Washington D.C.

Steve and I took our first trip to the nation's capital about a week ago. We used our free tickets and hotel points, so other than food and tour bus fare - our trip was free!

We left Thursday night and flew through the night, arriving at our hotel around 9am. Our room (in the fabulous 5-star hotel which has hosted every president since Lincoln) was not yet ready so they held our bags while we explored the city.
First stops: a glimpse of the White House. Less impressive than we expected. The National Christmas Tree (unfortunately not yet "done up" for the season). The Washington Monument. Here we were lucky to join the 9:30 tour group which had a couple extra tickets. Tickets are free but we would have had to wait until about 12:30 otherwise. So we hitched a ride on the elevator and enjoyed a fantastic view of the city.
Next we walked to the Lincoln Memorial. It was much further than we thought and we were going on almost no sleep so we were pretty tired by the time we climbed those steps, but it was worth it. We love Lincoln. After checking out the WWII and Vietnam Memorials, we received a call from our hotel. Our room was ready! We took a much-needed 4-hour nap after downing as much water as possible (I'm pretty sure I was mild-to-moderately dehydrated).
Woke up in time for dinner and tried a sandwich place called "Potbelly's". Just what we needed to perk us up for the Smithsonian American Art and Portrait Gallery. I think this was our favorite museum/gallery experience. We were especially excited to find an old friend hanging on the wall. (Joseph Smith)

Our last stop before turning in for the night was a CVS pharmacy. We purchased a case of water bottles for $6 so we wouldn't have to spend $2 per bottle on the street. We felt pretty thrifty. Then we fell asleep.

Day 2

Breakfast at "The Corner Bakery" (literally on the corner opposite our hotel). Bought tickets for a city tour bus which took us to Arlington National Cemetery. My favorite part was the guard in front of the tomb for the unknown solider.

After Arlington, we saw the original Magna Carta, Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights in the National Archives. Breezed through some Smithsonians - American History (we liked the trains), Natural History (not as cool as the movie - Night at the Museum - guess we should have come at night). Got some lunch at a museum cafe. Holocaust Museum - well done, though I think the actual concentration camp in Germany was a bit more sobering. Dinner.
Our bus tickets included a night tour which we loved (despite the cold). It was fun to see all the monuments lit up at night, especially the Lincoln Memorial. How do they make him so bright?!
Then time for bed (Our feet were killing us by the end of each day. Lots of walking.)

Day 3

We slept in, had a late breakfast. There was some huge gay rights event all over the city so our bus was not running, so more walking! Checked out the Freer and Sackler Galleries, African Art gallery. Lunch at the Air and Space Museum (didn't stay long since we've been to similar places before). American Indian Museum. We kicked ourselves for wasting our appetites at McDonalds because they had authentic American Indian cuisine here which we were too full to sample. But the exhibits were nice.

National Art Gallery. HUGE but by now my feet were so tired I couldn't enjoy the whole building. We did see the only da Vinci painting in America though. And this armored horse (pictured above) which I was apparently NOT supposed to take a picture of. Oops.

Walked through the house where Lincoln died. Ford's Theater was closed but we looked at the outside of it... Dinner at a nice Italian restaurant. Biggest plate of spaghetti EVER. Time for bed.

Day 4

Pretty much just got up, had breakfast, and went to the airport. Traveled all day. Arrived home tired but happy at the end of our trip! We both loved the history of D.C. We loved seeing American flags everywhere. It was a great experience and we highly recommend it!