Two hour flight delay leaving DFW. This translates into a 1:45 am (6/4) arrival at the hotel via taxi. We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn (14th & H), great location, great breakfast and an adequate pool. Luke and the concierge became good buddies playing "Hand Slap".
Monday June 4th
"Bike the Sites". This was a great way to see all of the Mall in 3-4 hours. The weather was perfect. We started and stopped at the Old Post Office, touring the National Mall from the Capital Building to the Lincoln Memorial.
We then headed to the Museum of Natural History for the rest of the day.
Tuesday June 5th
Angi secured a Capital Building tour so we took the Metro from the hotel to Capital Hill. We met at Rep. Ralph Hall's office in the Rayburn Building and an intern then took us on a tour of the Capital Building. It was the intern's third day in DC and his first tour. We got lost a few times, which ended up to our advantage as we were able to ride the congressional subway back from the Capital Building. We then walked down the National Mall, around the Jefferson Memorial and back to the Smithsonian to catch the Metro back to our hotel.
Wednesday June 6th
White House tour day. Security was tight everywhere especially getting in to the White House. You weren't allowed to bring anything with you. This tour was self-guide an took about 30 minutes. We then got on a hop-on-hop-off bus and headed to Arlington National Cemetery. We were able to witness a special ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknowns with the South Korean Navy. This and the changing of the guard were very riveting. We then headed back to visit the memorials up close.
Thursday June 7th
We made a morning visit to the National Aquarium. It is really small, but the kids really liked it. We then checked out of the hotel and took the Metro subway to Reagan National Airport to rent a car. We then drove ~125 miles to Katrina and Greg Clines house for three days of fun. This visit was highlighted by the multitude of animals that Audrey and Luke could play with. These included two foster kittens from the SPCA, and thirty chickens of various varieties.
Friday June 8th
We hiked to the Hardware River, where first Audrey fell in and then Luke. Swimming in the river followed. After we cleaned up we took off for Montpelier, home of James Madison. This was followed by a tour/tasting at the Barboursville Vineyards.
Saturday June 9th
Lots of shopping was accomplished at the farmer's market, Toy store, grocery store to name a few. We then visited farm owned by a work associate of Katrina and Greg. Back at the Clines' house the kids enjoyed Katrina's ultimate bubble bath machine. They tried to recreate this photos from 2004, but weren't able to get the quantity.
Sunday June 10th
Vacation over. We drove back to Reagan National in DC and headed for Texas. Bye Y'All!
