After we got settled, we headed to the grocery store to pick up some perishables. These 3 went nuts when they found this cooler! Yes, we had ice tea and ice cream all week long!
Our first breakfast in DC was speciality donuts from District Donuts and some yummy tea from Capital Teas for mom!
We walked to the Eastern Market which was near our place on Capital Hill. It was similar to the farmers markets we are use to in Pennsylvania.
Inside the market hall.
You can tell we were close to home by the Kunzlers!
They even had SCRAPPLE!
We took the kids to the Library of Congress first. They really liked the architecture in this building.
This room is so beautiful!
We walked them by the Supreme Court.
Then headed to the Washington Monument - no tickets left but they enjoyed seeing it in person.
We also walked over to the White House. This was as close as we could get.
We visited the Smithsonian Gardens for momma!
Ra was in awe at the National History Museum.
Best photobomb of the trip!
Being Daddy's girl while walking the Mall.
We visited the WW2 Memorial
Family shot!
We were too tired to walk over to the Jefferson Memorial so we viewed it from a distance.
We got to take a tour of the capital courtesy of Rep. Ander Crenshaw's office. Ironically the staffer who showed us around the capital lives in AB on 10th Street! He's one of our neighbors who was also born and raised in Pennsylvania! Small world! We got to take the tunnels under the streets from Crenshaw's office to the Capital. Ra thought that was awesome! We got to take a short shuttle between building! We also got to sit in the House Chamber where all the action happens. He told us exactly how things happen in the house and how very different it is from the Senate. The room looks much bigger on TV and in pictures but it was beautiful!
After our personal tour, we took the group tour of the Capital.
Here we all in all 4 quadrants of DC in the center of the crypt.
Ra's favorite President!
Sis loves President Lincoln so she enjoyed seeing where his desk use to sit.
We have a copy of this print in our house!
Ra and the constitution.
Sis found Lincoln!
Reppin' PA!
We really loved the details!
Of course we had to visit the Union station! From here we were able to catch a bus to Georgetown after we ate lunch.
We enjoyed walking around Georgetown, window shopping and finding some yummy treats to keep our bellies full!
Finally - The Air and Space Museum! Ra was in HEAVEN!
We decided it would be fun to check out the monuments at night, under the lights. It was so beautiful and majestic.
This what the cute little house we stayed in during our DC trip. We had 2 bedrooms (one with a king bed and one with 2 twin beds), a full bath, laundry, full kitchen, family room, dining room and on street parking. It was in such a great location too - 2 blocks to the Metro, a few blocks from Barracks Row's dining options, 3 blocks from a great park for the kids, and in a safe part of Capital Hill.
The kids' room was in the turret. We stayed in the basement apt.
We stopped at the Ford's Theater on our way to the Spy Museum. Sis knew exactly where they took Lincoln across the street after he was shot!
This museum was the only one we had to splurge on for tickets to get into. It was worth it though. The kids really liked learning about all the equipment and techniques used in spying during every phase of history.
The Pentagon memorial is near Matt's grave honoring all those who died on 9/11.
We also visited the Tomb of the Unknown Soliders. What an incredible experience for all of us to witness. The changing of the guard was awe inspiring.
We found the Governor's Palace! Williamsburg holds a special place in our hearts. It's where Andy took me for a weekend to ask me to marry him. We love all things Colonial as well. The GP always reminds me of my Nanny Stauffer. She use cross stitch a lot of Williamsburg buildings and have them hanging in her house.
The gardens at the Palace.
The front view of the Govenor's Palace from across the lawn.
Checking out the old well - learning how they use to have to go get water instead of turning on a spigot.
When we were in Williamsburg back in November 1994, we stayed at the Market Square Tavern.
This was the house we stayed in! A cute little B&B in the heart of Williamsburg.
The kids got to learn how hard it is to pick the seeds out of cotton. Ra realized why the invention of the cotton gin was so important!
Got caught being naughty!
We locked them up too!
Williamsburg has the most beautiful gardens.
Stopped in the old Burton Parish Episcopal Church.
It was their 300th anniversary!
The names on the doors of the high box pews include parish leaders, famous patriots as well as US Presidents - Washington, Jefferson, and Monroe. The royal governor also had his own reserved pew.
The kids enjoyed visiting the Capital.
Riley got invited to participate in keeping the records! He enjoyed pretending to write with a feather quill and ink.
Afterwards we took a tour of the jail. Pretty rough conditions for this little one!
Returning to the scene 21 years later...
Kings Arm Tavern...Where he got down on one knee...
Celebrating with champagne like we did when he asked - The waiter brought out my ring with 2 glasses of champagne during dessert on that night so we recreated it the best we could!
We were even lucky enough to get the same table!!!
The next day we packed up again and drove the entire way back to Jax. It was a long drive, but we had a wonderful trip! The kids really enjoyed seeing the museums and monuments they had learned about in school. It was educational for them and relaxing for us because we didn't have to keep a schedule like we would have if we had taken Ra on the safety patrol trip with his school.
