Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Day 2: Washington DC

D.C. was a blast. We had three full days and ran full speed into what the city had to offer our family.

Now, D.C. hotels are expensive. New York City expensive. I decided instead of forking over the money to stay centrally, we would find a more reasonable hotel outside of the District of Columbia located near a Metro Station with direct access to D.C. We opted for the Hilton Garden Inn at Bethesda, MD. Two blocks from the Metro and right next to Downtown Bethesda’s restaurant district.

Little Bird loved the Metro. She was very concerned about making sure we didn’t miss our stop but it was pretty much her favorite.

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So our standard day, we would wake up, eat something quickly, and board the Metro at Bethesda Station for the 18-22 minute commute to The National Mall.

 Washington Monument covered in scaffolding due to repairs from the August 2011 earthquake in D.C.

 

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We arrived two days after the Cherry Blossom Festival’s main festivities. The trees were still in bloom and beautiful.

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World War II Memorial between the Washington Monument and Reflection Pool. This was the largest of the war memorials we visited. Trying to teach a 3 year old about being quiet and respectful in something that looks cool and echoes was difficult, but it was a beautiful memorial.

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Walking along the Reflection Pool towards Lincoln.

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The Lincoln Memorial…

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…and it’s many steps

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The Smithsonian Museum of Natural History

(which is free)

It is always hard to pass up an opportunity to see dinosaurs. Little Bird’s favorite was of course, the bird statue that looked like Kevin from Up.

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The Smithsonian’s main building was easily my favorite building in D.C. The sandstone castle was just breathtaking from every angle.

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And OF COURSE we had cupcakes from a Georgetown Cupcake in Bethesda, because it was within walking distance of the hotel. It’s hard to say no to amazing cupcakes.

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