First Day - Washington D.C.

The first day was pretty successful, although we learned a few things:

1. When I ask if we should bring a backpack of water and snacks and someone says "nah", I shouldn't listen to them.

2. The semi-private driving tour was awesome!  But it was more getting out and walking than we thought it would be (hence I had not packed the backpack).

3. If you bring sunblock...you should probably USE it.  (To be fair, this was the first over 60 degree and sunny day we have had for a while!)

4. Although the Metro is pretty cool...the card system takes some getting used to.  (This could be because we hardly use the subway in Boston anymore--maybe we are just rusty!)

5. If your tour guide offers to give you suggestions on where to eat, make sure the kids are NOT in earshot so you don't end up at Fuddruckers (which was nice and all--but we have one close to where we live!)


So, it was a fun day and we saw lots of the memorials, etc.  We were originally going to go to the Air and Space Museum after the tour, but realized that everyone (especially Willow) was not going to be able to do that.  Luckily, we have a pretty flexible agenda--so, we will do Air & Space later this week.  (That was probably good because it was Easter Monday off for most of the schools around here so it probably was way more crowded than usual).  (Also why we did not go to near the White House--the Easter Egg event was today!)

We met a couple of nice people, too.  We met Meghan on the Metro.  Willow was a bit apprehensive to go on the subway, and Meghan was using it to go to an interview.  She struck up a conversation with us and was very pleasant and helpful...no wonder, she had been a nanny for three years!  Towards the end of the ride, Willow sat next to Meghan and they talked about such things and birthdays and dolls.  Eddie was our tour guide and he was very nice and funny.  While we were waiting for the other couple to join us, he told us about his three girls and how he had just taken them to the Lego movie at the drive-in.  He noted Michael's behavior through the tour and surprised us by saying that not only did he have a special needs kid too, but he used to work in special education...so, he totally got Michael.  And Willow--well, towards the end, Willow was jumping on Eddie's shadow and trying to play with him.  He was very knowledgeable about the history around him and knew right where and when for us to go.  He also found a small bag of items we had bought and will be mailing them to us.

We ended the day a little early and came back to the hotel.  Chewy found an ARBYS (!) and we had that for dinner.

Some photos from the first day:

First Stop: The Capitol

Next, the Lincoln Memorial:

The one picture I have of both of them at the Lincoln Monument...and they are not smiling!  They were impressed though!

Next, Arlington Cementary:

The Pentagon Memorial (very impressive):

The benches point away from the building if the victim was on the plane, towards the building if they were at the Pentagon.  They are spread out chronologically by the date of birth of each victim.  The victims ranged from age 3 years old to age 71.

Random Photos:

Eddie our Tour Guide at the FDR Memorial

FDR Memorial is in four "rooms" each telling a different part of his presidency.  This is a sculpture of a food line in the Depression.

This is a part talking about the paid work programs and the interesting thing about this is it is set up for the blind to be able to feel it and touch it, with Braille captions.

I love seeing bronze statutes that have been touched.

For kids, this is the popular statue!

At FuddRuckers for lunch after a long day of sight seeing!

On the Metro back to the hotel!