What a tornado of a vacation! After a week away from home we are now back and all snug in our beds with vision of DC dancing in our heads. (Washington, DC, that is!) Most of the time I can say it is nice to be home again but this time I really enjoyed the break from routine and had an unusually wonderful rest and inspirational vacation. Our first stop was in Pittsburgh for my husband's nephews wedding. It was held in a bird sanctuary/refuge and was small but very quaint! It was nice to see family that we have not seen in 15 years!
After the wedding and all the goodbyes, we headed out to Washington DC for what we thought was a day or two touring the sights. We had no idea the extent to which you could visit museums, historical homes, and magnificent buildings. We were quite overwhelmed.Half jokingly Jonathan said, "Too bad we didn't think to check if there was an "Unofficial Guide to Washington DC." At that moment we happened to be walking the streets in the bitter cold and spotted a Barnes and Noble Book store. What providence. We warmed up inside and did find that there is indeed An Unofficial Guide to Washington DC and we bought it. It saved us so much time! If you ever go to a popular tourist spot always check to see if there is one of these invaluable guides printed. They usually save you way more that the full purchase price and loads of time as well.
My husbands first GOT to SEE spot was Lincoln Memorial. The morning and early afternoon was actually quite warm. It poured in the afternoon and the rest of the week was bitterly cold and windy.
Graydon's choice was the museum of flight. They actually had the original Wright Brothers plane inside! Also was the Spirit of Saint Louis-Charles Lindburgh's first solo flight across the Atlantic)
The Capital Building was phenomenal-inside and out!.
Jonathan's favorite place was Mount Vernon, home of America's first president. The house itself was beautiful but the visitor center was like none we had seen anywhere else. After 4 1/2 hours we rushed out trying to avoid the rush hour in Downtown DC in the snow! We made it but we really wish we could have spent another hour or two.
In case you cannot figure this out, this is a model of George Washington's house-and my son's "huge" face in the back door!
