacation, maybe finding something local is just what you need!