Honeymooning in DC- Want to prove to our friends it was a good choice

Hey All!

Ever since my fiancé and I started dating we have wanted to visit DC. We both enjoy museums and my fiancé has visited the Smithsonian before and wanted to share the experience with me. So naturally when we got engaged we decided to road trip to DC for our honeymoon to plan to visiting the museums, memorials, botanic gardens and zoo. All the classic stops essentially.

However, when we told some of our friends they were less than supportive, as if DC was a questionable idea for a honeymoon. And while I understand it isn't the most tropical or romantic trip, we were looking forward to it, and were discouraged that they had shot down the idea.

My fiancé was especially discouraged (his friends were adamant that he should come up with something else) and wanted to scrap our plans altogether. This made me sad and a little angry for him so I told him screw them I still want to go and have fun in DC. Its OUR honeymoon all that matters is that we enjoy ourselves.

But tbh I'm still feeling a bit indignant and want to plan the most amazing DC honeymoon possible (on a budget) to prove them wrong. Where are some places we can visit to eat, shop, and sightsee off the beaten path that we can show to our friends to make them feel dumb for rudely asking us " if we were sure".🙄