By Day 4 in Washington, D.C., I was ready for a slower morning.
The previous few days had been packed with tours, museums, memorials, and a whole lot of walking, so I gave myself permission to sleep in a little. I still had a full afternoon and evening ahead of me, but for once, I didn't need to be somewhere first thing in the morning.
What started with a brunch I had been looking forward to before arriving in D.C. turned into some spontaneous photography downtown, an afternoon at George Washington's Mount Vernon, and one of the most unexpected experiences of the entire trip.
I showed up for a group night tour of Washington, and no one else did.
I essentially got a private tour of D.C.
But first, brunch.
A Slower Start at Milk & Honey
My first stop was Milk & Honey Southern Inspired Kitchen, down near The Wharf.
This was one of the brunch spots I had found while planning the trip, and I had been looking forward to trying it before I ever arrived in Washington. Day 4 felt like the perfect morning to finally go.
Looking back, this brunch also started a little travel tradition of mine.
Whenever I visit a new city now, I try to pick one morning for a proper sit-down brunch at a local hot spot. It doesn't have to be fancy. I just want somewhere I've been wanting to try where I can slow down and enjoy the morning instead of immediately rushing into the next thing.
It probably comes from what brunch looks like for me back home. On a Saturday late morning, you can often find me at Snooze with one of my best friends, catching up over brunch, Bloody Marys, and espresso martinis.
Milk & Honey gave me that same feeling in D.C.
I ordered the Berries & Cream French Toast for $20, scrambled eggs with cheese for $6, and a Kool-Aid Cosmo for $12.
If I remember correctly, I was going through a bit of a Kool-Aid kick at the time, so once I saw “Kool-Aid Cosmo” on the menu, I had to try it.
I also ordered a soft drink for $4, which I still think is a little outrageous for a soft drink.
And I know what you're probably thinking when you look at the photos: that's a lot of food.
It absolutely was. My eyes are definitely bigger than my stomach sometimes, and no, I did not finish all of it. 😂
Once everything was added together, including tip, brunch came out to $55 all-in for one person.
It wasn't cheap, but it was somewhere I had specifically wanted to try, and I'm glad I made time for it.
Since then, I've kept the tradition: pick one morning, find a good local brunch spot, order what sounds good, have a drink, and actually enjoy the morning.
The Transportation Cost I Completely Underestimated
Before I continue with Day 4, there's one major trip expense I haven't talked about yet.
The funny thing is, I actually had budgeted for it — just nowhere near enough.
Before arriving in Washington, I planned on using premium Uber or Lyft service only three times: from the airport to my hotel, from D.C. to the Smithsonian's Udvar-Hazy Center on Day 1, and from the hotel back to the airport at the end of the trip.
Those were the longer transfers where I knew I wanted something comfortable and dependable. That was supposed to be the extent of it.
Instead, premium rides gradually became my primary transportation around Washington.
After using different service levels during the trip, I personally noticed enough of a difference in vehicle quality, comfort, professionalism, and overall reliability that I often felt more comfortable choosing the higher tier.
I'm not saying every standard Uber or Lyft ride is bad. But when you're traveling alone in an unfamiliar city, sometimes carrying expensive camera equipment or returning to your hotel late at night, how safe and comfortable you feel matters.
The problem was that I didn't realize how quickly those individual rides were adding up.
While I was actually in D.C., I kept thinking I had probably spent somewhere around $300 to $350 on transportation for the entire trip.
It wasn't until I got home and did my full post-trip debrief that I discovered the real number:
$745.
That was definitely a Wait... I spent HOW much? moment.
When you're traveling, you see the price of one ride at a time. Twenty or thirty dollars here, forty dollars there, then another ride back to the hotel that evening.
Individually, they don't always feel significant. Collectively, they absolutely can be.
Was It Worth $745?
For this particular trip, yes.
I wouldn't automatically spend that much on premium transportation every time I travel, but I would absolutely use it again.
The difference is that now I would make that decision based primarily on three things: location, distance, and time of day.
A short daytime ride in an area where I feel comfortable may not require premium service. A longer ride, an unfamiliar area, expensive camera gear, or a late-night trip back to the hotel might make paying extra worth it.
The lesson wasn't that premium transportation is always necessary. It was that I needed to budget for how I actually travel, not how I imagined I might travel while sitting at home planning the trip.
No Tour Yet, So I Grabbed My Camera
After brunch, I went back to the hotel, grabbed my camera, and headed out again.
My Mount Vernon tour didn't start until 2:00 PM, and I already knew where I wanted to go.
Until the day before, I hadn't even known about the Old Post Office Tower.
During my Luxury SkyVue Convertible Van tour, our guide had pointed it out as we passed the Waldorf Astoria and mentioned that the tower was open to the public and offered skyline views of Washington.
That immediately caught my attention.
I remember thinking, I'm going to have to try that out.
So I did.
From the top, I could photograph the U.S. Capitol, the Washington Monument, and a huge portion of downtown D.C.
After several days of seeing Washington almost entirely from street level, the elevated view gave me a completely different perspective.
It was also a good reminder to listen when your tour guide casually mentions something that isn't on your itinerary. Sometimes those little recommendations end up becoming some of the best spontaneous stops.
After getting my photos, I headed toward the meeting point for the main event of the afternoon: George Washington's Mount Vernon.
What I Booked
For Day 4, I booked the Mount Vernon and Old Town Alexandria Day Trip from Washington DC through Viator with the Mt. Vernon + Night Tour upgrade.
My booking for August 14, 2025 was:
Tour: Mount Vernon and Old Town Alexandria Day Trip from Washington DC
Upgrade: Mt. Vernon + Night Tour
Start Time: 2:00 PM
Meeting Point: 400 New Jersey Ave NW, Washington, DC
Price Paid: $140 for one adult
The afternoon portion took us into Virginia for a narrated drive through Old Town Alexandria before continuing to George Washington's Mount Vernon.
Heading Into Virginia
Leaving central Washington for the afternoon was a nice change.
We drove through Old Town Alexandria while the guide pointed out historic locations along the way. It was more of a narrated drive through the area than an extended walking stop, but it still let me see another part of the D.C. region that I probably wouldn't have visited otherwise.
Then we continued toward Mount Vernon.
George Washington's Mount Vernon
Mount Vernon felt completely different from everything I had been seeing in Washington.
Instead of government buildings, marble memorials, and busy streets, I was surrounded by open lawns, gardens, historic buildings, and views toward the Potomac River.
I also quickly realized that Mount Vernon is much more than the mansion.
The estate includes gardens, pathways, historic outbuildings, agricultural areas, working spaces, exhibits, and other preserved areas that help explain how the property operated.
Naturally, I spent a lot of that time with my camera.
Some of my favorite photographs weren't even of the mansion itself. They were the quieter details — brick pathways, wooden fences, working areas, gardens, and views across the property.
The Mansion, Grounds & History
The mansion is still the centerpiece.
Its white exterior, green shutters, red roof, and cupola are instantly recognizable, and standing there in person makes you realize how much American history is tied to this property.
There was restoration work happening during my visit, so some areas didn't look quite like the picture-perfect promotional images you might see online.
That's simply part of visiting historic sites. Preservation work has to happen sometime.
There was still plenty to explore, including the gardens, historic work areas, outbuildings, and reconstructed rooms.
It's also important not to separate the mansion from the more difficult history of the estate.
Mount Vernon was a plantation that depended on the labor of enslaved people, and parts of the property help interpret that history as part of the broader story of George Washington and Mount Vernon.
The Potomac River
Eventually, I made my way toward the Potomac.
This may have been my favorite part of the estate.
The land slopes toward the water, and once you're behind the mansion looking across the river, the atmosphere feels completely removed from Washington.
It was quiet, open, and incredibly photogenic.
That morning I had been standing high above downtown D.C. photographing the Capitol and Washington Monument. A few hours later, I was standing beside the Potomac River at an 18th-century estate in Virginia.
That contrast was one of my favorite things about the day.
Back to D.C. — And Just Enough Time to Eat
When we returned to the original drop-off area, I had a short break before the nighttime portion of the tour.
I knew I needed something to eat before several more hours of sightseeing, so I ran and grabbed something quick nearby. Nothing fancy, just enough food to keep going.
Then I went back for the night tour.
That's when the day took a completely unexpected turn.
When My Group Tour Became a Private Tour
I showed up for the nighttime tour, and so did the guide.
Nobody else did.
I had booked a normal group sightseeing tour of Washington after dark, but somehow I ended up being the only guest.
Instead of canceling, they took me anyway.
So for the rest of the evening, I essentially had a private nighttime tour of Washington, D.C.
I couldn't believe my luck.
Without a full group to keep on schedule, the guide let me take my time at the different stops. I could walk around, find the composition I wanted, take my photographs, and head back when I was ready.
For a photographer, that's about as good as it gets.
Sometimes the best travel experiences are the ones you could never plan.
Washington After Dark
We started while there was still some daylight left, with an early stop at the White House as the evening light began to soften.
I had already seen it earlier in the trip, but sunset gave it an entirely different look.
As the sky moved into blue hour, Washington really started to change.
I photographed the Jefferson Memorial glowing across the water as the last warm colors disappeared from the sky, and later stopped at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, where the illuminated stone stood out against the deep blue night.
Because I wasn't trying to keep up with a large group, I had time to find the angles I wanted instead of taking a quick photograph and immediately moving on.
That made the unexpected private tour even better.
Lincoln at Night
Eventually, we made our way to the Lincoln Memorial.
I had already visited Lincoln earlier in the trip, but nighttime completely changed the experience.
The memorial glowed against the dark sky, and inside, Lincoln's statue was dramatically illuminated.
From the steps, I could also look straight down the Reflecting Pool toward the illuminated Washington Monument.
That became one of my favorite photographs from the entire trip.
The Washington Monument reflected almost perfectly in the water, surrounded by darkness. I had spent several days photographing the same city, but that image felt completely different.
An Unexpected Ending to the Tour
Normally, the tour would have taken everyone back to the designated drop-off location.
But since I was the only person there, they dropped me directly at my hotel instead.
After spending the entire afternoon and evening sightseeing, walking, and photographing, that was a pretty nice way to end the night.
I think I ate again afterward, probably Potbelly, but by that point the exact late-night meal wasn't what stuck with me.
The private tour definitely was.
Was the Mount Vernon + Night Tour Worth It?
For the $140 I paid in 2025, yes.
Even without the private-tour surprise, combining Mount Vernon with Washington after dark made for a very full day.
Mount Vernon gave me something completely different from central D.C., while the night tour let me revisit several major landmarks under completely different conditions.
Being the only guest obviously turned the evening into something far beyond what I expected when I booked it.
Would everyone get that lucky? Probably not.
But sometimes you book a normal group tour and somehow end up with Washington, D.C. practically to yourself for the night.
I'm certainly not complaining.
Looking Back on Day 4
Day 4 ended up being one of my favorite days in Washington because so much of it wasn't planned exactly the way it happened.
Milk & Honey started a brunch tradition I still use when I travel. A recommendation from the previous day's tour led me to the Old Post Office Tower. And what was supposed to be a normal night tour unexpectedly became a private photography tour of D.C.
I also came home with one very expensive budgeting lesson after discovering that the transportation I thought had cost around $300 to $350 had actually totaled $745.
Sometimes the places you plan for months are memorable.
And sometimes one of your favorite experiences happens simply because nobody else showed up.