Aren’t fall afternoons lovely? I spent a relaxing afternoon meandering Penn Quarter/Chinatown recently, and my boyfriend and I wound up in the National Portrait Gallery. After visiting the Ansel Adams and Georgia O’Keefe exhibit we wandered upstairs.

Needing a break, we stumbled upon the Portico Cafe on the second floor. The Portico Cafe is a second-floor oasis overlooking F street and the International Spy Museum. Sunny, warm and surrounded those ever-so-cliche DC columns, it’s the perfect place to take a breather and watch the city go by.

Visit the National Portrait Gallery (free) at 8th & F Sts NW, close to the Chinatown Metro Station and Metro Center Metro station. The Gallery is open from 11:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Photos taken by Flickr user needlessspaces.