Time in Washington, DC - 7/30-8/2/07

We arrived in Washington on Monday and hit the Museum of Natural Science and then walked around to see the Washington Monument and then both sides of the White House. The kids were excited to see the "first dogs" while they were out on their walk. We also saw Laura Bush's motorcade leaving the north side of the White House. That was kind of exciting.

On Tuesday AM, I woke up around 7:30 and ran down to the Bureau of Engraving to stand in line for tour tickets. Once I got our tickets I went for a quick run and went for a run down to the Mall and then around the Tidal Basin where I saw the Jefferson Memorial, The FDR Memorial, and the Lincoln Memorial. I headed back on the north side of the mall back to the hotel. We spent the day at the Air and Space Museum, the Bureau of Engraving tour, Holocaust Museum, and the White House Visitors Center. We were dead on our feet and took a few hours for some rest and to eat dinner. We took a night tour of the city which was awesome. I was able to pull up my Grandfather's WWII profile on a kiosk at the WWII Memorial which made me very proud. The city is so pretty at night and the bus driver was really good with her narrative.

Stats - 4.5 miles

On Wednesday morning, I got up at 6:30 so I could get a longer run in and then head over to the Capitol so I could get tour tickets. I headed down to the Mall again and headed west on the north side of the mall toward the Lincoln Memorial. I passed in front of Abe and headed out on a trail that bordered the Potomac River. I followed that until I passed in back of the Jefferson Memorial and then back to the Mall. I ran to the Capitol and got in line for tickets. It turns out that you have to be there to get a ticket so I ran up Pennsylvania Avenue and up to our hotel quickly. I had to wake everyone up and rush around, but we were able to get back to the Capitol in plenty of time to get a 10:15 AM tour. The tour was nice. We hit the National Archive to see our founding documents, but the line was too long so we headed to lunch. After that we hit the Spy Museum which was kind of cool. After that I was done and I think Caroline was done with museums. We relaxed a bit and then headed to Georgetown for dinner. We walked a bit and took in the atmosphere and then hit a wonderful place for pizza called Pizzeria Paradiso. I would highly recommend it if you are ever in DC. It was the only food we ate there that stuck out. We got back to the room and all went to sleep early. All this time on our feet and in the hot weather is making us tired.

Stats - 5.83 Miles

On Thursday we packed up to head back to North Carolina. We stopped at the Arlington National Cemetery on the way out and took the tour. It was very moving seeing the eternal flame and the Tomb of the Unknowns. The changing of the guards ceremony was really cool. We had a really good time in DC and although it wasn't a Disney/Cruise/Beach vacation I think the kids enjoyed it as well. As the girls get older, I am really cherishing these times we have together. The memories will last forever.