On the third day of our East Coast road trip we left Virginia Beach to head up to Washington DC. We knew that the next day would be filled with touristy goodness, so we decided to take it easy that night.

We took up residence in the heart of DC at The George.  The hotel was very modern and trendy…such a fun experience. They even had a little fishie, so we felt right at home. Because we knew the next day would ensure craziness and exhaustion….we put on our animal print robes, ordered room service, and came up with a plan to show DC who’s boss.

Our number one tip for DC tourists….don’t order room service.  Our cheese platter three slices of cheese, juicy burger, and the tastiest dessert ever ended up costing us an arm and a leg.  Should have just ordered a pizza.  Our planning party picnic did help us get pumped for the next day though. Since The George was a hop, skip, and two blocks away from Union Station…we figured we would start there. I had very high hopes for Union Station, and it was beautiful….but there was a lot of construction.  So it lost that grandiose Benjamin Button feel. Still worth the visit.

   

Our next stop was “just down the street”.

Our Nation’s Capitol.

Here is a more serious picture that T took.

 And a less serious one that I took.

After oogling the Capitol we headed down to the Smithsonian.  Which…I have to admit I thought was one big building.

Apparently, there are many museums that make up the National Mall.

We have some planning to do.

Get ready for museum overload people….we went to four museums and took about 400 photos.
I have kindly edited them down for you.

First, there was the Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden.

   

Then we stopped to smell the flowers before going to the Air & Space Museum.

We apparently neglected to take pictures of moon rocks and missiles.  Lame I know.

Then we hit the motherload….the Natural History Museum.  I could have spent days there. Yes, we totally channeled Ben Stiller ala Night at the Museum and had crazy fun with animals.

  On a side note….Don’t you think this would terrify a small child? And someone get this Lion a dang cheeseburger…..he looks famished. We also got to chill with our ancestors.

And let me learn you a thing or two….
Yup….you are related to a ferret.  Or something.

But before your oldest relative, there were these guys.  

Of course when we found this little wing….we were in heaven.

 

We found a replica of a super old reef and lots of old seashells.

They also had a new tank….it was exciting to see a lot of our own corals and fish in this tank. Oh I also found my Christmas present….hint, hint Timbo. And look what they dug out of the ocean, this is a bad picture but it was stunning in person so I had to include it.

The Museum of Natural History was my favorite by leaps and bounds.  After we left there we headed to Tim’s favorite place we visited.

The National Archives.  This is where you can find the Bill of Rights, Declaration of Independence, Magna Carta, and The U.S. Constitution.  You obviously couldn’t take any photos in the building, but it filled us both with pride to see the documents we hold so dear.  It was a very personal experience that we both will cherish forever.

 

At this point in the day our feet were aching and we weren’t sure how we were going to make it.

We stopped for a couple photos with the Washington Monument and then popped a squat in the grass to relax for a bit.

Then we made the long haul “right down the street”.

To the President’s house.  We figured it was a “can’t miss” attraction. Sweet pad mister.

Even though we were exhausted at this point we figured we had come this far…so we might as well make the hike to the Lincoln Memorial.
But not before we had a little fun.

Then….miracle of all miracles….we made it to the Lincoln Memorial. Oh wait….we have to walk up all those stairs?  Where is the escalator?

Let’s just enjoy where Forrest and Jenny were reunited.

Once we hiked the steps…and about died of exhaustion (we really got to get on that workout regimen) we “reflected” on the 5 miles we had walked that day.  Okay five miles doesn’t seem too bad, but can we factor in the hours of museum moving.

Now is where we get really lucky…..a man decided to pop the question right on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial (romantic right) so of course everyone hooted and hollered.  That persuaded the enormous crowd of people to hustle outside to find out what the commotion was about.

Which let us sneak right in for a quick photo without elbowing a bunch of smelly people.

 I have to send a big thank you to the girl that took this photo….we asked her for one.  She must have taken forty, which gave us so many options.  Everyone should do that, everyone should also yell, “funny face” for the second shot.

After the hike back down the steps we hailed a cab NYC style and hoofed it back home to The George.

If we could do it all over again, we would spend at least three days in DC so we could see everything.

So much fun…..and yet so tiring.  Did I mention after all that we drove to Pennsylvania, truth.

Guess you know what tomorrow brings.