Georgetown / D.C. Cupcakes

D.C. Cupcakes

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Georgetown, Washington D.C.

Georgetown Cupcakes

(Image Credit / D.C. Cupcakes)

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We had just finished scaling up and down the climbing complex pathways of the National Zoo for several hours and were ready to head for the exit.  We had one additional stop on our planned itinerary for the day and were ready to tackle our final objective of this trip to the nation’s capital, while we still had the energy.  One of my daughter’s birthday wishes was to visit the famous bakery Georgetown Cupcake from the popular reality television series D.C. Cupcakes on the TLC television network.  I would have voted for another historical stop at the newly dedicated Martin Luther King Memorial on the Washington Mall but since it wasn’t my birthday… I didn’t have a say in the schedule of events on this trip! 

 Police Keep the Peace at the Side Door

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My family is addicted to reality television and the male and female residents of our home have different lists of must see shows that frequent the primetime viewing hours of our household television sets.  My wife Susan and daughter Katelyn often team up in the living room to watch shows such as The Little Couple, What Not to Wear, Dancing with the Stars, The Kardashians, Cake Boss, Tori and Dean, and Teen Mom… Just to name a few!  I can honestly say I have never watched a single episode of any of the shows mentioned above… with the exception of Teen Mom... However, I lost interest after the first season!  I can’t watch any reality shows with kids screaming, crying, fighting, etc. because… Well, been there, done that!  It was stressful enough when it was my reality!

 Lined up Around the Block

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Tyler and I often take up residence in the kitchen gathered around the smaller television set and have our own list of nightly entertainment that we like to call… Manvision!  Topping our list is Pawn Stars, American Pickers, Axe Men, Ice Road Truckers, Storage Wars, River Monsters, World’s Deadliest Catch, Swamp People, Dual Survival and Gold Rush… Just to name a few!  Marathons of a single show on the weekends where they run through the whole series are especially addicting!  I guess the lawn could wait until tomorrow… the grass has been longer before… I think!  I have even been known to watch episodes of Extreme Hoarding and Buried Alive… but only because it makes me feel better about the disarray of my own garage and basement storage areas… Hey, it’s all good… as long as you don’t have to climb over a five foot high pile of junk to get into the room!

 Happy Birthday Katelyn!

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So we pulled out of the Zoo parking lot, set the GPS for Georgetown and made our way along the picturesque Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway.  The drive was beautiful as we passed through Rock Creek Park Trail where Washington residents took advantage of the beautiful weather by riding bikes, jogging, or pushing baby strollers.  We had never seen such a busy recreation area pathway, which closely resembled the busy roadways that paralleled the park trail.  We continued to drive through the narrow valley and passed beneath several impressive archways that supported raised bridges that carried busy roadways high above the calm atmosphere of the parks.  With the help of the GPS and my wife yelling at me, we suddenly arrived in the jam-packed streets of historic Georgetown.   

 Take Your Pick!

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We headed down the main drag of M Street and came to a dead stop into a bumper-to bumper crawl toward our destination.  People were everywhere, crossing the streets every which-way causing my wife to continuously yell at me to “help” me carefully navigate my way toward Georgetown Cupcake located somewhere off beyond the horizon of chaos!  One thing was certain, there was no place to park and so we planned to drop the girls off at the store and then try to find someplace to park until we were called to swoop in for the pick-up!  We eventually found the famous bakery on the corner of M and 33^rd Streets with a crowd of people surrounding the building.  There was a police officer posted by the bakery door watching over the crowd to make sure no one tried to butt in line!  These must be the best cupcakes ever!  We turned off onto 33^rd Street and dropped the girls off so they could get in the line that wrapped around the block!

 Ordering a Dozen Cupcakes

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Tyler and I continued onward, pulled around the corner and suddenly saw an open parking space right by the stop sign.  A “free” parking space in Georgetown a few yards away from D.C. Cupcakes?  How lucky could you get?  I think this was a parking spot, or was it too good to be true?  We got out of the car to stretch our legs and I was looking forward to going off to explore the historic district that was once well known for the Georgetown Canal.  By the looks of the line to get into the bakery, we would have at least an hour to kill around town, maybe more.  However, upon closer inspection… there was a No Parking sign just above us, hidden from view by the branches of a nearby tree.  Now what?  Looking at all the traffic, I doubted we would find anything else available that didn’t involve a parking garage that would most likely involve a payment plan. 

 Cupcakes, Cupcakes, Cupcakes

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Speaking of reality television... I didn't want to wind up on an episode of my of my new shows called Parking Wars... We decided to stay put and hope Officer Friendly didn’t show up… I could play dumb… I’m good at that… No parking sign… what sign officer?… I didn’t see a sign?  However, to avoid having the car towed away, we were stuck with our vehicle and exploring historic Georgetown would have to wait until another visit.  Tyler and I sat and relaxed in the car and watched wealth pass us by… I have never seen so many expensive high-end vehicles in such a short period of time!  Our Toyota RAV 4 just didn’t seem to fit into the vehicular crowd.  We had “tourist” written all over us!  Occasional texts came in from my wife to relay their slow progress forward toward the bakery entrance.  This was going to take forever… but in the meantime, Tyler and I planned to amuse ourselves with “people” and “exotic car” watching.   

 Happy Birthday Kojo and Kwame!

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D.C. Cupcakes is a television reality series about two sisters who run a cupcake bakery together in the District of Columbia.  Their opening episode hit the airwaves on TLC during the summer of 2010, attracting over a million viewers in their first season.  Sisters Sophie LaMontagne and Katherine Kallinis make gourmet cupcakes and create creative cupcake sculptures for high-end clients on the show.  In one episode they constructed a giant gorilla sculpture made from several hundred chocolate cupcakes for the National Zoo when they celebrated the birthdays of two lowland gorillas.  Kojo turned nine years old and Kwame turned eleven prompting a birthday party celebration to raise money for their care and habitat at the zoo.  The young gorillas devoured their own version of the treat with diet appropriate cupcakes created by zookeepers, which had bananas as the primary ingredient.  Yum!  We had just seen the lowland gorillas and aside from the giant panda bears, they were the star of the zoo!

 A Dozen Cupcakes / Minus Two

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A police cruiser was slowly coming up the opposite side of the street and I was starting to practice my standard… I’m not from around here speech, when my phone rang and the girls had successfully exited the bakery with a dozen purchased cupcakes.  We had our conquest and it was time to make a quick getaway before the cops chased us out of our somewhat illegal parking space.  Georgetown Cupcake cupcakes cost $30 a dozen and they are the standard sized version.  They are safely packaged in a sturdy pink box that helped them make it home intact and right side up.  They were delicious but for thirty bucks… I’ll take a shopping cart full of Tastykakes instead!  Katelyn ordered several flavors including vanilla birthday, chocolate birthday, red velvet, peanut butter fudge, and chocolate ganache… whatever that means?   They were good with a glass of cold milk and none went to waste… Was it worth it?  You bet!  After all, it was my little girl’s birthday wish… Happy Birthday Katelyn!

 TLC Television Treats

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I later found out that you don’t have to travel all the way to Georgetown in person because you can order them from their website and have them shipped directly to your home.  A dozen D.C. Cupcakes delivered to your door only costs $56… a real bargain with today’s high gas prices!  And just think… no waiting in line for an hour or risking fines for parking your car illegally!  It’s the best deal in town!

 Sophie LaMontagne and Katherine Kallinis

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Georgetown Cupcake

3301 M Street (corner of 33rd and M)
Washington DC 20007
p: 202-333-8448
f: 202-333-8558
georgetown@georgetowncupcake.com