Saturday, May 23, 2009

non stop and plenty to see


Day 2 ended up being cloudy and cold so we decided it would be a good day to spend at the Holocaust Museum. We spent about 4 hours there and when we left, our mood matched the weather. Even though it was a somber experience, the museum does a fantastic job at chronicling the history of the time period. I highly recommend this museum.

We then headed over to the Smithsonian Museum of American History. This museum lifted our spirits as we viewed fun artifacts from movies, TV shows, sports, and entertainment. They also had other cool exhibits from different time periods in our history.

Day 3 found us back on the double-decker bus for a short ride over to the White House, where we stepped off in order to get a closer view of the grand home. We then walked over to the Lincoln Memorial. It's a beautiful walk through Constitution Gardens and the weather was perfect. We spent some time at the Lincoln Memorial and the Vietnam Memorial before walking the length of the Reflecting Pool to the World War II Memorial.

We then hit the Metro (will write about the Metro experience a little later) and traveled down to Alexandria (Virginia) to stay with some close Colorado friends who recently moved to the area. They took us to old town Alexandria for dinner and I fell in love with the area; streets lined with old buildings holding quaint shops and a huge variety of restaurants. I would love to go back and spend a whole weekend there.

We then drove back into the National Mall area to see the sights all lit up. The capital was beautiful, but my favorite was the Jefferson Memorial. I was surprised to learn that the memorials stay open after dark. Not only was it breathtakingly stunning, but there was hardly anyone there compared to the Lincoln Memorial earlier in the day. Whenever you make the trip to DC, make sure you see it at night as well as the day.

8 comments:

Karen said...

Diana, your pictures are fabulous. What a great time you and your daughter must have had. I took a trip to DC with my parents the year after I graduated college. My dad was working in the area, but Mom and I saw all the sites. It was so great to have that time with her and to share the experience. I'll always remember it.

Anonymous said...

I forgot to ask you if you found the marker for the spot where MLK gave his famous "I Have A Dream" speech. I'm sorry I didn't mention it while you were visiting, but maybe you found it anyway...
John N.

MightyMom said...

what a great trip!

barb said...

I am so glad you got to see so much. The night pictures are awesome.

Momma Roar said...

My only visits there were as a child on fieldtrips. Once our youngest is a tad older, we plan to take them down. I forget that I'm lucky to live within driving distance to visit these sites (but then, you live within driving distance of ski slopes!!!!)

Just Mom said...

LOVE your photos. Now I want to go back to D.C.

Short Stop said...

You take such beautiful photos, and you captured so much of the city so beautifully.

Old Town Alexandria is one of my favorite places near D.C. I love the shopping, the quaint little restaurants and pubs. I bought some artificial flowers at one of the thrift shops on King St. during one weekend trip there with Jason before we had kiddos - and I still display them as a reminder of how much I love OTA.

Looks like you had a fantastic trip!!!

Mary@notbefore7 said...

Wow - you guys are hitting so many fun exhibits! What a great trip!