We left early Sunday morning, May 28, and drove 13 hours to my brother's house in Adams, Tennessee. My sister-in-law was out of town, but it was so nice to see my big brother and his kids, even for a short while. The kids didn't want to leave the next morning, but they knew we would stay longer on the way back.
From my brother's house, we headed to Washington, D.C. It took us 11 hours to get there. The kids did fairly well on the drive, although Sam wasn't too keen on sleeping (or letting anyone else sleep).
We stayed at the Hyatt Place National Mall which was perfect for our family of 5 because it had two doubles and a pull out couch. We didn't feel crowded at all. Plus, the complimentary breakfast each morning was fantastic.
Our first morning in D.C., we had to wake up super early to make it to our 7:30am White House Tour. Because we were short on time and we couldn't bring a stroller to the White House, we took the metro bus. When we got to the White House, we had to wait in a looooooong line to go in. Once we got in, it was a self-guided tour, but you could ask any of the Secret Service people questions. Ellie and Jack loved the White House tour. I was a little surprised how into they were. Also, Jack had recently become slightly obsessed with JFK because he found out that JFK's nickname was Jack...meaning they had the same name (I don't put my last name on my blog, but it is a very presidential name, wink-wink).
After the White House Tour, I had planned to take Sam back to the hotel via public transportation so I could get the stroller, snacks, and water. I was going to let Tom and the kids go to our scheduled Capitol building tour during that time. However, Tom thought it was pointless to go all the way back when we were right there and we could walk around and see the memorials and monuments.
We decided to get lunch from the food trucks parked behind the Air & Space Museum (there were a TON and the selection was awesome). We found a little garden nearby with some cute picnic tables to eat. Sam went into meltdown mode because he didn't like his food (which he had tasted and requested at the truck) and then he promptly spilled his over-priced bottle of water. Ellie and Jack decided to go eat some distance from us so they wouldn't be associated with the screaming banshee. After some food, we checked out the Air & Space Museum. It was really neat. Sam and Tom liked it more than Natural History, but Ellie and Jack liked Natural History better. Both were pretty incredible and kid-friendly.
After the museums, we walked back to the hotel. I took the kids swimming while Tom napped.
When Tom woke up, we walked back to the National Mall (with a stroller this time, thank heavens) and did a little walking tour of the memorials and monuments. Sam was beat by this point so he slept through most of it. By the time we got to the Abraham Lincoln Memorial, Tom insisted we wake him up so he didn't miss it. We also visited the little museum and souvenir shop there.
After a whole lot of walking, we walked back and grabbed dinner at Shake Shack. The food was delicious, but at this point we were all exhausted and we still had a significant walk to our hotel...in the rain.
The next morning, we woke up early, ate breakfast at the hotel, and headed for the subway. This would be the first time either Tom or I had ever been on a subway. I am just glad it was in D.C. where it is clean and the people are nice because we looked like the most ignorant tourists. We had to ask like 5 different people before we figured it out. Once we did figure it out, we realized the D.C. subway system is incredibly easy.
We got to the Smithsonian National Zoo right as it opened. It was so weird just walking right on in without having to wait in lines or pay anyone. Free zoos are the best! I will say that they didn't have as many animals as the Houston Zoo, but we did see the famous pandas! It was fun exploring, but again, A LOT of walking. The Zoo is on a hill and it is really spread out. Still, it was totally worth it. It didn't start getting crowded until we were on on our way out several hours later.
Oh man, I almost forgot. There was this super friendly bird following us around that the boys were really intrigued by. That is until it tried to grab the lanyard Sam was wearing around his neck. Sam freaked out. It was so funny. I mean, funny to me...not so much to Sam.
After the Zoo, we grabbed lunch at McDonalds and then took the subway back to our hotel so Tom could nap and I could take the kids swimming. Oh, neat thing about the subway...it had all these advertisements for Texas A&M. Whoop!
That evening, we drove to Baltimore to watch the Orioles play the Yankees at Camden Yards. I loved the stadium. It was so pretty and they had tons of things for the kids to do. Plus, the ticket prices were great. We bought the cheapest seats for $10 a person. You cannot get Astros tickets anywhere near that price. Before the game started, there was a number on the jumbo-tron that you could text to win a seat upgrade for one family. Ellie told me to text, so I did. A little ways into the first inning, stadium personnel came to us and handed us tickets for right up front behind home plate! The only downside was they announced us in the 5th inning and put our picture on the jumbo-tron. If I had known that was going to happen, I probably wouldn't have worn my tacky patriotic ball cap from the Target dollar spot.
Our final day in D.C. was only a half day so we decided to walk over to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing to see how money was made. Getting in was no joke. You had to get tickets in advance and then wait forever to get in. Plus, they had super tight security so no cameras or phones could even be in eyesight. Honestly, it was interesting, but the building was dingy and old and we couldn't really understand our tour guide. It reminded me a little of the Bluebell Factory tour because you looked through windows from an upper floor and watched them making their product. But at the end we didn't get free ice cream....or money.
And that was it...we checked out of our hotel and hit the road for New Jersey!
Looking back, I LOVED Washington, D.C. I loved the cleanliness and the professional vibe of the place. I loved that there was so much to do and see and that most of it was free. If we go again, I will add more days because there was so much more I would have liked to have done there in the city and in the surrounding area.
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