Washington, D.C. Day Two

Friday morning we got going early (after a fantastic breakfast) and drove to the National Zoo. Navigating the roads proved to be pretty frustrating. We were held up when our GPS was telling us to take a road that wasn't actually open for another 30 minutes, so we kept maneuvering and searching for an alternate route. At this point Lily said "This is the worst day ever" (but I think it improved for her). We finally made it to the zoo. 

Cheetahs in the sunshine

The highlight was seeing the two pandas!

A red panda

Elephants

An orangutan

After a few hours at the zoo we drove back to the National Mall area. After searching for awhile for a parking spot, we finally scored a great spot across from the Dept. of Agriculture. Then we took our memorial walk past the Washington Monument, the WWII Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial and the Korean War Memorial.

The Washington Monument--the scaffolding is to repair the damage from the earthquake in 2011.

Honestly, Lily and Zach were most excited about seeing the ducks.

The Vietnam War Memorial

The Lincoln Memorial

The Korean War Memorial

Many of the parking meters in D.C. allow you to pay and renew your parking by phone (and/or online). At this point we discovered for some reason that we couldn't renew our parking permit so we raced back across the mall to our van to avoid a ticket. We discovered that we had parked in a spot that had to be vacated by 4pm (to free up lanes for traffic), unfortunately. So we found another parking place (without too much difficulty this time) then took a walk past the Smithsonian Castle and entered the Natural History Museum.

The Smithsonian Castle

All of the Smithsonian museums are huge and full of interesting things (and are frankly a little overwhelming). At the Natural History Museum we really just saw two areas: Dinosaurs and Gems and Minerals. We saw the Hope Diamond, and the girls oohed and aahed over the elaborate (and expensive) jewelry.

A sheet of copper

The Hope Diamond - both bigger and smaller than imagined

I really liked this sandstone

Rubies

Emeralds

A huge piece of Wulfenite

Opals

Gold

By now it was dinnertime and I [Kristi] wasn't feeling very well, so we found a nearby Subway restaurant for dinner and headed back to our hotel. Our route took us along the George Washington Memorial Parkway, which was really pretty.

Washington, D.C. Day One

Anwyn was off school the first week of April for spring break, so Jared took a few days off from work and we headed north for a short vacation in Washington, D.C. We left home at about 8 a.m. on Thursday morning, eating breakfast in the car. After three hours of driving we stopped at at the Chancellorsville battle site in Virginia, to see the spot where Stonewall Jackson was shot. There was a monument in his honor, and a small interpretive center describing the battle.

 

The monument reads "On this spot fell mortally wounded Thomas J. Jackson".

"There is Jackson standing like a stone wall bee at Manassas."

We got back in the car for the approximately 50 mile drive to D.C.--which took over two hours due to traffic! We were happy to finally reach the city, and do a drive by of a few of the monuments--"Look, there's the Washington Monument! There is the Jefferson!" After a little navigating we finally found a place to park, near the museum of the American Indian. We looked around the first floor and used the restroom, then moved on.

Making scary faces in front of a totem pole.

We headed up to the Capitol, stopping at the Ulysses S. Grant memorial on the way.

The Grant Memorial

The United States Capitol Building

Jared and the kids briefly went in the Capitol visitors center, while I stayed outside with the stroller.

The mold of the statue on top of the Capitol

Next we went to the Library of Congress, since we couldn't pass up seeing the world's largest library. It was very beautiful and ornate inside.

 The Library of Congress

  

 The interior of the Library of Congress

There was a Gutenberg Bible on display (weren't allowed to take photos of it), and we also came upon a room in tribute to George and Ira Gershwin.

Back outside we passed the Supreme Court. It was amusing to see that they had covered up the remodeling work being done with a screen covering that looked like the building. From a distance, your photos would appear authentic.

After a little more walking we happened upon the Canadian embassy, a nice surprise for me.

Then we crossed the street to enter the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. The kids enjoyed the "How Things Fly" discovery room. The Wright Flyer was interesting to see and learn about (they have the original flyer on display). There really was so much to see, but by this time of day the kids were pretty tired. We made it back to our car and found our way out of D.C. We stayed in a hotel in Sterling, VA, about 45 minutes from D.C. (although in good traffic and taking an express way we could do the trip in about 25 minutes). It was very near the Dulles airport.

The Bell X-1 that was the first manned plane to break the sound barrier.

Zach in front of the Wright's plane.

Lily in front of an Apollo suit worn on the moon

The Spirit of St. Louis - Charles Lindberg's plane.

A replica of the Hubble Space Telescope - it's much bigger than I imagined.

In front of the Apollo suit still dirty from the moon.