The Meyers

We got an early start again this morning, intending to see the outside of the Capitol building, tour the Library of Congress building, and get as close as we could to the heavily-guarded White House, before heading to the Natural History Museum.

The wind and cold (now down to the 20s!) continued to be more than we were prepared to handle, so we stayed a little longer than planned in the Library of Congress and skipped seeing the White House, while waiting for the Natural History Museum to open up. It was definitely worth the wait! Joshua really appreciated that the T-Rex skeleton was the “same” as the T-Rex on his shirt.

We enjoyed the taxidermy work too.

We met up with Oregon/Washington friends Jeremy and Heather Brown who are doing a stint in DC. We enjoyed lunch together, saw some additional parts of the Natural History Museum, and then headed over to the National Botanical Gardens, snagging a moment in front of the Capitol Reflecting Pool on the way.

Joel went to town in the National Botanical Gardens with his macro lens – so fun! The “tropical” weather inside the Gardens was sure a welcome break from the wintery weather outside, even if just for a short while.

After our afternoon arrival in DC the prior day, we were excited to get down to the National Mall and check out the sites. Joel woke up early to try to get some sunrise pictures of the monuments, but was only partially successful – alas, the weather had turned cloudy and cold, blocking any views of the actual sunrise. The early morning light was still nice for capturing a few pictures anyway.

Joel returned, we ate breakfast, and then we all headed out again together, with a plan of seeing the monuments before the Smithsonian museums opened. Unfortunately, a storm had been brewing and the weather became very windy and — while we at the base of the Washington Monument — very wet! We ran for cover and waited for rain to subside or the museums to open, whichever would happen first. Quite the contrast from the sunny-and-70s weather of the day before!

The rain let up a little bit, so we headed over to wait in line for the Air and Space Museum. Thankfully we didn’t have too long to wait, because the rain started to turn into hail and then snow! We were out in it long enough that Joshua’s little socks and shoes got pretty wet though. Once we got in, Kristen used a blow-drier in the bathroom to dry out his socks, and then we were off!

For lunch we feasted on peanut butter and jelly bagels while we made the trek over to the American History Museum. There were several highlights for us, including the War History section (soooo well done!) and the Stars and Stripes Exhibit with the American flag that led to the writing of our national anthem. (Dark room and no pictures allowed.)

The rain completely cleared up, so we made attempt #2 for the monuments. The wind was still blowing with a vengeance, but we did it! The Lincoln Memorial made the biggest impact on Joshua; he talked about it for days following!

 

 

 

After the business part of the trip was over, we headed back up to Washington, D.C. The weather that day was gorgeous – the sun was shining and the high temperature was in the mid-70s. We elatedly wore shorts, t-shirts, and flip-flops, as if summer had arrived! Our first stop upon arriving in DC, following the drive up from North Carolina, was to grab a slightly belated lunch at the Maine Street Fish Market. Even us seafood-loving North-westerners had never seen anything quite like this – there were amazing and high-volume options for freshly-cooked, fresh-caught, and even live seafood!

After eating our fill – and then some – of the wonderful seafood and associated fare (crab cakes, shrimp, french fries, hushpuppies, sweet corn), we headed to the Georgetown University part of town to enjoy some wonderful scenery, try out a cupcake, and soak up some more warm sun along the banks of the Potomac River.

To wrap up the day, we checked in to our VRBO spot near Union Station, settled in, and got some Ethiopian takeout from a local restaurant. Yum! Great way to end a wonderful day!

Williamsburg has been on our “bucket list” for some time. Kristen was there as an elementary student and really enjoyed it; she has wanted for a while to experience it again as an adult. When we realized that we had an opportunity to be in this part of the country, Williamsburg was one of the first ideas that we had for things to do as a family, and we ended up building much of the rest of our visit around it.

After parking and getting our tickets squared away, we jumped in with a tour of the Governor’s Palace. What fun! The setting was 1775 (just before the pivotal events of 1776 that led to the Declaration of Independence), and the tour guide was a phenomenal actor playing the part of a loyal British subject who had significant disdain for the rebellious sort who were stirring up trouble and threatening to upset the proper “order of things.”

We saw the extravagant entry-way for distinguished guests only – with 500+ pieces of actual British armaments (guns, swords, etc) and the first marble flooring in the colonies. Less important people had other entry ways, depending on where they lined up in that all-important order of things.

Joshua (and his parents) only had patience for one “what we do we all do together” tour, so Joel ventured to do The Capitol tour without Joshua or Kristen. This was a fascinating and stimulating tour with a focus on the evolution of the rights of the English and how the American experiment was a continued extension and advancement of those rights.

Tradespeople perform their duties as if it really was 1775. We saw several at work, including the wheel makers working on building an actual new wagon for the town’s operations. Joshua’s favorite was the blacksmith, a grandfatherly gentleman with a gentle, teaching spirit. Joshua repeated a swinging motion and “bam, bam, bam!” frequently following that moment of the trip.

In the afternoon, we headed down to North Carolina, for Joel to do his work client visit and for Kristen (and Joshua) to visit her family.