Washington DC

Catch-up continued. On to DC . . .

We had been driving close to 4.5 hours on Saturday when Wade wanted to stop and stretch. The exit we were getting off had one of those brown signs for the Natural Bridge. In my sweet, please-give-me-what-I'm-asking voice, I said, "Can we go? Can we???" LOL He said "sure!" and we spent three hours taking in the awesomeness of the Natural Bridge as well as walking the beautiful paths that had a creek running along it. They also had a Monacan Native American village (recreation) but it was closed when we got to it. It looked very similar to the structures of the Wolf Creek Indian Village that Elizabeth's class visited on a field trip once. Our tickets also included a pretty cool wax museum and a pretty cheesy toy museum. I was so happy we stopped as I know we would have never drove that far to visit the place. It has a very interesting history too as it was surveyed by George Washington for Lord Fairfax and then later it was purchased by Thomas Jefferson and so on.

On Saturday night we stayed in Staunton, VA and started the next morning for DC. Really, right outside DC in Maryland for the Gaylord National Hotel. The kids LOVED the atrium. Starting at 6 and going on the hour until 9, there was a water show in the atrium that the kids could watch while sitting on our balcony. At first I wasn't sure if I wanted the atrium view instead of the outside view but I'm glad we got it. We could see straight out the atrium to the Potomac River so it was a win-win. ;)

We spent Sunday afternoon walking around the National Mall since Wade was with us and got to participate. We spent a lot of time at the war memorials as well as the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Memorial.

On Monday the kids and I had a tour scheduled for the U.S. Capitol. Thankfully, we took a taxi and left early. Our tour was at 11:10 but we got there early enough and was able to get through the security screening quickly and be put with a tour group at 10:20. They had a wonderfully inspiring video they showed to everyone at first. The inside of the Capitol was beautiful. I think the tour lasted around an hour and a half. The kids and I had not eaten any real breakfast so we ate breakfast afterwards at the cafeteria in the Capitol. It was good food and decently priced. I think it's where the congressmen/women eat.

After the tour we walked to the Natural History Museum. We spent several hours in there. We were constantly moving and if the kids were older, we could have easily have spent longer. One of the neat things we got to see was the Hope diamond. The kids didn't know about it but I did and had to take a photo as it rotated around. ;)

We ate lunch there and then moved on to the Air and Space Museum before catching a taxi to go back to the hotel. Andrew wanted to go back before the last museum but I assured him that he would enjoy it. He did! In fact it was then Elizabeth who was pooped and ready to go back. :) He loved all the space vehicles/crafts and airplanes. We could have spent several hours there but our feet were sore and it was getting close to supper. I let Andrew pick our taxi driver as we walked out and they were lined up waiting for visitors. We walked all the way passed them once before we went to the one driver who had spoke to us and said he would take care of us. LOL

I was so proud of myself when I decided *I* would drive to the National Zoo on Tuesday. Unfortunately, it was a nasty day as it was foggy and misting the entire time. We had fun despite the nasty weather. The thing that thrilled me the most was getting to see a REAL panda bear! They are only at I think three zoos in the US.

We parked in the last lot which we later found out was the perfect spot because there wasn't an attendant at the gate nor was it locked the entire time so we were able to park for free. The zoo is free as well so other than our lunch (which was a little over $30 for three less than average burgers), it was all free. I was definitely glad we had decided to drive ourselves instead of paying a taxi driver. They had all kinds of elaborate Halloween decor out. The kids enjoyed that almost as much as the animals.

On the way home though I made a wrong turn and ended up in a not-so-nice area of Maryland as I was getting to our hotel. I mean, I was staring straight ahead for about five miles of red lights and thought about pulling my jacket hood up so no one could see me. Yes, it was that bad. People were milling about all along the sides of the road for a few blocks. I was doing a lot of praying. LOL We made it safely in the end, of course!

Wade skipped the morning meeting at his conference because the week before our Senator's office had called from DC and told us they had worked us into a White House tour on Wednesday morning. We drove to Union Station to park and took a taxi to the WH. We figured out something was going on when we were standing in the right line by the park ranger station but was moved to another location. See we were by some of the main gates to get in the WH. After a small problem with getting through the initial security (we were on the list to get in but not THE list so they had to go look our info up quickly before letting us through), we got to stand in line for another screening.

While in line we noticed several of those large black SUVs that you see the presidential entourage ride in drive through the gates and go up toward the main entrance. We also saw LOTS of large, strong men wearing armor and holding huge, automatic weapons. Something was obviously up. After walking through metal detectors, we started the "tour". I put TOUR in quotes because it's a self-guided tour and only of like maybe five, six or seven rooms. No big deal. AND if you have seen The Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC then you've seen something at least ten times better. Seriously. LOL But it was the White House and it was a chance of a lifetime so we still enjoyed it. When we were in the Red Room we discovered the reason for all the prior moving of lines, large burly men and mysterious black SUVs. The President was coming in within a few hours for a bill signing which would be taking place in the Red Room. We were glad that we had an earlier tour as I knew all the afternoon tours would be cancelled and all those people who had made reservations months in advance were in tough luck.

I have no photos of our White House tour as we were not allowed to carry any bags, cameras, etc while on the grounds. We walked about five blocks toward Union Station and then realized it would take us quite a while to walk the remaining 15 blocks to get there so we grabbed a taxi and got back, ate lunch at Union Station and started on the road toward home (close to 1 pm). We arrived to the house around 8 that night. Just in time to get our bags out of the car, get the kids ready for bed and school the next day! Ha ha! They went too.