Friday morning the alarm went off at 1am.
Yes...1am. I think Luke and I got got a solid 4-5 hours of sleep.
When we booked our flights, we thought we'd get an early flight so we could maximize our time when we arrived. Yeah....it all sounded like a good idea at the time.
Friday morning at 1am I was thinking we are totally insane in the membrane! We did contemplate heading down to a hotel near the airport on Thursday evening, and we looked (and looked) for good deals. Nothing. I didn't want to waste an extra $150 for a hotel we'd only be sleeping in for 6 hours. I also couldn't stomach sleeping in some seedy motel near the airport and risk getting bed bugs in our luggage and whatever else came along.
Our goal was to be out of the house by 2am and we were shutting the garage door at 1:55am. It was a proud moment. All of us were showered and out the door on time! That never happens. (Really---that never happens.)
We arrived at the LAX Quik Park around 3:30am and we were dropped off at LAX by 4am. Perfect!
We checked in for flight online on Thursday morning, but for some reason we couldn't pre-pay the luggage fee. We only checked my suitcase, so that process was relatively quick once we got to the ticket line. I was a little surprised how busy the airport was at 4am. Of course, it is LAX.
Our flight left at 6am and our connecting flight was in Chicago. To Chicago, Luke and Wiggy had seats next to each other. One row up and across the aisle, Bubba and Tubbs sat next to each other. I sat in a window seat three rows behind them. I had complete silence and no children bugging me for my soda, or asking me for treats. We flew American Airlines and it was so nice because each seat had their own screen and charger in front of them. I was able to watch some TV shows and played Solitaire. The time flew by! The flight from Chicago wasn't as fabulous, but thankfully I caught a little nap, so all was good. I also got to sit next to Bubba on our connecting flight, so that was nice. Tubbs decided he's take the 5th seat which was seated off somewhere else on the plane. I guess he needed some solitude too. :)
We arrived at Reagan Airport in Washington DC around 4:30pm. We rode a hotel shuttle to the Hyatt in Crystal City, Virginia. The hotel was only a few 10 minutes away, so that was nice! We opted not to get a rental car yet because we knew we'd be doing the DC Trails hop on/off bus tour through the city or riding the subway to get where we needed to go for a few days.
A
fter we checked into the hotel, we attempted to get on the DC Trails night tour of DC, but the bus never came to pick us up at 6:30pm. We were disappointed but decided to walk around and grab some dinner instead. After dinner we did end up taking the subway north and walked around near the White House.
Day 2 - Saturday
We survived day one!
Unfortunately, we were so tired from Friday's travels (and losing three hours) that on Saturday morning we slept in til 11am. We didn't mean to, so when Luke woke up and realized what time it was, we all jumped out of bed and hustled to get showered and ready. We caught a hotel shuttle to nearest metro station and caught the subway north. By the time we grabbed breakfast/lunch, we didn't start the bus tour until 1pm. Half the day was gone and the tour buses stop running at 5pm. :(
We did make the most of the day. Thankfully the weather was pretty decent. It was sunny and humid, but not as bad as it could've been. We sat on top of the double decker bus, slathered in sunscreen.
As we drove by the Washington Monument, Luke was pointing everything out but I was entranced by all the food trucks parked across the street! There must have been over 20 of them...in a row! I was dreaming about all the wonderful food I'd be able to try. Sadly, it never came to fruition because we never came back to the monument.
The capitol building was under some renovations, so there was scaffolding all around the dome on top.
We ended up getting off the bus around stop 13, which was the Lincoln Monument. We stopped there first and then made our way to all of the war memorials.
We went to the Vietnam War Memorial first. We found the name of a friend's (Matt Montana) father, as well as two of my dad's high school classmates. It was very hard to hold the tears back as you watch the different vets and families walk around the wall quietly, looking for names. It was an experience I will always remember. It was an amazing opportunity come here with the family.
Next was the World War II Memorial. It was so beautiful!
Luke has been to DC a few times before, but this memorial is relatively new, so this was a first for all of us.
The Korean War Memorial was also very interesting to see in person. As we were leaving, we saw a vet with a Korean War hat on, proudly getting his photo taken by family. That made a tear come to my eye again.
Saturday night we did the DC Trails night tour of DC, which started at 7pm. When we started the tour we realized that many of the stops we were going to make were where we spent the majority of the day..at the war memorials. That was a bummer...but at the same time, I am glad that we got to see everything we did see, in daylight. From the top of the bus we did enjoy the cooler weather, once the sun went down.
The White House had several snipers up on the roof at all times. That must be an interesting job. The dude standing in front of us behind the little gates must see a lot of weird stuff too. While we were standing there some teenager asked if he could just touch the White House real quick.
Franklin Roosevelt Memorial.
Wiggy liked the little dog. :)
US Marines Memorial
Day 3 - Sunday
We woke up at a decent hour and caught the subway north to Arlington. From there we caught the DC Trails hop on/off tour bus and headed to the Smithsonian.
When you get to Arlington you can pay for the bus tour or walk it on your own. The wait for the bus tour through the cemetary was an hour, so we decided to walk. We walked up to where JFK and his wife were buried. It was quite a little hike up the hill, but it was a nice little area. His two brothers are buried right down the way from him.
We watched the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Luke has been talking about this forever, so I am thankful we had the opportunity to watch. When it was time for the soldiers to switch a female came out to speak and announce the changing of the guard. Luke said this was the first time he has seen a female do this part, but who knows how long they've been doing it.
After getting off the DC Trails bus we headed to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum first. It was really neat, especially after seeing the movie "A Night at the Museum -Battle of the Smithsonian." So many things looked familiar, which made it more fun.
We saw the original United States flag that flew over Fort McHenry and was the basis for the lyrics of "The Star Spangled Banner." We couldn't snap photos of the flag because it was in this dark area to protect it from the light. I am really glad we made this stop. Luke said when he was last there 15 years ago, it was up in the front entrance of the museum.
Inside the butterfly sanctuary. It was a waste of $25 but Wiggy was happy.
A few of the butterflies liked my straw hat.
I had to include a photo of Tubbs' poor finger. A few days before we left for vacation he was biting his fingernails and one of them must have become infected. By Sunday it was so red and swollen I was getting worried. We called MDLive, from inside the Smithsonian and managed to get a doctor to call us back later that evening. Tubbs got a prescription called in and after the finger drained, he was feeling much better! We were trying to find an Urgent Care but it was the weekend, we had no car....so I am thankful for the MDLive benefit.
Sunday evening we sat in front of the Smithsonian Castle, waiting for the doctor to call us back. While waiting, Wiggy was dancing through the incredible garden. Somehow she put her purse down somewhere and forgot about it. She had $41 cash in it--which we never saw again. We didn't realize she left her purse until we were on the subway headed to dinner.
Day 4 - Monday (Our last day in DC)
So much left to see and do, but we had to pick and choose carefully. We packed up the bags early while Luke went to pick up the rental car at 8am. We checked out of the hotel by 9am and headed to breakfast at "Founding Fathers." Luke dropped us off while he went to find a parking spot--which he never found. So we ate quickly and took his food to go. That was a bummer. Thankfully we had a reservation, so we were seated right away. We ordered quickly and got our food within 10 minutes.
Luke picked us up in front of the restaurant and we headed to Ford's Theater two miles away. We had bought tickets for the 10:30 performance, so we hustled over as quickly as possible. A park ranger stands up on the stage and talks about all of the events that transpired, involving the assassination of President Lincoln. After 45 minutes were were able to leave the theater and take photos in the musum downstairs.
The balcony above the kids, with the draping flag, was where Lincoln was sitting when he was shot. It was really interesting to hear all of the details from that time and how it all happened.
Across the street from the theater was the home where Lincoln died, so we headed over there for a quick photo.There was a long line of students waiting to go in, so we opted not to wait.
We walked back to the Smithsonian to see if anyone turned in Wiggy's purse, but no luck. We also went to the National Archives and saw the original, signed copy of the US Constitution and Bill of Rights. No photography was allowed in the entire building, so no pictures....sadly. :)
We caught the hop on/off tour bus back to the car and then drove up to Bethesda see the Washington DC LDS Temple. It was about a 30 minute drive and it was amazing! It's so beautiful it looks fake! I couldn't believe it!
After leaving the temple we were struggling with what to do with the remainder of the afternoon since we drove out of DC. We ate a late lunch at La Madeleine's cafe in Bethesda and then left our car up the road to catch the subway to the Nationals game. I am glad we took the subway because parking at the game was going to be PRICEY!
We really enjoyed the game and I was glad we went. Tubbs has been a closet Nationals fan for about a year, so he took this opportunity to get himself a ball cap. Bubba is Chicago Cubs fan, so it was fun to have them play each other.
The game ended around 10pm and we caught the subway back to the car. That took another 30 minutes. We drove for about 90 minutes to Hagerstown, Maryland, which is where we stayed for the night! On to our next adventure...the NFL Hall of Fame in Ohio.
Goodbye Washington DC. We had a great time and wish we had more of it to explore. I loved how family friendly the city was and it was so clean! I do hope we have the chance to go back and check out all of the stuff we didn't have time to do.
That Stop Wasn't On My Itinerary....
So the Hogue's made it to Florida for our first official family vacation. It was Sawyer's first plane ride....and Simon's first plane ride that he can remember. We were excited....the boys were stoked. We had everything we needed! But it seems that Sawyer packed something with him that wasn't on our checklist: a big case of pneumonia. Yes, the little fella made it almost one whole day in Florida before he started heading downhill fast. Our 2nd day in Orlando we were in the Urgent Care south of Cocoa Beach. (By the way, to see a doctor more quickly, it helps if you vomit all over the waiting room in front of the receptionist. Little tip for ya) After chest x-rays they advised us to head to the ER in Melbourne, where they eventually admitted him to the hospital. So, we had 3 night deluxe accommadations at the Holmes Regional Medical Center. The little whipper snapper was a trooper though! The nurses loved him, thankfully, and made us all feel right at home. We were going to send postcards out with pictures of the hospital since we spent 40% of our trip there...but they didn't have any. Imagine that!Hmmm.....maybe its something they should consider.
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