4 Days in Washington DC About This Page:

[Cam22]

I really like the Sonata!

[shazza]

The Sonata is a beautiful sedan. I would say you deserve a new car - 15 years is doing very well your precious car.

[Huntermom]

Just caught up. It's sounds like a great trip. I love your hotel. My family always does well if we have some kitchen facilities-it makes a healthy breakfast so easy. And it's a great way to keep drinks and fruit for snacking (I had three teens at one time so this was a huge money saver.)

[HollyH]

Originally Posted by Cam22

I really like the Sonata!

I love my new Sonata ! It is a great car.

Originally Posted by shazza

The Sonata is a beautiful sedan. I would say you deserve a new car - 15 years is doing very well your precious car.

I really like the looks of the Sonata, and with the excellent gas mileage, great warranty and added features, it's a great car for me. I got my money's worth out of my old car for sure, but it was time for it to go.

Originally Posted by Huntermom

Just caught up. It's sounds like a great trip. I love your hotel. My family always does well if we have some kitchen facilities-it makes a healthy breakfast so easy. And it's a great way to keep drinks and fruit for snacking (I had three teens at one time so this was a huge money saver.)

We've become spoiled with having kitchen facilities with our DVC stays and we really prefer having them if it's an option for all the reasons you have mentioned.

Well, my car is home, registered and insured, and I've been having a blast driving it. But now I can get back to my TR (and will hopefully finish it before my next trip to mid-coast Maine in less than a week ). I'm currently struggling with Photobucket but hope to have an update posted shortly.

[HollyH]

A Tactical Error and My Favorite Museum of the Trip

After touring the Air and Space museum and enjoying lunch at the food court in the Native American Museum, we re-boarded the trolley and remained on the tour for several stops:

Stop 7 The Holocaust Memorial Museum and the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.





Notice that the entrance to the Holocaust Memorial Museum is small and dark -a symbol of the very dark period in history that is portrayed inside its walls. The statue out front is a twisted and broken swastika.

Stop 8 The Jefferson Memorial





Stop 9 The FDR Memorial and the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial

Stop 10 The Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the Korean War Memorial, the World War II Memorial (and the transfer point for Arlington National Cemetery.



We caught a glimpse of the White House.



By not getting off at these trolley stops is where we made a tactical error. We had decided that, as we were going to take the Monuments by Moonlight tour, we would continue on the trolley to our next museum and then revisit any memorials we wanted to spend more time at later in the trip. (Warning -this is a slight spoiler for the Monuments by Moonlight tour.) While we enjoyed the evening tour, it didn’t really offer enough time to tour all the memorials to the extent that we wanted to. That wouldn’t have been a big deal as we had time to return however the memorials are not very accessible via public transportation. The Smithsonian museums are very accessible via public transportation. If you are considering a similar trip, learn from our mistake –use the trolley transportation to visit any memorials you want to see. If you don’t get to all the museums on your trolley day, don’t worry. It is easy enough to take the Metro back to the National Mall area to visit the museums.

We disembarked the trolley at stop 11, The National Museum of American History.



This would prove to be my favorite museum of the trip! One of the first displays we saw was a diorama of the 1964 World’s Fair. This display was in the museum lobby as it was the 50th anniversary of the fair. As a Disney fan, I knew a bit about Walt Disney’s contributions to the Fair but I was not aware that the Ford Mustang was also introduced at the Fair in 1964.







I was fascinated by this museum, seeing all of the artifacts and displays that somehow played a role in the history of the United States. More than once, I felt overwhelmed by the fact that I was looking at the actual items that played an important part in the history of our country. There were so many things that fascinated me that I cannot even begin to name them all. One of the most moving things for me was the actual flag that inspired Frances Scott Key to write The Star Spangled Banner. No photographs were allowed in the room where the flag was displayed.



A few other things that caught my eye:
Lincoln’s hat (worn the night he was assassinated).



The Greensboro Lunch counter (site of the student sit-in in 1960)



Apple II computer





Archie Bunker’s chair





Dr. Fielding's file cabinet (broken into by “the Plumbers”)





Section of the Berlin Wall





An early Teddy Bear






I hesitate to include these photos as they seem such a tiny and insignificant representation of all the treasures to be found here. I even got to the point that I stopped taking photos and just enjoyed all of the displays. I know that I can’t begin to describe all there is to see in this museum. I could have spent days here! If you are at all interested in American History, allow plenty of time for this museum.

We left the American History Museum around 4:30 and took the trolley back to the first stop (passing stop 12 the National Museum of Natural History and stop 13 Newseum and The National Gallery of Art).

We were pretty tired and hungry by this time. We stopped for an early dinner at a spot on F St. called the Gordon Biersh Brewery. I can’t recall what Ted ate, but I know Josh and I had Kobe burgers. We each had their signature garlic fries –which were just delicious! We all enjoyed our meals.

We took the Metro back to our hotel, stopping at a CVS store near the Metro station to purchase beverages, cereal and snacks for our hotel room.

It was a long and very full day. We relaxed in our room for a bit and went to bed at a reasonable hour. Tomorrow we would have an early start to our day.

Up Next: Day 2 Lions, Tigers and Panda Bears: The National Zoo

[lauriep]

Very useful tip about seeing the monuments using the trolley and museums with public transportation. Glad you enjoyed the museum so much. There's definitely way too much to see there for one visit. I'd have enjoyed the 1964 Worlds Fair exhibit as I was there and loved it. This was a really full day!

[xwewhisper]

Sorry about the monuments but great tip for future travels. I love the dc zoo so I'm excited for the next update

[shazza]

Great update. I was really enjoying your photos of the American History Museum, but I also understand why you would just want to soak up the exhibits.

[Cam22]

I would love the American History Museum. My Dad taught US History and so did I (for the first 11 years of my teaching career). Thanks for the advice on using the trolley to see the memorials.

[Huntermom]

Because we had family in Bethesda, we visited DC very regulaly. No matter how many times my kids went, the American History Museum was always a must do (along with Natural History and the Zoo).

You are right, you could spend an entire vacation in there.

[pamcarey]

Great update! I visited the American History Museum in 1989, and I still remember the flag and Archie Bunker's chair.

[chezp]

I have heard nothing but great things about the American History Museum - whenever we make it back to DC, we need to go there.

[Colexis Mom]

Just getting caught up again! Congrats on the new car! I think the American History museum is our favorite as well. Love Julia Child's kitchen (and their food court is good too)! More please!

[HollyH]

Originally Posted by lauriep

Very useful tip about seeing the monuments using the trolley and museums with public transportation. Glad you enjoyed the museum so much. There's definitely way too much to see there for one visit. I'd have enjoyed the 1964 Worlds Fair exhibit as I was there and loved it. This was a really full day!

In fairness, you can use public transportation to get to the monuments but it involves buses (in my experience buses take a lot longer and are more difficult to navigate than the subway) and transfers. I also want to note that my photos might give the wrong impression of where the trolley stop was. The trolley would have let us off much closer to the Lincoln Memorial, not in the area shown in my photo.

It was a very full day but we enjoyed it very much!

Originally Posted by xwewhisper

Sorry about the monuments but great tip for future travels. I love the dc zoo so I'm excited for the next update

We didn't do a comprehensive tour of the zoo, but I don't think you'll be disappointed. We had a great visit.

Originally Posted by shazza

Great update. I was really enjoying your photos of the American History Museum, but I also understand why you would just want to soak up the exhibits.

There was so much to take in at this Museum! I sort of laughed when I reviewed my photos to see the random things I had taken photos of.

Originally Posted by Cam22

I would love the American History Museum. My Dad taught US History and so did I (for the first 11 years of my teaching career). Thanks for the advice on using the trolley to see the memorials.

I'm betting that you will love the American History Museum! I'm a little mad at myself that I hadn't realized ahead of time that the transportation via the Metro would have been better for the museums than the Memorials. The Metro's website tools are so good, it should have been something I caught before the trip.

Originally Posted by Huntermom

Because we had family in Bethesda, we visited DC very regulaly. No matter how many times my kids went, the American History Museum was always a must do (along with Natural History and the Zoo).

You are right, you could spend an entire vacation in there.

Those were our 3 favorite places on the trip, and I would return to all of them on any future D.C. trips.

Originally Posted by pamcarey

Great update! I visited the American History Museum in 1989, and I still remember the flag and Archie Bunker's chair.

I remember Archie Bunker's chair from my visit in 1983.

Originally Posted by chezp

I have heard nothing but great things about the American History Museum - whenever we make it back to DC, we need to go there.

The American History Museum is a fascinating place and I would highly recommend a visit.

Originally Posted by Colexis Mom

Just getting caught up again! Congrats on the new car! I think the American History museum is our favorite as well. Love Julia Child's kitchen (and their food court is good too)! More please!

I really liked Julia Child's kitchen. I never realized how tall she was! We didn't visit the food court here, but we did enjoy the food court at the Natural History Museum and we would definitely visit that one again. More coming right up .

[HollyH]

The National Zoo Part 1 -Pandas

We were up early today (Sunday) as our goal was to be at the Metro Station by 7:30 am. The grounds of the National Zoo open at 6:00 am but the exhibit buildings do not open until 10:00 am. Our number one goal for the zoo was to see the pandas, and especially the 11 month old cub Bao Bao. In my research, I had found that the best panda viewing hours were between 8-2 ,and as I have always found that fewer people arrive early to tourist attractions, being at the pandas by 8:00 am was our goal.

We did well on our timetable and were at the Metro station close to 7:15 am. We rode to the Metro to the Woodley Park station and exited via the longest escalator I’ve ever seen! It was long and steep, and while I am not usually bothered by escalators, this one was a bit intimidating. I’m surprised that it wasn’t split into 2 runs (from a mechanical/engineering point of view I would think that would have been more efficient, but as I’m not an engineer what do I know). Really, this escalator run must have ascended more than 2 stories. But I digress….

We knew we would have a bit of a walk ahead of us (just over half a mile I believe) and it was up hill. That was good because it would be a downhill trek when we were done at the zoo (and likely hot and tired).

We were soon at the zoo entrance.





A note here: I love attraction maps/guides/brochures. Not only are they useful when visiting an attraction to get my bearings, I love having them and keeping them. I don’t scrapbook but I do collect them as a keepsake from the places we’ve visited. I mention it here because there were no maps to be found. I did find some later but there was a charge for them ($3). There was good signage and the zoo has an app, but I really love my guide maps! Tip for the zoo and many of the museums, download pdf maps from their website before you go to help you navigate these attractions. Paper maps/guide brochures are hard to come by at these public attractions.

Following the signs, we soon made our way to the pandas. We came across very few people in the zoo up to this point, but I think those that were here were at the panda exhibit. Still, it wasn’t very crowded at all and we had no trouble finding a spot at the rail to watch the pandas. A keeper we had spoken to when we first arrived at the exhibit directed us to the area where Bao Bao could be seen. “Hopefully, she’s not up in the tree yet.” She wasn’t. We were in for a real treat!

Bao Bao was at the bottom of a rock/cliff type structure and she wanted to get to the top, presumably to get to some bamboo that was there because that’s where she headed. As soon as she reached the branch, it fell down the cliff (all of the spectators let out a collective groan when that happened.) I’ll let the pictures tell the story.













































Me and my son who was 2 days shy of his 13th birthday here (and no, he is not standing on a rock as one FB friend asked me lol).



I’m not a short person, but he is close to 6’ tall already and still growing! My husband is not particularly tall either –Josh is noticeably taller than him too as you’ll see in photos from later in the trip. A side note here: the trolley tour prices children at 12 and under. I bought Josh a child’s ticket for both trolley tours as he was only 12 but I always feel like someone will question me, thinking I’m trying to pull something over on them. We had no trouble with this at all with Old Town Trolley thankfully.

We watched Bao Bao and her mother play around a fallen log for a while before we headed off to see other animals.







All in all, we probably spent a good 45 minutes watching the pandas. This experience alone made the trip to the zoo a huge success!

Up Next: Lions Sleep 20+ hours a day, don’t they?