Washington DC

Washington DC 2009

We made our annual spring trek to Washington DC in March to visit Sara. We flew into Baltimore airport and took the SuperShuttle service to the Hilton Garden Inn located at 14th & H Streets. The hotel is about a 3 star, but the service and location make it a great choice. Each trip we make to DC, we try to see and do things we haven't done yet.

The first day we walked over to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing for a tour. The scent of money becomes stronger the closer you get to the building. You must have a ticket to take a tour, but the tickets are free and based on first come, first serve. Please note the ticket booth is on the same side of the building as the gift shop but the tour entrance is on the opposite side of the building. The tour is informative and fairly short.

Next stop is Jefferson Memorial.

We walk to the other side of the tidal basin to get a close-up view of the statue of Thomas Jefferson.

We continue walking around the tidal basin over to the FDR memorial as it is one of Lori's favorites. There is a statue portraying a bread line which reminds me of the images of the economy today of people standing in the food bank lines. Very interesting.

We decide to head over to the Air & Space museum so Dave can get a few pictures of satellites for some drawings he would like to do.

We notice how "empty" the museum is and commented how we have never been here when we weren't getting "run" over by a mob of people. In fact, the McDonald's in the museum had no lines at 12:15pm. Amazing!!!

After lunch we head over to the National Museum of Art to check out the Pompeii exhibit. Dave thoroughly enjoyed the exhibit, Lori tolerated it.

The Dutch landscape exhibit caught her eye. We then decide to hike back to the hotel and get some needed rest before heading out to dinner and the Capital Steps performance at the Reagan Trade building at 7:30pm.

Dinner at Elephant and Castle was mediocre at best. We immediately were seated but waited about 7 minutes for someone to take our drink order. However, once the drinks and food were ordered, they came out very fast and the check arrived very quickly thereafter. Off to the theatre, for the Capital Steps performance. The performance was hilarious and fairly current - octomom, 401(k) is DOA, Obama & Oprah, Palin & McCain. We highly recommend taking in this show when in DC.

The next day we hop on the Metro to the Capital South stop to visit The Library of Congress. The Library of Congress building is touted as having some of the best architecture in DC.

Every picture and sculpture has a specific significance in this building. The reading room.

The next stop is the Newseum which is a museum for the News/Journalism industry. There is an admission charge of about $20 per adult. There are approximately 6 floors of things to see and short movies to view. Outside of the entrance are front pages of all the larger newspapers across the country. We enjoyed this museum, but after a couple of hours, our eyes were hurting and we were tired of reading.

Back to the hotel to rest before meeting Sara for dinner at Old Ebbitt Grill. When in DC, this restaurant is a must! We each order some variation of crab cakes (dinner, sandwich) and save room for desserts. The upside down pear cake and chocolate brownie with ice cream are heavenly.

On Sunday, the weather was wonderful which allowed for a stroll through the GW campus. We stopped by and said good-bye to Sara and walked back towards the White House to sit and people watch. What a wonderful way to end another great trip to DC.

WASHINGTON DC 2008

Lori's favorite building the Executive Administration building.