Washington DC

This year in school, M has been learning about iconic American symbols (redundant, huh?). She comes home bursting with newly instilled facts about presidents, landmarks, famous Americans, and sometimes very interesting facts....by interesting, I mean, things like Lincoln getting shot in the head with a bow and arrow. I think she might be just a little off on that story....

 

Anyway, since we live just a little over two hours away from DC and I had built up some Hampton points, I thought it would be fun to spend a couple days over spring break (also her birthday) exploring some of the places she was learning about. Living close to DC, I was fairly comfortable getting around having been on several family trips and loads of school field trips there.

 

Our original plans were thwarted by both of us becoming sick and a winter storm that decided to invade our spring. We had to postpone our trip for a few days and ended up cramming a three day trip into two. But we managed to make it to all our must-sees.

 

We arrived at our hotel just about rush hour on Friday night, not an ideal time for driving but it wasn't as bad as I had feared. We were treated on arrival by fresh chocolate chip cookies....nice touch! That gave me time to unpack before someone died of starvation!

We decided to spend our Saturday at the National Zoo since it was forecasted to be a beautiful day.

M is a rock star about walking and had no problems with the half mile walk from the metro. The zoo was not crowded when we arrived but by the time we left, it was getting pretty miserable.

One of the craziest things at the National Zoo is this O-Line. I noticed the towers and wires early on in the day but didn't realize what they were. We sat down for a snack at a picnic area and suddenly heard a commotion. We looked over and saw an orangutan climbing the tower and then just swinging on the ropes over our heads. It was breathtaking.

M's favorite animal in the world is the mighty lion. She loves it because it's from Africa, it's a cat (she's somewhat of a cat whisperer), and it's fearless.

The lions did absolutely nothing while we were there but M was completely mesmerized.

She begged to ride the carousel and I decided to ride with her. It's a beautiful carousel.

Someone was already riding the lion, so M settled for a cheetah instead. This was okay because cheetahs are fast and she won the carousel race. At least that's what she claims....I think my whooping crane would have won if he'd stuck his neck out!

There is a huge kid's section at the National Zoo....it wasn't too thrilling from an animal standpoint - we drive past cows, goats, pigs, etc. every day. But the giant pizza made from foam was a huge hit. Sliding down a slice of cheese, stacking mushrooms, climbing on top of tomatoes....it was a nice break from all the walking.

I had told M that she could pick a stuffed version of her favorite animal and she naturally chose a lion...."a daddy lion". Good thing it had a sturdy tail, made it a lot easier carrying it around the city.

By the time we left the zoo, it was getting quite crowded. There are a lot of hills at the zoo and we ended up backtracking several times which left us tired and grumpy but we mostly had a lot of fun.

We stayed in Fairfax, only 5 miles from Vienna metro station...a quick five minute drive and then metro the rest of the way. M loved the metro and was excited that I let her carry her own card.

M was so excited to see all the memorials and monuments in DC. On Sunday, we got up early and hopped on the metro attempting to beat the rain (we did!). We had to walk about 7 blocks from the metro to the Lincoln Memorial and as the Washington Monument started peeking through the side streets, I told M to stand still and then slowly turned her around to see....she was so excited!!! I asked her to pose for a picture and this is what she gave me - her impression of the Monument. Love this girl!

Our first stop was the Vietnam Memorial. While M does not understand the gravity of this memorial, she did learn about it in school and understood that it could be an emotional place for people. I'm pretty sure she was the only kid (probably the only person, period) there that was chattering about Maya Lin and Scruggs. I'm completely sure she was the only one that found the long walkway a perfect place to do cartwheels. Needless to say, we didn't linger here!

The Lincoln Memorial is massive. The Vietnam Memorial is simple and understated, the Lincoln Memorial is awe-inspiring. I've been several times and I don't remember it being that big. I had also never been in the small museum in the basement. Watching videos of MLK's "I have a dream" speech and then walking out and standing on those same steps...me a pink mother, holding hands with a brown daughter. Well, it was emotional. I saw things a bit differently than previous visits.

I think M was a bit blown away by the size of Abe Lincoln.

 

 

We had not planned to stop at the Korean War Memorial (she has not learned anything about that) but it was on our way and it is very eye-catching. I had never seen it before either and enjoyed exploring it. I would love to go back when the fountains are on.

 

The Martin Luther King Jr Memorial was one of our must-sees. Another one I'd never been to (it's only a couple years old). Wow! Impressive. You approach it from behind and just are not prepared for the stunning edifice...it is magnificent. The whole memorial is simple but awesome.

And you thought Lincoln was tall.......

There are quotes all along the wall. I love this one, it's more of a challenge, a charge.

There is a good view of the tidal basin and the Jefferson Memorial. Too bad the sun was hiding. We were also just a few days ahead of the cherry blossoms. So sad.

We breezed through the WWII Memorial. It was another one I'd never seen and hadn't planned to stop but we had to walk through it or around it, so why not? We plan to go back when the fountains are on. M had a hard time understanding why her two grandfathers' names were not here. It was difficult to explain to her that, if her grandfathers' names had been there, she would not be there with me.

The Washington Monument is currently fenced off as they repair earthquake damage.

Our last stop of the weekend was the Smithsonian's Museum of Natural History. It was so unbelievably crowded that it was difficult to see a whole lot, so we just hit some of the high points. We decided to do a session in the butterfly pavilion (yes, you have to pay). Our session was 15 minutes long and we lasted less than 3. M had an all-out panic attack when butterflies started fluttering around her. She did not want them to land on her. Sigh. At least she enjoyed the 3D IMAX movie about butterflies....

Our favorite exhibit was the mammals, especially the African animals. Very lifelike and placed in very natural situations. (Did you know lions had armpit hair?)

Lovely, lovely.

Of course, the semi-aquatic egg-laying mammal of action was a hit (cue music!).

The museum was so crowded (and complicated by some dignitary with a hoard of secret service men), so we did not spend long there. When we left, it was finally raining but it was a short walk to the metro station. We were sad to leave but had a great time and got comfortable learning our way around. We will be back frequently. No excuses not to.