Traveling in the spring time is so great (except when spring storms cause flight delays and cancellations)! The crowds are thinner, the rates are lower, and if you're lucky like us, you get to see the earth blossoming and blooming- and what better place to see that than Washington D.C.? It was cherry blossom time and we saw some beautiful parts of the country driving through Virgina and into D.C.
We stayed in Charlottesville a few nights on both ends of the trip and saw our special family friends The Rasmussens. Rylie was baptized and it was neat to be there with her. While there we went to visit Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's estate on a beautiful hilltop overlooking the valley. I learned a lot about him and some history that I had forgotten from my school days.
In D.C. we tried to see all the things on my list, and accomplished it except that we didn't have time to see Mt. Vernon. My mom was so easy-going and great to travel with. She's been there before, but since it was my first time she let me decide all the things I wanted to do. At the end of the days we were worn out from all the walking, but ate some great food and had a lot of fun!
On the first day we toured the Library of Congress, Supreme Court, went to the White House (looked at it from outside the gates), Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, WWII, Korean War, Vietnam War Memorials, and that was a lot of walking!
The next day we toured the Capitol, went to the American History Museum, and the gorgeous Arlington Cemetery. I loved watching the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns. We were there as the sun was setting and it was a humbling beautiful place to reflect on all the people that have given their lives in the service of our country. That night we ate at a wonderful Indian restaurant- I love international cuisine in big cities!
On Sunday we got in line first thing to get tickets for the Holocaust museum, and while we were waiting for our time there we went to the Natural History Museum. That was fantastic! I could have spent days there. We spent 4 hours taking in all the horrors of the Nazi genocide on the Jews, and I still can not comprehend how such an atrocity could have occurred.
We wanted to have some authentic Chinese food, so we set off for Chinatown, then finished it off with a treat from the Red Velvet cupcakery. So delicious! Earth day celebrations were going on all up and down the mall, including a concert which was pretty cool.
As luck would have it, a storm blew in on Monday morning and it was pouring when we started driving back to the airport. Half way there we found out our flight was cancelled. We ended up staying in Charlottesville another night then buying a ticket on Delta to get home the next day. I had a fantastic time, but was ready to come home. I missed my husband and of course my puppies!
