East Coast Trip - Washington D.C.

Wednesday, May 31 - After the morning traffic generally subsided, we drove from National Harbor into the city and found free parking for the day.  Not sure how many miles we logged but we covered some serious ground visiting several monuments and museums along the way.

Getting started - Washington Monument in the distance.

Lincoln Memorial

Lincoln Memorial

Vietnam Memorial

World War II Memorial

Each of the states were represented at the WWII Memorial.

Elsie & Aaron

Washington Monument

The kids heard all about my 5th grade drawing of the Washington Monument and we chuckled given the fact that this particular monument is rather simple in construction.  While attending school at Tinc Road Elementary, I had a designated art teacher that taught us about shading and other important elements in art.  It's the only 'real' instruction I've ever had on the subject so I was pretty proud of my work - ha-ha!  This drawing resides in a childhood scrapbook I put together many years ago.

Jantzen at the White House

Security kept us a distance from The White House (behind)

Entire road is now blocked off so this was as close as we could get.

There were moments like this...haha!
Elsie and Jantzen were tired of picture-taking.

And moments like this...waiting in line and finding a seat to rest the feet.

Battle clothing worn by George Washington

All of the children enjoyed the National Museum of American History - the first Smithsonian we visited.  Elsie and Quinn are particularly fascinated by The Revolutionary War and the Civil War.  We saw so many amazing artifacts at this museum and could have easily stayed longer but we had a running list of things to do.

Section of the Berlin Wall

Quinn for President!

Anna & Elsie - Lincoln's top hat worn the evening of his assassination at Ford Theatre.

 Sunstone from the original Nauvoo Temple

Next up was the National Museum of Natural History where we spent time checking out the dinosaur exhibits, the mummies and bugs and everything in between.

Quinn loved the dinosaur bones.

Brinley & Anna in the butterfly exhibit

We paid a nominal fee for entrance into the Butterfly Exhibit which was a highlight for several of the kids.  Though we were instructed to be very careful to avoid injuring any of the butterflies, they could fly freely and land on any one at any time.  I had a few land on me the moment we walked inside and one stayed put (on my back) for a very long time.

butterfly on Aaron's hand

Jantzen liked the cool blue butterflies.

butterfly on Anna's hat

Since the IMAX tickets were half-price (deal with butterfly exhibit) and it offered our feet a little rest, we opted to watch "The Amazon" 3D movie that afternoon.  Educational and interesting and relaxing.

Quinn in the IMAX theatre.

We continued on to visit the Holocaust Memorial Museum which is always a sobering experience.  Aaron went through quickly with Quinn and Elsie and helped explain a lot to them along the way.  The older kids were more quiet and reflective about the experience.

Elsie & Quinn - Holocaust Memorial

We walked passed the Department of Commerce, the IRS, the Department of Agriculture and the Print & Engravings buildings on our way back to the car via the Jefferson Memorial.  After leaving the city, we ate dinner back at the condo and the kids swam in the pool, watched a movie and Aaron and Jantzen worked out in the on-site gym.  Not sure how everyone had so much energy at the end of a full day but we certainly didn't get to bed early.

Jefferson Memorial

Aaron & Heather - Jefferson Memorial

Thursday, June 1 - We arrived at Arlington National Cemetery by 9am along with several bus loads of tour groups.  No doubt D.C. is always a magnet for crowds but we managed to find a lot of them with end of the school year groups.  We navigated this well enough and kept a faster pace than those around us so we were in and out of this park in record time.

It was quite a distance to walk from the visitor center to the "Tomb of the Unknown Soldier" but we arrived just in time for the hourly ceremony.  We enjoyed being able to watch from our shady spot on the side. 

"Tomb of the Unknown Soldier"

Arlington National Cemetery

The Capitol Building

From the Virginia side where Arlington is located, we traveled back into Washington D.C. and parked in the HCOA lot Aaron uses when he comes for specific conferences.  We paid $22 for the day and it was close to the Capitol Building.  We did well in the parking department.

Elsie, Quinn & Heather - Air & Space Museum

Aaron, Jantzen, Anna, Elsie, Brinley, Quinn

After spending time at the National Air & Space Museum, we explored the National Gallery of Art - West Building.  Aaron and I enjoyed the works of Monet, Rembrandt, and other famous artists.  This place was on Brinley's bucket list of sites to see.

Taking a break at the fountains in the art museum.

We continued on our way to the National Archives building where we viewed the original documents of the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights and the Constitution in a dimly lit, temperature-regulated, high-security environment.  Sun exposure over the years has greatly affected the quality of these documents and the writing has faded substantially.  Preservation efforts are now a big deal so we didn't get to linger long at this exhibit.

Finishing up our time in the city, we cruised back to the condo (before rush-hour traffic) for our meals, more swim time, etc.  Later that evening, some of us visited the Tanger Outlets nearby.  We felt good about all we were able to see and do in the Washington D.C. area in two days.  And we're very happy to be American citizens.

Elsie & Quinn - pool time