DC Part 3

Hello!

How is your week going? I didn’t mean to take a short blogging break, but last weekend was busy from beginning until end, and Monday night the kids had a track meet. So, I just couldn’t find the time to write anything.

Anyway, I’ve shared parts one and two of our spring break trip to Washington, DC, and today I’m sharing the final part.

Wednesday:

Wednesday was the rainiest day of our time in Washington, DC, but we still had things to see, so we didn’t let that stop us.

When we were ready in the morning, it wasn’t raining, so we decided to get going.

We stopped in the hotel lobby for a quick Starbucks breakfast before walking to the Metro.

We were “pros” at Metro riding by this point 🙂

As soon as we exited the Metro and went up the stairs, we were met with a cold rain. The kids pooled together $8 cash to buy an umbrella from a guy selling them by the Metro.

(FYI – We’d brought a golf umbrella, but I’m not sure why Travis continued to leave it at the hotel!)

We headed straight to the…

…World War II memorial.

It was a really pretty memorial, and we took our time walking around it.

When I went to DC with my mom and brother in 2004, there was a kiosk where you could look up WW2 soldiers. I tried to find it again, but…it is twenty years later and 2024, so now, there was a QR code to scan that takes you to the website registry.

I looked up my dad’s uncles and showed their pictures to the kids. They thought that was really neat.

The cold rain was more than a mist at this point, but we were close to the cherry blossoms at the Jefferson Memorial.

Even though it was an overcast and rainy day, we were glad they were still in bloom.

The Jefferson Memorial in the distance:

Hadley took this pic:

…and this one…influencer in the wild 😆

Then, we started our walk to the American History Museum…and it was BeReal time, and this was Hadley’s post for the day. She sent me the silly selfie.

We all enjoyed a couple of hours in the American History Museum.

I loved the First Ladies exhibit…

…with the White House China. Then, we learned about the different wars and the Medal of Honor.

We spotted Dorothy’s ruby red slippers…

…and the Rockford Peaches! I love the movie A League of Their Own.

Travis checked out the beer display.

Hadley played Prince’s guitar, and we saw Archie Bunker’s chair and all about Micky Mouse Clubhouse.

Of course, Hayden loved seeing Muhammad Ali’s robe and Michael Jordan’s jersey.

The Star Spangled Banner exhibit was neat, and we were in awe of the original flag (but no pictures allowed in the exhibit)

Once we wrapped up at the museum, I’d hoped we could go to the National Archives, but it was still raining, and everyone was hungry. We still had Georgetown University on our list, so we rode the Metro…

…back to our hotel because the kids knew there was a Chipolte next door. At first, Travis and I tried to convince them to try somewhere new, but honestly, they’d been troopers, and it was raining pretty hard…and Chipotle makes everyone happy.

After we ate, we headed to the hotel to get our car, and we drove over to Georgetown University…

…because of course Hadley’s souvenir was a hooded sweatshirt. Hayden got a t-shirt.

We didn’t see much of the campus, but it looked pretty!

We went back to the hotel for a couple of hours to warm up, shower, and rest.

Travis and Hayden had big plans to go to the Wizards vs Lakers NBA game, so they left around 6:00 to ride the Metro there.

Hadley and I left about 6:30, and drove back to Georgetown to meet friends at Founding Fathers Fishers & Bakers.

Our good friends (Hadley’s bestie) were also in DC for spring break, so we made plans to meet up with them while Travis and Hayden were at the game.

Hadley had salmon (her fave) which was the special, and I had a Caesar salad.

Travis sent me this pic to tell me they’d made it:

…but Hayden worked his way closer to the action. haha

After dinner, the girls wanted ice cream, (of course they did!), so we walked to a nearby place.

Then, we drove back to our hotel around 9:30, and Hadley took this pic out our window:

We started to tidy up and pack and Travis and Hayden got back a little after 10.

Thursday:

Well, we had big plans for Thursday before we left, but the only real thing we accomplished was that Hadley was able to get an acai bowl from the nearby place she’d been eyeing since we got there!

Our plan was to go to Arlington Cemetery before heading home, but when we got there, there was a line a mile(s!) long. We parked, got out, and contemplated waiting, but we would have been in line for hours. I’m not sure if it was the fact that it was spring break or if because the weather was finally beautiful…or if that’s normal, but I was bummed we couldn’t make that happen.

We stopped in Charlottesville for lunch, but it was blustery and raining there, so we skipped Monticello (again!…I knew that would happen). We ended up driving through snow in West Virginia which was so crazy.

We got home around 9:00, and the next day was pretty cold and dreary at home. That gave us time to sleep in, do laundry, unpack, and be lazy.

Overall, it was a really great trip, and I’m so glad we made it happen. I was impressed with DC and how clean it was and how safe we felt there.

I do wish we’d planned a little better on a few things. I knew we’d need to get Holocaust and Air and Space tickets in advance, but I wasn’t really on top of that. So, if we ever get back there, we’d like to prioritize those two things and see Arlington Cemetery. Somehow, we missed the Vietnam Memorial, and I wished we’d seen that as well.

Anyway, I think the kids really enjoyed it, and will have great memories of our time in DC. Let me know if you have any questions about our trip.