D.C. Girls Trip - Days 3 & 4

Sunday: First we were off to the Holocaust Museum, tickets - while free - have to be waited in line for, and in hand early, because they run out quickly. Of course no pictures are allowed here - it was very eye-opening, very sad certainly, and a very good reminder that we cannot forget what has happened and turn a blind eye to things that may still be. 

from just outside the Holocaust museum

tired feet (and broke-down Toms) taking a break on the Metro

 We took the Metro to Old Town Alexandria, a town down the Potomac, that apparently George Washington spent some of his youth  in- it was a lot like Georgetown, full of old, cute row houses - but not as cramped or busy.

Yummy lunch at Nando's Peri Peri

 Back up the Metro we stopped at Arlington - I know it's a cemetery, but it's about as far from creepy as you can get. It was just beautiful, very peaceful, very quiet, you could feel the reverence. The constant guard at the Tomb of the Unknown is such a beautiful symbolic act.

JFK

this picture shows better how long and steep the escalator was!

 At this point we were all ready to kind of put our feet up, but after about 45 minutes or so Jeran and I decided our feet could handle another walk across the bridge for the sake of some Georgetown Cupcakes (and I needed a new suitcase from the TJ Maxx just down the street, too many Starbucks mugs to bring back). We walked the cupcakes back and we all shared them in the hotel, ohhhh man they were good.
Highlight of the day: Walking through Arlington.

Monday: Our last day, but since our flight wasn't until evening we had plenty of time to get it a few more sights. First stop was to the National Gallery of Art - I'm not that big into art, but I do fancy seeing the greats - Monet, van Gogh, Degas, Matisse, Gauguin, and Davinci!

Van Gogh

Davinci

 We split up here, I was determined to go to the National Archives and see the big 3 - Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights, and the Constitution - Linda went with me. It was quite a wait, and I wasn't sure we were going to get to, but I'm so glad we did, it was fairly incredible to be so close to those documents that formed our country. We also found this little signature...

Then I wanted to see the Navy Memorial for dad (and myself) of course...

spotted a protest along the way, Linda was delighted!

Memorial to the Navy family

 After a Starbucks stop we did some serious speed-walking a mile back up the Mall toward the Capitol and the U.S. Botanic Garden - I felt like some politician's paige sent out for a coffee run. The Botanic Garden was super cool - only the sad news was that the Corpse flower wasn't there, sent back to the greenhouse after it bloomed, my class was bummed (we read Stink Moody).

cacao tree

plant chandelier

our lucky day - food trucks! we ate at this one by Jose Andres

 Our last big goal was to get to the Jefferson Memorial - which was super out of the way and not near any Metro stops - but what are you going to do? We had to see them all! The weather this day was quite a bit more chilly and overcast as you can see, which was nice for our walk - rain was forecast, but thankfully it didn't start till that evening.

One last walk back through the Mall, and one last Metro ride back to the hotel - no time to stop in the Mint, but had to take a picture for my class! With 45 minutes to spare, Jeran and I decided we needed one more little pie, it was the first stop in Georgetown, so we knew we had time if we walked fast - we were shocked to find it closed!!! We didn't want to leave D.C. without one last treat, so we checked Georgetown Cupcakes and the line wasn't as long, and Jeran convinced her mom to have our airport taxi come pick us up there - so it worked out pretty much perfect. I wish I had a picture of our little cupcake tasting party on the floor of the airport before we had to split up to go to our separate gates. It was a pretty sweet end to our trip... see what I did there?

Highlight of the day: Another view of DC, and airport cupcake party!

By no means did we get to see everything, but Todd is kind of happy about that so I will want to go back with him :) It was a perfect trip - I'm SO grateful for the opportunity to have gone and see the places and artifacts that built our country and carried it through the roughest times. I loved seeing those things that you only ever hear about but never think you will see in person, like the Declaration or Hope Diamond. I was fascinated by the items that surprised me - like the "thank you" card from Saddam Hussein to George Bush and calling card from John Wilkes Booth when he stopped at VP Andrew Johnson's house. I was happily surprised by the amount of great food options, and genuine affordability of the entire area! I can't say enough good things about this place, and about my whole experience. So, I'll just say, if you haven't been - go to Washington D.C.!