Our Travel Adventure: Part 2

Our Travel Adventure: Part 2

• 11.19.2010

Our Nation's Capitol

Since Bron had the weekend off, we wanted to take the opportunity to explore more parts of the East Coast. We decided upon our nation’s capitol, Washington D.C.

We arrived at the Hilton (Yes, Bron got us a room at the Hilton! Quite nice. I’m so spoiled.) in Silver Springs, Maryland where we had the car parked by a valet and were on the metro headed into D.C. before noon. I carried a backpack filled with snacks for all of us, some baby essentials, and something to keep both Jed and me warm—which we wore half the time anyway. Bron had Jed. Jed is finally big enough for the backpack, and he loves it! He just grins like a cheese ball every time we put him in it. We were ready to take on the city! So what if we totally looked like tourists?

Our first sight of the trip was to the Capitol Building where we took a tour. For some reason, I thought the building would be completely updated, but I was pleased to find that much of its historic feel had been preserved. In some parts it was easy to imagine what it must have been like about two hundred years ago!

The Awesome Rotunda

Inside the Capitol

Yes, Jed is tasting his backpack

Then we hit up the Library of Congress. I’ve always wanted to see it. That building is impressive. In fact, all of the old buildings are! There, we got to see an original Gutenberg Bible. Wow. So cool.

Inside the Library of Congress

Next, we browsed through the Smithsonian Air and Space museum. By then it was getting dark. We walked down the National Mall. The memorials are so pretty at night; they’re almost breathtaking! We saw the Washington Memorial, WWII Memorial, Lincoln, Roosevelt, and Jefferson Memorials. This is about when the battery in my camera died. Unfortunately, I’d left the charger in the car which happened to be in said valet parking lot and that was the end of my photography for the trip. I was a little bummed. We bought postcards instead. Bron thinks we’ll probably save money this way. (A sarcastic Haha!)

The Washington Memorial at Night

It is TALL!!!

View of the Lincoln Memorial from the WWII Memorial

Sooo pretty! 

Saturday we began our day at the Arlington National Cemetery. That cemetery is something else entirely. It was sad to me to read the dates on the headstones. I know soldiers often die young, but it’s disheartening to see so many! It helped give me a new appreciation for my rights and freedoms as an American.

That day we also toured Robert E. Lee’s mansion on top of the hill, the Iwo Jima memorial, the White House, and finally made our way into the National Archives Building to see THE ACTUAL Declaration of Independence! I couldn’t believe how faded the signatures have become. It was really neat to see. There, we also had the chance to see the original Emancipation Proclamation that is on display only four days each year. It was a great exhibit. By the way, I totally recommend spending time in the American History Museum. I wish we had more time! I felt an overwhelming sense of pride when I saw Old Glory—the 15 star, 15 stripe flag that inspired our national anthem.

That about sums up our trip! We got in the car with the intent of finding a motel that night, but Bron determined he could make it all the way home in one shot. We arrived home at about 4:00AM and took resting on the Sabbath very literally. We all needed a little time to recover after a week like that.

Totally fun week and lots of memories.

We all felt a little like this when we got back