Washington D.C. (Day 10)

This was one of the longest days of our trip. Since we were spending less than 3 days in D.C. I had a long list of things to see and do! We started our morning riding the metro to the National Mall.
Our first stop was the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing. We didn't have a tour, so we just went through the visitors center. The kids thought it was cool to see one million dollars in ten dollar bills!

We then walked the very LONG walk around the Washington Monument, through the cherry blossoms, past the World War 2 Memorial, to the Lincoln Memorial.



The Lincoln Memorial is huge in person. This is one of the top things that Cooper wanted to see and I think he was pretty impressed!
Zoe thought it was neat to get to stand where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his "I Have A Dream" speech...
Then we walked past the Korean War Memorial, and the Vietnam Memorial...
The memorials are touching to see in person, and when you see the list of each and every name on the Vietnam Memorial wall, it makes a big impression.

Then we walked over to the South side of the White House to get the other view. Again, it was beautiful, and the surrounding garden and trees were so pretty to look at.

At noon we headed to the Capitol building for a tour inside. The security line was pretty long, so we were happy once we got inside. The rotunda is huge, and beautiful!


After the general tour, we were able to get a Senate passes to go into the Senate gallery. Unfortunately, you have to check all bags, and aren't able to take any pictures inside. We got to watch a little bit of the Senate proceedings, which was fascinating to me, although a bit boring for the kids! We left there, took a quick look at the Library of Congress, and headed back out to the Mall to look for some lunch. Since it was already 3:30, it was way overdue! We were all tired, hungry, and a bit dehydrated. The temperature had climbed to an unexpected 82 degrees.
After some food and drinks, and a little rest for our feet, we took the metro out to Arlington National Cemetery.
This was one of my favorite parts of D.C. I loved being here and seeing row after row of the many people that have served this country made me speechless. We walked straight to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers, and I was moved to tears.
It is so powerful to see the honor that these soldiers have and the pride they put into each step and movement while guarding this special tomb. It is very moving and we were lucky enough to see the changing of guards.
From there we walked through a few more areas of the cemetery before heading to the Kennedy plot. The eternal flame is neat, and the surroundings are breathtaking.
This ended our very long day, and we couldn't wait to get back to the hotel for some rest and sleep!