The Saturday before graduation (graduation was Friday, 5/16) George and I went to Washington, DC. We decided to leave Madeline at home with Grandma and Grandpa Lucas and then Grandma and Grandpa Warren. I think it was a good decision to leave her at home because we were going nonstop the entire trip. Also, we ended up having flight issues on the way home which would have been very difficult with a baby!
Washington, DC was one of our favorite trips. There was so much to do and see and it was fun exploring it all together. We decided that we will definitely need to go back when Madeline gets older because there was just not enough time for everything!
Saturday was pretty much a travel day for us. We flew into Reagan and took the metro to our hotel, which was close to Dupont Circle and George Washington University. It was also just about 3/4 mile walk to the White House.
On Sunday, went started off by walking to the White House. It was nice to see it from the outside, but we wanted to go in and say HELLO to the Obamas! We tried to get tickets to tour about 2 months ago, but they were no longer available for our dates. Back in 2000 my family got to take a private tour given by a secret service agent. If you haven't heard the story, ask me about it some time...it was awesome. Anyway, no tour for us this trip, but we check it out from all angles. I think that the view from the south lawn is much more impressive than the north lawn. On Sunday, we also went to Georgetown. I'm so glad that we did. There are so many interesting buildings to look at. In the evening, we took a run along the mall. Along the way, we stopped at the WWII Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, and the reflecting pool.
Sunday was also Mother's Day so I had to throw this picture in. George and Madeline gave me this gift before we left on Saturday. He was pretty brave to dip our squirmy girl's feet in paint! :)
We spent the afternoon walking around Georgetown -- this red door caught our eye.
I read about a bakery/coffee shop in Georgetown called Baked and Wired. We shared an iced tea and cupcake. It was probably the tastiest cupcake I've ever had!!
After our run on Sunday, we went to to Shophouse, which is the Asian concept by the owners of Chipotle. We recently watched a program on Chipotle that mentioned their two pilot stores in DC. The verdict is very good, but not as good as Chipotle. It was actually extremely spicy...even George thought that and he has a high tolerance for spice.
On Monday, we took a tour of the Capital Building. We both agreed that the Capital is easily the most impressive building in DC. We had a really great tour guide who was very informative. Next time we go, we would love to sit in on a Senate or House Session.
On Monday, we also went to the Newseum. It was a great museum with lots of interactive exhibits. Here is George in front of part of the Berlin Wall!!
They had almost an entire floor dedicated to the news reporting surrounding 9/11. Here is a picture of all of the front pages from around the country on September 12.
This is some sort of antenna that was on top of one of the Twin Towers.
One of the interactive exhibits included getting to read from a teleprompter. A news reporter is a secret dream job of mine so I had some fun with this exhibit :)
Monday also happen to be the re-opening of the Washington Monument. We didn't have tickets, but we decided to check it out on our way to dinner. Well, we got super lucky and the park rangers gave us tickets to the last ride up the monument for the day. It was an incredible view!!
Meanwhile, back in Arizona, Madeline was enjoying herself with Grandma and Grandpa... :)
On Tuesday, we tried one last time to get a White House tour...no luck. So instead, we walked over to Ford's Theater.
We also went to Arlington National Cemetery. We didn't realize how expansive it is and we opted to not "waste money" on the shuttle that takes you around the grounds...that was a regret on a 90 degree, 90% humidity day! Even though we were pretty toasty, it was well worth the walk. The tomb of the unknown soldier and the changing of the guard ceremony was emotional, especially since we were surrounded by several WWII and Korean War veterans. And I stopped complaining about the heat when I saw the soldiers marching in their wool uniforms.
We wanted to make it to the Smithsonian and Holocaust Museum, among many other things, but we ran out of time! It was a jammed packed trip :)
The only crappy part of the trip came at the end when our flight got cancelled due to that air traffic control tower fire in Chicago. Long story short, we got home on Wednesday morning instead of Tuesday night and we spent a night in the Reagan airport.
Before I go, here are some pictures from graduation on Friday afternoon for the non-Facebookers...
Long post!! Goodnight.
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