This is the first of a series of posts as a National Harbor ‘Funbassador’, but all opinions (and photos!) are my own.
National Harbor is a waterfront destination on the banks of the Potomac River in Maryland, just south of Washington, DC. Maura wanted to celebrate her birthday there, so that’s just what we did! It’s one of her favorite places and always a wonderful experience. Keep reading, and you’ll see why!
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Getting to National Harbor
Per Maura’s wishes, our day started by heading to the Metro, just a couple of miles away from our house. She loves all things transportation, and being able to cross off a train, trolley, and boat all in one day made her very, very happy!
After a 30 minute Metro ride, including one transfer, we arrived at the King Street Metro station, where we caught the King Street Trolley, a free trolley which took us down historic King Street, through Old Town Alexandria. We hopped off at the last stop, right near the water, and made our way over to the Alexandria waterfront to buy tickets for The Potomac Riverboat Company Water Taxi that would take us across the Potomac to National Harbor. The trip itself was lovely and lasted for about 25 minutes, giving us great views of both Alexandria and National Harbor. If you prefer to drive in, there are thousands of parking spaces available, so no worries about that!
We got off the water taxi at the first dock – Gaylord National, but the second stop – the National Harbor North dock – is closer to the Plaza and the main attractions. Walking through the beautiful Gaylord grounds, we made our way to our first destination – Build-A-Bear Workshop.
Maura received a Build-A-Bear gift card from grandma for her birthday and has been begging me for a Minion! She’s a little obsessed with those little yellow creatures. If you’ve never been to Build-A-Bear Workshop, it’s a fun, interactive experience where you make your own stuffed animal. There are tons to choose from – bears, bunnies, cats, horses, and more – but Maura chose a Minion. Bob, to be precise. You can also choose an outfit (Maura opted for overalls and little black boots), and even personalize it with sound… BANANA!! She picked out Bob’s little heart, helped stuff him, and filled out his birth certificate while he got dressed. So much fun!
Just steps away from Build-A-Bear is the new Starbucks that opened recently at National Harbor. I ordered 3 mini Frappuccinos – vanilla bean for the girls and s’mores for me. Nothing for Bob. The minis are the perfect size!
Now that we were fueled up, we were ready to continue reading