The Little People Go to Washington

Destination: Washington D.C.
Total Miles: (tba)
Total Cost: (stay tuned)



What do you do when you've promised the Little People a road trip to the Grand Canyon but don't get enough time off work to make it out and back?

Take them to Washington D.C. and Philadelphia!

Sunday, July 29th, 2012:

After the morning service at church and a delicious lunch at one my favorite restaurants (Chipotle), I packed up Christy, Thomas, Charles, and Chenie into Mr. Darcy, and we headed off to Maryland.

As mentioned in my other DC posts, my mother's sister and brother both live on the Eastern Shore in Maryland. We made it in to my aunt and uncle's around midnight. The plan was to stay the nights at their house and spend the days fitting in as many sights as we possibly could manage.

And that's exactly what we did.

Monday, July 30th, 2012:

Having worked 4 nights during the week, and having driven for almost 11 hours on Sunday (including a couple of stops for food and restrooms), both Christy and I were ready for a rest day.

Monday provided the perfect in-between-traveling day.

The LPs (true to form) did not sleep in past eight. A concept that required some adjustments to my night-shift schedule.

We were able to spend Monday visiting relatives. In the morning, we visited with my cousin, Rachel, and her kids. Chenie especially loved spending time with the girls (who are close to Chenie's age), and I ended up leaving Chenie with Rachel for the afternoon. In the afternoon, we headed over to my uncle's. Their family lives in a wooded area, and Thomas and Charles had a great time playing outside with their cousin, Layton (who is in between their ages).

After a delicious grilled supper, the boys gathered wood and made a campfire...which of course led to a roasting of marshmallows. The s'mores were amazing (even if the marshmallows were SO big we couldn't fit them into our mouths).

Tuesday, July 31st, 2012:

This was my "See Everything Possible and Go Everywhere" day (also known as: "Walk the Children Until They Have Blisters" day).

After an hour and a half drive, we parked Mr. Darcy in a parking garage up from the Starbucks I visited last trip. It was 9:30 a.m., and the city was coming alive!

First stop was to the National Archives. We waited in line for awhile before finally seeing some of the most important documents in our nation's history: The Magna Carta, the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution of the United States of America. We were also able to see the Grand Canyon...in the Archives! (even though we weren't supposed to use cameras, I couldn't help but take a picture since we were supposed to be in the Grand Canyon that day anyway)

FYI: The National Archives contains some interesting footage of some of our presidents.

After voting, the kids decided we should go to the Library of Congress next. We walked up past the Capitol building, making sure to get pictures the whole way around it. By the time we neared the Library, little voices started telling me their tummies were hungry. We made a detour over to Union Station which houses a massive food court. Subway was the pick of the day.

We finally headed back to the Library of Congress. Charles, Chenie, Christy and I went through security just as we had at the Archives: no problems. Thomas, however, was turned away because of a pocket knife he had in his bag. So, Christy waited outside with him while the rest of us ran through the Library, visited the giftshop, then ran out to meet them. I then waited outside with the offending bags and let the 4 of them tour.

FYI: The Library of Congress was ''birthed'' on my birthday, April 24th.

After Library of Congress, we opted to head to the Smithsonian: Air and Space. Which not only had us waiting in line for 30 minutes to get inside, but also made us go through security (same as the other 2). This time, Charles was stopped for having a "tool" in his bag. The security officer yelled in my face (no joke) to inform me that she wanted us to leave...so we did. Who knew that the "Right to Bear Arms" did NOT apply to Washington D.C.

FYI: Frisk your children and run them through metal detectors before visiting DC.

Having been violently turned away from that Smithsonian, I opted for visiting a place that required NO security: Arlington National Cemetery. This meant getting Metro tickets and introducing the kids to their first (that they'll remember) subway ride! They loved it.

We rode the Metro to Arlington then got a bus tour of the cemetery. This included a stop at JFK's grave, visiting the Eternal Flame, watching the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown (in the monsoon-like downpour), seeing other famous graves, touring Robert E. Lee's house, and driving past the Nurses' Memorial.

FYI: I would highly recommend the bus tour. Give your kids (and your) feet a rest while still touring.



After a scare getting back on the Metro (Chenie missed the step between the platform and the train...scraped up her leg a bit but managed to hang on to her croc), we headed back to the Mall. We then walked over to the Washington Monument and visited the Rangers' Station. I LOVE the Junior Ranger programs provided (for free) by the National Park Service. The kids fill out booklets with questions about the place, then have a ranger sign saying they completed it. They get badges and a stamp...note: we didn't finish them in DC, but it's still a great learning tool.

While filling out the booklet, we sat around the base of the Washington Monument, resting our feet. With supper time fast approaching, Christy and I decided to take everyone back to Union Station for supper then pick up Mr. Darcy. There is plenty of free parking behind the Lincoln Memorial, and Mr. Darcy had to be picked up before 11:00 p.m. (we didn't want to push our time and end up stuck in D.C. for the night without a car).

I love free parking.




    We marched up to the Lincoln Memorial, visited the restrooms and discovered an information area underneath the memorial!

We then walked around past the Vietnam Veterans Wall and discovered a small section dedicated to the signers of the Declaration (it was on an island in a pond near the Wall). We found our ancestor's signature on one of the first stones and took some pictures.

After walking through a few bug clouds, we visited the WWII Monument. After walking around it for a while, we headed back up the hill to the Washington Monument (which looked really cool in the dark).

By now everyone had blisters (except myself...I've never had a blister) and everyone (including me) had sore feet. We sat with our feet in the cool grass, taking in the monuments and memorials, before heading back towards the Lincoln Memorial for the last ranger talk of the day (scheduled at 10:00 pm).

After a final climb of the Lincoln Memorial steps, the LPs and I listened to the ranger talk, learning important facts about not only the Lincoln Memorial but also the Washington Monument.

The footsore clan headed back to Mr. Darcy for a ride back to the Eastern Shore. Approximately 15 minutes after stopping at a McDonalds for a snack, all three Little People fell sound asleep in the back seat.

We did not get back to the house until well after midnight, but I don't think they cared too much.

...

Stay tuned for Wednesday's return trip to Washington D.C. and Thursday's road trip to Philadelphia (my first time in Philly!)...
:)