Pre-Trip Report: It's Going to be a Capitol Vacation!

[iluvwdw4ever]

We loved the Library of Congress!!! Soooooo gorgeous!!! I read in one of my guide books that it is considered the most beautiful building in all of DC.

Here are some pictures from our last trip...

 

[mominwestlake]

I am definitely going to put the Library of Congress on the agenda for our next trip. I have never been there even though I've been to D.C. several times. Did the kids enjoy it? I wasn't sure kids would appreciate it. I know my older dd would like seeing the Gutenburg Bible. Did you see that?

 

[jillyb]

I am definitely going to put the Library of Congress on the agenda for our next trip. I have never been there even though I've been to D.C. several times. Did the kids enjoy it? I wasn't sure kids would appreciate it. I know my older dd would like seeing the Gutenburg Bible. Did you see that?

The girls did enjoy it. They have passports that you can pick up when you enter and then create your own collection. There's computers at various locations where you can insert your passport and learn more about a particular piece in that area. It's really cool! Then, when you're done, you can get your passport stamped. I think you can also do this on their website.

We did see the Gutenburg Bible.

 

[jillyb]

We loved the Library of Congress!!! Soooooo gorgeous!!! I read in one of my guide books that it is considered the most beautiful building in all of DC.

Here are some pictures from our last trip...

Awesome pictures!

 

[Nancy for Disney]

Thanks for reading Nancy! Isn't that always the way? We do everything we can to make sure everybody has a good time but sometimes it just doesn't work out that way.

Where did you stay? We were in Vienna, VA.

We stayed in Old Town Alexandria. I liked it because it was just across the street from the train station. Very handy. I was very happy with our rooms. Your room just looks a little nicer.

I am loving all of Library of Congress pictures. I couldn't get any of mine to turn out. I am such a horrible photographer. It was my favorite building. I just wasn't expecting it to by so beautiful.

 

[jillyb]

Sorry it's taken me so long to post an update. It's been crazy around here. Plus, I've just been plum lazy! Here we go!

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Day 3- August 16:

Today was another early morning. The alarm went off at 6:30 but I think we all laid around until about 7:00. We got up, ready, out the door and down to breakfast by 7:30 and out the door at 8:10. Traffic was very light this morning so we were at the Metro station in no time. The trains were still running on a delay due to track maintenance but we weren’t in any hurry. Our itinerary for the day was: National Museum of American History, lunch, Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden, ride the carousel and National Air and Space Museum. Yeah…we stuck pretty close to the itinerary today! We’d done the Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden and rode the carousel the day before so that freed us up to spend more time in each of the museums. Plus, we’d decided that we would go back to the room for a break and come back that night to see the monuments we didn’t get to see on Saturday.

Each night I would go through my bag to take out what I didn’t need and then re-pack it. Ya’ll know the drill! The night before I’d taken out a lot of the different maps we’d been using to find our way around. While we’re waiting on the train Clay asks me if I have the map. Silly man! Of course I have the map! We get off at the Smithsonian stop and are walking towards the American History Museum. Only we realize we’re going towards the Natural History Museum. OK…I’m pretty sure that we need to go in the other direction but let’s pull out the map to make sure. Unzip the map compartment on my bag and….it’s empty. Yeah…I don’t have the map…and I’m sure ya’ll know how Clay felt about that. Seriously…get your boxers out of a knot…we probably just need to go in the other direction. I see signs a couple of blocks down and I say “We’ll just walk down there and see what the signs say.” Ohhhhh noooooooo!! We’re not going to be walking all over the place trying to figure out the right direction! UGGGHHHH OK…here’s an information kiosk…let’s ask the nice person inside. “Excuse me…which way to the American History Museum?” To which the very nice person pointed in the direction of the signs a couple of blocks down. Imagine that.

The museum didn’t open until 10:00 so we had some time to kill before it opened. There was one other family there when we got there. So, what do you do when you have time to kill? Take pictures of course!

The closer it got to opening more people started showing up and lining up at the door. A couple minutes til 10:00 we got in line. We weren’t too far back and the line moved quickly. This was a very cool museum.

There was a table with various items on it. This hat was one of them. The lady manning the table was talking to someone when we walked up. Hannah walked up and put this helmet on. I didn't think anything about it and snapped this picture. Then the lady says "You're really not supposed to put those on." Oops! Cute picture though dontcha think?!

(continued in next post)

 

[jillyb]

The infamous lunch counter from the Greensboro, NC Woolworth's store:

You know I HAD to get these pictures!

At one of the exhibits Clay got on to Hannah about something. When I asked what was going on he said she just about tore up one of the exhibits by messing with a bucket. When I get to the exhibit in question guess what…it’s an interactive exhibit and you’re ENCOURAGED to pick it up. Seriously dude…you need to throttle it back a bit. This particular exhibit described laundry day before the invention of washing machines. Women way back when would have to haul buckets of water that weighed 20 lbs. And let me tell ya…I lifted that bucket and I would have been done after hauling just one! Then they had to wring them out by hand. They had a bar there that let you test your strength wringing clothes. By about the sixth wringing my strength level was going way down! I can’t imagine having to wash clothes like that. But can you imagine the muscles in your forearms from doing that??!!

It’s getting close to 12:00 so we decide to get some lunch then head to the Air and Space Museum. I hated to leave because there was still so much we didn’t get to see. Oh well. We head to one of the cafes in the museum. I can’t remember know which one it was. We get there and it’s set up like the Cascade Café…different stations so you can pick what you want. We’re standing in the middle of this place, looking around and trying to figure out what we want. Hannah is whining about wanting chicken and french fries or something to that effect. Well, of course this gets Clay’s boxers in a knot and he says “Let’s just leave”. So out the front door we go and as soon as we’re out the door Clay is lighting in to both of the girls. WTH????!!! Meanwhile, people are walking out, we’re right at the entrance and Clay is ranting and raving to beat the band. I was mortified. He finally got enough sense to get away from the entrance but he’s still chewing them out. I’m not sure what his problem was but he was telling Alison he was sick of her moping around and he was telling Hannah he was sick of her running off and not listening…it’s his vacation too and there were things he wanted to see but he couldn’t because of them….blah blah blah.

We leave there and start walking to the Air and Space Museum. Hannah is walking with me, holding my hand. We’re walking a ways behind Clay and Alison. Then Hannah breaks my heart when she says “I thought a family vacation was supposed to be fun.” She was so disheartened. I stopped, squatted down and had her sit on my knee. She starts crying. I give her a big hug and talk to her: “I know it’s not much fun right now. There were a lot of neat things in the museum and I know you were just excited about them and wanted to see everything huh?” She nodded her head “yes” and I gave her another hug. She composed herself and we started walking again. In my mind I’m thinking of ways I can collect Clay’s life insurance. Remember this story because it will come in to play later.

We get to the Hirshhorn Museum and get hot dogs and drinks from the street vendor there then cross the street and grab a table in the shade like we did yesterday. We take our time eating lunch and let the girls hang out around the fountain some. Before we get up to leave I say to Clay “Why don’t we split up when we get to the Air and Space Museum. I’ll take Hannah and you can take Alison”. This was the best decision of the whole trip! I found a treasure hunt map at the information desk so Hannah and I set off in the treasure hunt. This was great because it allowed Hannah to go to one exhibit to another. There were lots of cool things in the museum but this part of the trip was for Clay because I know he likes this kind of stuff. I wasn’t stressing over Hannah running around. I just followed her.

It was very crowded though so there were times it was challenging to keep up with her and keep and eye on her. After she’d seen all she wanted to see we hit the gift shop. I bought Hannah a Cat in the Hat Book called “There’s No Place Like Space”, got space shuttle shaped sour gummies for both girls and an Apollo token for Hannah. Hannah found a pressed penny machine and she picked out one for her and one for Alison. Side Note: the girls collected a lot of pressed pennies during the trip. They got more here than they did when we were at WDW! I called Clay to see where he and Alison were and we met up with them. He and Alison wanted to go in the gift shop so we got to walk around in there again. I’m can’t remember what Alison got but I do remember she also got an Apollo token.

Closest thing to Mickey Ears I could find!

Clay bought us all whirly gigs so we took some time to play before heading back to the hotel.

It was about 4:30 when we got back to the room. Clay and I took a nap and the girls watched TV.

What will the evening hold in store for us?

 

[jillyb]

Day 3 – August 16 (continued):

After a nice hour and a half nap, Clay and I got up and we all got ready for dinner. Tonight was the night we were eating at Olive Garden. Hannah had seen this restaurant earlier in the trip and wanted to eat there. She was out voted and we went to the Cheesecake Factory so tonight was for her choice. It was the worst dining experience we had the whole trip.

Since it was so late we had a bit of a wait. When we do get seated it takes F O R E V E R for our server to come. We give him our drink order and it takes F O R E V E R for our drinks to come. We’re ready to order and it takes F O R E V E R for him to come take our order. We finally place our order and it takes (all together now!) F O R E V E R for our food to arrive. I don’t remember what everyone ordered but there’s no way it should have taken so long. They were busy but not that busy. I ordered some kind of chicken with mashed potatoes. The chicken was hot and the potatoes were cold. Clay needed a refill on his drink. When the server finally came by to check on us I told him the chicken was good but the potatoes were cold. Before Clay could ask for a refill the server is gone. The girls had to go to the restroom and when we got back the server had brought hot potatoes. Only problem was I’d finished everything else on my plate and we were leaving. The whole experience put me in a bad mood and I was ready to just forget going to see the monuments and call it a night. I should have gone with that instinct.

This night, instead of taking the Metro we drove into D.C. We found a parking spot and had about a 15 minute walk to the monuments. First up was the Korean War Veterans Memorial:

This was just an incredible memorial. I had read that it was really cool to see at night and it didn’t disappoint.

Next up was Lincoln Memorial:

Don't they look thrilled??!!

This is also an awesome memorial to see at night and then looking out towards the Mall and seeing the World War II Memorial, the Washington Monument and the Capitol building. (Sorry…no pictures of these because they were too blurry) I was disappointed in the girls’ reaction to the Lincoln Memorial. Their whole attitude was “blah” that night. I think the bad dining experience tainted the evening for all of us.

By now it’s close to 9:00. As we’re leaving the Lincoln Memorial Clay says the girls need something to drink (OK…I didn’t hear anybody complaining about being thirsty) so we go off in search of a snack stand. We find one not too far from the Lincoln Memorial but it’s closed. Two guys sitting on a bench tell us they just closed. UGH So, we sit on an empty bench to figure out our next move.

I want to see the World War II Memorial and I know Clay would like it too. There’s sidewalks running parallel to the Reflecting Pool and I suggest we just walk down to the corner, make a right and enter from the front of the memorial. Clay wants to go back the way we came and walk beside the reflecting pool and enter from the back of the memorial. Now, I’m looking at it from the standpoint that if we go the way I suggest that we will be walking back in the direction of where we’re parked. What’s the point of walking all the way down and then backtracking? Naturally, Clay doesn’t see it that way and he says that we can’t go the way I’m suggesting because we won’t end up where I think we will. I counter with “I don’t see why not.” We go back and forth for a bit on that point (I’m sure the two guys sitting across from us were highly entertained by all this!) and I finally say “Let’s just go.” I have finally reached my breaking point with Mr. Grumpy Know-It-All and the Whiny Pouty Sisters. (BTW: when we got home I looked at the map we used to get around. I found the general area we were seated and guess what…we could’ve gone the route I suggested.)


The walk back to the van was like this: I even threw out there that as far as I was concerned we could pack up and go home tomorrow. I had had enough. I had my mad walk on so I was walking way ahead of Clay and the girls. I made it to the van way before they did and toyed with the idea of driving off and leaving them. I was that mad. Fortunately I wasn’t SO mad that I did it. They finally catch up, get in the van and off we go. I think the girls were asleep before we even got on the road. Clay and I aren’t talking to each other. I’m trying to remember how to get back to Embassy Suites and end up not going in the right direction. Of course Clay isn’t going to help me out either. I finally found a parking spot on a side street and just stopped. Fine…we’ll sit here all freakin’ night. Clay took over the driving and he couldn’t figure out how to get back either. We didn’t have a proper D.C. map and the maps we did have were hard to read. He eventually found the road we needed to be on and we were back at the Embassy Suites and in bed around midnight. Clay asked what time we needed to get up for the Zoo the next morning and I told him “I have no idea and I don’t care what time we get up.” (I know…very mature. ) I think he set the alarm for 6:00. Even as mad as I was I somehow managed to fall asleep with no problem.

Next up: what time do we make it to the Zoo? Or do we pack up our toys and go home?

 

[Kirby]

Goodness! I hope your trip to the zoo went a whole lot better!

 

[Charleston Princess]

All your pictures of the museum exhibits are so cool!!! I, of course, love the Dumbo one the best!

Sorry that Clay was being a stinker that night! I hope you make it to the zoo! (Maybe next year we should send Charles and Clay on their own vacation together. )

 

[golfgal]

Everyone needs to read Dan Brown's new book "The Lost Symbol". It takes place in DC and gives a lot of great information on many of the buildings and sites. The George Washington picture above is in the book!

 

[jillyb]

All your pictures of the museum exhibits are so cool!!! I, of course, love the Dumbo one the best!

Sorry that Clay was being a stinker that night! I hope you make it to the zoo! (Maybe next year we should send Charles and Clay on their own vacation together. )

There was so many cool things to see at all of the museums. I wish we'd had time to see them all.

I'm all for sending Charles and Clay on their own vacation next year. I vote for a one-way ticket to Timbuktu!

 

[jillyb]

Everyone needs to read Dan Brown's new book "The Lost Symbol". It takes place in DC and gives a lot of great information on many of the buildings and sites. The George Washington picture above is in the book!

Thanks for the book recommendation. I'll have to see if I can pick it up at the library. How cool that the George Washington statue is in the book! I have to say that when I first saw the statute I thought it was pretty funny. Who would have thought ol' George was a Greek god?! LOL

 

[jillyb]

I just remembered something else that happened that night. Bit of backstory:

Last year when we went to WDW Alison's Mom boght her a cell phone before the trip. She said she got it so we wouldn't run up any charges making phone calls. Yeah...right...we have our cell phones so why would there be any phone charges? Anywho...Clay told Alison that she couldn't carry the phone because he didn't want it to get lost, broken or stolen. She didn't argue and only used it once to call her Mom...and that was when we got there. After that it stayed in the room safe and she never asked about it or asked to call her Mom.

When the dropped her off the day before we left for D.C., Alison had her cell phone. The reasoning this time was she was expecting calls from her friends about whether they'd be able to come to her birthday party or not. Yeah...whatever. We get to D.C. and Alison left her cell phone in the van. I saw it, got it and put it in the room safe. It was a few days later that she asked about it and I told her I had it and it was safe. She was fine with that and didn't mention it again.

When Clay and I were alone I mentioned to him how she hadn't asked about her cell phone. Well, wouldn't you know that's the day she asks about seeing if her friend had left a voicemail for her about the birthday party. I told her no. Then she asked if she could send her Mom a text. I wanted to tell her no but instead I told her to ask her Dad. Clay said yes. So, she sends her Mom a text and afterwards walks back to our bedroom. I was busy with other stuff and didn't think much about it until I walk in and she's on her phone.

I tell her to get off the phone and she tells me she's listening to a voicemail. Uhhh...I don't remember there being anything about you being able to check your voice mail. I just let it go but I wasn't happy about it. She walks into the bathroom and I go in there in a few minutes and I can hear her Mom's voice. I tell Clay what's going on. He's not happy about it either.

Alison comes out of the bathroom, sits down on the couch and is looking all mopey. Clay notices it and says "Outside now". She came back with a little better attitude but I know hearing that voicemail affected her attitude the rest of the night.

It just ticks me off that her Mom can't leave her alone and has to constantly be laying a guilt trip on Alison. Heck, she even did the same thing when Alison was spending the week with her Grandma (the Ex's Mom)!

 

[jillyb]

Day 4 – August 17:

Our itinerary for today was: National Zoo, lunch, National Museum of Natural History and the Butterfly Pavilion. Today was to be Hannah’s day. This girl loves, loves, loves animals. She says she wants to be a vet when she grows up. She also likes butterflies. When we were building our house and she picked her room she immediately said she wanted to have a butterfly room.

The alarm went off and Clay got up and went out for his morning cigarette. I didn’t move. When he came back in the room I was still in bed. He sat down on the bed and asked me what time we were leaving for the zoo. I told him I didn’t care. He asked if we were going home. I didn’t care what we did. He walked out and in a few minutes Hannah came in the room. I don’t remember what she said to me but as she was walking out of the room she said “This family vacation isn’t what I expected.” I came back in a snippy voice with “Well it’s not what I expected either.”

A few minutes later Hannah walks back in the room, crawls up on the bed beside me, puts her arm around me and says “Mommy, this trip hasn’t been fun for you either.” As I struggled to hold back the tears I said “No, it sure isn’t.” She lays her face against mine, gives me a big hug and says “It’s OK Mommy. I’ll always love you.” She walked out of the room and, after a few minutes I got up and started getting ready. We had breakfast and were on the road by 9:00. We were driving today instead of taking the Metro. Well, we got lost trying to find the zoo…during rush hour traffic. LOL Instead of taking us about 30 minutes or so to get there it took us an hour. We finally made it and off we went! I’ll let the pictures tell the rest of the story.

WARNING!!! THERE ARE BIRD PICTURES IN THE NEXT COUPLE OF POSTS!

Sign in the bathroom that made me think of MeMom and her Animal Kingdom bathroom pics!

(continued in next post)

 

[jillyb]

Day 4 - August 17 (continued):

(continued in next post)

 

[jillyb]

Post got out of whack!!

 

[jillyb]

Day 4 - August 17 (continued):

These guys look like they're wearing tuxedos!

Croquet anyone?!

These guys had everybody laughing! The first gorilla is just sitting there when the other gorilla starts walking up. Then the second gorilla sits down beside the first gorilla like "Hey baby...come here often?"

If I'd known we were going to see butterflies here I could have saved myself some money!

Another bathroom pic!

These mosaics were just beautiful!

We had a really good time at the zoo. There were no meltdowns or temper tantrums. It was just a nice, relaxed morning. Why the heck couldn’t ALL of the days been like this?! We had lunch at the Panda Plaza Grill. It wasn’t spectacular but it wasn’t bad either. It was really hot so we stopped a couple of times and had drinks/snacks and to rest a bit. On the way out we stopped at the Create a Creature (think Build-A-Bear at the zoo!) stand and the girls made an animal. Hannah got a lion cub and named it Nala. I really thought she’d get a meerkat and was surprised when she picked the lion cub. Alison got a panda. I’m not sure what she named it. I think we spent about 4 hours here!

Next up: National Museum of Natural History and the Butterfly Pavilion

 

[jillyb]

Day 4 – August 17 (continued):

We left the zoo and drove into downtown. It took a while to find a parking space but I finally found one not too far from the museum. It was a pay spot so Clay put the money in the meter but it was only for an hour instead of two hours. We decided to go on to the museum and Clay would have to go back before the time ran out to put money in the meter. It was 3:00 or thereabouts and off we go to the museum. We found the “will call” window and picked up our tickets for the butterfly pavilion. The lady asked if we wanted to go in now but I told her we’d just wait until our reservation time. Here’s some pictures for your viewing pleasure!

Gotta have a pic of Dum-Dum!

(continued in next post)

 

[jillyb]

About 3:45 Clay went to put more money in the meter while the girls and I continued our stroll through the museum. When he came back he said he didn’t have to put any money in the meter because it stopped at 4:00. Well, that explained why we could only pay for an hour. We walked around some more, grabbed a snack, did the butterfly pavilion at 5:00, walked around some more and then headed back to the van. I guess it was around 6:00 or so because rush hour had started.

Butterfly pavilion:

As we’re walking back to the van I make the comment to Clay that I hoped the van hadn’t been towed. As we get closer I can see the van right where we parked it. Whew! That’s a relief! Only…it’s the only vehicle there. All the cars that had been parked behind me are gone. That can’t be good. When we get to the van I see that one of Washington’s finest left me a nice note on the windshield. That’s right….I got a parking ticket. The reason why Clay couldn’t pay for more time is because you’re not supposed to be parked there after 4:00. I completely overlooked the sign that, upon further inspection, was RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE VAN.

Hannah fell asleep on the way back:

We stopped at Tysons Galleria and went to Wildfire for dinner. I felt a bit too casually dressed for dinner here. That may explain why the seated us way in the back in a separate room. LOL There was a table with a large party there and us. One other table got seated while we were there so there were only the three tables seated. I guess the other two tables wanted more privacy as they were dressed a bit more appropriately. The food was good but I was ready to get out of there. I stopped at Starbucks on the way out because I’d been dying for a mocha frappacino! When we got back to the room, the girls put on their swimsuits and hit the pool one last time. After swimming they got cleaned up and I started packing. Tomorrow we were heading home! But, we had one last stop before we left….Mount Vernon. Other than getting a parking ticket this was a very good day!

Ready for pool time!