Sunrise on the start of the road trip
Every summer needs a summer vacation. This year our summer vacation was an epic road trip. Since Jess has family in Philly and I have some friends in NC that we hadn’t seen in a while, we figured it would be the perfect time to see them both all while visiting our nation’s capitol, especially since Jess and Chase had never been there and the last time I was there was when I was a kid.
As with every great road trip we planned it all out, got all our ducks in a row and headed out early. Our first stop was DC, approximately 10 hours away. The trip was a lot of fun. We played the usual car games of I Spy and how many different state license plates can we find (nearly 40 during the entire trip) and did some singing and all that. We made great time and arrived just in time for dinner. I had scoped out places to eat prior to getting there so we wouldn’t have to spend our time looking. First up was Matchbox DC – Vintage Pizza Bistro. The food and atmosphere were great!
After dinner we walked around a bit. We actually managed to make it all the way to The Capitol. It was MUCH larger than I imagined and quite a site to behold. We snapped a few photos with our phones then headed back to the hotel to get tucked in. After all, the following day would be a marathon of sites.
Washington Monument
The day started off with some scrapple at Lincoln’s Waffle Shop. This little hole in the wall place was un-freakin-real. Quick, tasty, cheap, fun. Once we were done eating we headed over to Union Station to park and begin our excursion. Rather than try to find parking all over town we did a double decker tour. We could get off/on at pretty much any of the sites for the whole day. This turned out to be a genius idea.
Our first stop was The National Air and Space Museum. This place was awesome. It was huge. We walked around looking for the cool things, minding the time since we could spend all day in here, but had an entire city to see. In the end, Chase and I rode the flight simulators while Jess hung back and took pics. Even though it was first, it was probably the highlight of the day.
From NASM we headed over to the Washington Monument. I had no idea how tall or massive this thing was. You see pictures all the time, but you can never really appreciate something like this until you are right up on it. We got our necessary pictures then headed over to the Lincoln Memorial. Again, this is something you have to see to believe. Abe didn’t come alive and walk around like in the movies, but then again there were a lot of people around and he probably would have killed several of them.
It was getting to be that time when we need to not be walking for a bit, so we took a little break while waiting on our bus. Once the bus came we rode over to Arlington Cemetery, passing the Pentagon on the way. Not to sound in any way disrespectful, but Arlington is an amazing place. There is a LOT of history at that place. It was getting late in the day but I wanted to see the Eternal Flame and the Changing of the Guards. Watching the extreme dedication those men have to doing what they do is awe inspiring.
Chase and Jess were feeling a bit pooped after walking around Arlington, so we hopped on the bus and headed back in town. We still had a few more stops before we called it a day. We hit up The National Museum of Natural History. It was between this and The National Museum of American History. We wanted to see the dinosaurs so our choice was clear. The dino’s were cool, as were all the other exhibits, but we were tired and hungry. It was dinner time in DC and what better place to eat, than America. I mean, it was freakin’ AMERICA! Yet another amazing dinner in our bellies, but it was getting late and we were all dead tired.
And.... we're done.
We headed back to the hotel, got packed up, and hit the sack. It was a fun filled day with lots of sites and history lessons, flight simulators, monuments, “hollowed” grounds, ground animal parts, sunshine, and all manner of things. Our DC trip had come to a close and we had managed to cram it all into one day. It’s not something I will soon, or hopefully ever forget. Getting to be there as Chase saw all these things that make up our great nation was worth the miles of walking we did.
Next on our list, Philly Cheese Steaks. Oh and some family time as well.
The Pics:
Tags:
monuments,
DC,
adventure,
washington,
vacation
Related posts
Chase had the best time playing in the waves. I was a nervous wreck as usual…thinking he was going out too far…worried about the under toe…etc., but everybody had a safe, fun time. We wrapped up the day with some fresh seafood and a great dinner. By the end of the day we were full, tired, sunburned, and happy. We had such an amazing time on our trip, but we all agreed we were ready to be home. One final night in NC and we were heading home to sweet ol’ Georgia. The ride home was nice and quiet for the most part. Chase amazed me as a road tripper and really was an awesome car rider. As we crossed into the Georgia state line we found a Randy Travis station on Pandora that brought me right back to road trips I’ve taken in my life and the trips I took as a child in my dad’s ‘big truck’. As we listened and sang along I laughed and cried and smiled and shared stories and memories that the old country songs brought back to me. I felt lucky to have had the ‘abnormal childhood’ that I often joke about and to have such great memories connected to song…and even more lucky that my son will have his own road trip stories to tell now. This trip was my favorite part of my summer vacation…and little did I know it would soon be tied with another favorite part of the summer…just a few weeks later…
