Our Nation's Capital

The drive to Washington, D.C. was pretty painless. Andrew made sure we stopped in Delaware to stretch our legs and buy something at the service center since it was the one state in the Northeast he hadn’t yet visited. 

Imagine being able to be magically whisked away to...Delaware!
"Hi, I’m in Delaware.”

We got to the hotel in Alexandria, hopped in the hotel van to Pentagon City (a shopping center), and took the metro to the city. We ate lunch in the food court of the Ronald Reagan Building and then set out to explore the Mall.

We started at the Washington Monument thinking maybe we could go to the top. We found out tickets were free, but they were sold out for the day. The sign in the ticket window said to arrive at least 2 hours before opening time (8:30 am) to ensure tickets!! Pictures in front of the monument were enough for us!

Andrew's artistic picture

Andrew trying to be a super hero :)

Our walk continued to the Lincoln Memorial. On the way, we were able to see the World War II Memorial that was built in 2004.

There are structures all around the outside representing the U.S. states/territories

Each star represents 100 Americans who lost their lives.

I had forgotten how enormous the statue of Lincoln is.

We decided to walk along the outside of the Mall and stop in some of the Smithsonian museums since they are free.

We stopped in the Museum of American History where they had a special exhibit on the First Ladies, which included clothing and accessories! It was interesting for me, but a bit boring for Andew.

They showcased inauguration dresses and accessories. My favorites were Mamie Eisenhower, Jackie Kennedy, Nancy Reagan, and Michelle Obama.

Mamie's (left) and Jackie's (right) dresses

We walked to the Museum of Natural History to see some dinosaurs.

Andrew's favorite dinosaur, the triceratops

To make up for us seeing dresses, we walked across the mall to the Air and Space Museum.

Andrew hanging out with his buddies, Wilbur and Orville Wright.

This one's for my mom. We walked through a sculpture garden where they had duplicate of some of the metro station signs from Paris. My mom and I went looking for these when we were in Paris.

Our last stop was the Capitol Building, which was closed by the time we got there. It was okay because we were exhausted by this time anyway.