Washington DC

You're welcome.  I spared you the hundreds of photos we took while in DC and opted instead to do a Picnik collage.  It doesn't truly do our trip justice, but you get the idea.  :)

I'm not sure I have the words to do our trip justice.  We left Tuesday morning, and had a beautiful drive...until the snow started flying when we hit Maryland.  It panicked me as I had packed nothing remotely winter-like.  Fortunately, as we went south toward DC while it didn't exactly get warm, it did at least get too warm to snow.  :-)

I was not in the greatest of moods, which I guess is to be expected, as I was still very sad from the funeral the day before.  Two weeks later and I'm still very sad, yet it's also a good reminder, as death so often is, to treasure the wonderful people in my life.

We were very excited because on the way to DC there's an incredible candy store.  We've had the pleasure of stopping there on our last few trips to DC, but we've never known exactly where it was, so it's always a bit of a crap-shoot as to whether or not we'll be able to find it again.  All we've ever remembered is that it's off route 68, just over the border into Maryland from West Virginia.  That's it.  Well, after getting off at 3 exits to no avail, we'd pretty much given up hope when Mark found it.  It's impossible to adequately describe this place, but it has bin after bin of candy, pretty much every candy you've ever heard of, all in bulk.  The kids had a ball and we each filled a small bag.  The trip definitely was starting to look sweeter.  (sorry)  (By the way, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday our weather was terrific and the one day of truly cats and dogs rain we had planned for an inside day anyway, so it was all good.)

We found our hotel, just outside of DC in Rockville, Maryland.  We stayed at a Best Western Plus, not the hotel we had originally planned on, but when we had to reschedule our trip, this was the best price I could find.  The hotel was (relatively) reasonable, it was clean and fresh looking, and it included a hot breakfast buffet every morning.  Perfect.  Plus, it was right off the highway, making getting anywhere very easy.

It was late when we got into DC, so we settled into the hotel, went out for a quick dinner (Fuddruckers in Rockville--reasonably priced burgers, fries, I recommend it for families with kids.  J&J loved it.), and headed into DC.  That night we saw the cherry blossoms along the tidal basin (in full, beautiful bloom), the Jefferson Memorial, and the FDR memorial, which the kids were completely entranced with.  We headed back to the hotel, exhausted, but very excited just to be there.

Wednesday morning we headed to the National Cathedral.  I do not have the words to adequately describe what a moving experience that was.  We spent three hours there and Mark and I could easily have spent at least that many more.  So much to see!  Gorgeous, and awe-inspiring and every superlative adjective you could imagine.  However, after 3 hours it was obvious that Jacob and Julianna simply could not absorb anymore and we headed out for lunch.  We ate at a mexican restaurant near the cathedral, at a place called Cactus Cantina.  Unfortunately I can't recommend it, the food was merely okay, and I honestly think you can do better.  After dinner we headed to the National Zoo.  Again, a home run.  We all loved it, we always do.  It was a sunshiny, warm day and the animals were showing off, making for a very fun experience.

Thursday morning we spent at Arlington National Cemetery, where it is impossible not to be emotionally affected.  The sea of white tombstones is almost overwhelming.  I feel so grateful every time we're there for the sacrifice of so many so that I can lead the life I lead.  We saw the usual sights there, the eternal flame at John F Kennedy's grave, the changing of the guard.  I love Arlington, I love the peace and tranquility and the visual reminder that freedom certainly is not free.  Next, we headed back into DC for lunch at The Post Office Pavillion (again, don't really recommend, next time I think we'd do Union Station), then to The Mall.  We found the Carousel, for the first time ever, and had lots of fun riding, then we did all the monuments and felt incredibly lucky just to be there.  (By this time we could all barely walk, we truly should have 'trained' for our trip.  Ouch!  Our feet hurt!)  Unfortunately, I had a flare-up of sun-poisoning from our time at the zoo and at The Mall, and by the time we got back to the hotel that night I was itching like crazy and very sick.  Luckily, a few Advil and an anti-histamine and I was (almost) good as new by the next day.

Friday, was a rainy, yucky weather day, with the threat of a government shut-down looming, we decided to head back to The Mall to the Smithsonian museums--American History and Natural History.  I think every other tourist in town had the same idea because crowded does not adequately describe the museums.  Still, there were some fantastic moments, I loved seeing Julia Child's kitchen and I highly recommend The Spark Lab in the basement of American History.  Jacob and Julianna had a fabulous time spending a good hour and a half doing science experiments and all kinds of hands-on projects there.  It was really something.  We looked at as much of the museum as we could, (like I said, tons of people), then had lunch.  It was fine, though I certainly can not in good consciousness recommend the cafeteria in American History, then we headed to Natural History.  Normally, I love the museums, but they truly were insanely crowded this time, curbing the specialness just a bit.  Still, we saw lions and dinosaurs and butterflies, Oh My! and headed back to Rockville for dinner.  We went to a lovely restaurant I had researched ahead of time, Matchbox.  It was everything we needed at that moment--not too expensive, delicious food and excellent service.  We had wood-fire pizza and it really was a restorative evening.

Saturday, we headed back into DC to spend the morning at the International Spy Museum.  Truthfully, we had been going there simply because Jacob wanted to so badly.  Well, Jacob enjoyed it, but Mark and I definitely enjoyed it more.  I learned a lot and I hope to get back there the next time we're in DC.  It's not cheap, but I think it's worth it.  Lunch was in Chinatown, at a place called Wok 'N Roll, which was delicious and exactly what we needed before we headed back home.

All in all, we had a fabulous time and I'm very thankful for the memories we made.  I know I'll always remember our trip and it was so much fun seeing DC through Jacob and Julianna's eyes.  Julianna had studied Washington earlier this school year and she was so excited and appreciative of everything she saw.  Jacob definitely enjoyed the trip too.  There was lots of laughter, lots of togetherness, and there's very little I would do differently.