About 3 weeks ago, Paul called me from work to say that he would need to go to Delaware for a work trip the 3rd week of June. 'Ok' I replied - I'm pretty used to these trips by now. But then he tacked on, 'Well, why don't you come with me and we can make it a trip to DC for a few days before the trip'
Now here is the unusual part: I said yes.
If you know me at all, then you know I am not a fan of spontaneity. I would prefer to have everything planned out for the next 15-20 months, thank you very much. Springing a DC trip on me was likely to send me into a panic frenzy of planning (and it did!). We booked flights that night and then turned to look at each other with bewilderment - this was SO not us! Planning a vacation with less than two weeks of notice? I've taken more time to pick out a purse!
So the next day I started putting together a list of every where I wanted to go. Paul and I have both been to DC before, but it had been about 10 years for me and he only got a few hours to sight-see the last time he was there, so we sort of knew what we were heading into.
Eventually I was able to create a ridiculously detailed itinerary for each of the three days we would be there. I had everything planned out, in order, including restaurants, with directions - both walking and metro. Google Maps and I became besties.
We had an amazing trip! Our legs were unbelievably sore by the second day, though! We didn't want to stop and rest, because there is so much to see.
We flew in Friday morning, and checked out the Smithsonian American History museum that afternoon (where I took an absurd amount of pictures of revolutionary war items - that's what I teach, so I went a little crazy with the musket and redcoat photographs).
these are just 2 of 100
We also revisited the National Mall monuments. We had both seen these before, but if you are in DC it is sort of mandated that you walk the mall - so we did . . . and took nerdy selfies.
We headed back to the hotel to clean up for dinner. Our wedding anniversary was about a week after this trip, so we made this dinner our anniversary dinner. We were going to head down to Alexandria and walk Kings Street - it has lots of restaurants and shops and was lovely.
The only tiff we got into was over the Metro. I had ridden the DC metro exactly never prior to this trip. Paul has ridden it before when he has gone out for business. I, however, had made the itinerary and so Paul assumed I knew what I was doing, while I assumed he knew what he was doing (and as the saying goes - when you assume, you will get off on the wrong Metro stop - or something).
We ended up getting off one stop early. In my defense there are two stops right next to each other named "Pentagon" and "Pentagon City" (just asking for disaster there, I think). Obviously I picked the wrong one - he got mad, I got mad back and wouldn't sit by him on the train for the 35 seconds it took us to get to our next but correct stop.
We both felt it was time to move on from the Metro mess about 3 minutes later. Our dinner was wonderful - I could spend a whole day on King's Street, and next time I intend to!
Saturday we started EARLY! We rode out to Union Station (on the Metro - which we were pros at by then, BTW) for breakfast and checked out that impressive structure. We decided to walk back to the main Mall area since our plan for the day was mostly museums. Stupid idea - we later figured that we walked about 20 miles in total during our 3 days.
Saturday we saw the Natural History Museum - VERY cool. I hadn't originally planned on this one, but I am so glad we went in!
We waited in a long, but swift moving, line for Holocaust Museum passes. I had originally tried to get tickets for this, but because our trip was so last minute, they were sold out. We were able to get passes for later in the day, though
We toured the Smithsonian castle and ate lunch before our appointment at the National Archives. Seeing the Constitution and Declaration of Independence was amazing! This is what I teach, so seeing the original documents was moving for me. You can't take photographs, though. insert sad face.
We then walked through the National Gallery of Art before heading over to the Holocaust Museum that afternoon. I had been looking forward to this museum - everyone I talked to said it was a 'must-see.' I have to admit that while I would encourage anyone going to DC to visit this museum, it shook me up, as it was supposed to. I don't think I spoke the whole time we were in there. It is a graphic and terrifying 3 floor exhibit that was designed to haunt you long after you have left.
We walked back towards the White House and tried to get close enough for a good picture, but everything was blocked off. We stopped for dinner then went over the the Old Post Office Pavilion for the clock tower tour. This building was a bit of a disappointment, but the view from the clock tower was impressive.
Sunday we rode the Metro (and this gigantic escalator) out to the Smithsonian zoo.
The zoo there has many of the same animals we have (with the additions of PANDA BEARS and SEA LIONS!) but the animal enclosures are amazing! It was very weird to be at a zoo without our kiddos, but nice too, because we could actually SEE the exhibits and WATCH the animals (instead of chasing kids around).
We headed back towards the hotel after brunch, and made a last minute decision to stop at Arlington Cemetery since we had about 2 hours left. The cemetery is huge! We were able to see the changing of the guard at the tomb of the unknown soldier, too.
I was flying home that afternoon, while Paul went on to Delaware for his business trip. I LOVED our vacation! My legs might have felt like they were protesting every small movement, but if I could have clicked my heels together three times to get back to Kansas, I would have . . .
. . . because I missed these little girls!
