So Much History!!!
One of the places that our family has been wanting to visit for the longest time is Washington DC and since we live in Pennsylvania, we decided to go on a road trip to Washington DC!
Gotta love the expectation vs reality of trips. David had taken some time off, that is why we planned it for this time. We even planned on visiting a friend who lives in Maryland on the way, which meant we would leave on Sunday. That did not happen though, due to a last-minute appointment David could not miss on Monday morning. Soooo….we left right after that.
The drive down to our hotel was over 4 hrs. That is if we went straight there. We made a few stops on the way, one being a late lunch with our friend in Maryland, and to a dive shop to get some dive earplugs for Lily so that she could use the pool at our hotel.
THE PLAN
Our plan for the road trip to Washington D.C. by 2 p.m. at the latest so that we could go out and explore some of the museums, Library of Congress, etc. We didn’t get to our hotel until about 5:30 p.m. so we decided to let the kids play in the pool for now, and then go out and explore some of the memorials in the area afterward because it was so hot.
When we got to the pool, there was a sign saying that the lifeguard was on break and would be back at 6 p.m. Luckily, I noticed a father with his 2 kids walking to the front desk in their bathing suits so we followed. Turns out the pool was out of order until Friday!!! *sigh*
We wound up going down to the wharf for dinner which was pretty nice but still really hot. We used the train to get there, which was an interesting experience. The escalator going down was pretty steep!
Places We Visited
The Smithsonian Air and Space Museum
This was the first place that we went to the next day. David and Gabe really enjoyed it. We all did actually, but before we left, David and Gabe were the only ones to try the flight simulator. Lily and I were more than happy not trying it especially when it was spinning!
Smithsonian Botanical Garden of Washington D.C.
This was a really nice garden and one we went into believe it or not to get out of the heat! 😊Didn’t really take many pictures here. I took one of the flycatchers because it was really neat, and there was someone explaining how the food was digested and what it looked like!
National Gallery of Art
I really liked this place, but the kids were so done by the first room. I could spend hours happily enjoying the art on display here! I just love looking at all of it and being amazed at the talent of these artists throughout history.
Library of Congress
One of the places I absolutely had to go to was the Library of Congress! I have been wanting to go here for years. I loved the architecture both inside and out. We were, unfortunately, unable to see the old books on display. We did get a tour to view the reading room though which was neat….but would have really loved to see the books up close.
Lincoln Memorial
When we go on trips, we try really hard to plan everything out. Our trips since we moved here for some reason or another just haven’t gone as planned. 😊 This stop for example was unplanned initially, but since we did not get to see the White House, we wanted to at least see the Lincoln Memorial.
Lol, you can see the kids were tired. The heat also made it miserable, but it was worth the trip. It was unfortunate for us that we were on the way home after this stop because the Marine band was going to be playing that evening for one of their last shows. Oh well, maybe next time.
Vietnam War Memorial
This was a must-see place for David and me since both of our fathers had served during the Vietnam War. Walking by that memorial and seeing all the names on that wall….very profound moment.
Traveling around Washington D.C.
One of the modes of transportation that was suggested to us by our taxi driver was to use the Hop on Hop off Bus. According to him, you can visit more of the sites faster in a day using this bus which costs only $14/person. The name says it all. You go to a place of interest, and when you are ready to leave for the next place, you simply find this bus and hop on.
Scooter
This was the mode of transportation that we really wanted to use but according to the law, we needed helmets for the kids AND there were not enough scooters around to use anyways. The other thing that prevented us from using this was the fact that each one of us had to have an account. There was no way for David nor I to simply rent 4.
Parking
There is parking available throughout the city, but you will be walking quite a bit because of where everything is.
Planning Your trip
I would highly recommend that you map out where you want to go before getting here. This will make it a faster, easier, and more enjoyable experience. Also, I recommend that you plan at least a few days, because there is just so much to see and do here. The Smithsonian Institute is comprised of 19 world-class museums, galleries, gardens, and a zoo.
If you want to use the scooters, plan ahead and bring helmets if you have kids! I should have looked this stuff up before getting here and taken into consideration how best to travel in this area. Hopefully, this will help you if/when you plan a trip here. 😊
