Adventures in D.C. - Day Two: More Smithsonian, Monuments, & Really Big Buildings

We slept pretty good on night one...passed out as soon as our heads hit the pillow.

I mean, like four-year-olds-worn-out-at-Disney-World-exhausted.

But that didn't stop us from getting up the next morning to do it all over again!

We hopped on the metro and away we went! We had a plan in mind for what we wanted to see, but lo & behold, we got to see so many things along the way.

Like the National Monument!

(still undergoing some structural damage repair from an earthquake back in 2011).



The Capitol Building

Ahhh...we never got to actually go inside...crazy, right? We didn't realize just how spread out so many places on our "to do" list were until we got there. Then we had to make a plan to explore D.C. by "areas" and just see as much as possible. Unfortunately, we just didn't get to see it all. But at least we have something new on our list for next time. :)



The Smithsonian Castle




The Department of the Treasury


A Gigantic City Block!


The Department of Agriculture


Two Gigantic City Blocks!


But we saw all of these things because we were on our way here...

The Museum of Natural History (a.k.a. the set of Night at the Museum 2)







And what else would you possible check out first but the dinosaurs??









Yikes! Would definitely NOT want to be around during the dino-age.





This counter of the current world population was fun to watch...


There were about 3 minutes between the above picture and this one...and in that time the world population grew by 234 people!


And I was SO excited to see this jewel!

The Hope Diamond *swoon*


Such a cool place to explore - glad it made "the list." :)







We did one other museum on day two, but I'll give a blog post all its own...because I'm not quite sure how to put words to it just yet. You'll see why soon enough.

Day 2...check!

Adventures in D.C. - Day One: Smithsonian, Dinner, & THE WHITE HOUSE!!

So, once we left Arlington, we first headed over to Union Station to grab a bite to eat and then we went exploring at the Smithsonian Institution National Air & Space Museum.





I really wish I had alot of cool facts and statistic-y things to share with you but quite honestly, I don't. It was just cool to walk around and see so many life size pieces of aircraft on display from floor to ceiling. I'll just let you enjoy the pictures. :)
















Of special interest to me was the area designated to the space shuttle program!

Why?

Because my Dad spent nearly 30 years of his life building the external fuel tank - this map shows the location of the plant where he spent so much of his time.


This was a really cool scale version of the shuttle...see those tiny people at the bottom? That's just how small they would be next to the actual shuttle. Wow!


An actual size fuel thruster...


I felt pretty proud to be there, standing next to pieces of history that my Dad was a part of...really proud. :)


We left the museum to head over to a different part of the city so we could catch up with a friend we haven't seen in over four years...

Brittany! We met Brittany and her family when we were serving at Trinity Baptist in West Memphis, Arkansas. They were (and still are) one of our favorite families and it was so good to see Brittany and spend a few hours just hanging out and catching up on life. She's about to start law school at Georgetown - we are so proud of her! Maybe the next time we visit D.C., she'll be working in the White House, it seriously wouldn't surprise us one bit!

After dinner, Brittany pointed out that we were just a few blocks away from the White House...and even though it wasn't on our "list" for the day, how could we NOT go check it out??

So we did. :)

And I have to say...I was skeptical. I kept staring at it thinking "That can't be it. What is this place then? It looks nothing like what I remember from tv and pictures." Then I found out we were on the North Lawn, as in the lawn that doesn't face Pennsylvania Avenue. It all made sense and I was content. :)

THE WHITE HOUSE!!






What a perfect surprise ending to our very first tourist-y day!

Adventures in D.C. - Day One: Arlington Cemetery

Two weeks ago today we were exploring in our nation's capital.

That's right! We went to Washington D.C.!! I still can't believe it.

We picked this location for our spring break and started planning just a few months ago. Why D.C., you ask? Two reasons.

1) Why not?

2) Jon & Stephanie

Jon & Steph are good friends of ours who we had to say goodbye to last summer (SO sad!) when military life took them across the country to Walter Reed Army Medical Center. They were quick to invite us to come visit anytime and we were pumped to take them up on their offer. They live just 10 minutes outside of D.C. and were such gracious hosts to us during our stay. We had the BEST time getting to spend time with them and do our best to be good tourists of the capital.

We left Seattle on Wednesday morning (just check out the view we had!)

Look at our beautiful mountains! The day was so clear you could see all three! Don't quote me on this, but I believe you are looking at Mt. Baker, Mt. Rainier, & Mt. Adams...however, the only one I am positive I'm getting right is Mt. Rainier. :)

And we landed in D.C. that night.



Deciding what to see first in DC is a bit overwhelming...there is just SO much to do and see. Really, you could stay for a month and leave wanting more. Ultimately, the best thing to do is just make a list of your "must do's" & map it out. Give yourself plenty of time for travel and LOTS of time for walking.

We ended up making Arlington Cemetery our first stop.


But in order to get there efficiently, we became acquainted with our primary mode of transportation (other than our feet) for the next few days - the metro!

I must say I rather enjoyed navigating this amazing underground train system, it was an adventure all by itself!

Beautiful Arlington...








The first area of the cemetery that we explored was the grave of JFK & his family.












Next we explored the beautiful Memorial Amphitheater.











It was magnificent! Beautiful, clean white marble everywhere...just amazing.


The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is part of the amphitheater and it was incredible to watch the changing of the guard.










Such a somber experience, it really is a lot to take in...

We also spent some time at the Arlington House, former home of General Robert E. Lee.











Gorgeous view of D.C. from the Arlington House!


Arlington was a great choice for our first stop!


It really was surreal to be there. You'll probably hear me say that alot in the blog posts that follow. But it really was just that. Surreal. Thankful to have had the chance to experience it.