Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Day 12

Our plan for the day was to see a few more things around Washington DC.  Our first stop was Mount Vernon.  We watched a short film about George Washington, and then we took a tour of the grounds.  We didn't see everything we wanted to becasue it started raining.
Of course pictures were not aloud inside the house...
The Potomac River... the estate was beautiful.. just disappointed that the rain didn't allow us to explore it more.
The Mansion
Servant's Hall
The Garden's
The trail to the tombs
I wasn't really sure if pictures were allowed but others were taking them, so I snapped a few
Martha is on the left, and George is on the right.  Other family members were also buried in the vault behind them.
By the time we left, it was lunch time.  We drove to downtown Alexandria which is a cute little town.  I wish we had more time to walk around.  We found the Hard Times Cafe.
OH MY!!! This was the best chili burger I have ever had.  The kids even liked the chili.  I'm glad they give you samples of their chili before you place your order.  I would not have picked the one I did based on name alone.
Our next stop was the National Zoo. 
He was excited to see the bison and panda.
Our last stop of the day was Arlington Cemetery.  We got there near closing, which turned out to be the perfect time to see the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
There are no words to describe how amazing this was.  So glad we were able to experience this.


JFK and Family grave site




We decided to make one more stop...  Georgetown Cupcakes...
OH MY!!!  These better be some good cupcakes!!
So while we wait, we will just take some pictures
We finally made it inside to order!!!
We got them!!!
The got a little tossed around in the bag but they were well worth the wait!!!
Tomorrow we start the trek home:(



















Day 11

Since we were in Philadelphia, Carson begged to go by the Liberty Bell.  He has seen it before but doesn't remember becasue he was 2.  Of course, there was no place to park, so I hopped out with the kids while David made the block a few times so the kids could see the bell.
Since Independence Hall is just across the street, we took a quick look there too.

From here we drove on to Washington DC and passed through the following states...


We checked into our hotel, unloaded, and headed out to see the sites.
Our first stop.. the subway.. you would think that all the subways would work the same but not really.
Luckily we never got on  the wrong one or went the wrong way.
Our first stop was the white house...  to bad this was as close as we could get and the fence was in every picture... but the kids have been dying to see it, so here it is!
Also on their to do list was the Smithsonian.  They didn't realize that the Smithsonian is actually many buildings, so we picked a couple to check out.  First we went to the Museum of Natural History... the Night at the Museum movie was a big influence on seeing this...
Here are some of their favorites...
The most beautiful thing in this museum... the Hope Diamond
 
Next we went to the Air and Space Museum...
We walked to the Capital Building next... it was being refurbished...  
Washington Monument from afar...
On our way to the next stop, Haylee saw an albino squirrel.

Luckily the hours at the museums were extended for the day, so we were able to take one more in..
THE Ruby Slippers from the Wizard of Oz
They were excited to see The Count
The chairs that Archie and Edith Bunker used
Loved that they found a picture of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans
The Washington Monument up close and personal

 


The Lincoln Memorial
 
There were a  few more memorials and monuments that I wanted to see but the little people were too tired to walk in the opposite direction of the subway station... so that just means we will have to plan another trip...