If you want to avoid
the crowds in Washington, DC, go there the week after Labor Day. Most
kids in the country have returned to school, summer vacations are
over, and tourist season has slowed to almost nothing. You also get
the added benefit of cheaper airfare and hotel costs.
The week before we
ventured into DC, we spent a week with Ben's brother's family in
Richmond, VA. My favorite part of that week was the day we spent at
Virginia Beach. It wasn't overly crowded and the weather was
absolutely perfect. Not too hot on the beach, but still warm in the
water. The kids had a blast jumping into the waves and riding them to
shore. They laughed and laughed as the water knocked them over and
washed over their faces. They were both fearless. Lily was even a bit
frightening with how fearless she was. Ben or I were right there to
catch her as the waves overwhelmed her little body. We had a
wonderful time there with the kids' cousins. Next time we visit we
plan to spend 2 or 3 days at Virginia Beach.
The week we spent in
Richmond was pretty low key. The kids jumped on the trampoline at
home and played for hours on end with their cousins. We did visit the
Science Museum of Richmond because we got in free with our OMSI
membership. There we got to see a real beehive and rats that were
trained to play basketball. That week we went swimming and bowling.
We took the kids to Friendly's for any ice cream of their choice. We
went to a Civil War Museum and learned about the end of the war when
the Union took over Richmond and sent the Confederates running,
burning everything as they fled. We learned a lot and we had a ton of
fun.
We spent the next week in the DC area and had amazingly good luck avoiding crowds
everywhere we went. DC residents told us it would take up to 7 hours
to drive from DC to Virginia Beach the Friday night we flew in
because of all the outbound traffic. It took us a grand total of
about 3 hours, including stopping for dinner. There was absolutely no
traffic on the way there or back. We got tickets to go to the top of
the Washington Monument without camping out at 7:00 am. (We actually
walked up around 11:00 and got tickets for less than 3 hours later.)
We waited in no lines to see the Declaration of Independence and the
Constitution at the National Archives. We only had to share the
museums and monuments with a few other people.
We got to see
everything we set out to see on this trip save the Library of
Congress. We visited Harper's Ferry because Tommy wanted to see a
real battleground. We walked along the Appalachian Trail and visited three different states in one afternoon. We toured all of the major monuments (Washington,
Lincoln, World War II, Jefferson, FDR, and MLK). We spent time at
both Air and Space Museums, the Natural History Museum, the American
History Museum, and the International Spy Museum. We saw the Capitol
Building, the White House, the Washington, DC, LDS temple, and Ford's
Theater. I don't know how many miles we put onto our shoes, but it is
definitely in the double digits.
Lily loved the
dinosaurs, mummies, butterflies, and bones at the Natural History
Museum. Tommy loved seeing Discovery and all the helicopters and
airplanes at the Air and Space Museum. I loved seeing the Star
Spangled Banner at the American History Museum. It brought me to
tears to read about how Francis Scott Key wrote our National Anthem.
I think Ben's favorite activities were seeing the original documents
at the National Archives and visiting the FDR memorial. Our trip to
DC has inspired me to read and learn more about Thomas Jefferson,
Franklin D. Roosevelt, and the Civil War.
I wouldn't say we
became masters of DC public transit, but we definitely became adept.
We rode the Metro all over the city, rode a commuter bus to get to
the Metro from our friend's house in Ashburn, and rode the Circulator
bus around the National Mall. Our kids became pros at scanning the
SmartTrip cards through the turnstiles, hugging the right of the
escalators, and walking miles and miles.
The weather could
have been more pleasant a couple of the days we were walking all over
the place. One of the days we were there it was 97 degrees and 90%
humidity. Stifling, oppressive, in-your-face kind of weather. We
endured it well by buying emergency popsicles on the National Mall and luckily it cooled down the last couple of days we
spent in DC. The rain was a welcome repose from the heat and
humidity.
My favorite activity
was spending the evening on the National Mall. We arrived at the
Jefferson Memorial shortly before sundown and walked around the
entire Tidal Basin to see the other monuments there. By the time we
made it around it was pitch-dark and we got to read the engravings on
the FDR and MLK monuments by spotlight. All the monuments were lit up
and gorgeous. We sat near the Washington Monument on the evening of
9/11 and looked out over to the Lincoln Memorial, all lit up and
shining like a beacon to the world. We felt the wind in our faces and
watched the American flags wave. It was poignant and beautiful. We
talked as a family about the symbolism of each of the monuments. We
felt grateful to live in this country and to have the opportunity to
visit our nation's Capitol. I got to hear Ben express his feelings of
comfort and security when he sees the American Flag and knows he is
on American soil. He doesn't often share spiritual or patriotic
feelings, so that was a real treat for me.
Overall, I dub this
vacation a huge success. We were gone for 15 days. Our family got
along the entire time in spite of a few frustrating events. We worked
together and enjoyed our time together. We learned a ton of new
things and gained valuable life experience. More than anything, this
trip has inspired me to lead our family in more travel adventures,
both at home and abroad. I'll talk about that more later, but just
know for now that I have been infected big time by the travel bug. I
see travelling as a family as more valuable than anything else we
could do. I am grateful we were able to go on this trip together. It
will be something I will remember forever, and I hope my kids cherish
it, too.
