Washington DC

Note: This was supposed to be posted Thursday but the third post still needs approval. Hopefully I can post that one on Thursday. If not, just know that Scott got sick before we flew out of Chicago on Saturday night so we stayed an extra night.

Vacation Installment #4: Washington DC

Congratulations on making it to the last one!

We got to our hotel at 3am on Monday morning but still managed to wake up in time for our tour of Ford's Theater. We've both recently read Team of Rivals (I would HIGHLY recommend it to anyone), watched Lincoln and The Conspirators, and are genuinely interested in politics/history so we loved this tour. The hour audio tour took about 2 hours because we listened to every audio blurb AND read everything that was on the walls... Nice.

These are some artifacts from Lincoln's family. A toy sword and other things.

(I know these pictures are horrible but if I don't post them I'll have nothing interesting to talk about!)

The boot John Wilkes Booth was wearing when he jumped off the balcony after murdering Lincoln. He broke his ankle and it caused his boot to split.

The balcony where the Lincoln's were watching the play that night.

The Petersen House where Lincoln actually died. It was right across the street.

We got to see it (and the rest of DC) with about 1000+ junior high kids. Nice.

The bed where Lincoln died.

After our gluttony of Lincoln we went to the Smithsonian's Natural History Museum. Scott was most excited for this big blue whale.

We loved the elephant there.

They had a display there with award winning photographs and they were amazing. 

This is of Yosemite Valley.

The Mall was simply beautiful and with such nice weather we had a wonderful walk to the Air and Space Museum.

A very old plane. (By this time I was exhausted and could hardly walk so Scott is really the one who looked around and saw the cool stuff.)

 A moon rover picture for my nephew Caleb who LOVES space.

 Tuesday morning we went to the Newseum. It's relatively new and dedicated to the First Amendment and all things news related. We loved it.

This picture was taken on their top floor and as you can see by our dress it was relatively warm!

One of the radio control towers from the top of a World Trade Center building. It was destroyed in the Sept 11 attack.

Shoes from that guy who tried to blow up an airplane but it didn't work.

The Unabomber's cabin.

 Our favorite display was where they had rows and rows of newspapers from about 1200BC. They even had the Times and Seasons from when Joseph Smith was killed.

A media truck from the recent wars in the Middle East.

 Parts of the Berlin Wall.

 Since I can't think straight anymore I thought the White House was close enough to walk to. By the time we got there I sat on a bench and Scott walked around to take pictures.

 Hi Obamas!

By Wednesday I could hardly walk anymore so instead of staying inside all day we decided to take a bus tour of the city and surrounding area.

The Supreme Court was hearing about DOMA or Prop 8 and it was a mad house in front. When we went by the next day though it was deserted!

The bus tour even took us around the Georgetown area and we got to see the National Cathedral.

The Washington Monument that was under construction.

Scott stayed out on Wednesday night to take some night photos. I was nervous about him being outside in the dark but

there were plenty of junior high kids to keep him safe. 

The Jefferson Memorial.

The Washington Monument.

The new Martin Luther King Jr Memorial.

On Thursday morning we had our Capitol tour and it was really good.

This is the ceiling of the Rotunda.

Around the Rotunda there are historical depictions that were interesting. Our tour guide was really awesome and told us about each scene. I think this is John Smith and the Indians.

California has a statue of Ronald Reagan and Father Juniper Sierra.

A crooked yet satisfactory picture in front of the Capitol.

The dome from the outside. 

OK, this is actually the front and the picture of us was taken at the back. Whatever!

 Thursday afternoon we went to Arlington Cemetery.

 There we were able to see 2 wreaths places at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers and also the changing of the guards.

A monument to those who died in the Challenger explosion.

Thursday evening we changed hotels to be closer to Dulles and hung out for a while before getting an early night's sleep. We caught an early flight back to SFO and were home in time for lunch! It was an awesome but exhausting vacation. 

Word to the wise: if you want to take a babymoon or whatever go somewhere that isn't cold and doesn't require much effort. I walked until I couldn't move anymore during these 2 weeks. It took me quite a while to recover. Pregnant women probably shouldn't be spending much time where you need a swimsuit but perhaps that would have been the more relaxing option...