D.C. - Day Three

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Day Three!!!! Okay, so I just get plain giddy about D.C. I could go on and on and on about all the wonderful things about our beloved capitol - the history, the beauty, the monuments/memorials, the museums, the Metro, the food! Oh yes, and did I mention that most of it is FREE?!

We started out today on the Metro (the best rapid transit system in the world as far as I am concerned) from Maryland and got off at Union Station. K and I purchased our tickets for the Tourmobile hop-on hop-off tour. We grabbed a cup of Joe and off we went. Our first stop was Washington Monument. We purchased our National Parks Passports and got our cancellation stamps.

After Washington Monument, we went to Jefferson Memorial, Arlington National Cemetery and then we went to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. The Holocaust Museum was incredible. It was very informative. K had a hard time getting her mind around some of it but for the most part it was a great history lesson for her.

We hopped back on the bus and hit FDR's Memorial (see pic above), Lincoln Memorial and the White House Visitors Center. This is where it gets exciting. While we were waiting for the bus to come back, we walked down to the kiosks in front of the White House to get a t-shirt. Just as we were going to walk back accross the street the secret service and police shut down the intersection. Guess who was coming in?!?!? You got it...Obama. Not that I am excited about him personally, but to see the P of the U.S. is pretty darned exciting.

We ended our day in the district with a trip to the Smithsonian Museum of American History. There is a ton of great American history here. We saw the Battle of Baltimore, which is the almost 200-year old, 30-by 34-foot flag is displayed in a special environmentally-controlled chamber. No pictures allowed. We saw Dorothy's red slippers from the Wizard of Oz, the hat Lincoln was wearing when he was shot and Julia Child's original kitchen show set is rebuilt exactly the way it was on the show!!! Great museum. Oh yeah, did I say it was FREE?!

We hopped back on the Metro and got off at the Rockville Centre stop and Maryland. K and I had dinner at Gordon Biersch. The best garlic fries in the whole wide world! What a way to end a day!