I figured that the best way to represent our trip in blog form was to give each full day its own post. The days spent here were long, busy, interesting, fun, and consisted of walking like 12 miles. I felt like I was on a walking marathon. One mistake we made was to pick a hotel a little too far from a metro station. We could take the bus to the metro in the morning (it came every hour or so), but what we didn't know until we got there was that it doesn't run in the evenings. So, we ended up walking for about 25 minutes to our hotel after walking all over DC all day. If you plan a trip to DC, my advice would be to stay very close to a metro, even if it costs a little extra, it would be worth it. Other than the bus thing, the public transportation there was all we needed to get us where we wanted to go. The metro seemed a little quirky at times and we always seemed to have to wait around 19 minutes for the next one when we were in a hurry. But, hey, it's a metro system and I tend to love metro systems. I wish I lived in a place that had one!
I think that the next time we go there, we will probably want to rent a car for a few days and check out some of the surrounding areas (including going to Baltimore and eating crab cakes for every meal). All in all it was a fun trip and a great introduction to our capitol. There is so much to see and do there, I imagine that most people probably leave wishing they had more time to see it all, myself included. My aunt and grandma once spent 3 full weeks there and couldn't see it all. I have a friend that lives there now, so she's got a shot of seeing more than most. Pretty much all the museums and sights are free to get into which is amazing! I thought that they would charge something to get in and was surprised to find that they were free. Some require advance notice and/or waiting in lines, but that's it. We emailed our congress person to be on the list for the Supreme Court, the Capitol, and the White House. We got in the Supreme Court and the Capitol, but weren't able to take a tour of the White House. We'll try again next time!
Anyway, ok, Day 1. Here's what we did:
1) Stand in line to go to the Holocaust Museum and the Bureau of Engraving
2) Holocaust Museum
3) Supreme Court tour
4) Run around outside Capitol
5) Library of Congress
6) Bureau of Engraving and Printing
7) Chinatown
Here are some pictures of the Holocaust Museum. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside most of it. It was a very powerful exhibit. The building itself was designed in such a way that it added to the feel of the place and of the immense loss caused by these horrific events. It was unbelievable. Something that stuck with us, among other things, was a sign that said, "It happened, therefore it can happen again." Let's hope that's not true.
As you enter the main exhibit, you are given a passport of a person alive during the time of the Holocaust. Each guest follows the life of the person in his/her passport and their true story. There is an exhibit where there are thousands of shoes from people who were killed. I imagined the people that wore those shoes and what happened to them. There were pictures of the medical experiments done on the prisoners. It is hard to imagine how people can be so cruel.
After leaving the museum, we traveled to the east end of the mall to the Supreme Court. We all agreed that the Supreme Court was one of the highlights of the trip. Cameras are not allowed in the courtroom at any time, which is why we see drawings of the court events in the news. We sat in the audience and listened to our guide who told us all about the Supreme Court and what happens when it is in session. It was interesting to hear how the court works and what takes place there. They have to hear the toughest of the tough cases and make hard decisions. We felt respect for the highest of courts and proud to be part of this system of government.
Fun around the Capitol!
The Library of Congress is a VERY impressive building. It is gorgeous inside. A must visit!
Our tour of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing was a good time. It was fun to watch them make money and to see such large stacks of cash!
She's a little taller than me... ok, a lot. ;)
Off to Chinatown for dinner!
Kennedy's burial site:
Lincoln rules!
